Hoops: Boys’ Behind MVP Yardemian Takes Comcast Title; Girls’ Fade In Championship Match

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Photo: Belmont’s Danny Yardemian leads the Marauders to the Comcast Tourament title.

Belmont High Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball did themselves proud at last weekend’s Comcast Tournament taking on some of the best hoop teams in the state at Woburn High School. 

The boys’ defeated Brighton, 72-69, and handled 17th-ranked St. Mary’s of Lynn, 72-61, to win its division as junior Danny Yardemian was named Division MVP. The Belmont Girls’ defeated 2015 state champions Bishop Feehan, 60-57, in overtime and was leading the number 1-ranked Westford Academy by nine points at the half before fading down the stretch and losing in the finals, 54-47. 

Belmont Boys’ came into the tournament on a roll, defeating highly-talented rivals Winchester, Woburn and Arlington to end the regular season on a six-game winning run. In the tourney opener, Belmont faced Brighton, the team which unceremonially knocked off a strong Marauders team in the first round of the 2016 Division 2 North sectionals. It was close early with Belmont up 12-10 after the first quarter with junior guard Ben Sseruwagi leading the way with 6 points. The Marauders upped the lead to five at the half (35-30) as senior forward Will Ellet (16 points) knock down three threes in the quarter. Belmont would keep a margin of between 6 to 10 points through most of the second half when Yardemian scored 13 of his 17 points. A late comeback by Brighton cut the lead to two with 12 seconds to go when sophomore Mac Annus hit one of two and the Panthers missed a pair of treys.

Against St. Mary’s, Belmont followed the same script as before, close in the first while stretching the lead in the second. With Yardemian lead the offense both pointwise and dishing the ball, the Marauders went on a tear, scoring 29 points in the second, hitting four threes to go with a good number of drives to the basket as Annus and Yardemian had six while Ellet threw in a pair of threes scoring nine in the quarter. Up 43-27 at the half, Belmont would stay in the lead by double digits into the fourth when St. Mary’s Stephen Fama (23 points) got the Spartans within nine, 68-59, with a little more than two minutes to play. But Yaremian would seal the victory at the line, hitting 8 for 10 from the charity stripe to end the game with 31 points and the MVP trophy. Sseruwagi joined Yaremian on the all-tournament team and senior Tomas Donoyan was the recipient of the team/scholarship.

The Belmont Boys sits at 15-8 overall and 15-5 in regards to its placement in the tournament.

The Belmont Girls’ used a tenacious defense and clutch play by senior Carly Christofori to take down the top-10 Shamrocks from Bishop Feehan in extra time. Both teams held their own in the first quarter with the Marauders up 12-10 which could have been a larger lead if not for a few missed shots in close. Senior Jenny Call’s two threes and fellow co-captain Greta Propp work inside kept the game tight in the second and when Jane Mahon made a mid-range bucket with seconds left in the quarter, Belmont took a slim one-point lead, 28-27, into the break.

Bishop Feehan took its largest lead of the game at 5, 42-37, late in the third on threes from seniors Nicole Smith and Anna Shaughnessy only to see a trey from Christofori with five seconds left tied the game at 42 entering the final eight minutes. Down by four midway through the fourth quarter, a pair of threes from Call and Christofori (a game-high 21 points) swung the lead back to Belmont, 50-48. A steal and layup by Smith with 80 seconds left knotted the score at 52. The Shamrocks had the better chances to win the game in regulation – including a missed one and one – but Belmont hung on to send the game into extra time.

Tan’s three and yet another Mahon mid-range jumper gave Belmont a 57-54. A Tan free throw with 24 seconds left upped the lead by one, 58-54, only for junior Sarah John make a line-drive three to cut the lead to one with 8.3 seconds remaining. On the inb0unds, the Shamrocks fouled Giorgio who had gone 0-6 from the charity stripe. But the junior center nailed the two shots to give the game to the Marauders.

