Dancing or skating, girl just wants to have fun

Nicole Perry, 14, of Raynham. (Michael Tureski/Sportspix)

By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / January 28, 2010

Nicole Perry will not choose between her two passions, figure skating and dancing.

“Everybody asks me that question,’’ said Perry, a freshman at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional who captured a gold medal at the Bay State Winter Games this past weekend in Williamstown.

“I’d probably quit both. Everybody asks me that when I say I dance. I couldn’t choose. I honestly couldn’t.’’

And both of her coaches, John Mucko and Roland Bessette, believe Perry’s background in competitive dance is what makes the young skater so graceful on ice.

“Nicole is known for her artistry,’’ said Mucko, who has worked with Perry at the Pilgrim Skating Club in Pembroke for nine years. “She’s just a true performer. Technically, she’s just clean, and she’s a strong skater.

“Having that dance behind her really enhances her performance level as well as her artistry. She’s just in a class all of her own.’’

From a logistical standpoint, however, there are only so many hours in the day. Perry also skates out of the Bourne Skating Club and with the Elite Skating Club in Raynham and dances with Studio C Dance Academy in Taunton.

The honor-roll student says she spends about 11 hours a week on each endeavor.

“For me that’s what makes her so grounded,’’ Mucko said. “She has two things she loves in life and devotes equal time to each of them. Would I like to see her on the ice seven days a week? That would be great, but she has other things that keep her grounded, and that’s what makes her what she is.’’

Bessette, who also chairs the US Figure Skating Program Development committee, couldn’t agree more.

“Everybody likes to win, but our goal is to constantly keep skating challenging and fun,’’ Bessette said. “With her balance between dance and skating, she’s able to enjoy what she does in skating. You always get more when someone enjoys what they’re doing rather than when it becomes a job. Everybody’s goals are different. Everybody trains differently as well. For right now this is what makes her happy.’’

Bessette said competing in all forms of dance, including hip-hop, jazz, and ballet, helps her more than if she just focused on one technique such as ballet. He said Perry’s range allows her to interpret and move more freely to music than most skaters.

How far can Perry go?

“That’s something only Nicole can answer for herself,’’ said Bessette. “If her goals are to be good at what she’s doing and be competitive, and she’s reaching it, then fine. If she decides at some point when she gets into a higher level that [skating more] might make a difference, that’s okay.

“She obviously has lot of talent, and a lot of it will depend on what she wants. If we start putting on too many demands, especially at that age, she’ll quit and we’ll lose her forever. At some point if she decides ‘I want to do more with skating,’ she’ll be able to make that decision.’’

The 14-year-old might have to make that decision soon. At the Bay State Games, Perry won gold in the artistic solo and finished fourth in the intermediate free skate.

Over the summer she captured two gold medals and a bronze at the 2009 State Games of American held in Colorado Springs.

Perry, who also performs theater on ice, was invited to perform in the Bay State Skate Figure Skating Show for the third straight year last weekend.

“It went great,’’ she said of the show. “There were lots of people watching. It’s always fun. This year was the 25th anniversary, so it was a bigger show with lots of awards.

“I love doing the show. I definitely want to keep doing it.’’

Perry, who recently attended a national competition with her dance troop in Sturbridge, Conn., said sometimes scheduling conflicts do arise between dance and skating.

“We try to work it out,’’ she said. “I do my best to do both. They try to make me choose, but I’m not going to.’’

And as far as her skating career is concerned, Perry just wants to take it as far as she can go - without giving up dance, that is.

“I don’t want to say Olympics because everybody says that,’’ she said. “But I’ll work as hard as I can to get as far as I can but have fun doing it. Because if you’re not having fun, why do it?’’

© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Streaking Sensations: Bentley basketball teams combine for 20 straight victories

Lisa Cassidy/Daily News staff

Bentley junior guard Kim Brennan's 45-foot buzzer beater in the second overtime helped the Falcons to a triple-overtime victory over Saint Rose Tuesday night.

By Justin A. Rice/Daily News correspondent

Daily News Tribune

Posted Jan 28, 2010 @ 03:09 AM

When Kim Brennan heaved a halfcourt shot with time dwindling in the second overtime on Tuesday night, it looked like the Bentley University women's basketball team's seven-game winning streak was over.

