by Steev Riccardo

WEBSTER – For the past seven years Bartlett high school head coach Tony Paranto and Bartlett High School have been hosting the Bob Paranto Holiday Tournament during Christmas school vacation, and it has become of a big hit in these parts.

St. Louis School, Thompson Middle School, Bartlett Junior High and Middle School, and St. Joseph’s School all played in the tournament this year which, among its many positives, helps support two Bartlett High School scholarships.

behind Huberdault’s 7 three-pointers

Photo: Alex Givins-Perry (#3) and Michael Rapoza (#25) fought hard all night

by Steev Riccardo

WEBSTER – Bartlett senior co-captain Matt Huberdault had a career- high 28 points, including 7 three-pointers, to lead the Indians past the Shepherd Hill Rams 69-64 in a real thriller in front of a packed house at Bartlett on Friday night.

The Indians came out shooting early and opened an 18-12 lead after the opening quarter behind a couple of three-pointers by Huberdault and 6 points by sophomore Jacob Mailloux.

Sophomore power forward Chris Lindstrom, making his first varsity start, scored 6 points and the Rams played a strong zone defense to outscore the Indians 15-14 in the second quarter to cut the Indians lead to 32-27 at the half.

Photo: Kayla Podell (#44) tries to block a shot

by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY -  The Shepherd Hill Rams opened a 30-5 lead in the first quarter and coasted to a 75-20 win over the Bartlett Indians in Southern Worcester County League girl’s action on Thursday night.

Junior guard Brooke Packard led the Rams in scoring with 17 points in limited action as the Rams were able to get a big lead and maintain it throughout the contest.

The Rams lineup of senior co-captain guard Tina Gauvin, senior co-captain forward Taylor Daniels, senior center Johanna L' Heureux,  junior Dominique Woods, and Packard proved too strong for the less experienced Indians, who were no match for the Rams.

Photo caption: Alex Givins-Perry (#3) had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Indians. Patriot staff photo.

by Steev Riccardo

OXFORD – The Bartlett Indians took control early and played solid two-way basketball and stifled the Oxford Pirates 90-73 in Southern Worcester County League action on Friday night in front of huge crowd in Oxford.

Sophomore Jacob Mailloux had a monster game for the Indians with 14 points and a career high 20 rebounds.  Not to be outdone, junior Alex Givins-Perry had 21 points and 10 rebounds, while senior co-captain Akeem Belnavis led all scorers with 26 points.

The Indians got off to a quick start and opened a 21-11 lead after one quarter led by Belnavis’ 8 points.

Bartlett's Akeem Belnavis (L) and Evan Anderson (R) get instructions from coach Tony Paranto

Text and photo by Steev Riccardo

WEBSTER – The Bartlett Indians led from start to finish and toppled the David Prouty Panthers 74-49 in Southern Worcester County league action on Wednesday in front of a raucous crowd at the Bartlett High School gymnasium.

Senior co-captain Akeem Belnavis and sophomore center Jacob Mailloux helped the Indians establish an early inside-outside presence, which led to a quick 22-13 lead after one quarter.

The Panthers tried to battle back in the second quarter but Alex Givins-Perry joined the Indians scoring parade and connected on three hoops and helped the Indians take a commanding 41-26, 15-point lead to the locker room at the half.

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

WEBSTER – Whenever you hear Bartlett girl’s basketball coach Chris Delvecchio talk about his basketball team, he always has positive things to say about his young team and it’s easy to see why. They are young and they are improving.

The lady Indians dropped a couple of games last week and although the scores look lopsided (Tantasqua 60-21, Northbridge 51-15), they did show some positive signs in both games, giving plenty of reason for optimism.

Score 60-55 in second win

by Steev Riccardo

NORTHBRIDGE – The Bartlett Indians scored the first 14 points of the second half and erased a 13-point lead and went on to stifle the Northbridge Rams 60-55 in overtime in a battle of two of the Southern Worcester County League’s strongest teams, on Friday night.

The Indians looked strong early, opening an 11-4 lead sparked by a thunderous dunk by senior co-captain Akeem Belnavis, holding on to a 11-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The powerful Rams were not to be denied and put together a big second quarter, outscoring the Indians 21-6 mostly due to the dominant inside play of sophomore Antonio Becerril, who scored 13 points. 

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

Webster – Despite losing their home opener 44-15 to Bromfield High School this past Friday, the Bartlett Girls basketball team was upbeat and ready to improve their game at practice early Saturday morning.

With a busy schedule and not a lot of time to prepare, the girls were back on the court less than 12 hours after the loss.

“I thought that the defense was pretty good,” said Indians coach Chris Delvecchio.  “Bromfield is a pretty good team. We held them to 44 points, which is a little higher than what we aim for.  Our defense was significantly better than it had been in our scrimmages so we made some progress on that end of the floor.”

 

Hopedale – The Bartlett Indians gave up 49 first-half points and were then outscored by 23 points in the second half in an 86-53 blowout loss to the Hopedale Blue Raiders in a rough season opener on Friday.

The Blue Raiders started quickly and scored the first six points of the game, but the Indians stayed close as junior forward Alex Givins-Perry scored six points and Akeem Belnavis and Matt Huberdault each connected on three point shots making it 24-20 in a high scoring first quarter.

Givins-Perry suffered an ankle sprain near the end of the opening quarter that appeared to cripple his game for the first of the night. His injury coupled with poor defense and an inability to the stop the Blue Raiders up-tempo offense put the Indians in a ten-point 49-39 deficit at the half.
 

WEBSTER – In some ways it looks like the schedule makers weren’t too kind to the Bartlett Indians boys basketball team with the way they start their season, yet on the other hand, it may a good barometer to see just how good this team is.

The Indians open on the road against a big Hopedale team Friday (December 7) and then travel to Tantasqua and Northbridge, both excellent teams, in their next three games.

“As coaches you pencil games in,” said Indians head coach Tony Paranto, “and when it comes to your toughest opponents, and in my eyes our first three opponents, other than Quaboag, are the toughest  we face all year.”