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Haverhill did well considering high-scoring Kayla Pellot was out due to illness and starter Hannah Guselli was injured early, but the Hillies fell to Tewksbury, 38-29. Molly Hoopes continued her quiet effectiveness with 17 rebounds and Jessica Cotto led the offense with eight points.

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CHELMSFORD — The third time was no ho-hum affair for Methuen senior C.J. Doherty here last night.
The standout 145-pounder captured his third Division 1 North sectional crown, but this one was special, and particularly enjoyable, for a couple of reasons.
First, by dominating Shawsheen’s Brian Ward in the finals with a 15-0 technical fall, Doherty proved that his lone setback of the season, last week in the finals of the Methuen Tournament, may have been a fluke.
And, more to the point, winning an individual sectional title is much more fun when your teammates can join in the celebration.
Doherty was one of four champions and one of 10 Rangers overall (top four placers) who qualified for Saturday’s Division 1 state meet at Weymouth. Methuen captured its second straight sectional crown with 223 1/2 points.
St. John’s Prep was second with 184, edging Lawrence by one point while Chelmsford was fourth in the 14-team field with 165.
The top four teams qualify for the Division 1 dual-meet state tournament, which will be held at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell Feb. 19-20. Methuen, with a 17-0 dual record, will likely be the top seed.
“It makes the season a lot more fun when you have 13 others on your team who want to win and so many are going on,” said Doherty. “I like knowing the team is there for me and I want to be there for the team.”
Doherty was certainly there yesterday, determined to wipe away any memory from last week.
“I didn’t come out (in the finals last week) as I could have,” said Doherty, who improved to 28-1. “I’ll use that experience so no one can touch me again.”
Remaining undefeated on the year were 113-pounder Christian Monserrat and 126-pounder Paul Sughrue. Monserrat (29-0), for the second time this year, fell two points behind St. John’s of Shrewsbury’s Peter Robinson before recovering for a 6-2 decision. Sughrue (34-0) pinned St. John’s Jared Costa in the second period.
Costa, the son of head coach Manny Costa, lost for only the second time all year.
Joining the terrific trio with a gold medal was 160-pounder Jack Khoury. He prevailed in the surprise weight class of the tournament, defeating Andover’s Nick Marcotte 6-2 in the finals to improve to 26-5.
Finishing second for the Rangers was 182-pounder Scott DelRossi, who lost a tough match to MVC foe Marionel Garcia of Lawrence, 6-4. Garcia had a reverse and takedown in the third period to improve to 34-3, while DelRossi dropped to 30-3.
Taking third for the Rangers was 120-pounder Sarith Has, who beat Haverhill’s Orlando Rojas for the second time on the day, 6-0, and 132-pounder Anthony Andronaco. Jason Pendergast (138), Ryan Savastano (152) and heavyweight Anthony Giorgio — in his first tourney action of the year since returning last week from an injury — all took fourth.
“We had a lot of good stuff happen for us today,” said Methuen coach Bill James, who was named the Division 1 North Coach of the Year. “To have 10 guys going to State is a really great day.”
Lawrence had three champions and the Lancers served notice that they’ll be formidable attempting to defend as dual-meet state champions. In addition to Garcia, Hector Reynoso prevailed at 106, defeating St. John’s Prep’s Louis Bornstein in the finals, and 132-pounder Edgardo Rios had his fourth pin of the day in the finals to complete a banner day.
Finishing second for the Lancers was heavyweight Janer Reyes, who dropped a 1-0 decision in the finals to Chelmsford’s Lou Ferrer. They had split matches during the regular season.
Adrian Sosa was third at 138 for Lawrence, pinning Pendergast in the consolation finals, while Mike Mena was fourth at 220.
Parris Williams finished third at 152 for Haverhill while Andover freshman Tyler Ferris was third at 106.
Westford 120-pounder Connor Peacock was named the tourney Outstanding Wrestler.

Kayla Pellott and Jessica Cotto made the most of senior night as the two captains combined for 31 points during Haverhill's 43-34 win over Notre Dame of Tyngsboro. Pellott buried four three-pointers and Cotto chipped in with one.

Sam Dowden scored 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds as Andover won for the second straight game,  this time with a 68-55 win over Haverhill. James Costello had 10 for Andover and Edwin Valentin led Haverhill with 23.

Thanks to a 35-second pin in the last match by Saul Medina, Haverhill's wrestling team nipped Avton-Boxboro 42-41 to give the Hillies a final 7-7-1 record since restoring the program after a two-tear absence. Orlando Rojas and Jonah Atkins also recorded pins for the Hillies.

Kayla Pellot hit a buzzer-beating 2-pointer to lead Haverhill over Lawrence, 51-49, on the road. 

Pellot, who netted 19 points, received an inbound pass with 1.4 seconds remaining. She quickly dribbled to the baseline, faked a shot, then took her shot and scored as time expired.

Haverhill's boys swimming team, which had lost to Central Catholic earlier in the season, got some revenge with a 99-87 victory over the Raiders. Superior depth paid off for the Hillies, especially with a sweep in the 50 freestyle, where Pak Kraiwong edged teammates James Murray and George Bonner.

Haverhill threw a scare into unbeaten Boston Latin Academy before falling 3-1. BLA finally clinched it on a late empty-net goal. Zach Grundy (27) came up big in net for the Hillies. Tom Maguire scored the goal while Pat Fitzgerald and John Rankin had stellar all-around games.

Leominster had a chance for a tie but Saul Medina got the pin at 285 to seal up a 48-36 win for Haverhill. Parris Williams and Samie El-Zaib continued to rack up the pins for the Hillies.