High School Sports
Five takeaways from Thursday, as champions were crowned, coaches hired, TMC met, and …
For the first time in school history, Concord-Carlisle girls’ lacrosse was No. 1 in the state.Barry Chin/Globe Staff Championship weekend is upon us, with four teams getting a head-start on the celebrating Thursday night. Over at Babson College, Concord-Carlisle girls’ lacrosse claimed its first state championship in the Division 1 title game, and Norwell beat […]


Championship weekend is upon us, with four teams getting a head-start on the celebrating Thursday night.
Over at Babson College, Concord-Carlisle girls’ lacrosse claimed its first state championship in the Division 1 title game, and Norwell beat its old coach to capture the Division 4 belt, its first state title in seven years.
- The culmination for Concord-Carlisle girls’ lacrosse: history, and a Division 1 title to cherish
- Charlotte Pithie, Norwell girls’ lacrosse save the best for last to close out Cohasset in Division 4
- Re-live the action as it happened by revisiting Thursday’s live blog
And in Shrewsbury, top-seeded Agawam bounced back after dropping the second set to win the last two in commanding fashion against Wayland and secure its second Division 2 title in three seasons.
While not an MIAA sport, St. Mary’s captured the 2025 girls’ flag football title.
With the conclusion of the softball and tennis semifinals, every championship match is locked in, and with a shift in softball to put every game on Saturday, that means 23 champions will be crowned that day, weather permitting.
You can find out when every championship game is with our title tracker, and you can revisit every game from the last two rounds with our playoff guide.
The rest of Thursday’s coverage:
- Softball roundup: Addie Willett and Delaney Moquin send Silver Lake softball to Division 2 championship with clutch performances
- With renewed focus, Bella Gopen zeroed in on a singles win and a spot in the D1 final for Wellesley girls’ tennis
1. Commitment corner
Holland (formerly Burke) senior Jay’von Depina has committed to play at Northern Essex Community College, making it five of the six Bulldogs seniors who are going on to play collegiately.
Blessed enough to say i’m commiting to Northern Essex Community College! Go Knights! #AGTG pic.twitter.com/Judirawk0v
— Jay’von Depina (@DepinaJayvon) June 10, 2025
Dartmouth College announced an incoming women’s soccer class that includes two Massachusetts products: Brookline defender Anna Leschly, a two-time EMass All-Star and Bay State Conference All-Star, and BB&N’s Maeve Theobald, who made the All-NEPSAC and All-ISL first teams.
2. Coaching carousel
Methuen football coach Tom Ryan will be the athletic director at the school after serving on an interim basis last year. Longtime offensive coordinator Ryan Dugan will be promoted to interim head coach.
Ryan went 81-48 in 12 seasons coaching the Rangers. Dugan has been the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, where he teaches math, for 12 years.
Nipmuc has promoted Britt Kahler from assistant to head girls’ basketball coach. Kahler was formerly the head coach at Blackstone Valley Tech.
Congratulations to current Nipmuc Asst. Coach and former BVT Head Coach Britt Kahler. Britt will be taking over the helm of the Nipmuc Girls program @tgsports pic.twitter.com/gbNsfdiEL7
— Nipmuc HS Sports (@NipmucAD) June 12, 2025
Tabor Academy announced the promotion of 2014 graduate Lydia Caputi from assistant to head girls’ basketball coach.
Caputi takes over for Will Becker, who she coached under the last two years. An All-New England player while at Tabor, she went on to play at Babson, where she was a three-year starter.
She has coached at Trinity College and Dartmouth and was head coach at Westminster School in Simsbury, Conn.
We are excited to announce Lydia Caputi’14 as the Next Girls Varsity Basketball Head Coach! #SeawolfNationhttps://t.co/4JzHYOn4KH pic.twitter.com/ZqBRCj99iD
— Tabor Athletics (@taborathletics) June 11, 2025
Westwood athletic director Matt Gillis announced he will be retiring next week after 33 years with the school district. The Blue Hills graduate has served as the Wolverines’ AD for 13 years.
3. Milton Academy’s Partal wins Gatorade boys’ soccer award
Milton Academy senior Josh Partal has been named the Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
The midfielder from Bangor, Maine, notched seven goals and eight assists, leading the Mustangs to the NEPSAC Class A championship game. A United Soccer Coaches High School All-American selection, he participated in the High School All-American Game and will play at Stanford.
“Josh just controls the game from minute one to minute 90,” said BB&N coach Joe Campbell in a release. “He never plays a bad pass and is silky smooth on the ball. His game awareness is uncanny for such a young player.”
Partal volunteers as a youth soccer coach and is a member of the Milton Academy Science Olympiad team and co-head of the MicroFinance Club.
5. TMC talks big picture, tweaks wrestling postseason
The MIAA’s Tournament Management Committee discussed two big-picture topics and made a slight change to wrestling during its Thursday meeting.
The only vote of the day was to reduce the number of wrestlers who qualify for All-States from six to five per weight, which was recommended by the wrestling committee.
“They’re trying to get their arms around the number of people who are wrestling,” said TMC chair Shaun Hart, the Burlington AD. “The events are so huge.”
Two athletic directors, Newton North’s Mike Jackson and Franklin’s Karrah Ellis, proposed that basketball quarterfinal games be held at neutral locations instead of home gyms.
“It’s definitely difficult to host an Elite Eight game in basketball,” Ellis said. “From turning people away at the door because tickets sold out, to locking down your facility. We had people break in through our loading dock trying to sneak into a game. That’s an unreasonable expectation of your event staff.”
The committee decided to add the issue to a future agenda when they have more data, with Paine noting that only three quarterfinal games in 2025 sold more than 1,000 tickets.
“We understand Newton North and Franklin had a problem, but we need to look at the numbers and look at the ticket sales,” Hart said.
Hart also noted that while hockey quarterfinals were moved to neutral locations last season, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.
“Everyone owns their own basketball gym and less than half the hockey teams play at a venue that is theirs,” Hart said. “They’re not the same.”
The committee also discussed the need to make the alignment process, which just wrapped up for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years, less arduous and acrimonious.
“We have to seriously consider what we are doing and why we are doing this work,” Hart said. “My hope is no person needs to do alignments again. We put the formula together and it runs the state and where you land is where you are.”
A sub-committee was discussed to look at alternate methods for settling alignments.
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
High School Sports
James Johnson highlights from the newest Georgia Bulldogs 4
Georgia landed its 24th commitment for the 2026 class and on Friday when Miami Northwestern defensive lineman James Johnson announced his decision to commit to the Bulldogs, giving the program a commitment for the seventh day in a row. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound prospect chose Georgia over Florida, Florida State, Miami, Texas, and 38 other offers, giving Georgia assistant and defensive line […]


