Westford’s Austin DeSisto breaks 800-meter record

Locked in a spirited duel with Lunenburg’s Zach MacLure, Westford Academy senior Austin DeSisto pulled away in the final lap to set a meet record of 2:00.32 to win the 800 meters at the MSTCA Distance Classic at the Reggie Lewis Center Wednesday.

“I really wanted to go under two minutes,” DeSisto told the Boston Herald. “But it gives me a lot of confidence to know that I’m starting to get back into shape and I can put in some fast times.”

Making DeSisto’s performance even more impressive is the fact that he recently battled a bout of COVID-19.

WA’s Jack Graffeo also set an event record in the mile, finishing in 4:28.55. Unfortunately, that was only good for second place as Nashoba Regional’s Adam Balewicz won in 4:28.12.

Girls track

The WA duo shines: Sophomore Sydney Weiss and freshman Emily Wedlake of Westford Academy played in the MSTCA Distance Classic at the Reggie Lewis Center. They finished 1-2 in the 800 meters to start the day of competition.

Basketball for girls

Shawsheen 37, Cardinal Spellman 34: Captain Kiley McFadden led the Rams to the hard-fought road win. She led the way with 12 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Mackenzie Weatherbee made her varsity debut with a big fourth quarter for Shawsheen (3-1).

Central Catholic 65, Natick 52: Shea Montague had 18 points and two steals to pace Central in a Commonwealth Christmas Classic consolation game at Merrimack College. Kathleen Smith (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Sam Guertin (12 points, four 3-pointers) also starred for the Raiders (2-2).

Boys’ hockey

Grafton 8, Littleton 2: Despite goals from forward Paul Doyle and forward/defender Liam Glew, the home side were beaten. Picking up an assist each were Zach Lizotte, Tyler Edwards and Evan Piekos. Grafton held a 34-20 shot advantage.

Dracut/Tyngsboro 8, Northeast 2: Nate Freelove tallied five points (2 goals, 3 assists) to pace the loss. Matt Luis scored his first varsity goal. Multi-point efforts were produced by Colin Underwood (2 goals), Tommy Workman (goal, 2 assists), Drew DuRoss (goal, 2 assists) and Mikey Desmarais (3 assists). Stopping 23 of 25 shots was goaltender Connor Cole.

Tewksbury 10, Cheverus/Yarmouth 0: The Redmen have now outscored opponents 20-2 in two games in the Gorham (Maine) Holiday Classic at the University of Southern Maine. Captain Nick DiCioccio was again outstanding defensively, scoring once and dishing out four assists.

Brady Chapman (goal, assist), Ryan Flynn (2 goals), Tyler Barnes (2 goals), Jeremy Insogna (goal, assist), Aidan MacDonald (goal, assist) and Conor Cremin (3 assists) also scored numerous points. ) while Tewksbury (5-0) remained undefeated. Tewksbury scored two shorthanded goals.

Pope Francis 3, Central 0: The Red Raiders were shut out by Pete Frates’ turnover, Pope Francis’ last goal, which came on an empty net. Timmy Briley made 30 saves for Central Catholic.

North Middlesex 4, Westfield 0: Jimmy O’Keefe dished out two assists as the Patriots posted the shutout. Scoring for North Middlesex were Cam Fors, Braden Amidon, Sean Myers and Conner Lavery.

Danvers 4, Lowell Catholic 3: The Crusaders got goals from Matt Cabral, Lucas Rego and freshman Jake Cabral, his first varsity goal, in a narrow loss. Adam Ellegood and Colin Robinson picked up assists, while Vinny D’Urso was solid in net.

Basketball for boys

Shawsheen 80, Wilmington 49: Senior captain. Mavrick Bourdeau was outstanding with 23 points and 11 rebounds to power the Rams to the impressive victory. Sophomore Franck Moron had 22 points and five assists for Shawsheen (4-1).

O’Bryant 53, Greater Lowell 50: A night after falling to Melrose, the Gryphons were beaten again at the Highlander Hoop Fest tournament in Somerville, this time by O’Bryant. Greater Lowell fell to 2-3 after the narrow loss.

Pinkerton 64, Lowell 62: The host Red Raiders suffered a tough overtime loss to their visitors Derry, NH during the second day of the IAABO 95 Greater Lowell Holiday Basketball Tournament. Tied 29-29 at halftime, the Red Raiders led 46-40 entering the fourth quarter.

For Lowell, senior guard Javian Kirmil scored 16 points, while senior guard Jonathan DeJesus and sophomore guard Tzar Powell each had 11.

wrestling

Pelham shines: The Pythons had a solid showing at the Pentucket Holiday Tournament, finishing sixth out of 20 teams with 125.5 points. Russell Leonard went 3-0 and captured his first tournament championship. Second place went to Michael Harrington (145) and Billy Nicolls (160), each going 3-1.

Nathan Maslanek (132) went 3-1, taking third, and Lex Kieran (106) and Liz Donovan (126) went 2-2, tying for fourth. Cassidy Harringto (120), Philippe Jusaumme (138) and Pressley Patterson 170 also excelled.

Hockey for girls

Tewksbury/Methuen 2, Framingham 0: Goals from senior forward Riley Sheehan and junior forward Emma Giordano powered the Red Rangers to the home win. Taylor Bruno and the defense were solid all game.

Bishop Guertin 9, Pinkerton 6: Jenna Lynch had a day to remember as she struck out seven to power the Cardinals to the high-scoring victory. Jill Scanlon and Gracie Menicci each scored with assists from Riley Goldthwaite and Carly Green.