The Quincy High boys hockey team got goals from four different players, but it was the Presidents’ work on the penalty kill that made the big difference in Monday night’s 4-1 victory over North Quincy in the opening round of the City of Quincy Christmas Tournament at Quincy Youth Arena.
Clinging to a 2-1 lead late in the second period, Quincy was whistled for three straight penalties. The Presidents killed them all off and then struck twice in the third to notch the win over the Raiders (1-3).
Quincy (3-1-1) will play Milton (2-2) in Wednesday’s 7:30 p.m. final. Milton beat King Philip, 6-2, in the opener of the first-round doubleheader.
“For us, the first and second were the two best periods we had played all year — the effort, the whole thing,” said North Quincy coach Matt Gibbons, whose team faces KP in Wednesday’s 5:30 p.m. consolation game. “I don’t know what the shot totals ended up being, but we were getting some chances. Then we get a power play and then we immediately get a 5-on-3, so we almost had a minute and 30 (seconds) on that and then during that we got another penalty. But we didn’t cash in.
“That swung the momentum big time. We had a couple of chances but we didn’t do a very good job on it.”
Quincy, which already has equaled its win total from the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season (3-10), pulled away in the third. Pat Walsh stuffed home a rebound of a Lukas LaMonica point shot to make it 3-1, and Cooper Hernon potted the final goal.
“We go into the (locker) room at 2-1 still feeling pretty good about ourselves,” Gibbons said of the second intermission. “We come out and had a couple of good shifts to start the third and then they get a shot on net and a rebound (goal) and you could tell — the shoulders started slumping. The guys (got deflated). Quincy kind of took it to us a little bit after that.”
Quincy jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from senior captains Joe Hennessy (first period) and Zach Galligan (second period) before James Rogers put NQ on the board in the second.
This was Quincy’s first win over NQ in this tournament since Dec. 26, 2018. North Quincy won the first-round matchup in a shootout in 2019, and the tournament was not staged last winter due to COVID. The teams still played twice in 2020-21 with NQ winning by a 4-1 score each time.
Despite the loss, Gibbons was glad to see the tournament back up and running.Â
“It was great,” Gibbons said. “The place was packed. It was great for the kids. After the year they had last year, to feel the buzz around the rink (was fun). My kid played earlier in the day (at QYA); he’s 10. I was at the rink earlier and everyone was talking about the (varsity) game. That was a nice feeling to have the kids back and the crowd chanting.”
Milton 6, King Philip 2: In the early game, Declan Walsh and Jimmy Fallon each had two goals and two assists for the Wildcats. Owen Radley (goal) and Jack Vaughan (goal, assist) also starred, and senior goalie Ryan Dexter made 23 saves.
In other high school action on Monday:
BOYS HOCKEY
Abington 2, Rockland 1: Junior goalie Spencer Merrick made 35 saves as the Green Wave (3-1) edged the Bulldogs (2-2) in the first round of the Cashman Tournament at Rockland Ice Rink. Jake Quinn and Aidan Powers had the goals for Abington, which will play Silver Lake in Wednesday’s final.
Silver Lake 2, Whitman-Hanson 1: Aiden Dunphy scored the tying goal in the third period, and Markie Kelleher notched the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining for the Lakers (3-1) in the first round of the Cashman Tournament. Goalie Peter Bond made 37 saves for Silver Lake, which faces Abington in Wednesday’s final. Senior Chris Ross scored for Whitman-Hanson (1-3).
Archbishop Williams 2, Natick 1: Rob Cibotti, of Pembroke, scored one goal and set up Sean Murphy (Quincy) for the other as the Bishops (2-1-1) won their first-round game at the Bridgewater-Raynham Holiday Tournament. Williams will face B-RÂ in Wednesday’s championship game at Bridgewater Ice Arena.
Bridgewater-Raynham 4, Barnstable 4: Although it officially ended in a tie, B-RÂ (1-4-1) won a shootout to advance to Wednesday’s championship game of its own holiday tournament.
Cohasset/Hull 6, Blue Hills 1: Matt Mahoney had a hat trick, and Finn Carragher and Robbie Casagrande also scored for Cohasset/Hull (3-1), which has outscored opponents 21-3 during its three-game win streak.
Ashland 5, Olives Ames 1: Sean Kearns scored for OA (1-2) in the loss, and goalie Brandon Burke had a strong game.
Nashoba 6, Stoughton/Brockton 2: Sean Farley and Charlie Caputo scored for Stoughton/Brockton in the loss. Cooper Lehmann also had a strong game.
Nauset 4, Plymouth South 2: The Panthers (0-4) lost on the road.
GIRLS HOCKEY
Notre Dame Academy 1, Duxbury 1: The game goes down as a tie, but NDA (1-0-1) won a shootout over the Green Dragons (4-0-1) to advance in the Tenney Cup at The Bog in Kingston.
Hingham 2, Braintree 1: The Harborwomen (3-1) edged the Wamps (3-1) in the Tenney Cup at The Bog in Kingston.
BOYS BASKETBALL
North Quincy 75, Weymouth 53: Sophomore captain Daithi Quinn had 30 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals as the Raiders (3-1) beat the Wildcats in the opening round of the Founders Holiday Classic in Braintree. Junior guards Nate Caldwell (17 points, 3 steals) and Zach Taylor (16 points, 6 rebounds) also starred for NQ, which plays Braintree in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. final. Weymouth was led by senior forward Joey Gannon (16 points) and sophomore guard Gil Dolan (14 points). The Wildcats will play Quincy in Wednesday’s 5 p.m. consolation game.