That was an instant before the All-Conference junior guard sunk a 45-foot, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force a third overtime against The College of Saint Rose.

``Yeah, that was completely unexpected,'' Brennan said one night after the 87-84 victory at the Dana Center. ``There was 3.4 seconds left on the clock, so there was nothing else to do but get the ball up as quick as possible. I saw an opening. Some people thought I shot a little too early, but I thought that was the best chance I had to get it up.''

The Bentley men's team also extended an unbeaten streak on Tuesday night, beating The College of Saint Rose, 88-67, for its 12th straight victory.

These types of streaks are nothing new in Bentley country. Just two years ago, the women had a nine-game streak while the men won their first 34 games. The previous year, the men won 32 straight games.

Over the last six years, including this season, the men are 160-26, while the women are considered one of the best and most consistent teams in the conference.

``It's always nice seeing the (women's) team wining and us winning,'' said senior guard Jason Westrol. ``It's nice seeing both of us successful at the same time. It just makes everybody happy around the gym to go down there and work hard at practice.

``Being around them so much brought us closer together with each other on a personal level as friends and stuff.''

Westrol, who is leading the team with 19.8 and 4.3 assists per game, has started since the fifth game of his freshman year.

``It's just every step of the way been enjoyable for me starting from my freshman year to senior year,'' he said. ``(The win streaks) just makes it that much more fun to come down to practice every day and work hard with the team.''

The three-overtime victory improved Bentley's women's team to 14-5 overall and 12-2 in the NE-10. They are in a second-place tie with Stonehill and two games back of unbeaten Franklin Pierce.

``That game was huge to get momentum going,'' said Brennan, who collected a season-high 25 on Tuesday night.

At the end of the second overtime, it looked like Saint Rose had the game in the bag. After sinking a pair of free throws, it led 76-73 with 3.4 seconds left before Brennan's midcourt heroics.

``It got us pumped up,'' Brennan said. ``How many chances can you get? It would be heartbreaking to lose after that. A shot like that is once in a lifetime. It gets you more excited. No way could we lose that game after something like that happened.''

But after it happened they still had to compose themselves and get back on the court.

``You do have to settle down and realize the game is not over,'' Brennan said. ``You can't stop playing. You realize you have to go back in and play hard again, run good offenses and play great defense. You can't rely on another halfcourt shot.''

After Bentley scored the first five points of the final overtime Saint Rose took an 84-83 lead with 19.1 seconds with a 3-pointer. The Falcons went up 85-84 after sophomore Katherine Goodwin's driving layup with 16.1 seconds to play.

Brennan sealed the deal by sinking a pair of free throws and a Saint Rose desperation heave wasn't close nearly as close as Brennan's.

``We're kind of plugging along,'' Bentley women's coach Barbara Stevens said. ``Our games, unfortunately, are not as easy as the men's seem to be. They kind of have more cushion than we do, but we're managing to eke out wins that are important to us.''

On Tuesday night, junior forward Brian Tracey scored a season-high 24 points for the men's squad. That victory, coupled with Stonehill's 73-51 loss to Le Moyne, lifted the Falcons (17-2, 12-2 NE-10) into a tie for the top spot in the 16-team conference.

Bentley has won the NE-10 title an unprecedented five straight years and is vying to make it six in a row. Saint Rose fell to 10-9 overall and 7-7 in the conference.

Westrol, who had 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals against Saint Rose, said opponents gun for them every game and they feed off the pressure.

``I guess we handle situations like that pretty well,'' he said. ``Pretty much every team comes ready to play against us. We know that we can't take anything lightly. We have to come out with the same intensity every night and hope for the best.''

The men's and women's teams will continue to feed off one another as both Bentley teams play Pace University Saturday afternoon in Pleasantville, N.Y.

``We're both really strong teams,'' Brennan said. ``We definitely support each other. When the guys get a win, we definitely want to also be winning. We do feed off each other's energy that we have.''

