Marlborough – The winner’s circle at the recent Massachusetts State Youth Basketball Championships had a definite local flavor to it with Marlborough’s fifth-grade boys’ and both seventh- and eighth-grade girls’ teams taking home state titles.
The state tournament included top teams from the various travel youth basketball leagues throughout Massachusetts. Representing the South Central Mass. Youth Basketball League, Marlborough had the most titles won by any city or town program in the field.
For the eighth-grade Lady Panthers, it was Ciara Shanahan’s follow-up basket at the buzzer that gave them a thrilling 43-41 win over Bridgewater in the championship game. The victory put an exclamation point on an unprecedented run which helped the 23-4 Marlborough team capture their third state title in four years. To get to the title game, the Lady Panthers defeated East Bridgewater, King Phillip and North Attleboro. The team was led in scoring by Halle McCabe, Nicole Galliac and Maddi Farrell, who scored 55, 49 and 45 points, respectively, in the tournament.
Following in their footsteps was Marlborough’s seventh-grade girls’ team, who captured their second state championship in three years, having won the fifth-grade title in 2013. Their 2015 tournament run saw the club enter with a 15-8 record before going on to win four consecutive games, starting with opening round victories over Cape Cod League champ Falmouth (49-15) and Central Mass League foe Wachusett (34-30). In the semi-finals,
the Lady Panthers topped a 21-3 Natick team out of the MetroWest League, 39-23, on the hot shooting of guards Lucy Cappadona and Kathleen Binkewicz, who combined for five three-pointers and 27 points in the contest.
Facing the undefeated Charlton club in the finals that had previously beaten them three times this season, Marlborough dealt their league rival their only loss of the year, 40-36. With the game tied at 36 with under two minutes to play, Cappadona hit four consecutive free throws as part of her game-high 21 points and the defense held the Wildcats scoreless to obtain the upset victory. For the tournament, Cappadona tallied 67 points overall to lead all scorers while forward Sarah Orentlich totaled 45 rebounds on the defensive end.
The fifth-grade boys’ squad steamrolled their competition, winning all four of its games by an average margin of 23 points. In the process, they bested squads from Stoneham, Reading and Southborough (twice), including a 45-26 victory over their neighbors in the title game. The Panthers rode the inside-outside play of center Eli Hintz and guard Tyler Oliveira for the entire tournament, with Hintz registering two double-double games and Oliveira topping the team in overall scoring with 54 points, highlighted by a season-high 25-point performance against Southborough. Defensively, Bernardo Pimental, Kevin Magana and Tony Santiago were standouts for Marlborough.
In other State tournament action involving Marlborough teams that qualified, the 7th Grade Boys made it all the way to the championship game before ultimately falling to powerhouse Shrewsbury, 61-56. The team finished the season at 18-5. The Marlborough’s fifth-grade girls’ team went 2-3 in the tournament, with wins coming against King Phillip and Hopedale.