Braintree 72, Quincy 38: Terry Elie scored 13 points and Jordan Gorham added 10 as the Wamps advanced to the final of their own tournament. Braintree will host North Quincy on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Quincy plays Weymouth in the consolation game at 5.
Whitman-Hanson 58, Haines City (Florida) 57: Junior Cole Champignie scored 15 points, and seniors Ryan Vallancourt (13 points) and Malcolm Alcorn Crowder (10 points) also had big games as Whitman Hanson (3-1) won its opening-round game in the Avon Park tournament in central Florida. Senior Dylan Olson hit a key 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Carver 54, Cardinal Spellman 46: Seniors Abby Johnson (17 points, 11 rebounds, 8 steals) and Havannah Pina (14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals) starred as the Crusaders (4-1) rallied from a double-digit deficit in the first half to beat the Cardinals on the road. Freshmen Julia Grimes (10 points, 18 rebounds) and Sarah Stairs (10 points, 4 steals) also had big games.
Cohasset 53, Plymouth South 26: The host Skippers advanced to Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. final of the Sandwich Holiday Tournament. Cohasset will play the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between Abington and Sandwich.
Rockland 48, Masconomet 45: Julia Elie scored 19 points, and Sydney Blaney added 13 (10 in the fourth quarter) as the Bulldogs won a first-round game at the Bishop Fenwick Holiday Tournament.
GIRLS INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Boston Holiday Challenge: Salma Boukhtam of Quincy/North Quincy was fourth overall in the 600 meters in 1:42.37 at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Bridget Shaw (Norwell) was eighth in the same event in 1:43.88. In other local highlights: Aly Bassett (West Bridgewater) and Annalisa Marckmann (Stoughton) finished seventh (:9.33) and eighth (:9.69), respectively, in the 55m hurdles; Isabel Wheeler (Middleboro) was seventh in the pentathlon (2,149 points); the Stoughton 4x400m relay team of Sivannah Marcy, Samantha Tran, Julie Richardson and Shayla Ford was fifth in 4:27.77; and the Braintree 4x800m relay team of Catherine McPhee, Grace Murray, Julianne Cavanaugh and Grace Baldwin was ninth in 10:52.65.
Walpole 51, Weymouth 49: Last Thursday, the Wildcats suffered a narrow loss but got individual wins from: Meg Connolly (1,000m, 3:16);Â Alison Glavin (2-mile, 12:14); Sophia Neville (long jump, 15-4); Kaleigh West (shot put, 26-9); Gracie Richard (600m, 1:44); and Kiy’aa Clark (55m hurdles, :9.81). Also Emma Doran was second in the 1,000m in 3:17, and Shea Roche was second in the 2-mile in 12:15.
Notre Dame Academy 45, Boston Latin 41: Last Thursday, NDA’s Shaelyn Taylor won the 55m hurdles and long jump and ran on the first-place 4x200m relay team with Julia Bertarelli, Payton Mahery and Lindsay Eklund. Other winners for NDA were: Paige Joyce (mile); Lauren Joyce (2-mile); Chloe Doherty (300m); Maria Maximilen (shot put); and Reilly Walsh (600m).
BOYS INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Boston Holiday Challenge: Hatim Boukhtam of Quincy/North Quincy was second overall in the 600 meters in 1:24.14 at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Michael Neitlich (Middleboro) was sixth in 1:25.87, and Brockton’s Mamadu Tchamo was 10th in 1:26.95.Â
Also for Brockton: Anthony Canuto was fifth in the 300m (:37.34); Malachi Johnson was fourth in the long jump (20-3.5); Christensen Paul was 10th in the long jump (19-0.25); the Boxers’ 4x200m relay team of Jason Wonodi, Alan Jordonne, Canuto and Jamar Gross was ninth in 1:36.29; and the 4x400m relay team of Tchamo, Johnson, Christopher Brice and Malachi McClean was ninth in 3:48.02.
In other local highlights: Braintree’s Greyson Prado was third in the long jump (20-6.25); Hanover’s Ian Solberg was fifth in the high jump (6-1); Hanover’s Pierce Seigne was sixth in the 1,000m (2:43.35); Middleboro’s Nathan Donahue (2,292 points) and Charles Montross (2,107) finished 7-8 in the pentathlon; Duxbury’s 4x200m relay team of Mitchell Tackitt, Matthew Ciesieski, Gavin Thomas and Dennis Lee was seventh in 1:35.87; and Middleboro’s Noah DeGrazia was 10th in the 1,000m (2:45.68).
GIRLS SWIMMING/DIVING
Bridgewater Raynham 91, Norton 88: Last Thursday, junior Jessie McNeil won the 200 IM and 500 freestyle, qualifying for Division 1 states in both events for the Trojans (2-0). The 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay team of Kiley George, Jessie McNeil, Lily Martin and Eva Chaves also won, qualifying for states as well. Other winners for B-R included Lily Martin in the 50 free (qualifying for South Sectionals), Emma Lavigne in diving, and Kiley George in the 100 backstroke.Â