Sunday’s championship game was a tale of two halves as Belmont’s suffocating defense and opportunistic offense took the Gray Ghosts by surprise as Tan came out smoking, scoring 6 points and grabbing three offensive rebounds to lead the Marauders to a 15-2 lead after the first quarter. After Belmont built its biggest lead at 15, 17-2, Westford would finally score its first basket at 5:30 in the second quarter. The rest of the quarter saw each team rely on defense as Westford paid close attention on Christofori at times triple teaming the four-year starter. After Giorgio made two free throws with less than a minute in the half, Belmont stretched its lead to 23-11. But a last-second three-pointer from senior Brooke Pillsbury cut the advantage to 23-14 and was a harbinger of things to come.

Belmont’s third quarter was a polar opposite to its stellar play in the first half, with tentative and questionable shooting and being outrebounded better than two-to-one, the Marauders saw their lead melt away quickly. Westford’s senior guard Emily Bramanti’s trio of threes in the quarter (11 points in the third) led the way for the Gray Ghosts as they outscored the Marauders 18-4 to take a 32-27 point lead into the fourth. Belmont did marshal a comeback behind Giorgio’s eight points in the final quarter (the center led the Marauders with 15 points), cutting the lead to two, 42-40, with 2:19 left. But a three by junior guard Carolyn Graham (her only points of the game) put Belmont down by 7 with a minute to play. 

Christofori and Tan were selected to the all-tourney team and Propp was the recipient of the scholarship.

Belmont finishes the season at 17-3 and awaits the seeding for the MIAA Division 1 North sectionals on Friday, Feb. 23. 

Belmont’s Krafian Takes Three State D2 Track Titles; Perkins Runs Away with 600 Crown

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Photo: Belmont’s Anoush Krafian after winning the 55-meter hurdles in the Division 2 State Championships.

Belmont High’s track star Anoush Krafian is finishing her high school indoor track career with a bang by winning three events at the MIAA Division 2 state championships held at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Boston on Saturday morning, Feb. 17.

The Dartmouth bound senior easily took her specialty, the 55-meter hurdles, finishing by more than half a second over Chelmsford’s Meghan Stagnone, 8.49 seconds to 9.04. 

The defending state outdoor pentathlon champion then showed her versatility in the field events, winning the high jump by two inches over pre-meet favorites the Jordahl-Henry twins from Wellesley with an outstanding 5 foot, 6-inch effort before heading to the jumping pit where she uncorked a 17 foot, 6-inch leap to place first by 3/4 of an inch over Woburn’s Brooklyn Manna.

Krafian’s three titles provided 30 points of Belmont’s 37 total securing fourth place in the team competition. 

Joining Krafian on the top of the podium was fellow senior Calvin Perkins who ran away with the 600 meters crown, taking the title in 1 minute, 22.51 seconds, a full half-second over Mansfield’s Mike Shannon. 

The girls’ 4×400 meters relay made up of seniors Emily Duffy and Carey Allard, freshman Rachel November and sophomore Soleil Tseng broke the school’s indoor record with 4:05.33 to take third.

Belmont finished fourth in the D2 state championships: Belmont’s relay team (top left, clockwise) Cary Allard, Rachel November, Soleil Tseng (also 8th in the 600) and Emily Duffy. Anoush Krafian is in the background running to get into the photo.

The boys’ 4×400 meters relay – seniors Max Serrano-Wu, Mel Nagashima, Bryan Huang and Perkins – did the girls’ one better by taking second place by the slimmest of margins, one-one hundredth of a second, 3:27.46 to 3:27.47, as Perkins outleaned North Andover’s Trevor Nassar at the tape.

Securing a point for the Marauders was 10th grader Tseng who finished 8th in the Girls’ 600 meters in 1:40.87.

The boys’ team took 11th place with 18 points.

Belmont’s top performers will now be heading to the MIAA Auerbach All-State Meet at the Reggie Lewis on Saturday, Feb 24.