Georgia landed its 24th commitment for the 2026 class and on Friday when Miami Northwestern defensive lineman James Johnson announced his decision to commit to the Bulldogs, giving the program a commitment for the seventh day in a row. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound prospect chose Georgia over Florida, Florida State, Miami, Texas, and 38 other offers, giving Georgia assistant and defensive line coach Tray Scott his fourth defensive lineman commitment for the 2026 cycle, joining Carter Luckie, Seven Cloud, and Corey Howard. The addition of Calicut moves Georgia up one spot in the 247Sports Team Class Rankings, passing Notre Dame to give the Bulldogs the No. 2 class in the country.
Watch Johnson’s junior highlights above. As a junior, Johnson made 60 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, five sacks, and five quarterback hurries in nine games. As a sophomore, Johnson had 51 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hurries, and seven sacks.
Johnson is ranked as the No. 90 overall prospect, the No. 13 defensive lineman in the country, and the No. 11 overall recruit in Florida according to 247Sports. He ranks as the No. 69 overall recruit in the country in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, as well as the nation’s No. 8 defensive lineman and No. 10 overall prospect in Texas. Below is the 247Sports Scouting Report for Johnson from February 20.
“Explosive defensive tackle with all the fixings to make a living up front. More of a one-gap player than he is a two-gap player at this stage, but has the mass to dock in the middle. Added almost 25 pounds to a frame that stretches just over 6-foot-2 between sophomore and junior seasons and should eventually carry 300 pounds or more. Owns some of the best throwing metrics in the Sunshine State for his class and that lower-body twitch constantly shows up on tape as he shoots out of his stance and is quick to put opponents on their heels. Raw upper-body strength allows him to club his way around obstacles while a near 82-inch wingspan makes it difficult for blockers to establish initial hand positioning. Can get caught playing with a higher pad level and will fade for stretches during games, but hard to overlook push-back power and motor when it has been primed. Likely to face an initial adjustment period as he will see a significant jump in competition when he arrives at the college of his choice, but projects as a potential difference-maker at the point of attack for a College Football Playoff contender that can be stationed at different spots across the line.”
Not a VIP subscriber to Dawgs247? Sign up now to get 50 percent off access to everything Jordan D. Hill. Kipp Adams, Benjamin Wolk, and Olivia K Sayer have to offer on all things Georgia and access to the No. 1 site covering the Dawgs.
High School Sports
Blair Oaks Baseball Coach Mike DeMilia Hired as Missouri Valley College Head Coach
Blair Oaks High School‘s longtime head baseball coach Mike DeMilia, who has served with the Falcons for seven seasons (2018–2025), is taking the reins of Missouri Valley College’s baseball program, according to a press release from the school’s athletics department and reported by ABC 17 News. During his tenure at Blair Oaks, DeMilia guided the […]


