St. Mary’s High School skiers Jack Masciadrelli, right, and Hayden Lussier, left, display their trophies after a successful postseason run in 2019. The Saints are off to another strong start in 2020. (File Photo)
CHARLEMONT – The St. Mary’s High School boys ski team made their presence known in the first Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference race of the 2019 high school ski season Tuesday night.
Four skiers from St. Mary’s finished in the top 11 to seal a team victory, not only in the division, but also overall, making them the fastest team on the hill at Berkshire East.
St. Mary’s senior Jack Masciadrelli led the way with a great run that put him on the podium as he finished first in the division and tied for second overall with a 34.67 run.
Amherst’s Nico Christakos won the boys race in 34.17. Hampshire’s Edward Przyblya tied Masciadrelli. Gateway’s Zach Ames placed fourth (34.98).
“(Jack) attacked the upper part of the course and was smart with his line on the steep,” St. Mary’s head ski coach Andy Lussier said.
Manny Umana Kimura had his best finish yet (4th division, 7th overall) with a great run (36.44) from out of the fourth seed. Hayden Lussier (6th division, 10th overall) and Colin Freeman (7th division, 11th overall) rounded out the St. Mary’s team finish with solid runs of 37.27 and 37.88, respectively, thanks to some strong skiing.
“Our boys were strong tonight with some solid skiing and good tactics,” coach Lussier said. “It’s great to start off with a win.”
Southwick’s Aiden Mapel (12th overall, 38.76) and Westfield’s Billy Fouche (26th, 45.86) led their respective teams. Three Bombers boys crossed the finish line.
St. Mary’s junior Chloe Lussier led the girls ski team with a fifth place division finish, 8th overall (26.92).
“She’s coming back very well from her injury last February and has been working hard to get back into form,” coach Lussier said.
St. Mary’s girls team has grown to include nine skiers this season. Saints’ seventh grader Eliana Umana Kimura finished 13th in the division, 30th overall in her first PVIAC race.
“She will be one to watch this season and in seasons to come,” coach Lussier said regarding his seventh grader. “We had a great start and it’s nice to have some numbers on both the girls and boys teams.”
Also on the slopes Tuesday, all four Westfield girls skiers completed the race for a team time with Emma Renaudette (15th overall, 28.14) leading the way.
“We have two new racers, very small teams,” said longtime Westfield High School ski coach Monique Piotte. “Way different than 21 years ago, but just as proud.”
Grace Brockbank paced Southwick with a 40th place finish (32.80).
BOYS BASKETBALL
Derrien grants Tigers victory
Westfield Technical Academy 53, Gateway 26
Derrien Wilson Grant delivered a solid second half of basketball for Westfield Technical Academy, scoring 14 of his 19 points all in the last half of the game Tuesday night.
Tigers’ Carter Slack and Emil Sevostyanov had a great day on the boards.
GIRLS ICE HOCKEY
Lancers net third straight 3-3 tie
Longmeadow-Westfield 3, Winthrop 3
Madison Fox, Ashley Barron and Jordan Kowalski scored one goal apiece in the Longmeadow-Westfield’s third straight 3-3 tie. Kowalski, Madison Manser, Sydney Tenczar, and Barron assisted.
Longmeadow-Westfield goalie Mackenzie Rae collected 23 saves.
Wed., Jan. 8
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Flaherty scores as Bombers return to winning ways
Westfield 55, Mount Greylock 14
Westfield broke out of a two-game slide in a big, big way. The Bombers outscored Mount Greylock by a combined score of 35-5 in the second and third quarters to bounce back from a mini slump Wednesday night.
Westfield, which opened the season 5-0, improved to 6-2.
“We kind of exploded,” said Westfield girls basketball head coach Dylan Willey, whose Bombers turned to a full-court press in the second quarter to turn the tables on the opposition.
“Claire Griffiths set the tone, covering their top scorer Madi Ross,” coach Willey said. “Claire gave us a spark with an energy that carried over to (Westfield guard) Olivia Hadla.”
Hadla scored 13 points in the second quarter before going on to finish with a game-high 19 points.
“They were feeding off each other,” Willey said.
Chandler Pedolzky reached double-digits in the scoring column for Westfield, finishing with 11 points. Bombers’ Sam Kaubris had eight, six of which came in the second half.
Katelyn Flaherty came off the bench to score her first varsity points (4) for Westfield. The Bombers next host Chicopee Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