Allard, Deese Make Their Athletic Futures Official On Signing Day

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Photos: Cary Allard (left) and Adam Deese.

The signing of a National Letter of Intent – also known as Signing Day – is one of the highlights of a high school athletes career, as those students officially commit themselves to a college or university where they will continue their athletic careers.

Last week, Belmont High School seniors Carey Allard and Adam Deese signed their National Letters of Intent to play at the highest level of college sports at Division 1 programs.

Allard will attend and play soccer at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington while Deese will heading for UMass Amherst to continue his football career as a fullback with the Minuteman.

Boys’ Hoops Playoff Bound Thanks To Hitting Threes; Girls’ Back To Winning Ways

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Photo: Danny Yardemain driving to the hoop against Winchester.

When Belmont High Basketball Head Coach Adam Pritchard heard his team threw in 13 three-pointers in its 79-73 home victory Friday, Feb. 9  against 13-win Winchester High, the long-time leader of the Marauders responded: “That few?”

“I’m not kidding when I think we can score more from [three-point range],” said Pritchard.

Not that the long ball has been the only reason Belmont has been on an impressive four-game winning streak defeating two playoff-bound teams (including a no-contest 85-57 beatdown of Woburn on the Tanners court) and clinching a spot in the postseason with its win over Lexington on Tuesday, at the Wenner.

Included with the three-pointers has been combining a sneaky quick fast break, a better than most threat in the offensive end (i.e., they hit more than just threes) and a bend-but-not-break defense that can make a game more interesting than Pritchard would like as what occurred against the Sachems Friday. 

Belmont used its break in the first half to build an eight-point lead (22-14) led by the senior forward Tomas Donoyan. The Marauders defense was holding Winchester in check with the glaring exception of the Sachems’ Mario DiBenedetto who came in as Winchester’s third-leading scorer. While the guard is averaging 13 points a game, he matched that number midway through the second quarter rattling in 19 points by halftime, keeping his team close to Belmont, 41-34.

With Yardemian yet again garnering the attention of the other team – having senior guard Liam Fitzgerald on him like a cheap suit – Belmont relied on the dual deep threats of sophomore shooting guards Mac Annus and junior Ben Sseruwagi and veteran senior forward Will Ellet who took up the scoring load.  

Belmont built up its lead to double digits, 54-43, on three free throws by Sseruwagi with 3:22 left in the quarter, only to see DiBenedetto once again cut the lead to seven and reaching 27 points. At 54-47, and as he was heading to the hoop, DiBenedetto stepped on a shoe and went down. He would return from the locker room on crutches. With its leading scorer on the bench, Belmont quickly built an 11 point lead.

But the Sachems would not go away, cutting the lead to 62-61 before an Ellet three, a Donoyan block and Ellet’s second three in the fourth quarter gave Belmont nine-point lead with 3:05 left. But on three consecutive trips down the court, Fitzgerald drained a three, and suddenly the comfortable Belmont margin evaporated with the game tied at 70.

But a Yardemian driving layup and an Ellet three gave the Marauders lead of five, 75-70. While Winchester’s Joe McCarron’s basket and one cut the lead to two with 65 seconds remaining, Belmont would seal the deal when Ellet faked a three and completed a behind the back pass to Annus to cooly knocked the corner three to effectively end the contest. 

On Tuesday, Belmont did what they couldn’t a week earlier when they visited the Minuteman, hit the open shots. Revenging that loss, the Marauders took a workmanlike approach to the game, grabbing offensive rebounds while putting down 11 threes for the game to win going away, 86-75.

Despite having a defender in his face for most of the game, Yardemian led Belmont with 20 points followed by Ellet who drained four of the teams seven threes and Annus who both scored 19 points. Sseruwagi ended with a career-high 14 including 10 in the first half.

Close early, 15-13 at the end of the first quarter, Belmont put up 23 in the second to lead at the half, 38-29. Belmont would keep the margin in the 12 to 8 point range for the remainder of the game. 

