AYER – It was a monumental road trip for the Ayer-Shirley Regional boys’ basketball team over the weekend.
On Saturday February 8, the Panthers boarded a bus and headed South towards Cape Cod and the islands with Nantucket as their destination to take on the Whalers of Nantucket High School.
Behind a strong effort from senior Zach Iannacone, the Panthers came back home with an exciting 77-72 win in double overtime.
With the victory, Ayer-Shirley improves to 17-1 on the season and has won 17 straight games since opening the year with loss against Lunenburg in the Bud Tackett Memorial Tournament back on December 14.
With the loss, the host Whalers fell to 5-10 overall on the season.
Iannacone poured in a game high 26 points and in the process surpassed 1,000 career points for his high school basketball career. He is the second Ayer-Shirley boys’ basketball player to accomplish this feat in three years. Brian Holmes hit the 1,000-point milestone three years ago for the Panthers.
“It’s a great accomplishment for Zach, I’m really happy for him. He came here as a sophomore and has been a three-year starter and an integral part of our success from day one,” said Ayer-Shirley head coach Rick Kilpatrick. “Just as important, he has contributed at the defensive end as a strong rebounder as well. This has been a big goal for him and it is really nice to see him reach it.”
For the Panthers, who clinched the Mid Wach D League title last week for the second straight year, they held a slim 31-26 halftime lead against the pesky Whalers. Ayer-Shirley maintained its upper hand, 49-43 after three quarters of play. The hosts outscored the Panthers 17-11 in the fourth quarter to force the game into overtime, deadlocked at 60-60. The game went to a second overtime with the score tied at 70-70.
Iannacone got some help on the offensive end of the floor from teammates Tommy Bergin (20 points), Grant Ebika (career high 17 points), Bobby Manchester (eight points), Matt Marchand (three points) and Kenny Lewis (three points).
The Panthers have one league contest remaining and will look to finish a perfect 12-0 in league play when it travels to Narragansett Regional on Tuesday, February 11 to battle the host Warriors. Ayer-Shirley will follow Tuesday’s contest with another road game on February 13 as it travels to Littleton to take on the Tigers of Littleton High School.
In addition, the Panthers have been invited to play in the 84th Annual Clark University High School Basketball Tournament. It’s the first time since A-S has been invited to participate in the Clark Tournament since the 2015 campaign.
Ayer-Shirley has been awarded the second seed in the eight-team Small School Division of the tournament. The Panthers will take on defending champion Maynard in the opening round on Saturday, February 15 at Oxford High School. The winner of Saturday’s contest will advance to the semifinals on February 17 against the winner of third-seeded David Prouty and sixth-seeded Blackstone Millville Regional.
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