Marchionda nets game-winner with two seconds left for Falcons

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Lisa Cassidy/Daily News staff

Trinity Catholic senior Mike Marchionda (left) tangles with Lowell Catholic's Shane Guarino on his way to four goals, including the game-winner with two seconds left and his 100th career point, last night at Watertown's Ryan Rink.

By Justin A. Rice/Daily News correspondent

Daily News Tribune

Posted Jan 26, 2010 @ 02:26 AM

WATERTOWN — With about 14 seconds left in last night's game against Lowell Catholic at Ryan Rink, Mike Marchionda took a pass on the blue line near the far boards. He rushed the net untouched, deked left, and beat the goalie with two seconds to spare.

The goal was the Trinity Catholic senior defenseman's fourth of the night, the Falcons final score of a 5-4 victory, and Marchionda's 101st career point.

At the start of the period, Marchionda - who had 97 points going into the game - completed a hat trick to reach the century mark. That goal gave his team a 3-2 advantage, which eventually slipped away and seemed lost forever. That was until Trinity sophomore defenseman Kyle Manning tied the game, 4-4, with 1:28 to play and Marchionda won it 86 seconds later.

``Unbelievable, it's the best feeling ever, I can't say anything else about it,'' Marchionda said after his team improved to 5-6-3 on the year. ``It's just an experience that's probably never going to happen again.

``I was thinking: I don't want to lose my 100-point game, we need to win this.''

Before his miraculous game-winning goal, it seemed like Marchionda's third score of the evening might be the most timely of the game. After scoring consecutive goals to put his team up 2-1, Trinity gave up the tying goal in the final seconds of the second period.

It didn't take long for Marchionda to get it back. With 12:07 to play in the game, he netted his 100th point on an assist from junior forward Chris Nickerson.

``I didn't even know it was the 100th (point),'' he said. ``When I got on the bench (one of the coaches) congratulated me and I was like: `For what?' Now that I know it, it's a pretty special goal and I'll always remember it.''

The game was not stopped, but the milestone was announced over the public address system. There wasn't any fanfare heading into the game either. Trinity Catholic coach John Devaney purposely didn't tell Marchionda he was three points shy of 100.

``I just didn't want to let him know,'' Devaney said of Marchionda, who has 36 of the team's 55 goals this season, including two five-goal performances in the last four games. ``(I wanted to) let him play his regular game. The points will come.''

Marchionda's first two points of the game didn't come so quickly, however. After a scoreless opening period, Lowell Catholic (4-6-3) got on the board first with 13:26 left to play in the second stanza. Marchionda finally put the Falcons on the board with 2:08 left in the second period. The goal, which was also assisted Nickerson, opened a flurry of offense.

With 47.2 seconds left in the period, Marchionda got his second goal, this time unassisted. But the Falcon defense broke down and let in the equalizer with 14.5 seconds left in the second period. The goal was scored by sophomore Jake Santorelli and assisted by eighth-grade forward Joe Santorelli.

``I came in the locker room and said `Keep you head up, keep working hard, we're still in the game - it's only 2-2,''' Marchionda said. ``They stayed with me. We have a young team this year, so there's nothing I can really do except keep their hopes up and make them better players.''

Halfway through the final period, Lowell Catholic tied the game for the second time when Joe Santorelli beat TC goalie Sean Moccia.

About a minute later, freshman defender Adam Beckwith got what looked to be the game-winning goal for the Crusaders after taking a pass from another eighth-grader, Aaron Crandall, to go up 4-3 with 5:49 to play in the game.

But late in the third, Lowell Catholic was called for roughing. And about a minute later, Manning came through with his game-tying slap shot on the power play.

``I was ready to take a slap shot and it hit off the goalie's pads,'' Manning said. ``Then I think it took a bounce off someone, and then when it went in it was just crazy. Then when Mike scored the game-winning goal, it was amazing.

``It's just ridiculous. That's all you can say about that.''

Both Manning and Nickerson played the entire game as the Falcons only have 13 players, including two goalies.

``I'm speechless,' Nickerson said. ``That was a great goal. We all played our hearts out.''

Devaney said that in his 14-year tenure with the Falcons, they have never scored a game-winner like last night's.

