Sophomore Nate Laszewski finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists to earn Most Valuable Player honors as Northfield Mount Hermon School won the New England Prep School Athletic Conference AAA Division Boys’ Basketball Tournament with an 95-85 win over St. Thomas More School in the championship game Sunday night at Rhode Island College in Providence, R.I.
“It was a heavyweight battle,” NMH coach John Carroll said. “There was three separate stretches where it was literally back-and-forth basketball, with made hoops on six or seventh straight possessions each time.”
NMH (27-7) earned its first NEPSAC AAA title since 2012 and advanced to the National Championship Tournament, which begins on Tuesday at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Conn. NMH will take on the winner of the first-round game between South Kent and Elev8 Tuesday night at 8.
Ian Sistare, who set the school record for most games played in a career at 135, finished with 16 points, 10 boards and 4 assists, and AJ Brodeur added 16 points and 8 rebounds. Kellen Grady collected 18 points and 7 assists, and Andrew Platek dumped in 14 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.
• On Saturday, NMH built a 55-37 halftime lead over seventh-ranked South Kent School and hung on for a 86-78 victory during the NEPSAC semifinals in Gill.
NMH shot 71 percent on its 2-point field goals in the first half, and 56 percent from beyond the arc as it built the lead. Laszewski led the way in the opening half, connecting on his first six 3-pointers.
South Kent used a 10-0 run early in the second half to get back into the game, but NMH held a double-digit lead for much of the second half.
Brodeur led NMH with 25 points in the win, Sistare added 20 points, Laszewski finished with 18, and Grady added 10.
UMass hockey ousted
UMass hockey finally ran out of responses.
The Minutemen erased four one-goal deficits on Saturday night but were unable to answer Boston University’s final tally and the ninth-ranked Terriers ended UMass’ season with a 5-4 victory in Game 2 of the best-of-three Hockey East opening round series at Agganis Arena in Boston.
UMass ended the season at 8-24-4.
The Terriers (21-10-5) took a 1-0 lead 5 minutes, 40 seconds into the first period but UMass tied the game just over three minutes later when Dennis Kravchenko fired home a slap shot from the slot.
BU went back head 5:53 into the second period, but UMass answered again, this time when senior Shane Walsh notched his 18th of the year at the 11:13 mark. BU took the lead just over a minute later, but UMass again responded as Kurt Keats scored with 2:10 left in the second period. Boston University once again wasted no time responding, scoring 55 seconds later to give the Terriers a 4-3 lead heading into the second intermission.
UMass tied the game 3:51 into the third period on Austin Plevy’s goal, but Boston University scored the eventual game-winner with 8:09 left as Forsbacka Karlsson scored out of a scramble in front of the UMass net.
Boston University outshot the Minutemen, 43-36. Nik Renyard made 38 saves in the loss, while Sean Maguire stopped 32 shots for the Terriers.
UMass men’s lax fall
Seventh-ranked Brown University built a 12-2 lead after three quarters and went on to knock off UMass, 15-7, in a men’s lacrosse game Saturday at Stevenson-Pincince Field in Providence, R.I.
UMass (2-3) scored five times in the fourth quarter but never threatened.
John Tierney scored his first collegiate goal in the loss, while Brendan Hegarty, Gianni Bianchin, Jake Lisauskas and Tyler Bogart each scored once. Buddy Carr and Dan Muller each finished with two assists.
UMass hosts Albany Tuesday at 3 at Garber Field.
Bluefish end season
Jay Fritz and Olivia Whittier each finished fourth in their respective divisions to lead the Montague Bluefish during the 36th annual Mid-Region Championships at Clark Memorial YMCA Saturday in Winchendon.
Fritz finished second in the 100-yard backstroke (1:07.16), second in the 50 freestyle (24.61) and third in the 100 free (55.53) to finish fourth in the scoring in the boys’ 15 and above division. Whittier, competing in the girls’ 11 and 12 division, won the 50 breaststroke (36.78), came in third in the 50 free (29.75), and was fifth in the 50 fly (33.90).
