After press time:
North Reading falls to Lynnfield 60-36 (Jan. 3)
North Reading falls to Newburyport 66-48 (Jan. 5)
North Reading defeats Pentucket 67-55 (Jan. 12)
Published January 4, 2024
WINTHROP — The NRHS boys’ basketball team earned their first win of the season at the Daniel Green Memorial Tournament in Winthrop on Dec. 28. After falling to Greater Lawrence 59-47 on Dec. 27, the Hornets bounced back with a 53-48 victory over Winthrop in the consolation round, improving to 1-3 on the season.
Against Greater Lawrence, North Reading raced out to a 17-3 first quarter lead behind balanced efforts from guards Jason Berry and Parker Griffin but the Reggies turned the tide in the 2nd quarter, limiting the Hornets to just 4 points while exploding for 19 to take a 23-21 lead into halftime.
North Reading stuck with Greater Lawrence throughout but some strong shooting from the Reggies was the difference as they finished with 13 3-pointers while the Hornets hit only one. Berry finished with 17 points in the game.
The Hornets once again raced out to a big lead the next day against the Vikings behind hot shooting from Berry and guard Matt Myette. Sophomore forward Gavin Wesley came off the bench to give NR a spark, hitting 2 3’s and helping the Hornets hold a 19-10 lead after one quarter.
North Reading held the lead for the whole game but could never put Winthrop away as the Falcons stuck around.
“We got big efforts from Eli Nikoloupolos, who has been playing very well for us, and CJ Villaroel inside,” said head coach Joe Casey. “CJ really gave us a spark off the bench we got into foul trouble in the 3rd, scoring 6 of his season-high 10 points in that quarter.”
The Hornets led 40-32 going into the 4th. Winthrop closed the gap to 44-40 but big hoops from Villaroel and two corner 3’s from Berry and Myette ended the Viking threat as the locals came away with a hard-fought victory.
Myette led the way with 14 points.
Berry was named to the Daniel Green Memorial All-Tournament Team.
“We are getting better and are looking to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” said Casey. “We are working on playing with more consistency but our effort has been very good.”
The Hornets will look to keep it going as they get back into CAL play. They traveled to Lynnfield on Wednesday after press time and will host Newburyport on Friday night at 7 p.m.