Monday, March 16, 2009


Globe North Sports | High School Basketball

Swampscott victorious

on 'return' to Garden

Swampscott players celebrate following their victory over Archbishop Williams in Monday's Division 3 state semifinal at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Swampscott players celebrate following their victory over Archbishop Williams in Monday's Division 3 state semifinal at the TD Banknorth Garden. (Jim Davis/ Globe Staff)

By Justin A. Rice
Globe Correspondent / March 15, 2009

Jack Hughes is one who can truly appreciate what it means to lace up his sneakers and play on the fabled parquet floor at the Garden.

He's been there. Not as a 32-minute-per game starter. But as a reserve, one whose moment lasted exactly one minute, 40 years ago, for the Swampscott High boys' basketball team.

So as his Swampscott High girls' squad was wrapping up its 67-51 victory over Archbishop Williams in Monday's Division 3 state semifinal, he made sure that all 15 of his players had their moment too.

"Back then it was different. You had to win 70 percent of your games to get into the tournament and every game was played in the Boston Garden," said Hughes, of his experience on the 1968 Swampscott squad.

"In the first game I got in for one minute. But I didn't get in the championship game against Braintree, which we won on a buzzer-beater. I wanted them to be able to say years from now 'I played on the Garden floor; it wasn't long but I played on it,' " he said.

Swampscott played perennial Central power Quaboag Regional in yesterday's state final.

Senior forward Allie Beaulieu, who netted a game-high 23 points in Monday night's win, was thrilled to see that all of her teammates were able to get onto the floor.

"[Hughes] told us he was a team player. He didn't even play one minute in the championship game but he felt so involved with the team," said Beaulieu, a 1,000-point scorer who will play at Bates next season.

"He was trying to say 'We're a team and everyone on the team counts.' It's so true. I love all my teammates. It's good coaching on his part, because every girl on the team deserved to have a chance to play in the Garden," she said.

But perhaps one reason Swampscott got there in the first place was because team members never got hung up on all the storylines surrounding their season.

A Swampscott team had lost on at least three other occasions at the Garden. But this season, the Big Blue buried the ghosts.

After losing to Pentucket the previous two seasons in the North final, Swampscott bounced the Sachems, 61-46, to earn its trip to Boston. The win at the Garden was the school's first EMass title, for either boys or girls, since 1968.

"I didn't even know half those stories," said Beaulieu, who collected five of the team's 19 steals in Monday's win after scoring 20 points in the North Sectional final. "We just go out there and play."

While Beaulieu and junior guard Kara Gilberg (22 points) led the team offensively on Monday night, they are by no stretch the team's biggest scoring threat. That title belongs to senior forward Tara Nimkar, who before tallying 17 points against Archbishop Williams became the program's all-time leading scorer in the North Sectional final.

Jack Hughes is one who can truly appreciate what it means to lace up his sneakers and play on the fabled parquet floor at the Garden.

He's been there. Not as a 32-minute-per game starter. But as a reserve, one whose moment lasted exactly one minute, 40 years ago, for the Swampscott High boys' basketball team.

So as his Swampscott High girls' squad was wrapping up its 67-51 victory over Archbishop Williams in Monday's Division 3 state semifinal, he made sure that all 15 of his players had their moment too.

"Back then it was different. You had to win 70 percent of your games to get into the tournament and every game was played in the Boston Garden," said Hughes, of his experience on the 1968 Swampscott squad.

"In the first game I got in for one minute. But I didn't get in the championship game against Braintree, which we won on a buzzer-beater. I wanted them to be able to say years from now 'I played on the Garden floor; it wasn't long but I played on it,' " he said.

Swampscott played perennial Central power Quaboag Regional in yesterday's state final.

Senior forward Allie Beaulieu, who netted a game-high 23 points in Monday night's win, was thrilled to see that all of her teammates were able to get onto the floor.

"[Hughes] told us he was a team player. He didn't even play one minute in the championship game but he felt so involved with the team," said Beaulieu, a 1,000-point scorer who will play at Bates next season.

"He was trying to say 'We're a team and everyone on the team counts.' It's so true. I love all my teammates. It's good coaching on his part, because every girl on the team deserved to have a chance to play in the Garden," she said.

But perhaps one reason Swampscott got there in the first place was because team members never got hung up on all the storylines surrounding their season.

A Swampscott team had lost on at least three other occasions at the Garden. But this season, the Big Blue buried the ghosts.

After losing to Pentucket the previous two seasons in the North final, Swampscott bounced the Sachems, 61-46, to earn its trip to Boston. The win at the Garden was the school's first EMass title, for either boys or girls, since 1968.

