Mahoney wins singles title as Sparta boys tennis places second at H/W/S

Senior Graham Mahoney captured the second singles title as the Sparta High boys tennis team placed second at the annual Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex tournament on Saturday, April 18, at Hunterdon Central high in Flemington.

Hunterdon Central, which has now won 11 tri-county titles, repeated as champions after winning titles at first singles, third singles, and first and second doubles. Sparta, which won the 2023 and ‘24 team crowns, finished tied with Voorhees with 16 team points, but claimed second on the strength of Mahoney’s title.

Mahoney earned the second singles championship with a hard-fought come from behind 5-7, 6-1, 10-7 decision over Hunterdon Central’s Sajin Abeysinghe.

Sparta, now 3-4, this season, is scheduled to play at West Morris on Friday, May 1 at 4 p.m.

Sparta Girls Lacrosse

Moira Sweeney totaled four goals and five draw controls, Joey Roque and Sophie Ku each added three goals and an assist and Kaitlyn Peters also scored three times to power Sparta, ranked No. 18 in the state, to a 19-9 victory over Madison on Friday afternoon in Sparta.

The Lady Spartans were also aided in the decision by Grace Johnson (one goal, one assist, seven draw controls, three ground balls), Reagan Cina (two goals, two assists, three draw controls), Isabella Van Winkle (one goal, two assists) and Emma Muller (two goals).

The goalie tandem of Emma Mascuch (one save) and Callie Maines (five saves) anchored the defense.

The win marked a season-high fourth straight for Sparta, which improved to 7-2 this season. The only losses this season for the Lady Spartans were to No. 10 Mendham (18-8 on April 7) and to No. 14 (9-7 on April 11).

Sparta was seeded first for the 16th annual Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament and received a bye into the quarterfinal round on Saturday, May 2. Sparta, which won its only tri-county title in 2018, bowed to Hunterdon Central in last year’s final. Hunterdon Central has won 10 H/W/S tournaments, including the last six.

Pope John Boys Lacrosse

Braden Hammond won 14-of-17 face-offs and added nine ground balls, Jack Gallucci added four goals and one assist, Brody Pilek had three goals and an assist to steer the Lions to an 11-7 victory over Immaculata on Saturday afternoon in Somerset.

Hunter Parrillo (two goals, four assists), Sam Conetta (four assists, six ground balls), Andrew Gallant (one goal), Victor Fiore (one goal), Matthew Reilly (three ground balls), Anthony Klimczuk (18 saves) and Owen Houle (one save) rounded out Pope John’s effort.

The Lions will be seeking to successfully defend its Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament championship and will be seeking their fourth title in the past six years as the 16th annual event begins this week.

Pope John (7-5) was seeded second behind Sparta for this year’s tournament and received a bye into the quarterfinal round on May 2.

Pope John Baseball

The Lions were seeded ninth for the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament and will play at eighth-seeded Hackettstown in a first round game on Saturday, May 2 at 11 a.m.

Pope John (1-10) won its first game of the season on Monday, April 20 when it defeated Bridgewater-Raritan, 6-3, in Sparta.

Joseph Manco went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, a stolen base and a run, Jake Piotrowsky singled, stole a base and scored twice and Andrew Bode singled twice to key the decision.

Sparta Baseball

Sparta was seeded fifth for the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament and will host a first round game on Saturday, May 2, at 11 a.m.