In other girls’ 11 and 12 action, Catherine Bezio took sixth in the 100 free (1:13.28), sixth in the 50 back (39.30), and 10th in the 100 individual medley (1:26.75). Veda Ruth Harvey-Ahmai was seventh in the 50 breast (43.01), Natalie Rowan was eighth in the 100 IM (1:25.41), and eighth in the 50 back (39.55), Paige Loughman was 10th in the 50 fly (42.74), and Katie Deso was 10th in the 50 breast (44.25). The 200 medley relay team of Bezio, Harvey-Ahmai, Whittier and Loughman placed fourth (2:27.88), while the team of Rowan, Deso, Nina Bocko and Jillian Scott came in sixth (2:33.65) in the event. Madelyn Janus, Skyler Cohen, Jane Potee and Savy Ellis finished 10th (3:15.59) in the event as well. In the 200 free relay, Bezio, Scott, Loughman and Whittier took fourth in 2:13.88, Bocko, Deso, Rowan and Harvey-Ahmai came in sixth (2:24.22), and Potee, Cohen, Janus and Ellis came in ninth (2:50.22).
On the boys’ side of the 11 and 12 division, John Kolosewicz came in fourth in the 50 back (43.59) and eighth in the 50 free (36.81), and Iggy Passiglia was second in the 100 IM (1:37.46), sixth in the 50 fly (45.12) and seventh in the 50 free (36.67). Ellis Tarry was third in the 50 back (42.63), fifth in the 50 breast (47.58), and ninth in the 100 free (1:28.91), and Dylan Bliss was seventh in the 50 back (44.87). The 200 medley relay team of Kolosewicz, Tarry, Passiglia and Bliss took second (2:53.94), while the same four boys also placed second in the 200 free relay (2:34.27).
In the 8 and under division, Sophia McComb was second in the 100 IM (1:39.22), second in the 25 back (20.14) and fourth in the 25 fly (20.09), while Amelia Keeler was seventh in the 25 fly (26.12) and ninth in the 50 free (46.16). Tristan Bliss was eighth in the male 50 free (48.58) and fourth in the 25 back (22.52), and Josie Sabelawski was ninth in the 25 free (20.31). Bliss, Sabelawski, McComb and Passiglia were sixth in the mixed 100 medley relay (1:34.53), while Brianna Kempf, Maddie Sabelawski, Keeler and Phin Savage were 10th (2:02.81) in the same event. Josie Sabelawski, Passiglia, Keeler and McComb were fifth in the 100 free relay in 1:26.21.
In girls’ 9 and 10 action, Kylie Donaldson was third in the 50 fly (40.35), Hazel Reeder was seventh in the 100 free (1:20.31) and ninth in the 50 fly (45.71), and Ainslee Flynn was 10th in the 50 fly (46.40). Flynn, Ava Fortin, Donaldson and Sadie Rowan were fourth in the 200 medley relay in 2:56.63, and Reeder, Fortin, Flynn and Rowan were seventh in the 200 free in 2:39.08. On the boys’ side, Ben Tardif was third in the 100 IM (1:34.20), third in the 50 fly (53.39) and 10th in the 100 free (1:42.83), Eli Savage was seventh in the 100 IM (1:44.18), ninth in the 50 free (41.75), and 10th in the 50 back (50.52), and Jake Mattson was ninth in the 50 back (48.45).
Jade Tyler had a strong day in the girls’ 13 and 14 division as she won the 200 IM (2:32.33), placed third in the 100 free (1:03.39), and was sixth in the 100 back (1:14.50). Morgan Downham was third in the 100 free (1:09.04) and sixth in the 50 free (no time given), Ella Potee was fourth in the 100 breast (1:28.40), Lucie Brock was fifth in the 200 IM (3:03.36) and seventh in the 100 breast (1:32.33), Allison Wheeler was sixth in the 100 fly (1:27.60), and Grace Mazur was eighth in the 200 IM (3:21.72). Brock, Potee Tyler and Wheeler teamed up to place seventh in both the 200 medley relay (2:21.27) and the 200 free relay (2:06.30).