"I didn't even know half those stories," said Beaulieu, who collected five of the team's 19 steals in Monday's win after scoring 20 points in the North Sectional final. "We just go out there and play."

While Beaulieu and junior guard Kara Gilberg (22 points) led the team offensively on Monday night, they are by no stretch the team's biggest scoring threat. That title belongs to senior forward Tara Nimkar, who before tallying 17 points against Archbishop Williams became the program's all-time leading scorer in the North Sectional final.


From New England Lax Journal:

March 4, 2009

Impact player


Mitch Belisle (left) is earning a reputation as a hard-working and hard-hitting defender, as the New York Titans’ Jordan Hall can attest. (photo: Brian Clark/New England Lacrosse Journal)

Mitch Belisle (left) is earning a reputation as a hard-working and hard-hitting defender, as the New York Titans’ Jordan Hall can attest. (photo: Brian Clark/New England Lacrosse Journal)

by Justin Rice/

Whether he’s appearing in new media or old, no player on the upstart Boston Blazers has drawn more publicity to the indoor lacrosse team during its inaugural season than Mitch Belisle.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the defenseman — who was featured in a Stuff magazine photo spread called Bodies by Boston — works in the team’s communications office by day. More likely, however, it has everything to do with the vicious hit Belisle laid on Jarrett Park of the New York Titans in Boston’s home opener on Jan. 17.

The hit brought the biggest cheers from the TD Banknorth Garden crowd during the 13-9 loss when Belisle stormed out of the penalty box and blindsided Park, jarring the ball, the helmet and the wind from his unsuspecting opponent and former teammate.

And as of Feb. 10, the YouTube clip of the hit had received more than 22,000 views (you can see it at www.laxjournal.com).

“That was a 1-in-100 chance. I just happened to be coming out of the box and he wasn’t looking at me,” Belisle said after the game. “Jarrett is one of my good friends and I would expect him to do the exact same thing to me if I was in that situation. I’m interested to go talk to him after the game.”

While many traditional and casual lacrosse fans might see the hit as a cheap one, Blazers coach Tom Ryan seems to be of the mindset that any publicity for the National Lacrosse League is good publicity.

“Normally, defensive guys don’t get the limelight like that, but when you blow up Jarrett Park like he did … you don’t see many hits that big in any sport,” Ryan said. “I think everyone in the league has seen that a few times. It’s brought attention to our sport to the point where people are taking notice and saying, ‘That’s a tough sport.’ That’s, as I said, one of the bigger hits that you’ll see in any sport. I do believe Mitch has a photo of that hanging up in his office.”

While he might not be used to so much hubbub around him, Belisle is no stranger to receiving accolades within the annals of lacrosse.

At Cornell, Belisle won the Schmeisser Cup as the nation’s top defenseman and was a first-team All-American as a senior.

Graduating in 2007, Belisle moved to New York City to work for the ratings agency Moody’s. After spending a year analyzing credit mortgage securities by day and flying to Los Angeles on weekends to play for Major League Lacrosse’s Riptide, Belisle was laid off from his job as the financial crisis rocked the world and Moody’s lost 90 percent of its business, according to Belisle.

“I moved there right when everything started to collapse on itself. Obviously, it was an eye-opening experience being in the market when I was,” the 23-year-old said. “It was definitely a little taxing. I was so busy and always on the move. It was a good experience and fun. I got to see two great parts of the country. It was fun but definitely tough on my body, and by the fall I was ready for a break.”

Belisle called the layoff a blessing in disguise, because he’s not a person who can sit in front of a computer all day. After he was let go, he moved to Los Angeles and coached at lacrosse camps when he wasn’t playing for the Riptide.

His future with Los Angeles’ outdoor team, however, ended when the team’s ownership group declined to renew its stake in the franchise. Shortly after he was laid off, the former New York Titan was happy to be drafted by the Blazers with the second pick in last June’s NLL dispersal draft. And in February, it was announced that his MLL rights would belong to the Boston Cannons.

The move to Boston was somewhat of a homecoming for the 5-foot-10, 195-pounder, who lived in Bourne, Mass., as a teenager and whose grandparents live in Westwood, Mass.

“I love Boston,” said Belisle, who lives with several teammates in the city’s North End. “Growing up in New England, I have a lot of family here in Boston. It’s a historic city and a little more manageable than New York. It fits my personality and lifestyle well. I like the city and hope to be here a long time.”

With a father in the Coast Guard, Belisle was bound to move around during his childhood. He was born in Severna Park, Md., and attended grades 8 through 10 in Bourne before moving back to his lacrosse-crazy home state for grades 11 and 12.

Upon arriving on the Cape, Belisle was dismayed at his lacrosse options, in that there were none. So his parents helped start a youth lacrosse program in Bourne, where Belisle also played varsity hockey as an eighth grader on one of the top Division 3 teams in the state.