``We had tying goals, but we haven't had a winning goal (like that),'' he said. ``That was just a great high school hockey game. There's a lot of ties in our league, and a lot of one-goal games in our league. The competition is great. In our league, things are pretty tight.''

Things could not have been tighter in the final seconds last night when junior forward Steve Simmons passed to Kevin McAdam, who poked the puck to Marchionda at the blue line.

``I skated in thinking: What move am I going to do to beat him?'' Marchionda said. ``I didn't know if I was going to shoot it or deke him. I just went with the deke.

``I can't believe I scored.''

Wrestling regimen inspires in battle with melanoma

“A lot of your best stuff will happen after there’s been a lot of bad things,’’ said Jeff Parker, Foxborough High graduate.

By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / January 21, 2010

Facing 30 radiation treatments after a cancerous mass was removed from his neck in the fall, Jeff Parker drew strength from his wrestling career at Foxborough High and, later, at the University of Buffalo. Especially a punishing preseason in his first season at Buffalo in which he vomited in nearly 30 straight workouts.

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“I’ll puke but, guess what, I’m not going to stop,’’ Parker said. “It’s going to take a lot more than that to break me.’’

The 25-year-old Parker took that mentality into his radiation treatments last September and did not vomit once.

“I was thinking of it kind of like [wrestling] preseason,’’ said Parker, who was diagnosed shortly after July Fourth with melanoma before undergoing surgery in early August. “Thirty days and I’m done; it’s not too bad.’’

During his treatments, Parker never missed a day of work at the Kraft Group or a practice session as an assistant wrestling coach at Franklin High.

A fanatic fan of the Food Network, he even kept his weight up despite losing his sense of taste.

“I don’t want to shrink down to nothing,’’ said Parker, down to 225 pounds after wrestling at 260 in college. “I take pride in being a big guy.’’

The cancer spread after radiation and metastasized in several vital organs, and he is undergoing experimental treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. With Parker’s medical bills mounting, a pair of his former college teammates, Mickey Moran and Joe Muscarella, organized a benefit in his honor.

Buffalo’s match on Jan. 30 against Ohio will double as the “Takedown Cancer’’ event. Proceeds from the match and a sports memorabilia auction will offset the cost of Parker’s treatment not covered by insurance. The surplus will be donated to Dana-Farber, along with Carly’s Club, a pediatric cancer organization in Buffalo.

In just the first three weeks of fund-raising, the drive raised about $6,000. Buffalo coach Jim Beichner thinks they can raise $20,000.

“It wouldn’t have snowballed if we didn’t have a kid of character like Jeff Parker,’’ Beichner said. “He’s extremely well liked and well respected.’’

An academic all-conference selection and SUNY Chancellor award winner, Parker won 73 matches at Buffalo. His senior year, he earned the “Ideal Bull’’ award, presented to the school’s most well-rounded athlete.

Overwhelmed by the support, Parker is uncomfortable with the attention but knows it’s for the greater good.

He’s motivated by the resiliency of the children at Dana-Farber hopping out of cars and onto crutches.

“They don’t feel sorry for themselves at all,’’ Parker said. “I don’t feel sorry for myself but I feel sorry for them. If I could help them at all, that’s what I want to do.’’

Parker also hopes to leave an impression on his wrestlers at Franklin High. He tells them how he endured plenty of lows before reaching his highest highs.

“A lot of your best stuff will happen after there’s been a lot of bad things,’’ he said. “In eighth grade, I was 6-20 and had a pretty down season. My senior year, my record was 40-0. In order to get to that 40-0, there was a lot of bad things that happened to get there.’’

Parker developed his toughness by training with Father John McLaughlin, who had built a hall of fame coaching career on the mat at Woburn High. About eight Foxborough wrestlers went to train with McLaughlin at St. Mary’s Church in Foxborough, but after one session Parker and his best friend, Mike Ragusa, were the only ones to return religiously, drilling on an unpadded commercial-grade rug in the church basement.

“When new people would come in and work with them and say, ‘Are you kidding?’ Parker would say, ‘Rug burns will make you tougher,’ ’’ McLaughlin recalled.

As a senior at Foxborough, Parker was the all-state and New England heavyweight champion, and then wrestled at Binghamton University before the program was cut.

