Published February 14, 2019

By DAN NUNN

NORTH READING — On Feb. 4, the NRHS girls’ basketball team traveled to Masco and were defeated by the 13-4 Chieftains 53-32. The high scorer for North Reading was junior Lauren Sullivan who had 11 points.

ALI GRASSO puts a nice move on her Masconomet opponent. The Hornets beat the Chieftains for just the third time in program history on Friday night. (John Friberg Photo)

Overwhelm Hamilton-Wenham 68-41

Junior Ali Grasso scored 20 points to help lead the Hornets to their 68-41 blowout victory over the Hamilton-Wenham Generals on Feb. 5. Sophomore Julia Howse was outstanding with 17 points and senior captain Casey McAuliffe continued her hot shooting with 16 points including 4 3-pointers.

North Reading got off to a slow start in the first quarter and were down 9-6 at the 4:14 mark. But after a timeout, NRHS turned things around and by the end of the quarter they turned the deficit into a 19-14 lead.

Early on in the second, the Generals cut the lead to 19-18. Once again though, the Hornets responded with another scoring run and by halftime their advantage ballooned to 11 at 31-20. In the second half it was all North Reading. They outscored Hamilton-Wenham 37-21 to win going away.

Beat Masco for just third time in school history 

Casey McAuliffe hit 5 3-pointers and scored 16 points to propel the Hornets to their massive 58-40 victory over the Masconomet Chieftains on Friday night. It is just the third time in NRHS history that they have beaten Masco.

Julia Howse was outstanding and recorded a double-double with 11 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks.  Alli Grasso and Lauren Sullivan both had 9 points apiece. Senior co-captain Mia DeNofrio added 8 points and held Masco’s leading scorer to 9 points.

North Reading came out on fire and blitzed the Chieftains in the first half. They scored 37 points and held a commanding 37-15 halftime lead. From there, Masco was never any closer than 18.