“It was exciting to be part of something new, just like here with the Blazers,” Belisle said of Bourne’s youth lacrosse program. “And it was good to go back to Maryland and have a chance to go back and play [lacrosse] at a high level.

“I learned how to play [lacrosse] in Maryland and fell in love with the sport,” Belisle continued. “We moved back to Maryland and we had a hockey team but it just started. It was almost an exact flip-flop in sports.”

Belisle didn’t let that stop him from excelling on the ice. He won the Yvonne Labre award for the best public high school hockey player in Maryland and his team lost in the state semifinals his senior year of 2003.

Focusing only on lacrosse at Cornell, Belisle was moved from the midfield, which he played all his life, to defense. The team won at least a share of the Ivy League title all four years of his tenure, including an undefeated season his sophomore year. And while he’s proud to say he never lost to Cornell’s chief rival, Princeton, Belisle’s team did lose to Duke with three seconds left in the national semifinals his senior year.

The heartbreaking losses kept coming after Belisle was picked 13th overall in the MLL draft by the Riptide. Two years ago Los Angeles lost in the championship game, and last year the Riptide lost in the last minute of the semifinals. Last year his NLL team, the Titans, lost in the Eastern Conference finals.

“It’s been a pretty unfortunate stretch,” said Belisle, who in February was named to the MLL Eastern Division All-Star team. “I like to think it’s not my fault.”

Belisle was finally on the other end of a last-second stunner (coincidentally, against the Titans) on Feb. 7 at the TD Banknorth Garden. Kyle Ross scored the game-winner for the Blazers that night with a half-second remaining for a 9-8 victory.

Belisle snagged three loose balls in that game to bring his total to 29 through six games this season. He also had two goals in those six games. That’s all in addition to his duties in the team’s front office. Blazers forward Dan Dawson said Belisle is not only the backbone of the team’s defense but also the team’s traveling secretary and clubhouse manager, coordinating the team’s itinerary and schedule.

“Not only is he a good teammate, but he’s kind of our organizer,” Dawson said before commenting on how quickly Belisle has adjusted to the indoor game. “You talk about a guy who never stops working for 60 minutes, that’s Mitch.”

But his role as the team’s ambassador in the media has also earned Belisle nicknames such as Playboy and Baby Face.

“He’s a good-looking guy, he’s got a great personality,” Ryan said, speaking to why Belisle has become the Blazers’ poster boy. “It’s kind of a combination of a lot of things, but the bottom line is he goes out and he plays hard and he’s been at the right place at the right time and has come up with some big plays.”

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The Patriot Ledger
Posted Mar 10, 2009 @ 12:40 AM
Last update Mar 10, 2009 @ 06:42 AM

BOSTON — Kelsey Reilly’s fourth-quarter free throw shooting was already clutch enough during yesterday’s Division 2 EMass championship game against Arlington Catholic. So why should being barreled over change anything?

It didn’t.

“I kind of just got back up and took my regular routine, what I always do, and knocked them down,” the Notre Dame senior guard said after hitting 6-of-9 from the foul line – all in the second half – in a 46-38 victory over Arlington Catholic on Monday at TD Banknorth Garden. “I got up there and knew what I had to do for the team and put them down.”

Taking a 34-23 lead into the final quarter after holding what seemed like a perpetual 10-point lead most of the game, Notre Dame (20-5) didn’t score until the 3:45 mark of the final session. A couple of minutes later, Arlington Catholic ripped off a 9-0 run that was finally halted by a pair of Reilly free throws with 1:45 to play, bumping the Cougars’ lead back to 40-35.

Then Arlington Catholic’s Kelsey Roberson, who scored a team-high 14 points, split a pair of her own free throws. The rebound of the second shot was knocked loose by Arlington Catholic’s Nicole Catizone and into the hands of her teammate, Cara Paladino, who was immediately stripped by Notre Dame’s Nellie Kennedy (11 points).

That pinball sequence set up another trip to the free throw line for Reilly, who hit the first of two shots to put NDA up, 41-35, with 1:07 left.

At the other end, Roberson, a senior guard, missed three consecutive 3-point attempts, with the rebound of the third shot landing in Reilly’s arms. That’s when Roberson, who led her team with a game-high 20 points, rushed Reilly like a baserunner taking out a catcher at home plate. The ball never left Reilly’s mitts, however, and she subsequently knocked down another pair of free throws.

“We needed a rebound. I was just going hard for the ball,” Roberson said. “We were running out of time. If we got the loose ball, great, we could’ve tied it up. (I was) just going for the ball.”

