CHELMSFORD — As Phil Lombardi surrounded his teammates taking turns cutting a portion of the net at the Chelmsford High gym, the senior wing took it all in. Sporting its newly-minted Merrimack Valley Cup champion T-shirts, the Tewksbury High boys basketball team rolled past Haverhill, 65-47, in the inaugural edition of the tournament’s finals on Monday. The Redmen drained 12 triples behind a 13-point effort from Lombardi to capture the in-season tournament crown in dominant fashion.
It’s been nothing new for Tewksbury (16-3) this winter. The Redmen are riding an eight-game winning streak and one of the area’s most formidable teams. But for Lombardi and the Redmen, the torrid season is anything but status quo.
Tewksbury skidded to a 6-14 campaign in 2023-24. The struggle of the uninspiring slate is still very fresh in Lombardi’s mind. “It’s so cool,” said Lombardi.
“Last year we couldn’t even compete with the MVC large teams. This year we did, and we got that one seed and never looked back.” Top-seeded Tewksbury entered the tournament with a first-round bye before beating Dracut to advance to the final.
The Redmen barraged the Hillies from distance on Monday, as Gabe Keskinidis (13 points) and Jonny Sullivan (12 points) quarterbacked the effort with Lombardi. “We talk a lot about how tough day in and day out the Merrimack Valley Conference is,” said Redmen head coach Steve Boudreau. “So to be able to win the MVC Cup and beat the other teams in the M.
