Welcome back to the Biweekly Sports Buzz! In the past few weeks, we’ve had state championships, state records, playoffs, streaks broken and history made. March is here, so the madness is creeping closer and closer. Meanwhile, the National Hockey League (NHL) is trying a new all-star format. There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s get right into it.
The ARHS Buzz
The postseason for all winter sports began and ended over the last few weeks with many feats and some sad defeats. Boys’ basketball lost in the preliminary round of the state playoffs, falling to Cambridge Rindge & Latin School 62-50. Girls’ basketball lost to Central Catholic in the first round of the state playoffs 64-45, ending a brilliant season. Boys’ hockey fell to Boston Latin 3-1 in the first round of the state playoffs. Girls’ hockey beat Wayland 2-1 in the first round of the state playoffs. But after a strong fight, the team fell to Medfield 3-1 in the Sweet Sixteen round. Meanwhile, on the track, the boys’ track and field team went on a historic run at the State Meet, with event wins by seniors Miles Lipka twice and Jonah Gould. Points from senior Max Brown and the 4×800 relay team, along with a late fumble by Peabody veterans in the final event, secured the boys’ track and field team’s first State Championship in school history. Lastly, Lipka competed individually in the pentathlon on Feb. 26. At this meet, he set both a school record and state record, and with 4,021 points, he is now the top pentathlete in America. His performance also ranks tenth in national pentathlon history. Truly greatness. Congratulations to all teams on amazing seasons as we move to the spring season, starting March 17.
College Buzz
As March has now begun, it means madness is upon us. As the regular season winds down, teams are fighting for seeding in conference tournaments, regular season titles and big wins down the stretch to boost their resumes come tournament time. Duke and Auburn men’s basketball are the early favorites for the tournament. Duke has gone 23-1 in their last 24 games, while Auburn won the regular season SEC title, securing itself as a powerhouse in the NCAA. Kansas men’s basketball has not enjoyed the winning ways of these two teams this season. In the Associated Press (AP) poll for the week of Feb. 24, they were unranked for the first time in 1,477 days. Some fear the team may not be able to go dancing in a few weeks because of their poor play and bad losses to many unranked teams. The UNC Tar Heels men’s basketball team is playing its best basketball of late, winning five games in a row as they make a final push to boost their resume and seed for the ACC tournament. On the women’s side, Texas claims the top spot of the AP poll for the week of March 3. Behind Texas, the University of Southern California, the University of Connecticut, the University of California, Los Angeles, and South Carolina round out the top five. Louisiana State University guard Aneesah Morrow reached a milestone of 100 career double-doubles making her only the second player in women’s college basketball history to do so. Stay tuned for updates about the tournament because both the men’s and women’s tournaments will be thrilling.
The Pros Buzz
Both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and NHL were on their All-Star breaks recently. The NBA All-star Game received terrible reviews. Most who watched were bored, underwhelmed and simply missed how the NBA All-Star Weekend used to be. Most sports that have All-Star games have this problem, but this year, the NHL took a risk to try and fix that. The NHL introduced the Four Nations Tournament, a competition between the countries of Sweden, Finland, Canada and the United States. The tournament had all teams play each other once, and the two teams with the best records faced off in the final. Each team consisted of players from each country that play in the NHL currently. This tournament was a huge success, totaling sixteen million viewers for the final between Canada and the USA, where Canada came out on top 3-2 in overtime. This tournament has put pressure on other sports leagues to change and improve their All-Star breaks to the level of the NHL.
In NBA news, Luka Dončić faced his former team, the Mavericks, for the first time as a member of the Lakers, and he made Mavericks fans feel even worse than they had before. Dončić dropped a triple-double as the Lakers breezed by the Mavericks 107-99. The Lakers with Dončić have skyrocketed to the second seed in the West, with Dončić proving they are a true contender.
The figure skating world was recently battered with a tragic plane crash killing some of the most prolific young skaters our world has to offer. This past Sunday, the figure skating community paid tribute to those victims and their families by honoring them in a performance and presentation called “Legacy on Ice.” A beautiful gesture.
That’s all for this edition of the Biweekly Sports Buzz. Make sure to fill out your brackets after Selection Sunday on March 16 and tune back in a couple of weeks from now for the next BUZZ!
