Page 16 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, March 24, 2023 Eagles Conclude Historic Season at State Championships By Emily Brennan T he Mystic Valley Regional Charter School girls swim team recently concluded their season at the MIAA Division 2 State Championships. The meet was a success for the young team across the board – finishing 15th overall – and continues to show that the girls’ team is becoming a mainstay as a top 15 program in the state with 52 points. The meet was punctuated by many top 20 finishes. In the first event of the meet, the medley relay team of Lana Albuquerque and Sydney Cao, paired with Britney Nayiga and Lucia Antonucci, came in 10th place with a time of 1:57.17. Nayiga’s split of 32.32 in the breaststroke leg is one of the fastest in team history. Following the relay in the 200 Individual Medley, where a swimmer swims two lengths of each stroke – butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle – freshman Isabella Cirame finished in 20th place at 2:20.35. Only one freshman finished ahead of Cirame in the event. In the 50 Freestyle, freshman Nayiga sprinted to an 18th overall finish in a lifetime best of 25.83. Cao, an outstanding sophomore, placed 11th in the 100 Freestyle, scoring six points while putting herself at number four in the Eagle swim record book in the process, with a time of 56.79. In the 200 Freestyle Relay, the Eagles placed in the top eight with a seventh overall finish. Their time of 1:43.63 is the second fastest Eagle relay in history. What is most exciting is that the relay consisted of only one sophomore, Lana Albuquerque, and three freshmen: Britney Nayiga, Isabella Cirame and Lucia Antonucci. Head Coach Andrew DiGiacomo was proud of the team’s performance, stating that he “couldn’t ask for a better ending to a historic girl’s season. We have asked a lot of this very young group of swimmers, and they responded as I knew they would. What is most exciting is just how young this team is, and the sky really is the limit for them over the next couple of years!” This concludes the season for Pictured from left to right: Khloe Co, Isabella Cirame, Lucia Antonucci and Isabelle Pennachio. the Mystic Valley Eagles girls’ swim team. For complete coverage of MV athletics, follow along on Twitter (@MVAthletics), Instagram (@mysticvalleyrcs) and Facebook (Mystic Valley Regional Charter School). ~ Malden Neighborhood Basketball League ‘Big Dance’ Weekend ~ dozen – but Joe did lead all players with a game-high of 33. Fun Fact … Only five of the 10 coaches got on the scoreboard in this one. Six of the seven players scored, but it was A. Martino of the Sixers who led the All-Stars with 17. The Coaches with this Victory now hold a 22-14 advantage in the face-to-face battles. Game 2 – Celtics 73, Bullets 55 As Predicted 1 vs 2 came to Fruition and the Emerald kept their Momentum from the last time they played the Boys in Blue. And it didn’t hurt that they were shooting at a high percentage this game as well. At some point during the game, it looked like they couldn’t miss? The Bullets who all but ran away from the pack at the start of the season, seemed to have struggled the last few weeks at times & it came back to haunt them in the Big Dance. A Great season for both squads… The Bullets, who usually have a lead at the end of each quarter, did not have a lead in any quarter in this game, even with 24 from L. Guertin & 21 from C. Mijar. It just wasn’t enough firepower. And O. Ruan did it again with his amazing shooting, ending with a game-high of 34, and J. Pomare dropped 16 for the second-straight game; T. Melton went for 14. That helped the Celts break their 11-year curse & take home the Bling & The Ball. Mayor Gary Christenson holds the 2023 MNBL Trophy with the champions - The Celtics. Saturday, March 18, 2023 Hot Shot Contest Timmy Melton (Celtics) takes home the Title this year … Game 1 – Bullets 74, Lakers 32 Bullets jumped out to a 20+ point deficit by the half. That is a tough amount to come back from, for any team, let alone just four guys for the Lakers. But the Purple have never given up all season long & did not once again. Their top scorers were R. Laughton (11) and R. Correale (10). On the other side, the Bullets got a huge game from C. Mijar – going 8-8 from the line and ending with 34 total – as well as L. Guertin with 22 big points for the blue. Team 1, Day 1 – Moving on to the Dance. Game 2 – Celtics 71, Kings 40 Celts took full advantage of the undermanned Kings squad, as they should. And they took care of business to advance to the Dance on Sunday. They jumped to a 12-point lead after one and they scored 24 points just from three-pointers in the game – behind 27 from O. Ruan, 16 from J. Pomare & 15 from T. Melton. The Kings’ Z. Pierre led his team with 16, and all seven players did score, but just not at the volume of the high-powered shooting from the green. Sunday, March 19, 2023 Three-Point Contest Oscar Ruan (Celtics) for the second-straight season takes home Back2Back Titles … Game 1 – Coaches 55, AllStars 38 Celts Coach Joe Young played the whole game, in hopes of breaking a record but fell short. “Cliff Williams still remains the Coaches Legend” with three The Broadcast team of Lakers Coach Bernard Stroud aka Unc & Nester Dudley
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