The Chelsea High boys basketball team clinched a berth in the post season state tourney with a 73-44 romp over North Shore Tech Tuesday evening, marking the fifth consecutive season that Coach Jay Siegal’s Red Devils will be making a Journey to the Tourney.
The outcome never was in doubt as Chelsea jumped out to a 19-6 lead after one period which the Red Devils enlarged to 34-11 by the half.
Sean Quiroz led the CHS point parade with 22 points, followed by Sammy Mojica with 21, Eddie Rosales with 10, Kevin DeJesus with nine, Alex Ventura with five, Dennis Sanabria with four, and Ian Martin with three.
The win came on the heels of a 69-67 triumph over Peabody, a former Greater Boston League rival, on Monday. The teams engaged in a nip and tuck contest all the way in which neither was able to pull ahead by more than four to six points throughout the game.
It all came down to the final eight seconds with Mojica at the foul line for Chelsea, whereupon Sammy sank both free throws in the clutch. Peabody could manage nothing better than a desperation shot at the end. Mojica led four Red Devils in double figures with 20 points. Quiroz tingled the twice for 19, DeJesus added 16, and Rosales chipped in with 14.
The triumph gave Chelsea victories in both meetings this season with Peabody, which is a Division 1 school now playing in the Northeastern Conference.
The lone down note for Chelsea came Friday with a 60-59 heartbreaking loss to Shawsheen Tech. The Red Devils held the advantage all the way and took a seemingly safe 14 point margin into the final quarter.
However, Shawsheen refused to give up, and combined with some careless ball control by the Red Devils, closed the gap, finally pulling ahead with a basket with six seconds to play.
DeJesus had a bg night for Chelsea with 20 points. Mojica was next with 12 points, followed by Quiroz with 11, Rosales with eight, Martin with five, and Sanabria with two.
The Red Devils, who now stand at 10-6 on the season, host Greater Lawrence tomorrow (Friday) and Northeast Vocational Tuesday. Both games tip off at 5:00.
Tough loss for Lady Red Devils to PMA
It is said that you can tell the final outcome of any basketball game by looking first at the free throw shooting stats.
In the case of the Chelsea High girls basketball team’s 47-46 loss last week to Presentation of Mary, that certainly proved true, as the Lady Red Devils connected on just nine of their 23 attempts from the charity stripe.
“Our free throw shooting proved the key to PMA’s win,” said CHS head coach Matt LaBranche. “We had the game in our hands, but we needed to make our free throws.”
The contest was a tight battle all the way, which was befitting of a game in which Chelsea was seeking to all but clinch an outright Small Division title of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference against their chief rival, PMA, with whom Chelsea shared the Small Division crown last year.
The Lady Red Devils had nipped PMA in their first meeting this season, and thus another win would have set PMA back two games behind Chelsea. However, another co-championship seems to be in the cards after the PMA victory.
Lindsay Fuentes turned in a powerful effort for Chelsea, putting together a nice double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Frontcourt mate Shuly Sejour also made a big two-way contribution with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Tatiana Fontes added six points, followed by Madeleine Vielman and Carolyn Moni with five each, Barbara Carron with three, and Jennifer Medrano with two.
The Lady Red Devils returned to their winning ways with a 51-26 runaway victory over No. Shore/Essex Aggie. The outcome never was in doubt, as Chelsea grabbed a 10-3 lead after one period and a 26-16 advantage at the half. The CHS girls then put the game away by holding No. Shore to zero points in the third period and built their lead to 37-16.
Sejour led the way with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Fontes also reached double figures with 12 points. Vielman added nine, Moni and Marsha Mars hit for six each, Bahiya Nasuuna chipped in with four, and Medrano scored two.
The Lady Red Devils were set to take on Mystic Valley in a key contest yesterday (Wednesday). They travel to Fellowship of Christian Academy tomorrow (Friday) and go to Northeast Regional Tuesday.