He transferred to Buffalo before red-shirting his first season with a hip injury. When he returned to the mat, he took the starting heavyweight spot and was named cocaptain his senior season.

Two months after graduation, Parker noticed a lump on his neck that was diagnosed as melanoma a few weeks later. Soon the son of a cancer survivor was himself undergoing surgery to remove the muscle that runs from his ear down the side of his neck to his clavicle.

Despite responding well to treatment, doctors soon spotted cancer on his liver and lungs.

His father, Walter, 54, who has been free of stomach cancer for four years, has a hard time comprehending it all.

“It’s kind of shocking, two people from the same family, two different cancers,’’ Walter Parker said. “It’s really heartbreaking, as hard as this kid worked, to see this happen.

“We continue to have faith and hope and pray that he beats this like I did.’’

Father McLaughlin is also praying.

“I pray he’s healed from cancer; I pray that God remembers how great of a person he is and how giving he is and the type of person he is,’’ said McLaughlin, now based in Washington, D.C.

Parker knows his wrestling foundation has been his greatest weapon against cancer. But in his mind he has only survived preseason conditioning and still has a long season to go.

With only two sessions of his new treatment under his belt, Parker has to go back for more every three weeks with no end in sight.

“This part of my battle with cancer is going to be more [about] things I learned from wrestling,’’ Parker says. “Those [radiation treatments] were quick and I could see the end. This one is longer. I don’t know the end. I can’t see the end right now. It’s like the day-to-day grind of a regular season.’’

To learn more about the fund-raiser for Jeff Parker, go to www.ubathletics. buffalo.edu/wrestling/news/ parker-benefit.shtml.

© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.

Orange Bowl pregame: Coldest Orange Bowl ever doesn't faze Iowa fans

RODNEY WHITE / THE REGISTER

Jenny and Tim Hugunin of Norwalk, Iowa, donned their patch-laden overalls for the party outside LandShark Stadium.

By JUSTIN RICE
Special to the Register

Miami, Fla. — Carting a red cooler around Land Shark Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, Marshal Versteeg wore jeans and a thin black jacket five hours before what was flirted with being the coldest FedEx Orange Bowl in the game’s 76-year history.

The 2002 Iowa graduate moved to South Florida six years ago, but wasn’t fazed by the weather since he grew up on a dairy farm in Sibley.

His girlfriend, however — a Boca Raton, Fla. native — looked like she was dressed for a game at oft-chilled Kinnick Stadium.

“I’m fine now but later I know I’ll be cold,” said Carly Feduniec, sporting black North Face boots over double socks while holding a hooded sweatshirt and winter jacket with a fur-lined hood.

“I’m prepared. I got hand warmers.”

Temperatures dipped to 49 degrees by the time No. 9 Georgia Tech and No. 10 Iowa finally kicked off, shattering the previous Orange Bowl record for the coldest kickoff of 57 degrees in 2008.

Tuesday night was the coldest in a week of weather that was the chilliest South Florida has felt in nearly a decade.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=D2&Dato=20100105&Kategori=SPORTS020502&Lopenr=1050811&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1" target="_blank">Iowans in the parking lot laughed at the wind-chill advisory in South Florida, knowing temperatures in Iowa have dipped into the negative double digits.

South Beach was mostly filled with hardy Hawkeye fans to start the week, according to Brain Fox, a 21-year-old Iowa senior majoring in business.

“I went in the water. It was a little cold, but this is like April back home — this is like a heat wave,” said the Charles City native while wearing a yellow Orange Bowl T-shirt, cargo shorts and sandals.

Fox’s friends all wore jeans on the partly cloudy afternoon mostly in the high 50s.
“I don’t see a need to wear pants,” Fox said. “Back home it’s 15 below.”

Wearing four layers of clothing, Mara Frazier of Boulder, Colo., was prepared for the area’s chilliest cold snap in nine years.

“This was supposed to be a mini vacation away from the cold,” said the Iowa City native who got her teaching certificate from Iowa in 1987. “Today in Boulder, it’s just as warm — if you forget the foot of snow.”

Randy Ferdig, 52, of Iowa City, was glad to get in a few 80-degree beach days before the arctic cold front that has gripped the eastern half of the country set in.