Reilly hit three more free throws before the end of the game as the Cougars shut the door on Arlington Catholic (23-3) and punched their ticket to the DCU Center in Worcester, where they will play on Saturday against the winner of today’s Millbury-Monument Mountain game.

But Roberson was pretty close to reversing that fortune.

“She was definitely a good outside shooter,” Reilly said of her defensive assignment. “She was a good player, tough to guard. Our team came together and tried to shut her down as much as possible.

“They definitely picked up on defense,” Reilly said, speaking of Arlington Catholic’s fourth-quarter comeback. “With us this always happens. Teams get close with us when we’re up and we get close with teams when we’re down.”

Notre Dame was forced to crawl back against Walpole in the South Sectional final for a 53-50 victory. Reilly said her teammates told one another they wouldn’t allow Arlington Catholic to come as close to beating them as Walpole did, a sentiment Notre Dame coach Michael Barrett was glad to overhear in his huddles down the stretch.

“That gave me a jolt, they said ‘We’re not gonna lose it,’” Barrett said. “They’ve been in this situation with teams. They knew how to react to it.

“They came at us hard and we expect them to. I told them at the start of the fourth quarter they were going to come out extremely hard and they did.”

After beating Medfield in the first round, 59-45, and Hopkinton in the quarterfinals, 62-46, the victory against Arlington Catholic (a No. 2 seed out of the North bracket) marked the deepest postseason run ever for Notre Dame.

“I’m pumped. We never thought we’d make it to this game let alone (to play the) Western Mass. (champion),” said senior guard Jessica Aruda, who will play for Babson next season.

Aruda (12 points) also said the team was nervous about playing at the Garden.

“Once we got onto the court, we started to lose the goosebumps and were ready to play,” she said. “We’ll probably be just as nervous (on Saturday) as we were tonight. Hopefully it goes away.”

There was no question those goosebumps returned in the fourth quarter on Monday night. Yet Arlington Catholic kept sending Reilly to the foul line.

“Kelsey’s a tough kid,” Barrett said of Reilly, who will play lacrosse for Stonehill College next year. “She always guards their best player on the other team, whether she’s 6-5 or 6-1. She shut down the best player on Walpole. Kelsey’s tough as nails.”

To listen to Reilly tell it, she was just doing what she always does.

“Dribble twice, roll out and hit the shot. It’s what I do in practice every day. I just got up there and did the same thing.”



Little giants


Lisa Cassidy/Daily News staff
Amy Ingraham (20) and the Millis girls basketball team celebrate after winning the Division 4 state championship over Georgetown.


MetroWest Daily News
Posted Mar 09, 2009 @ 08:01 PM


BOSTON — The Millis girls basketball team might be from a small town and play in a small gym, but the Mohawks made a lot of noise yesterday afternoon on a big stage - even if some of that sound was absorbed by the sheer enormity of the TD Banknorth Garden.

Millis (19-6) used three 8-0 runs in the middle two quarters to defeat Georgetown, 60-43, in yesterday's Division 4 State Championship game. All eight points of the Mohawks' third scoring stretch at the end of the third quarter were logged by junior forward Molly Breen, including a three-point play with 48.6 seconds left in the quarter.

The spin move in the post prompted her classmates in the crowd to chant, "You can't stop her; you can't stop her," as she stepped to the foul line to sink the extra shot.

"It pumps me up," Breen said after finishing with scoring a game-high 28 points. "Our fans are really great. This was a big arena so you couldn't hear them that much but in a small gym they are incredible."

Apparently, the Mohawks' full-court press is as incredible in a large gym as it is in their own small one.

Trailing 10-8 after the first quarter, Millis struggled with the Royals' pressure before applying its own in the second quarter to take a 29-22 halftime edge.

"We're a press team, we pressed all year," Millis coach Dave Fallon said. "We have a lot of presses and we change it up and keep the players and the coaches on their feet."

Georgetown coach Barri Ann Alonzo attested to that.

"That took a couple of us by surprise, which was unusual because we're used to handling pressure throughout the year," said Alonzo, whose 14th-seeded team (9-16) beat the top three seeds in the North sectional - New Mission, Fenway, Shawsheen - to advance to yesterday's game. "I think a couple of us were shocked. It threw us for a loop. We handled the pressure all year long."

After entering the third quarter with a 29-22 edge, Millis' second 8-0 run of the game gave it a 40-27 edge with 2:49 left in the quarter.

But after extending the lead to 13 points, Georgetown cut the edge to 40-35 on a pair of Taryn O'Connell free throws with 1:33 left in the quarter.

But O'Connell, who came into the game averaging 29 points in the playoffs and 21 in the regular season, was held scoreless the rest of the way. She finished with 12 points.

