Grade four shuts out Littleton

The fourth-grade girls bounced back from a tough loss to Leominster last week. The team's smothering defense held Littleton to only four shots at the basket and zero points for the game, G-D's first shutout of the year.

Kyleigh McDonald (five points), Katie Eberhardt (four points) and Allie Vogel (four points) led their scoring attack. Also contributing points were Maddison Dondero, Amanda Lacombe and Brenna O'Malley. When the final buzzer rang, the score was 18-0.

Fast breaks fuel fourth-grade boys

The fourth-grade boys improved to 6-2 with a 28-17 victory at Oakmont. G-D's tough defense led to many fast-break opportunities as the boys took advantage of the large gym space. Brandon Wiercinski led all scorers with 10 points, Kyle Plausse added five, Jack Barry had four, Ryan Bernard three, Jon Eisenklam and Alex Bushnell each with two. Next week the team has back-to-back games with TAP on Saturday and Wachusett Sunday at home.

Grade five's full-court press stymies Gardner

The fifth-grade girls faced off against Gardner this week and delivered a solid overall performance, winning 43-14. The girls set the tone early, jumping out to a 10-0 lead based on a strong full-court press that created multiple turnovers and fast-break layups. The girls displayed some very unselfish play as they worked the ball around very well against Gardner's 2-3 zone.

Defensively, the girls played a very aggressive man-to-man that smothered the opposition.

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Some top performers in the game include: Rachel Erickson, who led the team in scoring with 10 points, Nicole Tammaro, who had seven points and six steals, and Jillian Van Pelt, who had six points and seven assists. Bronwyn Mulligan and Cate Bolton combined for five points and some aggressive lockdown defense on Gardner's post players. Carolyn Mullins (four points) and Abby Eisenkam (five points, eight rebounds) controlled the paint. Maggie Jiser and Lauren Hill played incredible defense, generating a collective eight steals to launch the G-D fast break. Emma Wilson had four points, but, more importantly, her tenacious defense created multiple turnovers and fast break layups for her team. Overall, the G5's demonstrated balance, strong defense and excellent team passing to win handily over Gardner.

Battle of fifth-grade 'undefeateds' goes to Wachusett

The fifth-grade boys team lost its first game of the season 44-34 in a physical game against a strong Wachusett team. The game was even at halftime at 17-17.

In the second half, the Crusaders moved out to a five-point lead with eight minutes remaining behind Tyler Peck's three-pointer. The game went back and forth for the next few minutes and it was anybody's game with 3:30 remaining. But with G-D clinging to a one-point lead, Wachusett finished the game on a 12-2 run to put the game away. Joe O'Malley led G-D with 10 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out. Tyler Peck chipped in with seven points and Sammy Eggimann added six points.

Nashoba gets better of grade six

The sixth-grade girls winning streak came to an end at the hands of Nashoba 22-20. Nashoba played strong full-court defense, which slowed G-D's offense down. Rachel Romich pitched in seven points and Lydia Pray had six points. Jacqueline Forbes and Julia Stathis played hard all game against Nashoba's bigs. Grade six will try to get back on track this weekend when they face Littleton.

Sixth-grade boys win decisively over Westford

The boys sixth-grade team defeated Westford 58-34. G-D was led offensively by Evan Cook with 19 points followed by Jacob Gavel, Jeremy Keast and Finn Lynch each adding nine points

Seventh-grade girls drop a close one to A-B

The seventh-grade girls lost a defensive battle to a tough Acton Boxborough eighth-grade squad. The Crusaders played tenacious defense the entire game and limited A-B's scoring opportunities. Unfortunately for the Crusaders, they were unable to convert on some good looks in the closing minutes.

A-B then hit some clutch free-throws to seal the 19-16 victory. It was a full team effort with balanced scoring and all 10 players making major contributions on the defensive end. 

Seventh-grade Crusaders win pivotal game over Acton-Boxborough

In a key game for the Crusaders, the seventh-grade boys came out strong and maintained their intensity the entire first half, securing a four-point advantage, 27-23. G-D had excellent scoring balance in the half. Wiley Ordemann hit for seven in the half, including a long three-pointer. The game remained tight through the second half until the end when the Crusaders scored off of a couple of turnovers. They also hit their free-throws to secure a 10-point victory, 53-43. Drew Stone played a very strong game at point on both ends, and led the team in scoring with 12 points. Graham Chilcoat contributed seven points on a couple nice drives to the rim and was very active on the boards. Neil Swain and Joey Femia, who also had 10 points, brought the pressure on defense, stifling Acton-Boxboro's best players.

G8's relentless defense secures win

In a game where every player scored, the eighth-grade girls defeated Mahar 45-17.The Crusaders continued their recent surge of relentless defensive pressure, led by Nikki Eggimann and Nichole Little. G-D held Mahar to six points in the second half and forced 20 turnovers during the game.