Quincy natives Matt Pepdjonovic and Catherine O’Connell both made history on the court last weekend.
O’Connell, a senior center on the women’s basketball team at Newbury College, reached 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds in a 56-45 season-opening game loss to Gordon College. The points milestone came in spectacular way for the North Quincy High graduate: With five seconds remaining, she launched — and sank — her first career 3-point shot for an even 1,000.
Pepdjonovic, a senior forward who played at BC High, became the second player in Suffolk annals to do likewise. Already a 1,000-point scorer, he pulled down 13 rebounds in a 69-52 loss to Roger Williams and now has 1,002 boards, 14 shy of the Suffolk record.
O’Neil prowess noted
After helping power the Bates football program to its first winning season since 1981, junior right tackle Liam O’Neil of Hingham was named to the New England Small College Athletic Conference second team.
The 6-foot-4, 305-pound O’Neil (Hingham High/Pomfret Academy) was a fixture on what Bobcats’ coach Mark Harriman called the best offensive line in his 14 seasons at the Lewiston, Maine school. Bates, which finished 5-3, rushed for an average 233.5 yards per game, second in the NESCAC.
Marvin Pave can be reached at marvin.pave@rcn.com.
