These Lions are pretty adept in the water.
The Chelmsford High boys swimming team stayed undefeated (4-0) with a 92-77 victory over Lexington on Friday.
The Lions was led by senior captain Nate Gabriel, who won the 50 free and 100, and anchored the victorious 200 medley and 200 free relay teams.
Other individual winners for Chelmsford were freshman Chrisian Petrilli (200 free), senior Jociah Kautz (100 backstroke) and senior Krish Patel (100 breaststroke). Joining Gabriel on the victorious medley relay were Kautz, Patel, and senior captain Aron Kerkhove.
On the winning 200 free relay squad were junior Jack Latham, Kekhove, Gabriel and Petrilli.
Girls basketball
Mystic Valley 33, NDA 25: The Academy of Notre Dame was nipped during a defensive-minded meeting.
Leading the Lancers with 15 points was Jacqui Martineau, while Enjelly Acosta collected 13 rebounds.
Lowell 37, Lawrence 36: Lowell (1-2) gets into the win column by narrowly holding on to beat its MVC rival.
Desteny Ramirez scored 12 points for the winners, while Emerson Webb had eight points and played standout defense all game. Quinn Mcdonald added seven points and Deb Kisekka had five of her six points down the stretch in the fourth quarter.
Tewksbury 49, Haverhill 28: Dakota Malizia collected a team-high 12 points to power the Redmen to the MVC victory.
Adding to the balanced offense were Rebecca Boudreau and Stephanie Mercurio with eight points each, and Alyssa Adams with seven.
Chelmsford 42, No. Andover 36: The Lions came out on top during a hard-fought MVC clash as Kate Higgins canned a team-high 14 points.
Also playing pivotal roles in the win were Bridget Trainor with nine points and Mary Keohane with eight points.
G-D 31, Fitchburg 26: Strong defense and a nine-point effort from Mackenzie Pauly lifted the Crusaders to the first victory. Groton-Dunstable (1-2) received eight points from Allegra Gutermann in the road victory.
Marlboro 60, NM 19: North Middlesex was outscored 19-5 in the second quarter as the hosts pulled away in Marlboro.
Tewksbury 49, Haverhill 28: The Redmen rose above the .500 mark with a strong defensive effort in the MVC.
Offensively, Tewksbury (2-1) received 11 points each from Dakota Malizia and Rebecca Boudreau.
Littleton 60, Hudson 45: Victoria McCoy connected for 16 points to fuel the Tigers to the Mid-Wach victory.
Joining her in double figures for Littleton (3-1) were Becca Fusco (13) and Olivia Olson (12).
Billerica 49, Westford 27: In a non-league matchup of perennially strong programs, the Indians came out on top.
Methuen 57 Dracut 29: Despite a solid game from sophomore Cassidy Saindon, the Middies fell to MVC rival Methuen.
Saindon led the way with 10 points, while junior guard Maddie Maier netted seven points for Dracut (0-3).
Tyngsboro 58, Lunenburg 40: Gianna Donato continued her terrific play by collecting 20 points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists.
Carly Dimento was immense with 15 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds. Also shining for the Tigers were Katie O’Keefe and Lillian Gikas with seven points each.
Andover 37, Central 36: In a fierce MVC battle between rivals, Andover outscored Central 13-8 in the final quarter to post the win. Sparking Central with a 17-point, eight-rebound performance was Kerri Finneran.
Boys basketball
Chelmsford 45, North Andover 43: Fans hopped onto the court to congratulate the Lions after their exciting MVC conquest in Chelmsford.
Mike Mwaniki led all scorers with 14. Andrew Barry added 10 points and five rebounds for Chelmsford, while Nik Howard pitched in with six points and nine rebounds.
Pelham 77, Oyster River 50: A dominant 23-point second quarter propelled the Pythons to their latest victory.
Zach James continued his outstanding play, as he netted 31 points for Pelham (3-0). James sank seven 3-pointers. Netting 14 points apiece for the winners were Dom Herrling and Peter Hemmerdinger.
Lawrence 81, Lowell 75: Two old rivals staged a classic and physical contest that took overtime to decide. Lawrence captured the MVC win behind the play of Joendy Rosario, who had 25 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Lowell, which overcame a late 65-62 deficit to force OT, dipped to 3-1. Xavier Rivera and Tzar Powell Aparicio led the scoring parade with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Jack Soucy chipped in 12 points, while Jason Kamau added 11.
Tyngsboro 59, Lunenburg 51: TJ Bradford netted a game-high 24 points and hauled down 13 rebounds to spark the Tigers to the Mid-Wach win.
Gavin Familia was also a big factor with 13 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and four assists. Also shining with nine points each were Bryce Goulet and Ryan Manning. Goulet claimed six rebounds.
Nashoba Reg. 49, G-D 33: Groton-Dunstable wasn’t able to muster enough offense after a 15-point first quarter at home.
Leading the Crusaders (0-3) with 12 points was Gus Tisdale.
Haverhill 67, Tewksbury 54: The Redmen trailed 39-30 at halftime and couldn’t get into the deficit during the MVC defeat.
Playing strong offensive games for Tewksbury were junior wing Phil Lombardi and senior forward Luke Montejo.
Westford 50, Billerica 40: The Ghosts played too defense all night against MVC member Billerica to capture the non-league victory.
Boys hockey
Lunenburg/AS 5, Oakmont 4: Drew Short set up the tying goal late and then scored the winning goal with just 28 seconds left to lift the Blue Knights to victory.
Lunenburg/Ayer Shirley knotted the game at 4-4 with 2:19 left after being set up by Short. Oakmont outshot the Blue Knights (4-0-1) by a 26-20 margin as goalie Garret Hakey picked up the win.
College football
Lester honored: Endicott College senior offensive lineman Justyn Lester (Tewksbury) has been named to The Associated Press (AP) Division III All-America Second Team.
Lester is the first offensive lineman and only the second student-athlete in program history to earn the honor.
He joins former kicker Nick DiCairano ’20 (Trumbull, Conn.) on the illustrious list.
Additionally, Lester was the only representative from New England and the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) tabbed to either the first or second AP Division III All-America Team.
The AP Division III All-America team is chosen by a panel of sports information directors who cover DIII football.
The 6-2, 280-pound guard did not allow a sack in conference play and anchored an offensive line that ranks No. 8 overall for sacks allowed (0.64) in Division III.
