Boys Basketball

The St. Clement Anchormen moved closer to a State Tournament spot with a commanding win over Lowell Catholic on Friday, 68-57, upping their record to 9-8. Freshman Emaru Pena (Roxbury) led the effort with 18 points. The Anchormen hope to clinch a tournament spot this week with games against Lexington Minutemen Technical and Trinity Catholic on Thursday, February 16.

Girls Basketball

The Lady Anchors picked up their seventh win last on Feb. 7 with a convincing 55 to 19 win over Cristo Rey.  Jessica Popken (Medford) continued her remarkable season with 18 points. Katie Monestime (Somerville) had 8 points, Diana Tran (Somerville) 7 points, Elva Martinez (Somerville) and Allison Caloggero (Medford) followed with 6 points a piece and Jessie Jepson (Somerville) with 5. Amanda Andre (Medford) was tough on the boards and played good defense for the Lady Anchors.

On Friday, the Lowell Catholic Crusaders handed St. Clement their eleventh loss 49-45. After a strong start, St. Clement jumped out to a 6-0 lead just two minutes into the game led by steals from star forward Elva Martinez (Somerville) and fast break layups from Katie Monestime (Somerville).  Down by 15 points in the third, the Lady Anchors fought back with key steals from Kristina Ofoedu (Somerville) to cut the lead to 4 with a minute to go after two pressure free throws from senior captain Diana Tran (Somerville).  Despite a tremendous effort, the Anchors could not pull off the win.

This loss unfortunately ended the Anchors playoff hopes. Head Coach, Alyssa Jann urged the Anchors to put the loss in perspective. “We are a completely different team from December. There was a lot of rebuilding in the past three months and I am so proud of how far the girls have come. We had a 0-6 start this year and to turn it around and be just one game shy of the tournament. That’s progress. It is important to any program to expect to win, so, yes, we are all disappointed, but it’s also very important to remember how far we have come.”

The Lady Anchors take on Trinity Catholic on Friday, Feb. 17, and will honor their seniors Beatrice Boisvert (Everett), Diana Tran (Somerville), and Elva Martinez (Somerville).