Plympton-Halifax-Kingston Express

You are here: Home / Archives for Thomas Joyce

Silver Lake makes school history at D3 relays

By

The school record for long jump at Silver Lake now belongs to a new athlete.

Max Shirikjian, a member of the Lakers boys’ indoor track and field team got into the school’s record book earlier this month in the long jump. He set a school record in the event in the Division 3 Indoor Relays at the Reggie Lewis Center. His jump was 21 feet and six inches. In the relay events, teams use their top three to four athletes, so his effort along with Stephen Gallagher and John McCarthy helped the Lakers place third in the event.

Overall, the Lakers placed 11th on the day–and although Shirikjian’s effort led the way, the team had many other strong performances that helped them to a strong day. The Lakers had a particularly strong performance in the sprint medley relay, finishing sixth overall in the event. This one featured Shirkijian as well as Will d’Entremont, Chris Tilton and Ryan Tierney. Combined, they ran a 3:52.57 in the event

That performance was one of three events in which the Lakers earned a sixth-place finish. The shuttle dash was another place where the Lakers finished this high. Here, Shirikjian worked with Kyle Keogh, Kevin Donahue and Ryan Tierney and the four of them combined for a 28.50-second run. The other event where the Lakers earned a sixth-place finish was also a sprinting event. This came in the 4×50-meter relay. Shirikjian did not compete in this event. Instead, the Lakers foursome consisted of John McCarthy, Brian Sherry, Nick Ierardi and Pat McCarthy.

North Attleboro was the winner of the event; they came away with 49 points on the day. Teams ahead of Silver Lake included: Pembroke, Hingham, Bishop Feehan, Tewksbury Memorial, Marblehead, Duxbury, Stoughton, Shepherd Hill-Dudley and Walpole.

Overall though, it was a strong showing for the Lakers since they performed better than most of the teams who attended the event.

Girls’ basketball rolling to tournament spot

By

The Silver Lake High girls’ basketball team is not only in the hunt for a playoff spot, but they could end up being one of the higher seeds in their respective bracket if they keep excelling like they have this season.

To start the week, the Lakers had a robust 8-3 record as one of the top teams on the South Shore. Offensively, they have continued to play well, regularly scoring more than 50 points per contest.

A major reason for that is they are an experienced team. Last season, they only had four players who had played varsity basketball prior to the season. This gave many players on the team extensive varsity experience–and they capitalized on the situation.

Now, the Lakers have six seniors listed on their roster: Alex Bachelder, Annabelle Boudreau, Sydney Kehoe, Emily Hapgood, Allie Crawford and Alyssa Nelson.

Crawford has been strong on both sides of the ball for the Lakers thus far and offensively, Kehoe, Nelson, Boudreau and sophomore Holly Reeder-Morning are a few of the many players who have shown prowess for the Lakers so far this season.

The Lakers have also played tough defense this season.

An example of this would be their 43-34 win over the Duxbury Dragons on Friday, Jan. 19.

So far, the Lakers have been just about as good at home (4-1) as they have been on the road (4-2). They have also done a nice job handling their tough Patriot League schedule (5-3 in league play) which features the likes of Duxbury, Whitman-Hanson, Quincy and Hingham, among others.

Some early momentum may be a part of the season why the Lakers have enjoyed this early success. Three of their first four games were non-league matchups and they won all of those three games.

The Lakers next game is this Friday, Jan. 26, at 6:30 p.m. when they will face the Whitman-Hanson Panthers on the road.

Boys Hockey falls to Whitman-Hanson

By

For most of the game, the Silver Lake high boys’ hockey team hung right in there.

Ultimately, however, their opponent surged late in the game and the Lakers (3-4-1) fell to the Whitman-Hanson Panthers (5-3-1) by a 3-1 score at Hobomock Ice Arena on Wednesday, January 10.

The Panthers had an early edge in the first period, spending most of their time on offense. They outshot the Lakers 6-4 in that span but were unable to score a goal as Alden Maguire played well in net. Defenseman Nick Iarossi had a great shot block with five seconds left in the period, preventing what could have been a goal.

In the second period, the Lakers would come out strong offensively. Defenseman Gregory Wolff netted the first goal of the game to put the Lakers up 1-0 less than two minutes into the period. He found the top right shelf and took his shot from around the blue line. Defenseman Liam Kelleher had the assist on the goal.