The only warm clothes he brought were a jacket and a sweatshirt.

“This is nothing,” he said while tailgating behind a red Chevy pickup with two Hawkeye window flags and another 10-foot tall flag planted next to the car. “I’ll take this any day.”

Ferdig has held Iowa season tickets for 25 years.

“It feels like a fall football game at Iowa,” he said before adding that he thought the weather would benefit his team. “They’re used to playing in this. I was talking to one of the equipment managers and he said they’re real happy. The temperature is good for them. They won’t have any heat exhaustion.”

While Hawkeye fans were in paradise this week, Florida farmers were feeling the pain. Crops across the state were destroyed as temperatures were forecast to dip below freezing in some inland areas of the state.

“Those are the things you go through no matter where you’re farming,” said Versteeg, whose parents still run a dairy farm in Sibley that also grows corn and soybeans. “It’s unfortunate. We’ve dealt with hail and drought. That’s the risk you run when you farm.”

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BC’s Rehnquist dons robes of scout team

Despite being a BC walk-on, Peter Rehnquist already has scored his first college points. (Bill Greene/Globe Staff)

By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / January 4, 2010

James Rehnquist surprised his band of five basketball-crazed children 10 years ago, taking them to shoot on the “highest court in the land’’ - the gymnasium located above the chamber of the United States Supreme Court.

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The kids’ grandfather, William H., the 16th chief justice of the Supreme Court, served more than 33 years on the bench and was known to preside over sharp-elbowed games on the basketball court.

This fall, Peter Rehnquist had a surprise of his own for his father: He had earned a roster spot on the Boston College basketball team as a walk-on.

A 6-foot-4-inch sophomore who starred at Sharon High, Rehnquist is thrilled with the opportunity to carve out a role on the Eagles’ scout team and sit at the end of the bench.

“The first couple days were tough,’’ he said. “I’d never been dunked on before and the first three days of practice I got dunked on. This is Division 1!’’

Rehnquist helped power Sharon to back-to-back appearances in the Division 2 state tournament before averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds per game in a postgraduate year at Deerfield Academy. He had his sights on Division 3 ball, like his father, who starred at Amherst in the 1970s.

James Rehnquist collected 1,512 points during an All-America career at Amherst, then knocked around semipro leagues in Europe.

While attending law school at Boston University, he coached Thayer Academy, including an undefeated season and NEPSAC championship in 1986.

“Jim is an amazing individual. He’s totally amazing,’’ said Sharon High boys’ coach Bruce Jackman. “I still get some of his youth league kids and they do a great job.

“He and his wife are two of the most supportive parents I’ve ever seen.’’

Peter says he considers going into coaching, even if it is just coaching his children’s teams, like his father did when he was growing up.

At one point, James simultaneously coached all five of his children despite being a partner at Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston. He even attended all of Peter’s freshman games at Sharon High that tapped off at 3:30 p.m.

Peter’s younger brother, Tomas, made the varsity at Roxbury Latin as a sophomore this season. His sister, Grace, a freshman guard at Williams, is the second-leading scorer for the Ephs.

“I had to get the UNIVAC out to crunch the scheduling numbers to see how many games I could go to,’’ James said.

“My wife [Anna] and I figured out we could cover pretty much all the games and even go to some together.’’

Scouting his options

Peter Rehnquist bypassed Division 3, deciding to attend a larger university and focus on academics. But he missed organized basketball during his freshman year when he caught on with a friend’s intramural team.

“We lost to the football team in the finals,’’ said Rehnquist. “They had a 6-7 receiver [Ifeanyi Momah] guarding me, so it was pretty tough.’’

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In April, on a lark, he sent an e-mail to Eagles assistant coach Mo Cassara, inquiring about trying out for the men’s team.

“They were very receptive, I was amazed,’’ said Rehnquist.

Cassara asked him to attend summer workouts. In the fall, head coach Al Skinner invited him to join the team.

He got on the floor for two minutes against Dartmouth in the season-opener Nov. 13 and then ripped down a rebound the following game in a three-minute stint against Saint Francis, earning knee-buckling praise from his friends in the student section.