"We just didn't have our best game," said the Bates-bound senior, adding that she moved from her normal forward slot to small forward yesterday to try to give the Royals an edge on the outside.

As O'Connell's production dried up, Millis went on Breen's 8-0 run, which took the Mohawks out of the third quarter with a 48-35 advantage.

Fallon said Breen had the same type of scoring runs in the team's South Sectional loss to Cohasset last winter.

"Molly, she just has those runs, she had one against Cohasset where she puts us on her back and goes," Fallon said. "And I get her back for another year. I'm happy about that."

Last year's South Sectional loss marked the team's deepest post-season run prior to this year. And yesterday's win marked just the third state title in any sport in the school's history. The boys volleyball team won the first one in 2001 and the girls volleyball team duplicated that feat earlier this school year.

Senior forward Deirdre Nash was a member of the volleyball team this year as well.

Nash, who scored three points yesterday, got a huge smile on her face when asked if she was spoiled by all the winning.

"I guess you could say that," she said.

The No. 11 seed coming out of the South Sectional bracket, Millis defeated Sacred Heart (51-45) in the semifinals, Norfolk County Aggie (54-26) in the quarterfinals and South Shore Christian (54-48) in the first round to advance to yesterday's title game.

In the first half - after starting the second quarter by outscoring Georgetown 6-2 to go up 14-12 - Millis ripped off its first 8-0 run early in the second quarter to jump out to a 22-12 edge with 3:26 remaining before intermission. Breen scored five of the eight points.

Once Georgetown finally broke Millis' streak, both teams hit their offensive strides, scoring a combined 17 points in the final three minutes of the half.

Breen scored the first two of Millis's baskets in that back-and-forth stretch by slicing through Georgetown's defense for layups. The second drive gave Millis a 27-17 lead with 1:11 left before the break. Then Millis senior guard Amy Ingraham, who finished with 18 points, used her own drive to extend the lead. But Georgetown center Haley Gisonno, who led the Royals with 13, banked a 3-pointer off the glass to cut the Millis advantage to 27-20 before Millis ended up leading by seven at halftime.

Ultimately, Millis' runs were too much for Georgetown to overcome in the second half.

"(Those runs) were important," Breen said. "Every time we would go on one they would catch up. We definitely wanted to put them away. I knew we could do it. I knew we could be champions. We just had to keep fighting back and keep the lead so they couldn't come back."

Sunday, March 8, 2009

ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT
Posted Mar 08, 2009 @ 03:28 AM
Last update Mar 08, 2009 @ 10:16 AM

BOSTON — Dressed in orange and black warm-ups Saturday night, the Newton North boys basketball team waited in the wings during the final moments of the Brockton High girls basketball team’s 47-42 victory against Needham in the Div. 1 South Sectional Finals at UMass-Boston’s Clark Athletic Center.

Meanwhile, the Brockton boys didn’t swagger onto the court to a thunderous applause for their own sectional final against the Tigers for about another 15 minutes.

Making good on a promise to their female counterparts, the Boxer boys watched the entire girls game in street clothes before holding up their end of the bargain by beating Newton North, 67-54.

The wins marked the first time both Brockton teams advanced to the EMass. finals in the same year since 2001, which was the last time the girls won the state championship and the last time the boys won the South Sectional title.

Not a lot of teams win the South Sectionals at all so to do it at the same time would be very special, said Boxers senior forward Louis Montes after scoring 14 points against the Tigers.

“They always come out to support us so we had to do the same,” Montes said. “We told them we were gonna stay and watch the game, regardless of what happened. They’re still over there supporting us right now.”

And while the top-seeded Brockton boys (23-0) have not won a state title since 1985, winning one this year would only be part of their legacy.

They took another step towards becoming the first basketball team in school history with an undefeated record in the regular season and in the tournament.

“We’re side-by-side in the gym,” Brockton girls coach Eric DeBiase said between games. “We support the boys and the boys support the girls.

“Its been a lot of fun and its easy to support each other when both teams have that much talent.

Montes, the Boxers’ leading scorer this season, averaging 16.5 points per game, only had nine points in the first quarter Saturday night as Brockton only led, 15-10, after the opening stanza.

But they managed to pull away a bit in the second quarter with a 7-0 run that gave them a 24-13 edge with 4:53 left in the half.

After Geoffery Woodberry, who scored a team-high 14 points for Newton North (20-5), picked up his third foul, Brockton ended up with a 36-22 advantage at the break.

Last year, Brockton lost the Div. 1 South Sectional final to BC High. After racing to a 42-30 halftime lead, the Boxers were outscored, 44-21, over the second half before losing, 74-63.