The win gave Belmont its 10th victory of the season and securing a place in the sectional playoffs.

“Every year getting into the playoffs is our goal for the season,” said Assistant Head Coach Tim Stratford. “This is a team that works hard and the past few games they really distributed the ball really well. When your leading scorer [Yardemian] leads the team with assists, that when things are working well.” 

Belmont at 11-6 and ranked 21st in the Boston Herald’s Top 25 poll will be away against Reading on Tuesday as it prepares for Thursday’s big-time encounter with Middlesex League-leading Arlington (15-2) on Seniors Night. The SpyPonders, ranked 18th by the Boston Globe, have a Watertown Field Hockey-like 31 game league winning streak going back three years. 

Girls Back On Track

After the gut punch by Woburn last week, the 58-55 loss on a three-point shot with eight seconds left in the game, Belmont got back to its winning ways defeating Lexington at home, 55-31, on Tuesday and Winchester away, 67-18, on Friday.

“The girls responded well. It was nice they were able to come back with that kind of intensity,” said Head Coach Melissa Hart after the Lexington game. The Marauders are 14-2, and 13-1 in Middlesex League play and ranked 5th in the Boston Herald and 12th in the Boston Globe polls.

Unlike the game a week previous where the Minutemen were able to keep the contest close for most of the game at Lexington, Belmont expanded on an early lead and steadily increased the margin, outscoring the Minutemen 18-6 and 17-7 in the first two quarters to lead 35-13 at the half. Juniors center Jess Giorgio and guard Meghan Tan each tallied 10 points with senior Jenny Call hitting a pair of treys to extend her Belmont career three-point scoring record.

Against Winchester, Hart was able to use her bench for most of the game with something of a record 12 Marauders scoring against the undermanned Sachems. Hart pointed to junior Ella Gagnon who hit for a career-high six points and grabbing seven rebounds. Senior co-captain Greta Propp had 11 points to lead the team while Kylie Rhone (7 points), Alex Keefe (downtown for 3 points), Breah Healey (2 points) and Audrey Christo (4 points) contributed to the victory.

Tuesday, Feb. 13, the Girls’ host Reading on Seniors Night. After playing Arlington on Thursday, Belmont heads directly to the Comcast Tournament on Saturday where they meet South Shore powerhouse, Bishop Feehan.

“With the postseason coming next week, it’s good to realize what we need to do to be successful. The captains spoke to the players that they need to up the intensity. The loss rejuvenated their desire.” said Hart

Last Second 3 Gives Woburn The ‘W’ Over Belmont Girls’ Hoops, 58-55; Boys’ Wallop Tanners

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Photo: Belmont’s Meghan Tan scoring and being fouled in the game vs. Woburn. 

Woburn High senior forward Kelsey Qualey hit an uncontested three-point shot with eight seconds remaining to negate a final minute 10-0 run by Belmont High to beat the Marauders, 58-55, in a barnburner on Friday, Feb. 2 in Woburn.

Qualey’s trey, her only three of the game, came after Belmont rallied from a 55-45 deficit with 1:29 remaining in the fourth, as the Marauders’ senior co-captains Greta Propp and Jenny Call hit consecutive three-point baskets to knot the game at 55 with 36 seconds left in the half.

But when Woburn came down the court, Belmont’s defense “lost” Qualey as she drifted to the left of the basket and had a wide-open shot at the hoop that she calmly sank. A final second attempt by senior co-captain Carly Christofori – an underhanded left-hand prayer that hit nothing but net – was negated by a traveling violation.

“That was a huge shot because we wanted to get into overtime,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Melissa Hart after the game. 

“[Woburn]’s defense was fantastic and we didn’t move the ball like we should have. And they had a couple of players that had big games, they just hit more shots,” said Hart.

Belmont now sits at 11-2 with Woburn vaulting to 11-1, and into the lead for the top seed in the coming Divison 1 North sectional post season.

