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.

Belmont Boys’ Hockey Hit By Rockets; Girls’ Hockey’s Unhappy New Year

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Photo: Belmont’s Alec Moran (6) stopped by Reading’s Matt Coughlin on Saturday’s game.

Boys’ Hockey

After an inspiring 4-3 victory over perennial powerhouse Winchester midweek, Belmont High hockey was anxious to meet another tough Middlesex League opponent in Reading Memorial High which came to the “Skip” for a Saturday afternoon matinee looking up at the Marauders in the league standings.

But the intensity and breaks came from the Rockets bench – which included seven coaches – as Reading handed Belmont its second loss of the season with a 4-1 victory on Jan. 13.

Reading produced the most chances through the game with Belmont goalie Kevin Dacey required to make a series of difficult saves throughout the game while the Marauders offense which has been led by senior winger Steve Rizzuto – who scored his third hattrick of the season against Winchester – was stifled by Reading’s Matt Coughlin in net with 21 saves and a crew of big and mobile defenders.

Reading dictated the game’s pace and direction scoring early through junior forward Mike Tobin (who is a verbal commit in lacrosse to UMass-Amherst) just a minute in. Belmont came close to knotting the game from its top line of Connor Dacey, Will Dominiconi and Rizzuto who kept Coughlin busy.

The Rockets (7-2) doubled its lead even earlier in the second period than the first, after only 45 seconds with Tobin earning the brace from an excellent pass from Jake Emery. With less than five minutes remaining in the second Reading broke through again, with senior Dan Cranitch beating Dacey on a rising wrist shot glove side. 

Belmont’s best chances came down three as the Marauders dominated the remainder of the period but did not have anything to show for it at the end of two. 

An up and down third culminated in an open net by Matt Florenza with 20 seconds left. Belmont did spoil Coughlin’s away shutout as Tim Bailey took a Dennis Crowley pass and beat the goalie just before the buzzer. After some debate, the goal was allowed for the 4-1 final.

Belmont is 5-2-3 entering its Martin Luther King Day match with Catholic Memorial. (Late edit: Belmont earns a hard-earned tie with CM with a goal from, who else, Steve Rizzuto.)

Girls perfect 2017 leads to imperfect 2018 

Belmont High Girls Hockey was on fire in the first part of the season, specifically in 2017 when it rushed off to a 6-0-0 record with a high powered scoring offense, averaging four goals a game, with a bend but not break defense. 

But when the calendar changed to 2018, what was ablaze was extinguished as the Marauders are 0-4 for ’18. While some of the reason is the top quality match-ups – including meeting the defending state champions and the top-ranked team this season – two defeats came on consecutive Saturdays where Belmont could not hold onto late leads away from home. 

Not that Belmont has lost its scoring touch as the team is averaging three goals per game, but rather it would appear to be an inability to sustain a team confidence it held earlier in games.

Belmont did perform well against both Woburn (’17 state champs) and Winchester (a top 5 team the entire season) losing 4-2 and 5-3. What has been troubling has been the Saturday Night Falls. Against Lexington, the team let go of a two-goal lead in its 4-3 loss. This past Saturday, Belmont arrived at the Burbank Ice Rink to meet a Rocket team that was on its own three-game losing streak. After a first period knotted at one, Belmont scored twice to lead 3-1 at the end of the second period.

But as with its game against the Minutemen, Belmont saw the Rockets dominate the third, scoring four unanswered goals to fall 5-3 and see its record dip to 6-4-0. Belmont will be away from “The Skip” until next month, Feb. 4, when they host Newton South. 

Join Town at Belmont’s Annual MLK Breakfast Celebration Jan. 15

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Photo: MLK Jr.

The Belmont Human Rights Commission of Belmont and Belmont Against Racism (BAR) will host the 24th annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Breakfast Jan 15 at Belmont High School. This year’s speaker is State Rep. Byron Rushing, who since entering the Massachusetts legislature in 1982, has been a tireless advocate for human and civil rights.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Belmont High School Cafeteria, 221 Concord Ave. A continental breakfast will include pastries, fruit, and beverages.

Parking is free and the site is wheelchair accessible. Tickets may be purchased at the door or at Eventbrite or http://bit.ly/2BsZBBI. Tickets are $5 for individuals and $10 for families. There will be activities in the gym for children ages 5 to 10 and daycare will be provided for preschoolers.

All proceeds and donations will be given to the METCO fund which is used for late transportation for METCO high school students who participate in after-school activities at Belmont High School and across all Belmont schools for programs that bring our Boston and Belmont students together.

All are welcome and music will be provided by the Belmont High School Chorale Singers.

In the 1960’s, Rushing was involved in the civil rights movement and worked for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and was also a community organizer in Boston. From 1972 to 1985, he was president of the Museum of African American History in Boston, where he had an instrumental role in establishing the Boston African American National Historic Site. This became part of the National Park Service.