This time, with a 14-point halftime lead, Boen said he figured some folks were whispering about an upset in the crowd.

“Then we came out and got it up to 20 where we wanted it to be,” Boen said, “but then we relaxed and started showboating a bit and they got back in the game.”

It also didn’t help matters that Montes didn’t score a point in the second half.

Seniors Shawn Yard and Jarrad DeVaughn picked up the slack by finishing with game-highs of 15 points apiece after only scoring four and two points, respectively, in the first half.

“It’s good to know I don’t have that much pressure on my shoulders,” said Montes.

DeVaughn said he felt more comfortable in the second half after having an injured finger taped.

“Plus, I was just happy to be out there, he said. It just clicked in that this might be the last time Ill be out here so I should make the best of it.”

He opened the final two quarters with 3-pointers. The first one put the Boxers up, 41-22. But after Michael Nuefville added a bucket for Brockton, Newton North managed a 6-0 run that cut the score to, 41-29, and forced Brockton to call time with about five to play in the quarter.

About 30 seconds later, Yard ended the drought with a field goal and DeVaughn scored off a back-door pass to put the Boxers up, 47-29, with 3:35 to play in the third. The Tigers then cut into Brocktons lead a bit to trail, 52-37, after three quarters.

That’s when DeVaughn hit another 3-pointer to open the final quarter. Shortly afterwards, Yard converted an acrobatic layup, giving Brockton its biggest lead of the night at 57-37 with 6:53 to play.

Newton North ran off a 14-1 run that cut the lead to 58-51 with 2:38 to play, but Brockton’s cushion was ultimately too padded. Yard, who scored nine points in the final quarter, converted a 3-point play with 2:20 to go to go up, 62-51.

“Coach has a lot of trust in me and knows I’m a senior and one of the captains,” Yard said. “I’m the point guard, it’s my job to get the ball to the other players but if see I can penetrate and kick (out the ball), I do what I can to help win the game.”

Winning the game earned the Boxers the chance to play tonight’s winner of defending Div. 1 champions Central Catholic and Lynn English in the EMass final at 8 on Tuesday night, a night after the Brockton girls grace the parquet floor.

Boen probably feels it’s a shame that he can’t sacrifice a little more practice time to watch the girls play the night before his guys hit the court.

“I think seeing that the girls are going to the Garden really had us flying,” Boen said.

The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Mar 07, 2009 @ 12:27 AM

BOSTON — Even though Framingham's nationally ranked senior Camille Murphy and her biggest local foe, Lincoln-Sudbury's senior Ellie Hylton, opted out of last night's New England Indoor Track & Field Championships, there was no shortage of fireworks in the 1000 meters at the Reggie Lewis Center.

While Murphy, who won the 1000 by defeating Hylton by .62 seconds in last week's All-State meet, didn't run last night presumably to rest up for next week's Nike Indoor Nationals, also at the Reggie Lewis Center, Nashoba senior Joe Doyle didn't hold anything back for next week's big meet.

Doyle recorded the eighth-fastest time in the country in the boys 1000 this year by winning the event in 2:28.93.

"I just took it out fast like last week," said Doyle, referring to his All-State victory with a time of 2:29.16. "I just stuck with it until the last lap. I did my best to get the crowd going which made me push harder."

It was a huge improvement from Doyle's eighth-place finish at New Englands last year.

"I just practiced like crazy and worked harder," said Doyle, who said he broke his personal best by about a second last night and is looking forward to running the 800 meters at the Nike meet.

Hudson senior Luke Doherty-Munro was sixth (2:32.78) in the 1000.

"I can't say I'm upset," Doherty-Munro said. "I feel like I didn't get off the line as quick as I wanted to. Sixth in New Englands is nothing to complain about. I'm happy I could get in there enough to sneak in (the top 6)."

Emmaline Berg, a senior from Holliston, recovered from the flu and a second-place finish in the girls shot put at All-States (42-6) to win New Englands last night with a toss of 42 feet, 4.25 inches. She was seeded third in the event she finished fourth in last year.

"I worked really hard this week," said Berg, who finally started feeling healthy last weekend. "I knew I could come in first because the girl (seeded) first (Nalis Mbianda of Newton South), I threw farther than her at the Elite Invitational."

Mbianda finished fourth last night (40-6.25), and another formidable foe, Kelly McCabe of Mansfield, was second (41-1.50).

"I knew (Mbianda) has been throwing crazy long throws and I just had to hold my breath when she and Kelly got up to throw," Berg said.

In the girls 2-mile, Natick senior Rebecca White (6th in 11:10.47) and Holliston's Rosie Keogh (7th, 11:18.11), as expected, finished well behind Bromfield's top-seeded Emily Jones, who placed first in 10:35.47.

