By Greg Phipps In a penalty-riddled contest, the Peabody boys’ hockey team earned its first point in nearly two years by scrapping to a 2-2 tie against the Northeastern Conference (NEC) rival Danvers Falcons on Saturday afternoon at Endicott College’s Raymond Bourque Arena in Beverly. It was the eighth annual Mike Clifford Memorial Game, played in memory of the late Clifford, who served as an assistant coach for both schools. The arena was packed and the contest was full of intensity, as 25 penalties were whistled over the final two periods. In fact, there were very few instances over the final 30 minutes when both squads were at full strength.…

  (Advocate photos by Ross Scabin)

  (Advocate photos by Ross Scabin)

By Greg Phipps Despite putting forth a strong effort, the Peabody boys’ basketball team fell short in its first two games. On Monday at the PHS Gym, the Tanners took a two-point lead into the final quarter against Danvers but were outscored by 12 in the final quarter and suffered a 64-54 defeat to the Northeastern Conference (NEC) rival Falcons. The Tanners trailed up until the midportion of the third quarter when Kyle Morfis drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to give the home team a 37-35 edge. Still in front 41-39 entering the fourth, Peabody saw its advantage dissipate rather quickly as Danvers scored the first seven points of…

By Greg Phipps The Peabody High School boys’ basketball team is facing a major challenge entering 2018-19 but it is one they are looking forward to, according the head coach Thad Broughton. The Tanners graduated seven seniors, including four starters, from last year’s team that finished 12-9 and lost to Lynn English in the first round of the playoffs. “We have a lot of new players this year,” admitted Broughton, who added that the team’s aggressive, high-energy philosophy on both sides of the ball won’t change much. “Our style of play will be similar to last year in terms of our core concepts. We’ll try to win games by playing…