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The Methuen hockey team was all set to host Bedford yesterday, and Bedford arrived ready to play, but there was one problem. Because the ice compressers were not working, the ice was melting and the teams were unable to play.

Methuen's Michael Gorman (32 points) buried nine 3-point shots but the Rangers came up short in a 71-59 decision to Pinkerton Academy, in the firth place game of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney. Edwin Gonzalez (10 points) and Matt Richardson (10) each had a pair of 3-pointers for the Rangers (3-4).

Methuen’s Rashidat Agboola had a huge night, scoring 26 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. The Rangers rolled too, defeating Salem 52-41 in the consolation bracket. The junior center appeared to be feeling much better after the flu sidelined her during Saturday’s loss to Lowell. Agboola showed off a nice shooting touch, at one point swishing a jumper from just inside the 3-point line.

In spite of trailing 4-0 entering the final period, the Methuen boys hockey team nearly pulled off an epic comeback before ultimately falling to Walpole, 4-3. Dan Loughlin (2 goals, assist), Mike Lussier (goal, assist) and Tyler Murphy (assist) pulled the Rangers back into it, chipping away at the Walpole lead until just a single goal would tie the game. Unfortunately, they were unable to score the equalizer and the Rangers took their third one-goal loss of the season. Jonathan Borden recorded 23 saves in the loss.

Ashley LeBlanc made the most of her first start, but Methuen fell to Lowell 53-44.

The sophomore center, who played in place of flu-bit Eagle-Tribune All-Star Rashidat Agboola, scored 10 points in the loss. She matched up with Red Raider 6-footers Whitney (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Brianna Wilson (14 points, 4 rebounds) all afternoon long.

It wasn’t pretty, but a lot of Andover’s wins this year might not be works of art according to Golden Warriors’ coach Dave Fazio.
“Our offense has a ways to go, but we have 10 guys in our rotation who can play some defense,” said Fazio after Andover’s 60-47 victory over Methuen in the final first-round game of the day. “Hopefully, we can wear teams down.”
That’s indeed what happened as Methuen (2-3) rode four early 3-pointers to a 16-11 first-quarter lead, but — facing a tenacious trapping Andover defense — couldn’t find the range on a consistent basis the rest of the game.
The Warriors’ defense was at its best in the decisive second quarter, forcing seven turnovers and holding the Rangers to only eight shots and eight points. A 9-0 run gave Andover (4-0) a 27-24 halftime lead.
Some sub-par shooting (17 of 50) by Andover kept Methuen close until the fourth quarter when an 11-0 run gave the Warriors a double-digit lead they would hold onto.
Sophomore Joe Bromanti led the Warriors with four 3-pointers and 17 points and Kevin Polanco chipped in with 15 points, including 11 in the second half, and helped Andover dominated the boards. Connor Arnold added nine points, including seven in the second half.

Methuen senior Matt Richardson had a huge game with 15 points and 19 rebounds as the Rangers downed Medford, 67-47. Making the feat all the more impressive is the fact that Richardson is a 6-2 guard, not the typical stature of rebound machine.

Andy Pena (189) and Chris Bouchard (171) won their matches by pin — the last two matches of the day — to give the Methuen wrestling team a 39-35 win over Waltham. The Rangers also defeated Malden 57-12. 

Methuen's Josh Adams won the 50-yard dash (5.6) and ran the lead leg of the Rangers' winning 4x400 relay during his team's victory over Central Catholic. Raider Armando Bucciarelli had a big day, clearing 6-2 in the high jump.

The Methuen girls basketball team topped Wilmington yesterday, 61-56, to improve to 1-1 thanks to stellar individual efforts from Rashidat Agboola and Katelyn Ortiz. Ortiz led all scorers with 24 points including one 3-pointer, and Agboola had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Courtney Murach chipped in with nine rebounds to go along with four points. Making the victory even more impressive is the fact that the Rangers were outscored 21-10 in the final frame.