AYER – On February 15, the Ayer-Shirley Regional boys’ basketball team created a little program history.
It’s been a dream season for the Panthers under head coach Rick Kilpatrick. Ayer- Shirley were crowned Mid Wach D League champions with an unblemished league record. The second straight year the Panthers have worn the league crown and the third time in four years.
The good news continued for Kilpatrick and his squad as they received an invitation to the Clark University High School Basketball Tournament for the first time since the 2014-2015 winter season.
On Saturday, the second-seeded Panthers traveled to Oxford High School to take on seventh-seeded Maynard in the Small School Quarterfinals. The Panthers used a strong second half to pull out a 56-50 win over the Tigers to advance to the semifinal round.
Saturday’s win improved the Panthers overall record to 20-1 on the season. Since losing its season opener, Ayer-Shirley has won 20 straight games. The victory was also the program’s first win in the Clark Tournament since the school regionalized with Shirley in 2011. It was also the program’s first Clark win since the 2001 winter season when it was known as Ayer High School.
Against Maynard, Ayer-Shirley’s Grant Ebika scored a game-high 22 points while teammate Tommy Bergin chipped in with 16 points to lead the Panthers to victory. Kenny Lewis and Zach Iannacone each added five points for the winners on Saturday.
Ayer-Shirley was back on the floor on Monday afternoon in the Clark Tournament Semifinals when it took on third-seeded David Prouty High School. Unfortunately, the Panthers didn’t fare as well against Prouty as they did against Maynard. David Prouty proved to be too much for Ayer-Shirley as it picked up a 64-50 victory. The Panthers came up short despite a game high 26 points from Zach Iannacone. Bergin added nine points and Ebika chipped in with six points for the defeated Panthers.
Saturday’s win against Maynard came on the heels of another milestone for the Panthers program. On February 13, Bergin became the second Ayer-Shirley boys’ basketball player in the span of a week to reach 1,000 career points. Bergin poured in 25 points to lead the Panthers to a 49-35 win over host Littleton on February 13.
Bergin’s accomplishment came just five days after teammate Iannacone hit 1,000 career points in a 77-72 double overtime road win against Nantucket High School.
Ayer-Shirley (20-2 overall) will now await its postseason fate when the MIAA announces the pairings for the upcoming Massachusetts Division 4 Tournament. At the time of press, the Panthers were ranked in the top 20 in Massachusetts Division 4 at No. 19.
Comments