His many priorities and accomplishments include sponsoring legislation for ending homelessness; sponsoring the law for over-the-counter sale of sterile needles; and the law for establishing guidelines for hospitals in treating victims of violence.

From healthcare to housing to anti-discrimination legislation on all fronts, Rushing is a vocal leader. Not only did he sponsor the gay rights bill and the law to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public schools, he also is a champion for size acceptance and anti-discrimination on the basis of height and weight. A spokesman against the re-establishment of the death penalty in Massachusetts, Rushing is active in the Episcopal Church, where he was elected lay deputy to its General Convention.

Krafian Takes Hurdle Title at Dartmouth Relays, Breaks School Records

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Photo: Belmont High’s Anoush Krafian doing what she does best; breaking records and winning races.

Most high school students who visit the college they were accepted to will spend a few days to scout out the dorms, visit the town and get a lay of the land.

For Anoush Krafian, visiting Dartmouth College this past weekend was all about the business of being fast. 

The Belmont High senior who will be attending the Ivy League school in the fall arrived at the historic 48th Dartmouth Relays to take part in a trio of events and took way silverware from two.

Krafian won the girls 55-meter hurdles in 8.41 seconds to beat second-place Scarborough, Maine sophomore Emily Labbe by 0.10 seconds. 

Her winning time broke the Belmont High indoor record which Krafian already held. In fact, the state’s defending outdoors’ 100-meter hurdles champion has lowered her best time four times in the past three weeks, from 8.63. 

In addition to the hurdles record, Krafian also broke the school’s indoor long jump record with a leap of 17-feet, 5-inches at the Sprint Classic at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center during the holiday recess. 

In addition to the hurdles at Dartmouth, Krafian tied for third in the girls high jump with a leap of 5-feet, 2-inches and settled for 15th in the girls long jump with a 15-foot jump.  

Sports: Girls’, Boys’ Hoops Take Measure of Tanners, Home and Away

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Photo: Jenny Call (21) and Carly Christofori (12) turn on the ball during Belmont’s game with Woburn.

They weren’t games you’d write home about but two wins are two wins as both Belmont basketball teams took the measure of Woburn in a pair of important early-season contests.

Bench Comes Up Big In Belmont Girls’ Come-From-Behind Win

Jane Mahon wasn’t sure she’d be playing in Tuesday’s game against Middlesex League rival Woburn. The junior forward and the Marauders’ “sixth man” was ill with the stomach flu on Monday and didn’t practice.

“I’m not sure if I’m playing. I was really sick,” Mahon told the Belmontonian before the game.

It’s a good thing for Belmont that Mahon, junior center Ella Gagnon and freshman Maiya Bergdorf all came off the bench as the trio of non-starters sparked a second-half surge resulting in the Marauders taking the measure of the unbeaten Tanners, 43-38, at Belmont’s Wenner Fieldhouse.

“It wasn’t pretty but it was a win that showed a lot of grit from the team,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Melissa Hart who saw her team go to 5-1. Woburn is now 4-1.

After an even first quarter, 12-11 in Belmont’s favor, Woburn took advantage of Belmont’s team foul deficit – at one point the Marauders had been whistled for 7 fouls against a single infraction for the Tanners – to go perfect (6 for 6, four from junior Julia Taylor) from the charity stripe while Woburn’s leader Andrea Schiavone (11 points) hit a 3 and a layup to propel the visitors to a 24-19 lead into the half. 

Trailing midway through the third quarter, Belmont’s comeback began with a Bergdorf three-pointer – the first of two 3s on the night – followed by a pair of mid-range jumpers from Mahon which cut an eight-point deficit to one, 28-27, with a minute and a half remaining.

“Woburn was very aggressive and always on us very tight. So when a teammate was driving to the basket I was always there to take a pass and that allowed me to have open shots,” said Mahon, who finished with 7 points, a block and a steal.

Mahon has been contributing on both ends of the court, said Hart, “with the intensity and work ethic she brings.”                                                                             

Early in the fourth quarter, Bergdorf hit her second 3 with 6 minutes remaining in the fourth to give the Marauders the lead for good at 31-30, followed by a drive to the basket to increase the lead to 35-32. Belmont was up by five points as junior 2-guard Meghan Tan (5 points who played the entire 32 minutes for the second consecutive game) hit a layup with one second on the shot clock to make the score 37-33 with 1:50 left in the game.

Bergdorf finished the night hitting two clutch free throws – Belmont was a less than stellar, 8-17, from the line – in the final minute to seal the victory and give her a game-high 12 points. 

“I just wanted to go out there, just give it my all and prove that I can play with [my teammates],” said Bergdorf.

Hart said Bergdorf has been able to feel comfortable on the team due to the support of the juniors and seniors such as captains Jenny Call (3 points), Greta Propp (6 points) and captain Carly Christofori (8 points).  

