Massachusetts
Seven high school sports takeaways from the first full day of hockey and basketball tournaments – The Boston Globe
Find all of Wednesday’s playoff action here:
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▪ With a 16-point night in a 51-41 Division 3 preliminary-round win over Auburn, Hudson senior Kristina Bruce became the school’s all-time scoring leader, surpassing Jake Loewen’s total of 1,278, set in 2013. Bruce finished the game with 1,283.
▪ Bishop Feehan girls’ hockey junior Georgia Murray is now the program’s all-time points leader with 115 after netting two goals and an assist in a 3-0 Division 1 first-round win over Hopktinton/Dover-Sherborn. In the same game, senior Aviva Olitsky surpassed 1,500 career saves.
▪ Holliston/Ashland senior Oli Lareau notched an assist in a 2-1 Division 3 preliminary-round win over Nashoba Tech/Greater Lowell to reach 100 career points. It marked the Panthers’ first playoff win in 11 years.
▪ Pope Francis senior captain Matt Regan reached 100 career points with a hat trick in a 5-1 Division 1 first-round win over Belmont.
▪ Milton senior Sabrina Stone logged a goal and an assist to get to 100 career points in an 8-1 first-round win over Ashland/Medway.
Just two days into the basketball and hockey tournaments, no fewer than seven higher-seeded teams have fallen, not counting matchups that are withing one seed of each other.
The highest seed to falter thus far is No. 10 Methuen boys’ hockey, which was sent home by No. 23 Groton-Dunstable, 5-4, as Crusaders goalie Cam Columbus made 50 saves and Mac Kahwati notched the power-play winner with 3:30 remaining.
Also stumbling out of the game was No. 12 Westfield boys’ hockey, which fell, 4-1, to No. 21 Danvers and Cooper Dunham, who factored in all four goals, scoring three of them. The highest seed eliminated on the girls’ side is No. 13 Arlington Catholic, which suffered a 2-1 defeat to No. 20 Acton-Boxborough in the first round.
The rest: No. 42 Hudson boys’ basketball, 57-56, over No. 23 Chelsea; No. 36 Norwood boys’ basketball, 60-55, over No. 29 Agawam, and No. 34 Lowell Catholic boys’ basketball, 65-53, over No. 31 Saugus.
With less than a second on the clock, Shrewsbury’s Paige O’Donnell delivered the equalizer and Margaret Moody came through in overtime for a 3-2 Division 1 girls’ hockey win over Belmont.
Some honorable mentions: Cole MacKinnon’s overtime winner delivers Lynnfield boys’ hockey a 2-1 win over Blackstone Valley; Easthampton boys’ hockey wins 2-1 over Dedham after both teams were assessed penalties in overtime, leading to three-on-three play; Nico Santella’s double-overtime goal allowed No. 8 St. John’s (Shrewsbury) to survive an upset bid from No. 25 Acton-Boxborough, 2-1; Pauly Scaltrito netted the overtime winner for Bridgewater-Raynham in a 4-3 triumph over North Andover.
Noah Bayersdorfer, Winthrop — The senior racked up 30 points and snagged six rebounds in an 81-51 preliminary-round win over Smith Vo-Tech.
Jason Drake, Medway — The senior captain connected for four goals to propel Medway to a 7-5 first-round triumph over McCann Tech.
Jackson Dunton, Blackstone-Millville — The junior erupted for 33 points to push the Chargers past Mystic Valley, 78-70, in a preliminary-round game.
Kara Gambale, Billerica/Chelmsford — The junior notched an assist on all five of the Lindians’ goals in a 5-1 victory vs. Brookline.
Adrianna Girard, Blackstone-Millville — Bound for the the Marine Corps, the senior flirted with a quadruple-double with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 10 steals, and 8 blocks in a 49-21 preliminary-round win over Lynn Tech.
Grant Neal, Lynnfield — The junior dominated the paint with 21 points and 15 rebounds in a 57-47 preliminary-round victory over Ludlow.
Matt Pedroli, Hopkinton — The sophomore factored into all five goals during a 5-4 first-round win over Gloucester, producing a hat trick and two assists.
Shawn Tierney and Timmy Murphy, Billerica — The seniors both produced 5 points, with Tierney scoring three times and dishing two assists, and Murphy doing the opposite in an 8-1 first-round destruction of Amesbury/Whittier.
David Stein announced he is stepping down after two seasons as boys’ basketball coach at Whittier Tech. Whittier went 7-33 over his two seasons.
“Excited for what is next for me,” he wrote on social media.
