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.

Correction The Employee Xmas party is Monday, January 22nd. Sunday Hours will remain the same 11:30am-12am.

Meet Suzy Youssef, new owner of Plympton Gas and Convenience, 280 Main St., Rte. 58, Plympton. 

After working 16 years for IBM in distributive software, Suzy said, ”I told myself it’s time for me to own my own business – time for a new adventure.”

She took her time to find just the right situation, and after two years, found Plympton!  Suzy and her husband have two gas stations, but none with a convenience store.  The Stoneham and Medford businesses are fairly close to home, but she really likes the hour-long commute which brings her to another world – out of the city and into the country – where horses and trees are common elements, and the city sights and sounds are left behind.

Right in the heart of historic Plympton Village, Plympton Gas and Convenience serves its customers 7 days a week, from early until late enough, with competitive gas prices and the convenience of beer, wine, groceries, and of course, lottery.

“I’d love to see one of our customers hit it big,” Suzy said.  “Not for us; for the fun of seeing the lottery won here.” 

Suzy says she feels lucky to have found Plympton Gas and Convenience.  “We have a good team here.  Well organized, a really clean place.”  She credits former owner Kelly Craig for giving her the time to show her how the Craigs had run the business.  “Most people, you buy the place and that’s it.  Kelly really helped us from the beginning.”

“I hope to stay here for a long time.”

Suzy Youssef, new owner of Plympton Gas and Convenience, hopes one of her customers hits it big in the lottery.

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.

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.

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).

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.

The Silver Lake High football team played a highly-contested bout on Thanksgiving this season, but this year it was the town, who used to be a part of the school district which came out on top.

Both teams battled, but Pembroke came out with a 25-28 win over the Lakers at Pembroke High School on Thursday morning. 

Early in the contest, the Pembroke Titans controlled the game. They scored a pair of touchdowns to go up 14-0 in the first quarter.

With about five minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Lakers responded when Diamani Williams took a punt return to the end zone for a touchdown. This and an extra point kick from Tyler Duggan made it a 14-7 game. On the final play of the first half, Tyler Boyd rushed for a 10-yard touchdown.

The Lakers also hit their extra point kick, tying the game at 14 apiece.

Boyd gave the Lakers the lead with 6:29 remaining in the third quarter on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line. Their PAT was successful, putting the Lakers up 21-14.

With 9:24 remaining in the ballgame, Pembroke took the lead. They intercepted Boyd and took the ball to the end zone. Pembroke also had a successful 2-point conversion pass to go up 22-21. Just five minutes later, the Titans had another rushing touchdown to go up 28-21.

The Lakers reacted quickly, however, with a 65-yard run from Phil Lashley that put the team in the red zone. From there, Boyd ran in the game-tying touchdown and Duggan kicked the extra point, tying the game at 28-28 with under two minutes remaining.

After this, the Lakers went for an onside kick–but they were not successful. With the ball, the Titans were able to find some success on the ground. This included a 30-yard run that put them in Lakers territory. With 35 seconds left, they rushed in a 5-yard touchdown and kicked an extra point to go up 35-28.

The Lakers had one more chance at scoring after that, but Pembroke intercepted them again, hampering their comeback effort.

With the loss, the Lakers finished their season at 6-5.

Last week Silver Lake Regional High School wellness teacher Marlene Lopes along with Karen Triangle the principal’s secretary, dropped off a check to Dana Faber South Shore Hospital Breast Care Center for $9875.    The amount is the result of two weeks of fundraising activities and events that brought awareness to Breast Cancer. Along with the check was a basket full of pink painted rocks with inspirational messages created by the soccer team for the patients of the Dana Faber South Shore Breast Care Center.

Photos by Marlene Lopes

Karen Tringale, Marlene Lopes present a check and rocks to aid patients of the Dana Faber South Shore Hospital

Pink inspirational rocks created by the Silver Lake Soccer Team

The Silver Lake boys’ soccer team made a strong playoff run, but it came to an end last week. On Wednesday, Nov. 15, the Lakers fell, 4-1, to the Brockton Boxers in the Division 1 South Sectional semifinals at on the road at Marciano Stadium in Brockton. With the win, top-seeded Brockton advanced to the Div. 1 South finals, which was hosted at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School on Saturday, Nov. 10.

In their game against Brockton, Silver Lake fell behind by a goal eight minutes into the contest. This caused the Lakers to be more aggressive during the game. It also gave them a strong scoring opportunity with about four minutes left in the first half, but they were just shy of the score.

In the second half, Brockton started pulling away and took away the Lakers opportunity to make a comeback. Brockton put up three unanswered goals in the period to go up 4-0 but with a few minutes left in the game, the Lakers made their mark on the scoreboard. Owen Nally made it a 4-1 game, scoring a goal on a free kick. By that point, however, the Lakers did not have enough time to make a comeback, even though they were playing well.

The Lakers, who finished the season at 15-4-2, played well in the postseason. Their opening game against Durfee resulted in a 4-3 win on penalty kicks. In their next bout, they faced a Bay State League powerhouse, Braintree, and beat them 1-0. The win over Braintree in the quarterfinals got the Lakers to the Div. 1 South Semifinal game against Brockton.

Now that their season is over, the Lakers will lose nine seniors to graduation: defenders Brian Reilly, Michael Carey, Connor White, Casey Grindle, Keagan Nocher and William d’Entremont plus forwards Michael Donovan and Andrew Corcoran.