The Panthers were able to get some offensive momentum going as the game wore on. They tied the game up at one apiece with 6:17 left in the second period with a hard slapshot from inside the left faceoff circle. In the third period, they were able to put the game away.

The Lakers got outshot 10-3 in the third period and the Panthers took advantage of that. They scored goals with 5:49 remaining and 3:33 remaining to put the game away.

In the final couple minutes of the game, the Lakers were down a man because of penalties, so they faced long odds of making a comeback.

David Marani, Alexander Heffernan and Bobby Guilford comprised the Lakers first line of forwards in the game; John Evans and Nicholas Iarossi were their first defensive pairing.

The Lakers next game is this Saturday, Jan. 20 at Hobomock Ice Arena against Hanover (3:10 p.m. start time).

SL Boys Basketball Falls to Sandwich

By

The Silver Lake High basketball team got off to a great start to their first bout over break. Unfortunately for them, their opponent found life as the contest went on.

Although the Lakers (2-3) were able to control the first few minutes of their bout against the Sandwich Blue Knights on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at home, they fell out of place after four quarters and lost, 55-50.

The Lakers played exceptionally well at the start of the contest, going on a 10-2 run. From there, Josh Gilbert and Matthew Bettle had steals on each of the Blue Knights next possessions, giving the Lakers the ball back.

After that, the Blue Knights clawed back. They dropped two baskets, but Dan Coffey drained a 3-pointer with about 55 seconds left in the first quarter to put the Lakers up 13-6. Before the quarter ended, Sandwich got two more baskets. 

Early in the second quarter, Sandwich cut the Lakers lead to two points, 15-13, so Tyler Duggan hit a 3-pointer and shortly after, Diamani Williams got a steal to prevent the Blue Knights from tying the game at 18. At halftime, the Lakers led, 24-20.

Shortly into the second half, Duggan had another 3-pointer to put the Lakers up 29-22. Overall, the quarter was a high-scoring affair, and for awhile, the Blue Knights dominated. They outscored the Lakers, 17-8 for about half the quarter and took a 39-37 lead. Coffey gave the Lakers a 40-39 lead headed into the fourth quarter by sinking a trey.

The game was back-and-forth in the third quarter and with 3:30 remaining, the game was tied at 47 apiece. From there, however, Sandwich played tough defense for the rest of the contest and took a 51-47 lead with 2:21 left in the game. Although the Lakers would find the basket again, they were unable to match the Blue Knights who outscored them 8-3 in the second half of the fourth quarter.

The Lakers next game is this Friday, Jan. 5, 6:30 p.m., at home against Quincy.

Halifax’ Shaughnessy steering ship for Mitchell College soccer

By

Since she was a star athlete in New England, it makes sense that Halifax native Chelsea Shaughnessy would be working in sports now that her playing days are over.

This is the case with Shaughnessy, a Halifax native who graduated from Silver Lake in 2008. This past fall, she wrapped up her third season as the women’s soccer coach at Mitchell College, a Division 3 program in New London, CT. 

The Mitchell College Mariners went 2-10-1 this past fall in what was more of a rebuilding season. The team only had three seniors on its roster, an indication that they are working their way back up. After all, Shaughnessy has already enjoyed some success in her tenure coaching the team.

In her first season as the Mariners head coach, Shaughnessy helped the team to a New England Collegiate Conference Championship appearance. A season later, her Mariners also made an appearance in the conference tournament.

After graduating college in 2012 with a degree in sports management, Shaughnessy gained coaching experience as an assistant at Johnson and Wales University for three seasons.

During her own athletics career, Shaughnessy was a standout. Not only did she excel as a multi-sport athlete at Silver Lake, playing soccer, basketball and softball, but she also achieved that ultra-rare feat at the next level during her tenure at Nichols College. The big difference in college, however, is that she picked up lacrosse as her spring sport.

During her Lakers career, Shaughnessy was recognized as an All-Scholastic athlete by the Brockton Enterprise and was named a Patriot League All-Star in multiple sports. In college, she was a three-time all-conference player in soccer. In lacrosse, she scored 55 goals in three seasons and in basketball she Nichols’ single-season record for steals (115) during the 2011-2012 season.

