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.

New Belmont High School Debt Vote Set For Nov. 6 After Meeting OKs Design, 7-12 School

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Photo: Belmont High School Building Committee Chair William Lovallo.

The future of a new Belmont High School will be decided on Tuesday, Nov. 6 when residents vote whether to authorize a debt exclusion for more than $200 million for a new high school, according to the head of the committee shepherding the project from concept to completion. 

“We are looking at the November general election, definitely,” said Belmont High School Building Committee Chair William Lovallo, who made the announcement after the Belmont High School project crossed a significant milestone when the Belmont School Committee unanimously approved the recommendation of School Superintendent John Plehan to house 7th through 12th grades in the new school.

The School Committee’s action took place before members of the Belmont High School Building Committee, the Board of Selectmen, the design and project management teams and 85 residents who crammed into the Wellington Elementary School’s cafeteria on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

With Belmont’s student enrollment continuing to skyrocket – it is expected to increase district-wide by 375 students between now and the 2024-2025 school year – Phelan said the only grade option that will allow the school district to meet its educational vision while being financially viable while adding space required to house the K-12 pupil population is to create a 7th to 12th grade high school.

The presentation, which included data Phelan has shown to the committee and the public for the past year highlighted the disadvantages the district would face by selecting another configuration. For instance, a 9-12 high school would require the town to finance and build a new elementary school and expensive renovations in an 8-12 school. 

“This is a really exciting time, it’s also a very anxious time to change your configuration,” said Phelan as the high school transforms from a 9-12 traditional model into essentially two sections: a lower high school for grades 7 to 9 and an upper school for 10-12. 

“But as long as we do a good job within our schools, the rest will take care of itself,” said Phelan. 

Immediately after the vote, the building committee selected the “bow tie” design scheme (known as C.4.2) from four approaches that survived a year-long process. See all of the designs here. 

While the building committee selected its “favorite” style, the design phase is at its beginning stage, according to representatives from the architectural firm commissioned to create the new school.

“We are not by any means done at this point. We will continue our work together,” said Brooke Trivas, principal and project lead at the firm Perkins+Will, a notion reiterated by Owner’s Project Manager Thomas Gatzunis.

With grade configuration and design in hand, the project – easily the largest construction project in Belmont’s 159-year history – will quickly gather steam in the creation of a schematic diagram as well as a clearer picture of how much it will cost. Last week, an initial rough estimate of the same design approved by the building committee came in at approximately $310 million.

According to Lovallo, the debt exclusion vote will be one of two watershed events the project will face this year. The second is the production of “a large document” known as the Project Funding Agreement. The PFA is the primary contract the MSBA enters into with districts whose school projects have been approved to receive reimbursement grants. 

The PFA also governs the relationship between the district and the MSBA during the school building process from design through construction and completion of the project and will determine how much the Massachusetts School Building Committee will reimburse the town in construction costs.

“Our work will be intense until July as we will produce the PFA for the MSBA and that will bind us with the state sometime in August,” said Lovallo, who said an independent group of residents would work gathering support for the debt exclusion.

Tuesday’s meeting was mainly a reiteration of the information and data gathered and formulated from a year of public meetings and other forums. Lovallo began the session with a detailed, step-by-step retelling of how the cost of the project was determined, the amount that will be reimbursed by the state, and how the project will impact residential taxes.

One week before, the committee announced the initial rough estimate for a new high school – mostly new construction with minor renovation – would cost approximately $310 million with Belmont residents picking up $231 million after the state’s reimbursement. 

Lovallo stressed was it was “not a wise choice” to make direct cost comparisons between Belmont and other high school projects as factors as diverse as enrollment, the sum of the renovations, removing hazardous material and abatement expenses and how much it would cost to phase the building onto the site while students are being taught there.

In addition, the project cost during the feasibility study stage is more an educated estimate than firm figures, calculated using a formula incorporating the building’s total square footage and not the actual cost of installed building’s mechanical systems (HVAC operations, for example) or the complexity of constructing science labs and other types of construction spaces.

With the new 7-12 school topping 422,700 sq.-ft., “[the high school] will have a large project cost,” said Lovallo. But a big price tag does not mean the building is riddled with extravagances. “I can say to those that question if we are building an opulent building, the answer is no.”

“The Building Committee continues to focus on cost-effective solutions to remain fiscally responsible and not just in capital costs but also in operating costs,” he said.

Lovallo said the “Belmont” cost for the building would be impacted by how much the Mass School Building Authority will provide for reimbursement. Currently, the state is looking to chip in 36.89 percent of “eligible” costs, a significant portion which is made up of a cap on construction costs of $326 per square foot, anything above that amount is Belmont’s to pay. There are opportunities for the reimbursement rate to increase with incentive points up for demonstrating, for instance, a high efficiency designed building, retaining a portion of the existing school and showing good capital maintenance practices.

Lovallo concluded saying the estimated $310 million cost is “within about 5 to 10 percent accuracy” of the final price tag so a 10 percent reduction in the cost of the new school would see the last price tag fall to approximately $280 million with Belmont’s bill knocked down to the low $200 million. 

“I am optimistic that … we will find ways to reduce the project cost from the numbers we have been discussing,” he said.

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.