Blair Oaks High School‘s longtime head baseball coach Mike DeMilia, who has served with the Falcons for seven seasons (2018–2025), is taking the reins of Missouri Valley College’s baseball program, according to a press release from the school’s athletics department and reported by ABC 17 News.
During his tenure at Blair Oaks, DeMilia guided the program to:
“Mike has a great track record, and he’s a very hard worker,” Missouri Valley Vice President of Athletics Marsha Lashley said in the school’s announcement. “His energy and his respect for the game and doing things the right way will serve our students well.”
Before his time at Blair Oaks, the Nebraska native coached at the collegiate level:
“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity,” DeMilia said in the release. “There is so much happening at Missouri Valley; they’re really on the move. It’s an honor to join the team.”
Blair Oaks will begin the search for its next head baseball coach ahead of the 2025–26 school year.
High School Sports
Bike with Mayor in Euclid highlights new routes and community connections
With the intense heat backing off a few degrees after the recent rain, a cooler day presented participants the perfect weather to go on a bike trip with Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail. Starting in the morning of June 28 about 40 participants gathered at the front entrance of the Shore Cultural Centre, 291 E. […]

With the intense heat backing off a few degrees after the recent rain, a cooler day presented participants the perfect weather to go on a bike trip with Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail.
Starting in the morning of June 28 about 40 participants gathered at the front entrance of the Shore Cultural Centre, 291 E. 222nd St., before heading out on the four-and-a-half mile route which would highlight the lakefront trail, Yuko Park, Russell Avenue Park and concluding at Bananas For Bikes, a local bike shop on Lakeshore Boulevard.

Holzheimer Gail said that besides the chance to get some exercise, the idea to behind having a “Bike with a Mayor” event was to not only have a chance to engage with some community members but also to gauge the quality of bike routes in the city.
“It’s just an opportunity to get residents out and ride their bikes and see some of the improvements we’ve made,” Holzheimer Gail said before departing. “We always want to help improve the bicycle and pedestrian safety for the community.
“I think that’s a big part in building a vibrant community. So, this is just a way to get out and model that.
“We would love to work towards more sheltered trails, but we don’t have enough room to do that,” Holzheimer Gail added. “So, just being mindful in how do we incorporate bike safety into our transportation planning is kind of part of everything that we do. As we are planning park improvements, as we are attracting businesses, keeping in mind of how do you make it safe for residents to ride their bike there.
“Sometimes it’s simple things like bike racks, sometimes it’s having special trails for the bikes, it can be a number of different things.”

She said that they have done around four similar bike rides in the past, each time the route changes in order to highlight a new area of the city. She said that while the bike ride was a big part of the event, it was also to build comradery and to show even lifetime residents that there are new things going on in the city.
“Last year we did kind of the south side Euclid Avenue, started at Collision Bend and kind of stayed up there,” Holzheimer Gail said. “So, this year, we are going to kind of focus more on the north. Still, with the improvements that we’ve made, it’s still hard to get over the field by the freeway and the big streets, so we are going to stay north this time.
“It’s also just a great way to meet residents,” Holzheimer Gail added. “I know one of the times that we did this, residents who have lived here most of their life were surprised by things that they didn’t know about… It’s a good way to learn about some things that are happening in the city, get to meet new people, and have some fun.”

