Gloucester faces holiday tournament troubles

The annual Bank Gloucester holiday tournaments for both the boys hockey and boys basketball teams didn’t go quite as planned this past week.

The boys basketball team had one of its closest games yet after losing by just one point to the Manchester-Essex Hornets. Trailing 31-26 at the half, Gloucester worked hard to make a comeback.

With only seconds to go, the Hornets lead the Fishermen 69-65. As the clock was about to expire, a three point shot by junior Brandon Rivera was not enough to put the Fishermen ahead. The team finished their game with a final score of 69-68.

Rivera lead the team in scoring with 17 points, followed closely by sophomore Ben Oliver and senior captain Evan Mason, each with 14 points.

Their consolation game the following day against Boston Latin also posed some challenges. The team had trouble finding the net throughout the game and, in the end, faces a 54-38 loss.

The Fisherman trailed the Wolf Pack the entire game, scoring only five points in the first quarter. The team made a small comeback in the third quarter to score 15 points, but it was not enough to break Boston Latin’s lead.

Mason lead the team in scoring with 16 points, followed by Oliver with 11.

The Fisherman boys hockey team also opened their tournament with a loss. The devastating 8-1 loss to Marblehead allowed the Magicians to win the Bank Gloucester tournament for a second year in a row.

Gloucester went into the second period trailing 2-0, but a goal from junior Ethan Brennan, cut that lead in half. However, from there the Magicians went on to score 6 more times on junior goalie Max Churchill throughout the course of the game.

During the Fisherman’s consolation game however, the team came back full force with six players and two injured players returning from suspension.

With a 5-2 win over Beverly, the team showed just what they are capable of when they have their whole team. Goals were scored junior Chris Noyes and two goals each from senior captains Sal Costanzo and Liam Lyons.

Senior goalie Noah Polisky also returned to the net to make 25 saves throughout the night.

The boys basketball team plays their next game tonight against Salem at 7:00pm at Gloucester High School. The boys hockey team is also set to play their next game tomorrow night at 6:30pm at the Dorothy Talbot Rink in Gloucester.