Massachusetts high school sports highlights and takeaways for March 2

There’s no better place to start than the team champions: Masconomet (gymnastics), Shawsheen (boys’ wrestling), and Putnam (girls’ wrestling).
Basketball and hockey will hold their big championship weekend in two weeks (March 14-16), but Saturday felt like a miniature version, with All-State boys’ and girls’ wrestling, All-State gymnastics, and New England track, on top of a full slate of second-round hockey tournament games.
For the Chieftains, it marked their fifth state gymnastics triumph dating to 2019 — there was no championship held in 2021 — and a bounce-back from last year, when they finished second to Central Catholic.
Shawsheen, a week removed from stunning Division 1 with a state championship, continued to prove its dominance, winning the All-State wrestling tournament by 2 points over Central Catholic, with a big boost from senior Sid Tildsley (138 pounds), who became the fourth wrestler in state history to win four All-State titles. Moments later, Chelmsford senior Thomas Brown became the fifth. The best part? They’ve been friends since they were kids.
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Putnam won the girls’ team title despite not sending any wrestlers to the finals, topping second-place Lowell.
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At the New England track and field championships at the Reggie Lewis Center, it was Brockton senior Lucas Andrade delivering a jaw-dropping performance in the 55-meter hurdles, breaking his own state record with a run of 7.22 seconds. That also topped the meet record, which had stood since 1991.
From the milestone’s category: Duxbury senior Megan Carney notched her 100th career point with a goal in a 4-1 second-round victory over Canton in the Division 2 tournament.
Now, to the hockey!
2. Stang stunner
The biggest upset of the night belonged to 15th-seeded Bishop Stang, coming off its first-ever tournament win. The Spartans’ second came Saturday, 4-0, against second-seeded Notre Dame (Hingham), which reached the Division 1 final last year.
“It’s huge,” said coach Bill Theodore. “Credit to the players, they left it all out there.”
3. Hatties and shutties
From the hard-to-believe box: Nauset’s hockey teams provided four hat tricks Saturday. There was one from Gaby Basset in the girls’ 5-3 loss to Woburn, and three from the boys’ 9-0 win over Danvers: Colin Ward, Logan Poulin, and Jake Eldredge.
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Also joining the fun were Canton’s Travis Thomas (in a 7-1 win over Falmouth), Scituate’s Nate Sannella (in a 6-3 win over Taunton), Dedham’s Timmy Holton (in an 8-3 win over Pentucket), and Archbishop Williams’ Izzy O’Brien (in a 7-1 win over Peabody).
Not to be outdone, North Reading senior captain Thomas Gazda registered a 5-point night (2 goals, 3 assists) in a 6-2 win over Wilmington
The night’s only solo shutout belonged to Burlington’s Kiera Brindle, who made 26 saves to blank Pembroke, 5-0. Bishop Stang freshman Vivienne Melo was working on a shutout when she left due to injury after two periods; sophomore Isabelle Duarte finished the job in her absence.
Also of note, eighth-grader Jaxson Fleming made 18 saves for Catholic Memorial in a 2-1 win over Arlington Catholic.
4. Sudden elation
It was an evening for the dramatic, with no fewer than four walk-off wins on the ice.
Jack Prince scored for Milton in triple OT, his second of the game, to beat Newburyport, 3-2. You don’t need to know any more from me, just listen to the call on Milton Cable Access from play-by-play man Jackson Lang, with the Globe’s Michael Vega on color.
Arlington’s Quinlan McNulty-Lue, he of the awesome “Q-vehckin” nickname, delivered in the first overtime period for a 4-3 win over St. Mary’s after teammate Nolan Russell’s equalizer with 16 seconds left.
Woburn’s Jack McEleney was the hero with his double-overtime goal to beat Westwood, 3-2.
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Chloe Bryda needed only an extra 29 seconds to give Bishop Feehan a 3-2 overtime win over Lincoln-Sudbury.
It wasn’t in OT, but Winthrop’s Aidan Survilas broke a 2-2 deadlock with 40 seconds to play for Winthrop, resulting in a 3-2 win over Norwell.
5. Hardcourt happenings
Before we bid adieu, there were a couple of basketball moments that deserve mentioning.
Brooks senior Alex Wilkins exploded for one of the craziest stat lines all season: 47 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists in a 71-62 win over Roxbury Latin.
The Phillips Exeter boys defeated Phillips Andover, 70-61, behind 29 points from Ryder Frost, the former Beverly High standout. Xavier Abreu led Andover with 29 in the loss.
In MIAA tournament play, Bryan Bascones of Worcester South scored 35 on 11-of-13 shooting in a 61-43 Division 2 girls’ win over Burlington, and Jimmer Donnelly had 26 for Millbury in a 60-37 Division 4 boys’ win over New Heights Charter.
David McLaughlin, who was the 1992 Catholic Conference MVP as a senior at BC High, coached Dartmouth men’s basketball into the Ivy League Tournament for the first time by beating Brown, 78-58.
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.