It’s appropriate the game was played in Woburn on Groundhog Day because as in the movie, Belmont relived the same heartbreaking outcome playing in “Wu-town” during the regular season or in the sectional playoffs.

“What are we now in Woburn? Like 0-8,” lamented Hart.

Friday’s game was filled with points streaks. Belmont opened the game on a 9-0 run – Christofori would score all 7 of her first-quarter points in the first 1:15 of the game to go along with a turnaround scoop shot from junior center Jess Giorgio – only to see Woburn storm back with its own 12-0 streak to eventually lead 15-13 at the end of the first eight minutes.

The second quarter was a tight affair when Christofori hit her second three in the half to cut the Tanner lead to two, 24-22, with 1:47 left. That’s when Woburn’s defense and three-point shooting hit its peak, creating four consecutive turnovers as senior Andrea Schiavone (12 points on four threes) and sophomore Ashlyn Pacheco – who played a tight man defense on Christofori – hit from long distance, outscoring Belmont 11-2 in the final 90 seconds to leave the court at the half up 35-24.

“We didn’t stop them when we needed to. If we would have gotten it under five with a few minutes left then it’s not a big mountain to climb. But we were down around 10 the entire second half,” said Hart. 

The third quarter saw Belmont only able to cut the lead to 7 points once (38-31) with Woburn playing a collapsing man-to-man defense, clogging the lane and using a phalanx of players to stifle Christofori’s playmaking as the Tanners kept its 11 point margin entering the final quarter.

The last eight minutes started smartly for Belmont as Giorgio – the Marauders’ player of the match working both boards and taking a leadership role on and off the court – and Jane Mahon hit baskets to cut the lead to six points (49-42) after a minute. But Pacheco would hit a basket falling to the court after being fouled to restore the lead to nine. While the Marauders were having trouble finding open shots, the Tanners were now finding themselves under pressure from Belmont’s press.

Belmont’s final run started with a Giorgio basket, followed by Christofori’s only two points in the half from a pair of free throws. On the subsequent Woburn inbounds, Giorgio forced a five-second violation that followed by Propps second three of the quarter, followed by a turnover which allowed Call – the Marauders’ career three-point leader – to make her second trey which silenced the Tanners’ cheering section as Belmont outscored Woburn 17-6 in the quarter. 

But a lack of defensive discipline with Woburn driving to the basket ended Belmont’s thrilling comeback and instead it was a return to Groundhog Day.

Boys’ Basketball Rein on Woburn

Belmont High Boys’ Hoops has found a way to beat playoff-bound Woburn: drain threes onto the Tanners.

On Friday, Feb. 2, the Marauders threw down a torrential downpour that swept aside Woburn High in a flash flood of treys as Belmont handed the 11-win Tanners a comprehensive drubbing, 85-57, in a game held at the Wenner Fieldhouse that was over at halftime.

With nine wins, Belmont is a victory away from making the Division 2 North. Woburn has dropped consecutive games (losing to Watertown on Tuesday) and stands at 11-4 as it heads to undefeated Arlington.

Belmont’s league MVP candidate Danny Yardemian led all scorers with 26 points as the Marauders completed the double against the Tanners beating Woburn last month 69-67.

Woburn guard Ryan Ludwig’s 10 points kept his team close at the end of the first, 23-17, the burgage began in earnest as Belmont put up 27 points in the second eight minutes. By the half, the led was 19, 50-31, with 30 points coming from distance with sophomore guard Mac Annus accounting for four threes from downtown. In the third, Belmont defense played its part holding the Tanners under 10 points to extend the lead to nearly 30, 70-39, entering the fourth quarter.

Krafian Named ‘Outstanding Performer’ At State Invitational Track Meet

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Photo: Belmont’s Anoush Krafian.

When Anoush Krafian runs or jumps, you can bet that most athletes are trying in vain to catch her. 

