Schools

Boosters Holiday Tourney Ends: Boys Beat Mt. Hope; Girls Drop First Game

Barrington High School's boys ran up an early lead to coast to a 59-45 win; girls got overwhelmed in the first half by Holy Name and lost, 58-40.

The fourth annual Barrington Boosters Holiday Basketball Tournament ended Thursday night with the Barrington boys capping off the two-day event with a win over Mt. Hope but the girls dropping their first game of the year to one of the top teams in Massachusetts. See the separate stories.

Barrington boys dump Mt. Hope, 59-45

The Barrington High School boys jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half and then coasted to a 59-45 win over Mt. Hope in what turned into a hard-fought game Thursday night.

The Eagles were up 19-9 about halfway through the first half but then saw the Huskies hang tough and actually slice the lead to 9 points at the half, 31-22. But a 12-3 run to start the second half boosted the lead to 18 points with about 9 minutes to play in the game, effectively ending it.

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Mt. Hope scrapped and clawed the rest of the game, though, and actually outscored the Eagles over the final 9 minutes as both benches were cleared.

“We worked hard,” said Huskies head coach Mike Topazio, “and we hung in there with two of our starters out and three of our top seven players.”

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The Huskies’ lineup lacked the height to match up with Barrington, he said.

“You can only do so much without size out there,” he said.

Topazio got good shooting performances from two of his guards to help make up for the lack of height. Senior Michael Head scored 17 points, including three 3-point field goals, and sophomore Matt Scott added 12 points, including two 3-pointers.

Barrington had too many weapons and never was threatened despite Mt. Hope's scrappy play. Head coach Patrick Sullivan said: “It was a good game. Defensively we played sound. We contested most of their shots. They played well.”

“We did what we had to do to win,” Sullivan said. “We did everything we wanted to do.”

That included cutting down on turnovers, which doomed the Eagles against Holy Name Central Catholic in their first game in the tourney.

Ben Engvall led the Eagles in scoring again with 18 points, including two 3-pointers. He got plenty of help from freshman point guard Corey Daugherty, who scored 12 points; and sophomore center Nick Raymond, who chipped in 11, specially in the early going.

Engvall and Head were named to the all-tournament team after the game.

Barrington girls fall to Holy Name, 58-40

It was a game of two halves Thursday night for the Barrington High School girls’ basketball team. The poorly played first half doomed the girls to their first loss of the year in the Barrington Boosters Holiday Basketball Tournament.

Undefeated Holy Name Central Catholic of Worcester swarmed all over the Eagle girls in the first half to open up a 33-13 margin at the break. It was not pretty.

The Eagles scrapped their way back into the game in the second half, though. They cut the lead to 12 at 42-30 with about 8 minutes to go. But it was far from enough, and Holy Name rolled to a 58-40 win.

“I think we played tentative at the start,” said head coach Stephen Lenz. “We weren’t physical. We missed free throws. We missed layups.”

“You can’t play a top 20 team in Massachusetts and play the way we did in the first half and expect to win,” Lenz said.

The girls never gave up, though, and actually outscored Holy Name in the second half.

“The second half showed how we can play,” said Lenz.

Junior guard Caitlyn Nolan shook off a poor shooting first half to come back in the second half and spark the Barrington comeback. She scored 21 points overall, including four 3-pointers in the second half.

Sophomore forward Maura Kelty added 8 points but dropped in only two field goals. Caroline Coleman chipped in with 6 points.

Holy Name was led by senior center Bianca Langford, also with 21 points. One teammate added 8 points, two added 7 apiece, a third added 6 points.

Nolan and Langford were named to the all-tournament team after the game.


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