Diana Hildebrand, education and outreach manager for Bike Cleveland, who was leading the group along the route as part of the safety team, said she is excited to get on the road and that the Bike with the Mayor event was, to her, a fun way for people to get involved.
“Bike with the Mayor rides are so important,” Hildebrand said. “It gets the community out and connects the person who they consider a higher up to the people to say, ‘hey I’m a person as well’…
“We have to let people know that bicycles are allowed to share the road with other vehicles. We also talk to our city and county people as well, so that they can start to implement changes — that they are aware that the sidewalks could be a little wilder, or maybe when we are repaving their streets we could add a speed table, buffer bike lanes or install a bike lane…”
While there were many places along the route that she was excited about, the first thing that came to mind, she said, was the new lakefront connections and Lake Erie itself.
“My favorite part is the connection to the lake and the beautification around the lake,” Hildebrand said. “They have been trying to install the park and while I was out here I was looking at it, I love being outside, and connecting communities to our beautiful lakefront is so important.”
Riding bikes can be fun, but it can also be dangerous. According to the National Safety Council, there were 1,377 preventable bicycle-related deaths in 2023 in the U.S., with 937 of those deaths due to being hit with a motor-vehicle.


Hildebrand said that she had something to say to drivers who might be getting a little too close.
“One thing I would like to say, so that people understand our bike safety laws, bicycles are (considered) vehicles in the state of Ohio and a lot of states across the nation,” Hildebrand said. “Just give us our three to four feet while passing us cautiously. And if I had to add an explanation point to something, don’t honk your horn at us. Hoking your horn absolutely scares a cyclist. We don’t know if a car is coming fast at us, or anything like that.
“Just be cautious with us on when we are on the roadways, and remember that, your mom, your dad, your aunt or uncle, your brother or sister- one of us are enjoying the outdoor space on two-wheels- or sometimes three-wheels if you want to ride a tricycle- just let us enjoy our time outside… we always want to come home to our families.”
Originally Published:
High School Sports
Looking at the Top 10 moments of the 2024
It’s been a long ride. The 2024-25 high school sports season began what seems like forever ago, and yet it came to a close just a couple weeks past. It was a wildly successful season for the Berkshires, with multiple state championships returning to the county at the end of Massachusetts. 2


It’s been a long ride. The 2024-25 high school sports season began what seems like forever ago, and yet it came to a close just a couple weeks past.
It was a wildly successful season for the Berkshires, with multiple state championships returning to the county at the end of Massachusetts.
High School Sports
Former Jaguars cheerleader's death from colorectal cancer highlights rising cases
Since the mid-1990s, colorectal cancer cases among adults aged 20 to 39 have increased by about two percent each year. Author: firstcoastnews.com Published: 12:37 PM EDT June 28, 2025 Updated: 12:37 PM EDT June 28, 2025 2


Since the mid-1990s, colorectal cancer cases among adults aged 20 to 39 have increased by about two percent each year.
High School Sports
Anthony Raio named USA Lacrosse's 2025 Northeast Player of the Year
When Anthony Raio learned he was USA Lacrosse’s 2025 Northeast Player of the Year, the first person he told was his dad. “He was super happy and proud of all the hard work paying off,” Raio said. And justifiably so. Raio, Newsday’s boys lacrosse player of the year, set Long Island’s career goals record this […]

When Anthony Raio learned he was USA Lacrosse’s 2025 Northeast Player of the Year, the first person he told was his dad.
“He was super happy and proud of all the hard work paying off,” Raio said.
And justifiably so.
Raio, Newsday’s boys lacrosse player of the year, set Long Island’s career goals record this spring (295) while leading Half Hollow Hills to a 23-win undefeated season and a program-first state title. He scored 99 goals and assisted 77 more for a terrific 176 points.
The accomplishment was announced on Thursday, just days after Raio had won the Lt. Ray Enners Award, which highlights the top lacrosse player in Suffolk.
“It’s the result of all the work I put in when people weren’t looking,” Raio said. “All the times I went to shoot by myself after practice, or when I’ll take a couple teammates on weekends to just shoot and mess around. I couldn’t be more grateful to my teammates and coaches for helping me become who I am, because I wouldn’t be half the person I am without them.”
As Northeast Player of the Year, Raio is a member of the 14-team All-Northeast lineup. He’s joined by Gary Merrill of St. Anthony’s, Quinn Ball of Chaminade, and Owen Wuchte and Blake Cascadden of Garden City. The list considered players from New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
“[Long Island] is the best place to play lacrosse,” Raio said. “The grit, the intensity and love for the game that all the guys who come out of here have just shows on championship weekend.”
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