Nevertheless, White said it was probably more intimidating for the out-of-state runners to go up against Jones.

"I've ran with her before so I know what it is like," White said. "As soon as it started my legs were dead. I don't know why. I knew it wouldn't be a good race after the first mile."

After finishing tied for second in the girls high jump last night, Haley Laird of Algonquin will also compete in a national meet next week at the New York Armory's National Scholastic Indoor Championships from March 13-15. Laird, who finished second at All-States by clearing 5-6, was disappointed with her jump of 5-5 yesterday.

"I'm pleased in the sense of making it this far," she said.

In the boys high jump, Corey Fairfield of Millis also finished third, clearing 6-5, and Wellesley's Michael Blair was ninth (6-3). Natick's Tommy Brandt qualified for the Nike Indoor Championships by finishing fifth in the boys 55-meter hurdles in a school-record 7.71.

Nashoba's Alee Wade was fourth in the girls 300 (40.75), Hopkinton's Cecily Boyce was sixth in the girls long jump (16-10) and Westborough's Byron Jones was sixth in the boys mile (4:23.53).

Special to the Patriot Ledger
Posted Mar 06, 2009 @ 10:28 PM

BOSTON —

Four must be Molly O’Dea’s lucky number.

For the second straight week, the Hingham High School hurdler was seeded fourth at a major meet and worked her way up to take her turn at the top of the podium in the New England High School Track and Field Championships.

The junior won at All-States a week ago with a personal-record time of 7.28 after tying Hannah Janeczak of Doherty High in a photo finish that was ultimately decided in her favor.

The same thing happened at divisional states, she said after setting a new personal record, and resetting the school record she set at All-States.

“I was so nervous today,” O’ Dea said. “I couldn’t eat. I think the nerves pushed me. I was so anxious to get this done and see what would happen.

“Janeczak helped me run faster. Competition always helps.”

O’Dea was only eighth at All-States last year.

“It’s crazy to think my fastest time was 7.39 last year,” said O’Dea, who will be lucky to draw No. 4 at next Friday’s Nike National Indoor meet, also at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Boston College High’s Corey Thomas, who continued his undefeated streaks in both the 55 hurdles and high jump, will also be looking for a little luck at the Nike meet. His goal of breaking 7-feet once again eluded him on Friday night.

The junior who won All-States in the high jump by clearing 6-11 failed to clear that height Friday, but ended up winning at 6-7.

“My legs were hurting and I was more in the mood to run,” he said after clocking the fourth fastest 55-meter hurdle time in New England (7.42) and the second fastest time in Massachusetts by dropping his personal best from a 7.51. “Today it was just running.

I was feeling it. I was like ‘OK, the high jump wasn’t the way I planned it, but a win’s a win.’ Today it peaked perfectly for hurdles, so maybe at Nationals it will peak for both.”

Thomas said all he can do is hope his body knows when he needs it to peak.

“ I did the same thing last year,” said Thomas, who is gunning to beat Ohio’s Erick Kynard, whose PR is 7-2, at the Nike meet. “I hit a certain mark and went down a little, but out of nowhere I went right back up. My body needs to relax. Come nationals, Ohio better watch out. It’s gonna be a battle.”

Thomas’s teammate, Michael Murphy, will also compete in Fridays national meet after finishing fourth in the shot put with a toss of 53-06.

“I wanted my PR, but I didn’t quite get it,” said Murphy, who was third at All-States with a toss of 54-03.25. “I was a little bit off but next week should be better.”

The Randolph boys 4x400 meter relay was also victorious, winning the final event of the evening in a time of 3:27.25 despite being seeded fourth in the event. The team (Emanuel Jean, Michael Miranda Devlin Crawford and Godfred Mbengam) gained confidence earlier in the night by finishing third (1:33.01) in the 4x200.

“Our guys worked hard all year and the hard work paid off today,” Randolph coach Darcey Welch said.

Randolph was seeded fifth in the 4x200 and decided to move its fastest runners to the front two legs to give itself a chance. The gamble paid off as they finished behind Westford (132.70) and Andover (131.08).

“We kept it close,” Jean said after being moved form the anchor to the opening leg. “We handed off the baton before or almost at the same time as Andover. We did what we had to do and now we’re No. 1 in New England.”

Also finishing in the top six last night was Braintree’s Mathew Hinthorne in the 600 meter run (sixth, 1:23.41).

Thursday, March 5, 2009


Globe West Sports

Natick finds winning

role as avengers



By Justin A. Rice
Globe Correspondent / March 5, 2009

At 2-7, the Natick High boys' hockey team had to try something. Anything.

Those seven losses included defeats to Bay State Conference foes Norwood (by a 5-4 score), Walpole (3-1), Framingham (3-0), and Wellesley (2-1).