Since she was a standout athlete on multiple playing surfaces during her playing career, it should come as no surprise that she also serves as an assistant coach for Mitchell College’s women’s lacrosse team. Plus, she also coached basketball and lacrosse during her tenure at JWU. That said, Shaughnessy has used her success as an athlete to help others to also be the best player they are capable of being.

Silver Lake wrestling team in good position to compete

By

With a young team and full lineup, the Silver Lake wrestling team is in a good position to compete in the Patriot League this season.

Last year was a bit of a rebuilding year for the Lakers, who won nine matchups. As a team who is building experience, the Lakers will likely improve as time goes on as well.

The Lakers lost a pair of their top wrestlers from last season: Alec Snell (145) and Grant Laws (285), both of whom competed at states last season. Snell graduated and Laws transferred to Xaverian. Regardless, the Lakers still have plenty of talent in their program and are in the fortunate position of not having to forfeit any weight classes.

One of the Lakers’ top wrestlers this season is their 120-pounder, Daniel Walsh, who is only a junior. Last season, he came in fifth at sectionals in the 113-pound bracket. Walsh got off to an 8-0 start in the team’s first five meets. Plus, senior Gavin Hamilton had more than 20 wins last season.  He placed fourth at sectionals and is the team’s 182-pound wrestler. In the team’s quad meet against Brockton, Bristol-Plymouth/Coyle and Cassidy and Dighton Rehoboth, Hamilton was the only Laker to win all three of his matches.

In terms of underclassmen, the Lakers have many valuable contributors. Sophomores Pat Ganley (126) and Will Barkowski (152) and freshmen Scott Snell (106) and Kyle Sipullo (195) have emerged as staples in the varsity lineup. Plus, sophomore Kyler Baur (106) placed fourth at the Devin Ness Memorial Tournament, the first tournament of the season. Geoffrey Cook also got his first varsity win in the team’s last quad meet.

Through eight matches, the Lakers are 2-6 this season.
The Lakers next head-to-head meet is this Wednesday, Jan. 10 against and at Plymouth North High School on the road, 7 p.m. start time.

Gymnastics co-op shows its ability

By

Two words that come to mind when describing the Silver Lake/Pembroke High gymnastics co-op are young and talented.

The co-op is coming off a 6-2 season in which they captured a Patriot League title and despite that success, the team also had plenty of talent coming back and more incoming talent, adding to what was already a successful program.

On Tuesday, Dec. 19, the co-op was not even at full strength but showed what it is capable of achieving. They competed in a quad meet against Whitman-Hanson, Marshfield and Hingham at the Massachusetts Gymnastics center in Pembroke. Scoring 123.3, the co-op finished second among the four teams and finished the day at 2-1 despite not fielding their entire lineup.

“I think we did really well overall for our second meet,” Silver Lake/Pembroke head coach Cristy Schimmel said. “It was much-improved from our first meet even though we had a few girls out.”

The co-op’s top performances came in the vault and floor exercises. Tori Newton (8.8 vault), Calliste Brookshire (8.6 vault), Ciara Dalrymple (8.1 vault), Sara d’Entremont (8.0 floor) and Maize Condon (8.1 floor) were among the team’s top performers.

One of the team’s top athletes, junior Morgan Hackett, was out with a thumb injury while one of the team’s talented underclassmen, Katie Kemp, got off to a late start to the season, so she was not eligible to compete just yet.

Another major asset the team has this season is a great deal of depth.

“We have some level eights, nines and tens which is great, Schimmel said. “A lot of them practice year-round here in Pembroke too which helps a lot.”

The co-op’s next meet is next Friday, Jan. 5, against Cohasset at the Mass Gymnastics C.

SL Girls Basketball wins league opener

By

It would be hard to imagine a more rewarding first Patriot League game of the season for the Silver Lake High girls’ basketball team.

In their first Patriot League matchup on Tuesday, Dec. 11, they managed to beat the Pembroke Titans, 51-49, on the road. With the win, the Lakers improved to 2-0.

Pembroke struggled to hit their shots at times, giving the Lakers a good opportunity to take the game from them. In the last two minutes of it, they did just that.