“She brings a skill set that is pretty special,” said Hart.

While not in the scorebook, Hart praised Gagnon’s overall physicality in relief of junior center Jess Giorgio (2 points), clogging the passing lanes and being a presence under the basket. 

“[Gagnon] was awesome tonight. She was a real difference maker tonight on defense,” said Hart, noting the team held a good attack offense to six points in the third and eight in the fourth quarters.

Six games into the season, Hart said she “likes where we are going, heartened by the fact that we haven’t played our best yet. Woburn will be tough when we go there (in February) but I expect us to be sharper by then.”

Boys’ edge Woburn 

Just how poorly was Belmont High’s Boys’ basketball team was playing defense in the first half against host Woburn on Tuesday, Jan. 2? Head Coach Adam Pritchard gave up yelling at his squad. 

“I ended the game with my voice intact,” said Pritchard, who said in the first quarter, the team “couldn’t guard a tree” giving up 24 points and trailing by 9. 

In the second, the Marauders “were slightly better shooting” scoring 21 points while holding the suddenly cooled down Tanners to 15 to creep back into the game by the half, trailing 39-36. All-star shooting guard Danny Yardemian (a team-high 22 points) led the Marauders with 7 in each of the opening two stanzas. 

After intermission, Belmont seemingly abandoned anything within the three-point arc and like Steph Curry, shot lights out from distance, knocking down six treys and nothing else, propelling them into the lead after three, 54-48, with sophomore point guard Mac Annus (15 points) and senior forward Will Ellet (16 points) each burying a pair. 

Woburn attempted to steal the lead back but senior forward Jake Pollock (6 points) stepped up defensively by taking a pair of charges that gave Belmont possession during critical times in the quarter to give Belmont the win, 69-67, with the Marauders ending the game with 11 3s. Belmont and Woburn are 4-2, second in the Middlesex Liberty Division trailing only Arlington.

“We beat a very good team and these are the type of games that we just battle back to win,” said Pritchard. 

Another One Bites The Dust: Perkins Breaks 300 Record; Fastest 600 HS Runner in US

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Photo: Calvin Perkins at the 2017 Massachusetts All-State outdoor meet.

Don’t tell Calvin Perkins to slow down; he’s got more records to break.

The Belmont High senior all-star has taken down his second school indoor track record, turning in a stellar 35.67 second in the 300 meters last Thursday, Dec. 28 at Boston University in the team’s dual meet vs. Winchester.

And the New Year brought even better news for the talented Perkins – he is a multi-year all-district musician playing the trumpet – as his 600-meter record of 1 minute 21.42 set on Dec. 22 was ranked the fastest time in the US for High School 600 meter runners so far this indoor season.

Belmont Girls Hoops Fall To Top-Ranked Newton South, 44-35, For First Loss

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Photo: Belmont High School Girls Basketball.

A slow start coupled with free throw shooting as cold as all outdoors resulted in the Belmont High Girls Basketball falling from the undefeated as the Marauders lost to Newton South, the top-ranked team in eastern Massachusetts, 44-35, in the title game of the Garden City Basketball Holiday Invitational held at Newton North High School Thursday, Dec. 28.

“The team struggled offensively in the first half so you’re forced to battle back against a very good team for the rest of the game,” said Belmont Head Coach Melissa Hart. 

In what was essentially a home game for the Warriors at Newton North , Belmont failed to find the rhythm in the offensive side of the ball until midway through the third quarter when the Marauders cut a 15 point deficit to five, 38-33, with just under three minutes to play.

With Belmont knocking on the door, the Lions turned to its leader senior guard Veronica Burton who put the game on ice with a bucket, two free-throws off a steal and a pass that led to a free-throw on consecutive times up the court. 

“[Burton’s] quite a player, scoring half of their points but also involved one way or another in most of them,” Hart said about the Northwestern-bound all-star who tallied 21 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 3 steals against the Marauders. 

Not that the game didn’t start on the upswing with Belmont scoring baskets on its first drives of the game to lead 4-1. It was then Newton South – a Division 1 South powerhouse coming off a 16-4 record last year – took off on a 14-1 run to end the first quarter, 15-5.

“While [Newton South wasn’t] shooting the lights out, they got off an awful lot of shots, more than I would have liked to see,” said Hart. “I thought early in the second quarter, ‘they’re going to score 80 on us’.”

While the Marauders defense began to stem the bleeding in the second quarter, the offense continued finding it hard to take advantage of Belmont’s frontline height difference.

“Their guard defense just made it difficult for us to get the ball into the middle,” Hart said.

Hart placed junior guard Meghan Tan – who along with backcourt partner senior captain Carly Christfori played the entire 32 minutes of the game – to play man-on-man on Burton, but did not attempt to send other defenders to assist Tan on the Newton South star.  

