VIDEO: East Bridgewater High baseball advances to D-4 Final Four
Jaden Lovell’s ninth strikeout clinched a 2-1 win over Dennis-Yarmouth as East Bridgewater advanced to the Div. 4 Final Four.
The Brockton area witnessed many highs for its high school sports teams throughout the 2023-24 school year.
One state champion — Oliver Ames boys soccer — emerged in the three sports seasons, but a few others got close and plenty of thrilling moments were had.
To put some finishing touches on our coverage for the season, let’s narrow down a Team of the Year together.
A reader vote casted below is responsible for a portion of the selection process, and each member of The Enterprise/Patriot Ledger sports staff (editor Chris McDaniel and reporters Eric McHugh, Jason Snow and Ryan Vermette) will also each have a vote. The winner will be decided by a Heisman-style poll.
More: VOTE: Which Brockton-area high school has our 2023-24 Team of the Year?
Voting ends Tuesday, July 29.
Note: This list is in alphabetical order.
Avon boys basketball
Coming off a sub-.500 season in 2023, the Panthers started 12-0, earned an opening-round win in the Division 4 tournament and finished 17-5 overall.
Abington softball
The Green Wave started 12-0 this spring and finished 19-1 en route to the Division 4 Elite Eight. The team’s lineup had five All-Scholastic mentions, including sophomore pitcher Elsie Testa, who had a 0.87 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 22 starts.
Bridgewater-Raynham girls basketball
Reese Bartlett’s game-winning shot with 1.3 seconds remaining paved the Trojans’ path to the Division 1 Elite Eight. Bridgewater-Raynham finished 17-7 and had three All-Scholastic selections — Bartlett, Brenna Woodbury and Camden Strandberg — all of whom were double-digit scorers.
Brockton boys soccer
Coach Herminio Furtado returned from a one-year leave of absence and led the Boxers to a 12-4-2 season. The No. 12-ranked team finished with a 2-0 loss to No. 5 Weymouth, which later advanced to the state final, in the Sweet Sixteen.
East Bridgewater baseball
The Vikings claimed the No. 10 seed in the Division 4 state tournament and marched to the Final Four for the first time since 2016. East Bridgewater suffered a 1-0 loss to No. 6 Pittsfield via walk-off at Holy Cross in Worcester to end the season with a 17-7 record.
More: Just the start? Heavy on quality underclassmen, EB baseball has bright future
Cardinal Spellman girls soccer
The Cardinals ran through the regular season with a 15-1-2 record and clinched the No. 6 seed in the Division 3 bracket behind the efforts of All-Scholastic picks Emma Pero (34 goals, 6 assists) and Isabella McDonough (10 goals, 11 assists). Cardinal Spellman lost a 1-0 game to No. 11 Weston in the Sweet Sixteen to end the season.
Middleboro boys basketball
These Sachems were the Cinderella story of the 2023-24 school year. Ranked No. 38 in Division 2 after a 12-8 regular season, Middleboro went on to spoil the seasons of No. 7 Hopkinton, No. 22 Milford and No. 27 Reading Memorial on its way to the Elite Eight. Matt Youngquist, the South Shore League Sullivan Division MVP, averaged 27 points per game in the run.
Oliver Ames boys soccer
The Tigers saw significant talent transfer in the offseason, but nonetheless, repeated as Division 2 state champions. Joey Carney scored in OT as Oliver Ames defeated Wakefield, 1-0, in the title game and finished 19-3-1.
Rockland girls volleyball
The Bulldogs, in the repeat season with 15 wins, clinched the No. 10 seed in Division 4 this fall and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time in three years. Senior Maggie Elie, a two-time South Shore League Player of the Year and three-time league All-Star, tallied her 1,000th career assist this fall as Rockland finished 17-6.
Stoughton boys basketball
This winter solidified the Black Knights’ first winning season and tournament appearance since 2020. The team finished 12-11 with the No. 20 seed in the Division 2 bracket.
Southeastern boys hockey
After dropping its first three games, Southeastern rattled off 12 straight victories to clinch its third straight winning season since the MIAA’s implementation of the state-wide tournament format.
West Bridgewater girls soccer
The Wildcats ripped off a 12-5-1 regular season on the way to clinching the No. 8 seed in the Division 4 state tournament. All-Scholastic picks Rachel Geniuch, the South Coast Conference MVP, (27 goals, 16 assists) and Kylie Fuller (29 goals, 10 assists) had standout seasons as West Bridgewater advanced to the Elite Eight.
Whitman-Hanson girls basketball
There were no seniors within this year’s collection of Panthers. Nonetheless, led by All-Scholastics Dylan Hurley and Lillie MacKinnon, the team turned in a 16-4 regular season to earn the No. 13 seed in Division 2. Whitman-Hanson won two nail-biters, but lost an overtime thriller by one point to the eventual state runner-up Oliver Ames in the Elite Eight.