6. Basketball leaderboard
(includes Tuesday’s games)
Liam MacPhee, Stoneham, 37
Jackson Dunton, Blackstone-Millville, 33
Noah Bayersdorfer, Winthrop, 30
Niles Scott, Methuen, 28
Julia Walsh, Dedham, 28
Ashley Cohen, Bedford, 24
Shauna O’Brien, Pingree, 23
Delvis Rodriguez, Lowell Catholic, 23
Meredith Gibbs, Dover-Sherborn, 22
Andrew Karaban, Hudson, 22
Jimmy Mortarelli, Natick, 22
Grant Neal, Lynnfield, 21
Mike Dever, Norwood, 20
Allyson Johnson, Blue Hills, 20
Sofia Pichay, Ursuline, 20
Grant Neal, Lynnfield, 15
Ben Clarkin, Lincoln-Sudbury, 13
Tony Dean, Stoneham, 12
Evie Roman, Pingree, 12
Niles Scott, Methuen, 12
Sarah Michel, Blue Hills, 11
Lizzy Bettencourt, Peabody, 10
Sophia Coburn, Peabody, 10
Prudence Kouhiko, Lawrence, 10
Jonathan Perez, Lawrence, 6
Collin Christiansen, Lowell, 5
Alex Echevarria, St. Mark’s, 5
Sara Graves, Pingree, 5
Sarah Michel, Blue Hills, 4
Adrianna Girard, Blackstone-Millville, 10
McKenna Devanney, Central Catholic, 7
Alinsa Ryan, Peabody, 5
Ben Clarkin, Lincoln-Sudbury, 4
CJ Farrell, St. Mark’s, 3
Allyson Johnson, Blue Hills, 3
Shauna O’Brien, Pingree, 3
Adrianna Girard, Blackstone-Millville, 8
Prudence Kouhiko, Lawrence, 3
(includes Tuesday’s games)
Jonah Rainisch, Berkshire, 5
Jason Drake, Medway, 4
Mia Amato, Billerica/Chelmsford, 3
Cooper Dunham, Danvers, 3
Jack Funk, Thayer, 3
Cam McKenna, Hingham, 3
Matt Pedroli, Hopkinton, 3
Matt Regan, Pope Francis, 3
Shawn Tierney, Billerica, 3
Charlotte Woodford, HPNA, 3
Lindsay Butt, Milton, 2
Jared Capella, Groton-Dunstable, 2
Nate Carter, Nashoba, 2
Stephen Constantine, Arlington Catholic, 2
Payton Curran, Reading, 2
Ella Duffy, Methuen/Tewksbury, 2
Payton Fitzgerald, Billerica/Chelmsford, 2
Jake Guerriero, Archbishop Williams, 2
Mia Kmiec, HPNA, 2
Dylan Krasco, Stoneham, 2
Bryce Leonard, Stoneham, 2
Paul McCullough, Scituate, 2
Timmy Murphy, Billerica, 2
Georgia Murray, Bishop Feehan, 2
Derek Perault, Wilmington, 2
Cam Petrillo, Arlington, 2
Charlie Puglisi, Winchendon, 2
Cam Rouillard, Nashoba, 2
Nico Santella, St. John’s (Shrewsbury), 2
Pauly Scaltrito, Bridgewater-Raynham, 2
Brody Sharpe, Milton Academy, 2
Cameron Smith, Billerica, 2
Becca Sobol, Shawsheen/Bedford/Lowell, 2
Aiden St. Pierre, St. Mary’s, 2
Avery Tapp, Woburn, 2
Brandon Ward, St. John’s Prep, 2
Chase Warsofsky, Cushing, 2
Kara Gambale, Billerica/Chelmsford, 5
Jake Cataldo, Billerica, 3
Cosmo Ciccarello, Stoneham, 3
Bryce Leonard, Stoneham, 3
Timmy Murphy, Billerica, 3
Payton Fitzgerald, Billerica/Chelmsford, 2
Chris Giacchetto, Stoneham, 2
Dante Guarino, Stoneham, 2
Jake Guerriero, Archbishop Williams, 2
Evan Jones, Belmont Hill, 2
Mia Kmiec, HPNA, 2
Colby Medeiros, Danvers, 2
Emrick O’Brien, Wilmington, 2
Matt Pedroli, Hopkinton, 2
Andrew Pugliese, Stoneham, 2
Lily Rodgers, Reading, 2
Sammy Ryan, Methuen/Tewksbury, 2
Shawn Tierney, Billerica, 2
Juliana Iozza, Westwood, 52
Cam Columbus, Groton-Dunstable, 50
Gavin Durand, Blue Hills, 39
Carson Brownridge, Arlington, 38
Michael Marenghi, Lynnfield, 29
Sam Griswold, Concord-Carlisle, 26
Liam Gagne, Billerica, 23
Rylee Middleton, Reading, 22
Hayden Tyrell, King Philip, 20
Conor Foley, Wellesley, 18
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
Massachusetts
Trial of accused Boston serial rapist Alvin Campbell Jr. begins today
The trial of Alvin Campbell Jr., accused of sexually assaulting and attacking nine women from 2017-2019, is set to get underway on Monday.