“We couldn’t do everything we wanted to against Burton because the other kids on Newton South were really good,” said Hart, pointing to the four 3s Burton’s teammates hit including a pair from fellow senior Paige Ollivierre. “If we would have sent more players to [Burton], we would have been killed from the outside.” 

At the half, Newton South doubled up Belmont 26-13, who were hurt by what has been an almost historic bugaboo for the Marauders; not taking advantage of chances from the charity stripe. Belmont went 2 for 6 in the first half and a woeful 4 for 11 in the second half. 

But Belmont kept the game close enough so when Tan hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer, Belmont was only down by 9, 34-25, having outscored the Lions, 12-8, in a strong third quarter on both ends of the court. During the team’s last-minute push, Christofori scored 7 of her team-high 11 points in the first five minutes of the quarter as freshman Maiya Bergdorf (5 points including a three) hit a deuce and junior sixth man Jane Mahon (5 points) went 1-2 from the line.

While the Marauders did hold Newton South to just a pair of baskets in the final quarter, it was Burton who almost singlehandedly finished off Belmont, including going 5 for 8 from the free throw line in the final stanza.

“We didn’t play a perfect game. We have further to go than they do and to me that the good news,” said Hart. “I see us getting better throughout the season. It’s an early-season loss to a good team.”

Sports: Girls’ Hockey Rockets To 3-0 Start With Home Opener Win Vs. Lincoln-Sudbury

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Photo: Belmont heading to the goal.

Everyone knew coming into the season that Belmont High Boys’ Ice Hockey would be a team to be reckoned with in the Middlesex League. But if you’re looking for the squad playing at the “Skip” with the undefeated season, look no further than the Belmont High Girls’ team who has rocketed its way to a 3-0 start which included an all-around solid 3-0 home ice opener against Lincoln-Sudbury on Monday, Dec. 18.

Led by junior goalie Amanda Hanley who pitched her first shutout of the season, the Marauders scored with some unlikely sources demonstrating that the team’s potent scoring punch – 14 goals in the first three games – comes from more than just a single offensive line.

Second line defender senior Meghan Noone scored Belmont’s second goal on a rising wrister from just to the right of the left circle on the power play at 11:34 in the second period with the assist from defensive partner junior Jordan Lettiere. The no-frills defender who contributes each shift for Head Coach Ken Murphy showed her versatility and senior leadership by immediately taking a 2-minute roughing penalty after a Lincoln-Sudbury player took one-too-many liberties at Hanley’s expense. The violation was deemed by one observer as “a good roughing penalty to take” in defense of the team’s netminder. 

After a first period stalemate against a good Warriors team – L-S came into the game 1-0 after defeating Concord-Carlisle 1-0 in its season opener – Belmont struck early in the second as freshman phenom Emma O’Donovan (coming off a hat-trick against Burlington) scored in tight with assists from fellow frosh Del Bonin and senior center Annabel Banks.

Hanley kept the advantage turning back two point-blank shots at the doorstep with five minutes to go in the period before Belmont took advantage of a call against L-S a minute later.

Belmont put the game out-of-reach early in the third as O’Donovan netted her second from a pass by Noone who came as close as one can in high school hockey to a “Gordie Howe hat trick”.

Belmont opened the season squeaking by Wakefield by one, 5-4, then coming away with a 6-2 victory over Burlington as O’Donovan and linemate Emma Brodigan scored five goals with sophomore center Katie Guden hitting the back of the net.

The Marauders will be busy this week with away match on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at Wilmington, away again on Friday, Dec. 22 at Medford before coming home to the fridged confines of the “Skip” on Saturday, Dec. 23 vs. Stoneham.

 

From the Headlines: Belmont High Performing Arts To Stage ‘9 to 5’ As Spring Musical

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Photo: The poster for the show.

It is a show ripped from today’s headlines; The Belmont High School Performance Arts Company’s Spring Musical will be “9 to 5: The Musical” with shows performed from March 22 to 24, 2018. Based on the hit 1980 movie, ‘9 to 5’ features music written for the show by Dolly Parton.

“It is upbeat, funny, full of great singing & dance numbers and delivers a message about empowerment that is relevant and important today,” said Ezra Flam, Belmont High’s Theater Specialist and Performing Arts Company Producer/Director.

“The plot centers around three women in the workplace who get fed up with being harassed by their sexist boss and decide to stand up for themselves and turn the office into a place where fairness and compassion prevails. The educational opportunity to have timely and relevant conversations about these issues with so many students is very exciting,” said Flam.

“It’s also a very fun show, with songs that run the range in style from pop to rock to country to contemporary musical theater. It definitely has something for everyone,” he said.

And PAC fans can expect another 

“Auditions are happening now, and this is already shaping up to be another big show for the PAC, with over 80 kids coming out to audition,” said Flam.