First win against Chieftains since ’03

Published January 29, 2020

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

BOXFORD — Grace Klonsky’s layup at the buzzer gave the Lynnfield High girls’ basketball team a shocking 37-35 upset win at Masconomet last Friday night. The Chieftains, who won the first meeting 53-30 back on Dec. 20 are a Division 1 team while the Pioneers are a Division 3 school.

“It was, by far, our biggest win of the year,” stated Lynnfield head coach Peter Bocchino. “It is the first time we have beaten them since 2003.”

Lynnfield trailed 21-16 at the half but outscored the Chieftains 22-14 in the second half.

“Our defense was tremendous,” said Bocchino. “We mixed it up between man and zone and we were able to block 11 shots.”

GRACE KLONSKY hit a buzzer-beater for an historic win over Masco on Friday night. The Pioneers haven’t defeated the Chieftains in 17 years. It was also the last official league game between the two as Masco will leave the Cape Ann League next year. (Dan Pawlowski File Photo)

Klonsky and Victoria Morelli both led the Pioneer attack with 12 points each.

Cate MacDonald, who scored six points, led the team in rebounds with 10 while Morelli had nine just missing a double-double.

With that victory, the Pioneers improved to 5-6 overall and 4-5 in the Cape Ann League.

This is also the final time these teams will play a league game as Masconomet is moving to the Northeastern Conference next year.

On Jan. 22, the Pioneers were edged by guest Arlington 28-27 in non-league action.

“We led the entire game until there was 40 seconds left,” pointed out Bocchino.

Lynnfield led 17-13 at the half but only scored 10 points the entire second half.

While the defense was strong, the offense really struggled.

“The offense fizzled, especially in the second half,” said Bocchino. “We are not showing patience on offense.”

Too many rushed shots and turnovers burned the Pioneers who committed 17 turnovers.

Morelli had a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards while MacDonald was second with only five points, although she did have nine rebounds.

On Jan. 31, the Pioneers host North Reading at 6:30 p.m. looking for a split of the season series. They then visit non-league Melrose at 2 p.m. on Sunday looking for a season sweep.

Lynnfield then returns to CAL action on Feb. 4 as they visit Georgetown. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m.