How did Gardner-area boys hoops teams finish the season?
Like Punxsatawney Phil predicted, spring is on its way and winter sport athletes have had to say goodbye to their seasons. Gardner-area high school boys basketball has wrapped up and teams were across the board in results throughout the season.
Some saw great success, others focused on growth in their programs. Here's how the six area boys teams fared this season.
Oakmont
The Spartans saw success this season, finishing with a record of 11-11. A highlight of the season included their appearance in the Clark Tournament, playing in the large-school division and taking a first-round win against Clinton. Oakmont defeated Clinton, 55-52, which was its first Clark Tournament win in 16 years. They fell to Tantasqua, eventual tournament champ, in the next round.
Oakmont was seeded 29th in the Division 3 state tournament and beat No. 36 Greater Lawrence in the preliminary round, followed by a loss to fourth-seeded Taconic in the Round of 32.
Jordan Pantojas led the Spartans in scoring, averaging 14.1 points a game. On top of helping to secure the Clark Tournament win against Clinton by making crucial free throws late in the game, Pantojas had a 24-point game in close victory over Westborough.
Other key contributors included Zavian Ortiz (8 ppg) and Anthony Barnaby (7.8 ppg).
Monty Tech
The Bulldogs had a great run this season and earned a record of 15-7. They were on fire through the middle of the season, going on a nine-game win streak and beating opponents like Bay Path, Assabet and Worcester Tech.
Monty Tech got a playoff bid as the No. 39 seed in the Div. 3 tournament, but suffered a loss in the preliminary round against No. 26 Lowell Catholic.
Jayden Jones led offensively with 12.6 points per game and totaling 230 points this season. Aiden Walter and Mike Cannon added 11.3 and 11.2 ppg, respectively.
Gardner
Gardner opened the season with a big win over Narragansett, 60-39, to set the tone. The Wildcats went on to earn an 11-9 record through regular season and qualified for the Div. 4 state tournament as the No. 36 seed. They lost to No. 29 West Bridgewater in the preliminary round to end their season.
Highlights of the season included a 52-47 win over Granby and another close victory over Ayer-Shirley.
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The Wildcats' leading scorer was Cam Gamache, who landed in the top 5 for scoring in the Mid-Wach D -- averaging 14.1 points a game. He had a season-high of 26 points against Murdock.
Teammates Zach Swan added 7.9 ppg and Chris Leger 7.8 to help on offense.
Narragansett
The Warriors saw a handful of positive moments throughout the season but struggled to string them together to create wins. They finished 6-14, a solid run, but not enough to make a playoff appearance. Narragansett won two big games against West Boylston, as well as a close victory over Bromfield.
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Max Kauffman, a sophomore, dominated the offense with 13.3 points per game. The team is made up of a large sophomore class and those underclassmen stepped up to the challenge this season. Seniors Corey Henderson, Joey Pineyro and Christian Chavin led the younger crew, helping to build the program.
Quabbin
Quabbin had a tough season this winter, only winning 4 games. The Panthers started strong with two wins to open the season. A 4-16 record did not qualify the team for the postseason. Rather, they played in consolation games for the Central Mass. sectional. at the end of the season.
Kyle Clark and Quinn Geary were the main scorers for the Panthers, Clark averaging 12.3 and Geary 11.4. Clark had a 14-point game to help secure Quabbin a victory over Gardner after losing to them earlier in the season. He then scored 19 in their final win of the season against AMSA.
Geary dropped 20 against Oakmont early in the schedule and contributed an average of 14.3 in the final stretch of the season.
Murdock
The Blue Devils struggled this year and only pulled off two wins -- against Sizer and Main South. Bob Polcari took over as head coach this season and was in for a challenge after dealing with the boiler explosion issues at the school and having to travel to different gyms to practice and even play some of the first few home games.
Murdock was focusing on a building and growing season this year, working to see improvements in the program as a whole -- the numbers between varsity and JV had increased since past years.
Hunter Kapp led the team with an average of 8.4 points a game and teammate Tanner Brimhall added 7.2.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner-area high school boys basketball 2023-24 season recap