At the annual Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Boys and Girls Invitational for Big Schools held Sunday, Jan. 28 at Boston’s Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, Krafian stole the show by winning one event and was knocking on the door for another, which earned the Belmont High senior the coveted “Outstanding Performer” of the meet award.

The multi-event talent won her speciality, the 60-meter hurdles, with a dominating performance winning in 8.45 seconds, nearly two-tenths of a second in front of senior Christina Speliakos of Milford High (8.71). 

Krafian wasn’t done on the afternoon as she had a go in the high jump placing second with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches, defeating three competitors with the same height but she had fewer attempts. Only a monster jump of 5 feet, 8 inches by Zoe Dainton from Hingham High School beat her out for the win.

And just for good measure, Krafian took part in the long jump, coming in a respectable 9th with a leap of 16 feet, 11 and 1/2 inches and ran the third leg in the 4×200 meter relay which finished 13th. 

Krafian wasn’t the only Belmont athlete to reach the podium as sophomore Soleil Tseng took an outstanding third in the 600 meters in 1:38.55, the fastest time by a 9th or 10th grader in the event.

Belmont Girls’ Basketball Playoff Bound As It Heads Into Tough Away Games

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Photo: Belmont freshman point guard “Kiki” Christofori driving vs. Watertown.

The Belmont High Girls’ Basketball team is playoff bound after defeating its arch rivals, Watertown High, 67-24, on Friday, Jan. 26 at the Wenner Field House.

Belmont (11-1) reached the 10-win postseason benchmark in its 11th game, the quickest the program has clinched a spot in the North Sectionals.

After a hard-fought, 69-49, victory over hosts Lexington in a rare Sunday afternoon matinee on Jan. 28, Belmont will play its toughest stretch this season as it meets a pair of one-loss teams in two critical away contests.

The Marauders meet 11-1 Wakefield on Tuesday, Jan. 30. The Warriors lost its first game of the season on Friday to Woburn by two points, 59-57. On Friday, Feb. 2, the Marauders travel to Woburn to take on the 9-1 Tanners, which Belmont came back from eight points down in the third quarter to defeat back on Jan. 2. 

“It’s a big week,” said Belmont Head Coach Melissa Hart. “Playing really good teams will  help us prepare for the playoffs.”

In the three games previous, Hart’s team cruised by a two-loss Melrose, 57-43, as  junior guard Megan Tan led the Marauders with 12 points, 4 steals and 5 rebounds.

The warm-up to this week’s games was against teams which have been the true nemesis of the Marauders up until 2016. Watertown dumped Belmont from the playoffs in consecutive years, first in the semifinals (2015) and then the finals (2016) of the Division 2 North Sectionals. And over four years from 2013 to 2016, Belmont was 2-6 against a Lexington team with star guard Anna Kelly (who is currently enrolled at the University of Central Florida) who once scored 52 points against the Marauders.

But this year, Watertown is in a rebuilding period and Lexington can’t mesh together its good players for a complete game. Against the Raiders, a season-high 11 Marauders scored and 15 had time on the court as Belmont’s defense blanked Watertown in the third quarter. Freshmen Maiya Bergdorf led all scorers with 19 points while junior center Jess Giorgio scored her 10 points in the first six minutes of the game while pulling down 6 rebounds. Senior Ally Shapazian threw up a three and hit two from the charity stripe, juniors Breath Healey and Alex Keefe each drained threes while junior Audrey Christo knocked in a two. Watertown senior Callie McMahon’s 14 points accounted for more than half of her team’s total.

While Lexington came into the game at 3-8, its outside three-point shooting kept the game close. Down 21-13 in the second quarter, the Minutemen went on an 11-4 run before senior all-star guard Carly Christofori last-second driving bucket gave Belmont a 27-24 lead entering the second half.

