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Jyzaiah Ferreira (182 pounds) and Jeremy Rousseau (220 pounds) each won individual titles as Whittier took third as a team at the State Vocational Tournament. Adam Rousseau added a second-place finish for the Wildcats.

The Greater Lawrence volleyball team fought hard, but it was no match for talented Greater New Bedford, the No. 1 ranked team in the state by the Boston Globe. The Reggies fell 3-0 in the State Vocational final, and now wait to host their North first round game against Cambridge on Friday (7 p.m. start). 

HAVERHILL – While losing any championship tilt is disappointing, the State Vocational title isn’t the ultimate prize Whittier has been building toward the past three years.

HAVERHILL – When a team is as young as Whittier, a coach can only hope the tough times translate into acquired wisdom.

LYNN — Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis knows he asked a tremendous amount from his running backs in his run-heavy power-I offense. After all, it is not unusual for a player to carry 30 or more times in a game.

The Whittier boys continued their dominance with a 75-58 win over Greater New Bedford in the state vocational large school semifinals. Andrew Wells and Marck Galva each scored nine points in the first quarter as the host Wildcats took a nine-point lead over the overmatched Bears (7-13). Wells went 6 for 8 from behind the arc and poured in a game high 20 points. Galva finished with 13 points and Justin Reyes had 10 points for the 20-1 Wildcats. The game was physical throughout. Greater New Bedford forward Nick Rego was ejected late in the second quarter following a hard foul on Gage Alicea. Greater New Bedford also had another flagrant foul earlier in the half. “I thought it was chippy from the beginning,” said Whittier head coach Tom Sipsey, whose club beat Greater Lawrence by 20 and 12 points in the regular season. “I thought our guys responded well by not reacting to it.” Winning today vs. the Reggies (5 p.m. tip-off at Whittier) would be big, but the Wildcats just want to keep on winning. North Sectional tourney pairings will be announced today. “At this point of the year, we want to make sure we are fresh and ready to go for that tournament,” said Sipsey. “I wanted to make sure that our starters did not play huge minutes today. The goal is strictly to get ready for next week.”

BRAINTREE — A season that began in horrifying September tragedy, ended last night for Greater Lawrence not quite as joyously as the Reggies had hoped.

And when the season-ending 17-14 defeat ended, the Reggies had one last shout out for their fallen comrade.

Greater New Bedford trimmed fellow unbeaten Greater Lawrence, 3-1, in the state vocational volleyball semifinals. Shabelli Villa led the 20-1 Reggies with 17 service points, 4 aces and 22 digs.