So junior forward D.J. Watkins developed a pregame ritual with Doug Scott, telling the first-year head coach, "We gotta avenge the loss."

The Red and Blue took to wearing this slogan on their sleeves after constantly making good on their teammate's new favorite phrase. First, Norwood fell to Natick, 2-1, on Jan. 21, and Walpole tumbled seven days later, 4-1. Then Natick managed a 2-2 draw with Wellesley in their Feb. 4 rematch.

"Every time we ran into one of these teams, we laughed and said, 'We gotta avenge the loss, make it right,' " said Scott, an assistant coach for Natick for five years before replacing Bob Lavin at the program's helm this season.

"At that point we felt like we had nothing to lose."

Three days after the Wellesley tie, Natick secured a trip to the postseason with a 3-1 victory against Braintree, setting up Natick's ultimate payback opportunity, against rival Framingham in the Division 1 South sectional. And when junior forward Mike Reddish scored 14 seconds into overtime last Thursday, the 11th-seeded Red and Blue had earned a thrilling 2-1 win over the sixth-seeded Flyers, the program's first tournament victory in a decade.

"It was pretty good because I just switched schools; it's nice to be able to do that," said Reddish, who had played his freshman year at St. Sebastian's School in Needham before transferring to Natick, where he was second in points this season with 9 goals and 3 assists. "We kind of knew we had a horrible record and we had to switch it around or we had no chance of making the tournament."

Natick's tourney run, and its season, ended Saturday with a 7-2 loss against host Falmouth High, but the team's 10-9-2 record and trip to the postseason marked quite a turnaround.

Reddish credited the coaching staff for rallying the Red and Blue after their rough start. Before he ran his first practice, the 33-year-old Scott left quite an impression on the school's administrators. A teacher at Natick High for the last six years, Scott beat out 20 rivals for the coaching job, according to athletic director Tom Lamb.

"Every head coach had his first shot some time," Lamb said. "It was the right time for Doug. It was actually pretty easy." The school's principal, John Hughes, he said, "is a hockey guy, and the two of us did the final interviews, and Doug stood out as an outstanding candidate from day one."

The start of the season wasn't so smooth, however. Even though the team continued to work hard in practice and didn't point fingers, there were occasions when the team's only seniors, defenseman Jackson Hookway and goalie Jarrod Kustra, had to keep the peace.

"A few times it started to get out of control, and one of the captains or older guys would say 'Guys, relax, take a breather. Everyone makes mistakes, we just have to relax,' " recalled Kustra, who allowed 36 goals in 16.8 games for a 2.14 goals-against average.

Natick finally posted a 4-1 win over Dedham, and tasted revenge a week later against Norwood, setting up the season's finishing kick.

Scott said in addition to shaking up assignments and hammering home fundamentals, such as puck movement, defensive zone coverage, and attacking the net, his team also had to learn how to be more creative on the ice.

Scott said he was confident the Red and Blue would grow into the new system, which he felt highlighted the team's quickness, unselfishness, physicality, work ethic, and discipline.

"There was a lot of potential there," he said of a team that featured six sophomores and 10 juniors. "Some guys were ready to perform their role, and some guys we tried to be patient with them and upbeat. Young teams need time to develop and work together."

Scott lauded the leadership of his captains, who helped pull it all together, junior Jeff Scannell in particular. "When you are a junior captain, it is a lot to be asked of you to not only mature as a player but as a leader, and Jeff was able to do that for us," said Scott.

Ultimately, junior forward Mike Heyde finished with one more point than Reddish by collecting seven goals and six assists, while Watkins, junior Matt Killeen, and sophomore John Bishop added 10 points apiece.

There was plenty of doubt to go around, however, before the turnaround.

"Believe me," Scott says, "with every win and loss I evaluate everything I do, whether we win or lose. So you can imagine after going 2-7 in my first year coaching, I'm sitting there going over everything I'm doing and trying to make sure I'm not missing something."

When things seemed to be at their worst, Scott's old coach at Lexington High, Bob Carpenter, asked if the kids were working hard and having fun.

"He said, 'You're on your way, your season's going to be successful,' " Scott recalled Carpenter saying after he answered yes on both counts.

"It was reassuring, but I still put pressure on myself. I understand what he was saying but, again, I wanted the kids to have success. I saw how hard they were working. When you see kids working every day in practice and trying to get things going and they are not going the right way, as a coach, that's frustrating."

It was just as frustrating for his players, but Scott said they never got down on one another.

"That's one thing I swear kept it all together. They were good teammates, good kids, and positive at practice. It was disappointing to lose but we always enjoyed our time in the rink."