In the third quarter, the Marauders relied on its veteran backcourt pairing of co-captain Christofori and junior Meghan Tan both on offense (both scoring 7 points in the frame with senior co-captains Greta Propp and Jenny Call contributing) and defense as Belmont held Lexington to 10 points to stretch its lead to 49-34 at the end of the eight minutes.

“That is a team who played better than their record,” said Hart of the Minutemen. “They scored on the shots we gave them in the first half. Can’t do that against better opponents.”

League Champs! Belmont Boys’ Swimming Takes Middlesex Season Title, First In Two Decades

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Photo: The 2017-18 Belmont High Boys’ Swim team, Middlesex League champions.

“How about those Marauders!” shouted senior captain Will Findlay as his teammates cheered in response, as the team celebrated winning the Middlesex League regular season championship for the first time since 1998 after defeating the coop team of Watertown/Arlington high schools, 87-78, in the final dual meet of the season held in the Higginbottom Pool on Friday, Jan. 26.

The Marauders finished the season undefeated, 6-0, in the Middlesex League, losing only once in 2017-2018 by one point to Division 1 Needham to complete the year at 7-1.

“What a season,” said Findlay, one of the team’s five captains and its charismatic leader. “All the work that we put in for the past two years culminated in today. That’s a testament to our freshman class but also all the hard work by all my teammates and the coaching staff.”

For first-year Belmont Head Coach James Saidnawey, the trip to the regular season championship was more than met his expectations. “I knew we had a good team and when the freshmen stepped up early, I thought we could compete with anyone in the league.”

The 9th grader came through against Watertown/Arlington (which saw the coop team end its season a more than respectable 3-3) as three Belmont freshmen records fall by the wayside in a season where underclassmen produced better than expected results. Frosh standout Tor Metelmann is fast becoming Belmont High’s most versatile swimmer since Jessie Blake-West, setting a new 50-yard freestyle standard at 23,19 seconds and being a member of the two relays – 4×200 medley and 4×400 free. 

“Tor is just a star, and he’s going to continue to perform like that for us, not just this year but for years to come,” said Findlay.

Belmont dominated Friday’s meet, winning eight of the eleven events, with big performances by Luc Durand in his speciality the 100 fly (55.85), Sam Thompson in the 100 free (53.73) with Metelmann adding the 100 backstroke (in a swift 57.53) to his arsenal of talents.

For Findlay, his final race as a Marauder – anchoring in the 4×400 to victory – was special “since I have been swimming in this pool for years. It’s great, not just for the team and me, but it hopefully starts a winning tradition for the program.” 

The new championship banner that will go up in the Wenner Field House was in no less part won two days earlier on Wednesday, Jan. 24 when Belmont defeated league standout Lexington, as the meet came down to the final relay before the Marauders pulling out a 92-84 win.

“Let my heart get back to normal,” said Saidnawey when the score was announced to the standing room crowd at the Higginbottom. “[The meet] was won by our guys battling for [places] behind the winners that gave us the margin we needed at the end.”

Case in point: with the score tied at 50, Belmont went 1,2 and 5 in the 500 free with Damien Autissier winning with open water at 5 minutes 24 seconds followed by a gutsy swim by Jason Iler-Kenistan who stormed back in the final 200 to finish in 5:51.53, taking second by half a second while Norman Fu earned an essential point in fifth. 

“Jason is an absolute animal as a freshman, and he is going to be a great swimmer for years to come,” said Findlay. 

Belmont followed up the 500 by winning the 4×200 free relay as Metelmann, Rickey Ye, Findlay and anchor Thompson out-touched Lexington’s outstanding free swimmers by half a second (1:35.97 to 1:36.50). Despite a significant win by Durand in the 100 back, Lexington cut the deficit to six points, 76-70, leading into the penultimate race, the 100 breaststroke, which is longtime Belmont speciality (for both the girls and boys).