Senior guard Annabelle Boudreau hit a 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining in the contest to give the Lakers a 50-49 lead. From there, the Lakers were able to play stout defense, preventing the Titans from going ahead before Allie Crawford extended the lead. She hit a free-throw with about 30 seconds left in the game, putting her team up by a full basket.

After that, Pembroke had a couple chances to tie the game or take the lead, but none of them were successful. Their final shot–from 2-point range–bounced off the glass as time expired.

Albeit the Lakers did fall behind in the fourth quarter, they were in the lead for much of the contest. They were up by six, 13-7, at the end of the first quarter. They also went into halftime up by four points, 25-21. At their peak, they were up 41-34 at the end of the fourth quarter, but Pembroke surged for the first six minutes of the final quarter. They took a 49-47 lead on a pair of free throws with 2:40 remaining.

Sydney Kehoe scored a team-high 16 points for the Lakers while Allie Crawford (11 points) and Holly Reeder-Morning (10 points) also shot well for the team in the win.

The Lakers next game is next Thursday, Dec. 28 against the Brookline Warriors at home (12:30 p.m. start time).

SL Boys’ Basketball falls to WH

By

The Silver Lake High boys’ basketball team played a highly competitive bout against one of the top teams on the South Shore, but the first few minutes of the contest made all of the difference.

The Lakers fell to Whitman-Hanson on the road last Friday night, 70-58, after falling behind by double digits in the first five minutes of the game.

In the first quarter, the Lakers fell behind as the Panthers were sharp from field goal range. The Panthers scored 14 of the game’s first 15 points. The Lakers only score in that span was a free throw from junior Josh Gilbert. After that, however, the Lakers offense woke up and was highly competitive for the rest of the first half. Still, at the end of it, they trailed 39-22.

The Lakers got off to a strong start in the second half. Tyler Duggan sank a 3-pointer and Cam Danahy turned on a pair of free throws, putting the Lakers on a 5-0 run. After that, both sides were even in the third quarter, so the Lakers trailed 57-42 at the end of it.

Whitman-Hanson hit the first point of the fourth quarter and because they led by 17 with about seven and a half minutes left in the game, the Lakers did not have time to make a comeback.

Duggan scored a team-high 14 points for the Lakers while Josh Harvey finished second with ten points.

The Lakers showed that depth is one of their assets this season with nine different players scoring points in the contest.

With the loss, the Lakers fell to 0-2 on the season. Their next game is Wednesday, Dec. 27 against the Sandwich Blue Knights at home (7 p.m. start time). It will be the Lakers first non-Patriot League game of the season since Sandwich competes in the Atlantic Coast League.

Five Silver Lake athletes named to Patriot Ledger Fall All-Scholastics team

By

Seeing the success the Silver Lake High varsity athletic teams enjoyed over the course of this past fall season, it should come as no surprise that a handful of its athletes rank among the best athletes on the South Shore.

This statement was affirmed by the Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic selections. Although they have not officially come out yet and will not for another month most likely, the official Silver Lake Athletics Twitter account announced which of their players made the cut on Monday this week. In all, the Lakers had five selections in four different sports. Here is a look at who was chosen for it.

Football

Phil Lashley — Lashley was the Lakers primary running back these past two seasons and he rushed for well over 1,000 yards in each of them and averaged roughly seven yards per carry this past season. The senior helped the Lakers to two straight playoff appearances his junior and senior years as the Lakers continue moving in the right direction.

Boys’ Golf

Dillon Brown — Brown was a major asset to the Lakers boys’ golf team for several years. He shot under par on the season this year and qualified for the Division 2 state tournament twice in his Lakers career. Brown is committed to the University of Maryland for golf.

Soccer

Allie Crawford — Crawford was a highly-skilled midfielder for the Lakers who helped lead them to a playoff appearance this season. The senior did an excellent job of helping the team move the ball downfield, had over 20 points on the season and led the team in assists.

Patrick McMahon — Only a junior this year, the midfielder gives the Lakers reasons to be excited for the future. This is his second straight All-Scholastic selection after putting up a team-high 14 goals this past season for the Lakers, who made the playoffs both years he was selected.

Volleyball

Abigail Gallagher — Gallagher was on the court for all 76 of the Lakers sets this past season and was a major reason why they were able to make it to the playoffs for the first time in several years. The senior led the team with 254 kills and 154 digs.