Campbell is the older brother of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.
The 45-year-old faces a number of charges for allegedly sexually assaulting and attacking nine women between 2017-2019 in Boston. According to court records, he would intentionally seek out young women late at night near bars and restaurants, posing as a rideshare driver.
While most of the attacks happened in his car, there is one account of a 26-year-old woman who says Campbell Jr. drove her from Boston to his Cumberland, Rhode Island, apartment, where he assaulted her.
Right now, he is in custody. He has been held without bail since his arrest in 2020. He continues to insist that all of the encounters he had with the women in question were consensual.
On Monday, he will finally begin the process of trying to prove his innocence to 17 jurors. The jury was selected over the last week. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Opening statements will lead off Monday’s proceedings.
When asked about the trial, Andrea Joy Campbell said, “I am praying for the survivors and all those affected. It takes extraordinary courage to come forward, and they deserve dignity and respect.”
Massachusetts
Motorcyclists suffer life-threatening injuries in Marlborough crash
A multi-vehicle crash in Marlborough on Sunday sent two motorcycle riders to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, Massachusetts State Police said.
The crash involved three cars and two motorcycles along I-495 southbound, authorities said.
State police said they, along with Marlborough fire and EMS, responded to the accident at 3:52 p.m.
Both motorcycle riders have life-threatening injuries and one was airlifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The highway was closed but has since reopened.
Massachusetts
3 ‘secret’ Massachusetts beaches you need to see this summer
How to get sand out of everything
Bring this item on your next beach trip to prevent sand from getting everywhere.
ProblemSolved, USA TODAY
With summer 2026 almost here, it’s time to start thinking about what beaches you want to visit.
The website Frugal Flyer is willing to give up some of best “secret beaches.” Based off a survey of over 3,000 voters, Frugal Flyer released a list in 2025 of the 95 best secret beaches in the United States.
And three of them are in Massachusetts.
“This summer, something different is happening. Instead of heading to the usual hotspots, Americans are rediscovering the quiet charm of their local, quieter, lesser-known shores,” the website said.
Here are the three Commonwealth secret beaches that were dubbed some of the best in the country.
Madaket Beach
Ranked 21st on the rankings, Madaket Beach may be one of the more eroded beaches on Nantucket; however, that doesn’t mean it’s without its merits.
The Insider’s Guide to Nantucket said the soft sand makes it perfect for a seaside picnic.
The guide also said that beach has beautiful sunsets. For these reasons, it makes sense it landed at No. 21 on the best secret beaches list.
“While there are no accessible features here this is a great place to go and watch the sun set either in your car or just outside your car,” the Nantucket government website said.
It apparently has a strong surf and is known for big waves, which is good for surfers and bodyboarders, according to the Safe Beach Day website.
Bound Brook Island Beach
Among Cape Cod’s natural gems, Bound Brook Island Beach is one of the best-kept secrets of the area. Set down a dirt road, it’s worth the adventure for breathtaking views of the bay, sweeping sand dunes and serene quiet.
Ranking 78th on the Frugal Flyer list, the Wellfleet beach is secluded for sure, save for some private properties in the area. That type of solitude can be a very lovely thing.
If you’re trying to find it, the beach located in the northwest corner of Wellfleet, bordering Truro. The easiest place to park, according to the Cape Cod Times, is a little dirt lot at the base of the island, though there are other parking spots in the interior. As with a true secret place, it’s possible you’ll get lost on your first try.
Plum Island Beach
North Shore’s Plum Island Beach in Newburyport still ranked 95th on the list of the top secret beaches.
“Discover amazing bird watching and the natural beauty of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge,” the coastal lifestyle website Newburyport.com said. “Enjoy fishing, boating, kayaking or just chill out on the beach and make sure to visit the cool Plum Island restaurants.”
The refuge also offers beach access from parking lots 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7. Lots 1 and 4 as well as the maintenance area for the refuge have restrooms, and all of their restrooms are wheelchair accessible
The North Point of Plum Island has some very pretty scenic views for guests to peep, the website said. Visitors out on the water should be careful to stay close to the shore because the tides can rapidly change and swimming there can become very dangerous.
Cemile Kavountzis contributed to the reporting of this story.
Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@usatodayco.com.
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