Metelmann continued his dominance in the race, going first in 1:04.76 followed by Bulat in 1:08.15 taking the second spot by nearly a second. And it was Ye who powered the final lap to grab fourth place in 1:10.44, outreaching Lexington’s swimmer by .13 seconds. The 12-4 point advantage gave the Marauders a 14 point lead entering the 4×400 free relay.

Only a sweep by the Minuteman of the three scoring places would result in the meet-ending up in a tie. But safe entries off the blocks saw Belmont’s #1 squad of Durand, Justin Dong, Michael Pizzuto and Autissier came home in second and secured the most prominent team victory in many years.  

This week, Belmont will attempt to add the Middlesex League Meet title to the regular season title before heading to the Division 2 North Sectionals and then a visit to the State Championships in mid-February.

Sports: Girls’ Hoops Readies For Long Road Trip With Win Over SpyPonders

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Photo: Meghan Tan (with ball) driving to the basket against Arlington as Jane Mahon looks on. (Credit: Pete Giorgio)

In its last home game before an extended stretch away from the Wenner Field House against some of the most competitive teams it’ll face before the playoffs, Belmont High Girls’ Basketball took care of an undermanned but scrappy Arlington High SpyPonders squad, 73-55, on Friday night, Jan. 19. 

Led by junior center Jess Giorgio whose 13 points was her second game in double digit, Belmont spread the scoring around as seven of the eight player who tallied scored eight or more points in the game.

“What’s great about their unselfish play is that we don’t always go to the same girl to score. Everyone contributes which makes it hard of  the other teams to focus on just a few players,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Melissa Hart, whose team is currently 8-1 and 7-0 against Middlesex League opposition. 

Belmont took the lead early through senior co-captain Greta Propp who hit her first three shots to give the Marauders a 6-3 lead and when senior co-captain Jenny Call launched a three, the lead was four, 10-6, midway through the first. The Marauders steadily upped the lead to 28-16 with 3:30 remaining in the second on a Jane Mahon bucket off the give and go from Giorgio. The Marauders finished the quarter with threes from Meghan Tan and Call to end the half leading the SpyPonders, 39-23.

Arlington did claw back through game scoring leader freshman guard Eva Connolly who led all scorers with 19 points (going 8-8 from the free-throw line), and senior guard Ellie Demaree who tallied 18 points. Arlington did reduce the lead to 11, 54-43, just before the end of the third quarter.

But Belmont’s height advantage and good shot selection saw the lead near 20 with eight minutes left in the game.

Senior captains Carly Christofori and Jenny Call each scored 11 points – with Call adding three more three-pointers to her already team career record scoring from beyond the arc. Junior guard Meghan Tan and the Marauders’ third captain Greta Propp threw in nine points while bench players junior Jane Mahon and frosh Maiya Bergdorf knocked in eight apiece. 

Belmont’s stretch of success – recognized with top 10 rankings in both Boston daily newspapers polls – will be tested beginning this week as the team plays four of its next five games on the road against tough league competition.

First up will be 6-2 Melrose on Tuesday, Jan 23 before Belmont makes a brief stop home on Friday, Jan. 26 against a rebuilding Watertown club before playing three games in five days; a Sunday afternoon matinee, Jan. 28, against Lexington then up against the currently undefeated Wakefield (9-0) squad on Tuesday, Jan. 30 then a visit on Friday, Feb. 2 to Woburn (8-1) which took the Marauders to the brink at the Wenner before the team pulled it out late. 

Track Record Holders Named Boosters Athletes For December

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Photo: Anoush Krafian.

The Belmont Boosters named its December Athletes of the Month.

The Female athlete for December is Anoush Krafian of the Girls’ Indoor Track Team. This season, senior Krafian has set the school’s record in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.41 seconds and the indoor long jump with a leap of 17-feet, 5-inches.

The Male athlete for December is Calvin Perkins of the Boys’ Indoor Track Team. Also a senior, Perkins established a pair of new records: 35.67 seconds in the 300 meters and a 1 minute 21.42 second 600 meters which was the fastest High School time in the US last month.