THE NRHS girls’ basketball team is off to a 4-0 start this season with victories over Triton, Manchester-Essex, Stoneham and Melrose. (Eric Evans Photo)
After press time:
North Reading defeats Lynnfield 37-29 (Jan. 3)
NRHS defeats Malden Catholic to win the North Reading Holiday Invitational Tournament. (Dec. 29)
NORTH READING — The North Reading High School girls’ basketball team is off to a fast, 4-0 start to the 2024-2025 season. They opened with a road win at Triton and most recently won their first round Holiday Tournament game against Melrose.
The Hornets opened the season on Dec. 17 and came away with a 49-26 road win at Triton. After a back-and-forth first quarter, the NRHS girls opened up a 29-11 halftime lead with a strong 18-3 second quarter. Leading the way for NRHS was sophomore Sophia Gallivan with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Fellow sophomore Ariana Demetri added 11 points and 3 rebounds, with junior Makenzie Murphy chipping in 10 points and 5 steals.
North Reading hosted Manchester-Essex on Dec. 20 and opened with a dominant 21-7 halftime lead on the way to a convincing 54-25 home-opening win.
Gallivan filled the stat sheet with a career-high 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks. Demetri also played a complete game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Junior Kiersten Higgins chipped in with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and outstanding defense on the Manchester-Essex point guard holding her to 1 point. The swarming NRHS defense forced 26 Manchester-Essex turnovers leading to 21 Hornet points.
SOPHIA GALLIVAN scored a career-high 26 points to go with 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks in NR’s victory over Manchester-Essex in the home-opener on Dec. 20. (Eric Evans Photo)
On Dec. 23, the Hornets went on the road to Stoneham to take on a big, strong Stoneham team and ground out a 62-21 win behind the hot shooting of Demetri with a career-high 21 points including 5 3-pointers. Senior Grace Higgins added 11 points, 3 assists and 3 steals, while Gallivan (12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists), Higgins (8 points, 4 assists, 5 steals) and Addie Hajj (4 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) also contributed to the big win. The Hornet defense forced 22 Stoneham turnovers.
In the opening round of the North Reading Holiday Invitational Tournament, the NRHS girls played Melrose and again had a strong performance in a 62-34 win. The Hornets opened up a 35-17 halftime lead with a strong, 18-5 second quarter. North Reading had a balanced scoring attack with Gallivan (14), Hajj (11), Higgins (10), Demetri (10) and freshmen Hannah Frew (6) and Sophia Barabani (4) filling up the scoring sheet. NRHS shared the ball very well with 15 assists on their 23 made baskets.
Gallivan and Demetri each had 5 assists. The Hornets also enjoyed a significant rebounding advantage as Gallivan (9), Hajj (7), Demetri (5), and Higgins (5) were all very active on the backboards.
ARIANA DEMETRI scored a career-high 21 points including 5 3-pointers in a road win over Stoneham on Dec. 23. (Eric Evans Photo)
With the win, the NRHS girls earned a matchup with Malden Catholic in the tournament final which was played after press time.
“Getting off to a strong, 4-0 start was the result of a lot of work in the practices leading up to the opening of the season,” said head coach Bob Romeo. “The girls really worked on skills and conditioning and it has translated into wearing opponents down over the course of the games.”
North Reading will now get ready to travel to Lynnfield on Friday night at 6 p.m.