His only career basket, a hard drive in the final 30 seconds of a 72-46 win over Bryant Dec. 20, sent his teammates on the bench into a frenzy.

“It was pretty loud. It was during break, so it was a smaller crowd than usual but a couple of my family members were up to see, so it was pretty cool,’’ he said, adding that his father, who makes most games, was away on business. “He was a little upset. I told him I’d score another one for him next time he comes if I get in.

“Luckily it went in,’’ he said. “One of my friends sent me a text message saying, ‘You’ve scored more NCAA points than Kobe [Bryant], Dirk [Nowitzki], and Kevin Garnett combined.’ ’’

For Rehnquist, who was a high school center, his biggest challenge is learning BC’s system on the fly. As a scout team player, he also has to learn opponents’ offenses and defenses. Although Rehnquist said he relies on his mind to make up for his lack of athleticism, Skinner said he wouldn’t be on the team if he couldn’t keep up.

“It’s one of the more difficult positions to be in because walk-ons get as much criticism as anyone else, as much heat as anyone else, but don’t get any glory because they don’t get a chance to get on the floor [a lot],’’ Skinner said. “You have to have a tremendous love for the game to be in this type of environment. Obviously he appreciates that and has been a good teammate.

“When he does play, he wants to fit in and that’s the real challenge, to be part of it, so when he does participate, he doesn’t hurt the team.’’

Nobody can accuse Rehnquist of taking advantage of the family name. Skinner, in fact, was surprised to learn of his background.

“I don’t think I would add anything to the BC program just because my grandfather was somebody,’’ Rehnquist said. “I don’t think that helps on the basketball court.’’

Off the court, he has had to adjust to juggling his academic load around four practices and two games per week. After returning from the Eagles’ trip to Michigan at 3 a.m. in early December, that morning he had to make up a psychology test given while the team was in the Virgin Islands for a tournament the previous week.

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The Virgin Islands trip was well worth it, however, as he ran into Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, a Sharon native, in the hotel elevator.

“I actually thought, ‘What happens if I run into Bruce Pearl in the elevator? I gotta mention I’m from Sharon, Mass.,’ ’’ said Rehnquist.

It’s in the blood

James Rehnquist said he never pressured his children to play basketball or go to law school, saying he doesn’t want to encourage something that’s not there or discourage something that is.

Although he’s never mentioned it to his father, Peter Rehnquist sees the law in his future.

“It’s never like you have to live up to the Rehnquist legacy or anything like that,’’ said Peter, who nevertheless inherited his granddad’s competitive spirit. “We’d play croquet and he’d try to get in our heads while we were playing the game. He’d always win somehow, too.

“He was really competitive, that’s where we get our nature from.’’

Attending the Clinton impeachment and Bush v. Gore hearings was just a sidebar to an otherwise normal relationship.

“To us, he was our grandfather, not the chief justice,’’ Peter said.

William Rehnquist died Sept. 3, 2005, after presiding as chief justice for nearly 19 years, the fourth-longest tenure in history.

“Some kids last year went on Wikipedia and quizzed me on my grandfather because they didn’t believe me,’’ Peter said.

His father, however, couldn’t avoid the long shadow of the highest magistrate in the land.

“The attention is good for my ego,’’ James told People magazine during his junior season at Amherst in 1976, “but I realize that part of it is because of my old man, and that bothers me. I also think the constant puns about both of us being on the court and the bench are juvenile.’’

James also told People he chose Amherst after drinking free beer at a frat house.

When asked if his son chose Boston College in the same manner, he said, “God, I hope not. I think he had a lot more maturity than his father.’’

© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.

Senior uses her smarts to excel in girls' hockey

Globe South Sports

Braintree High School’s Justine Hassan (left) is first in her class academically. (Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff)

By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / January 3, 2010

Before the hockey season started, Braintree High headmaster David Swanton worried that Justine Hassan had too much on her plate this semester. Six Advanced Placement courses on her schedule, plus hockey, made Swanton’s head spin.

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“I said, ‘Justine, the headmaster just approached me; he’s concerned you’re taking on too much,’ ’’ recalled hockey coach Kevin Burchill, who likes to boast about Hassan’s academic achievements, especially her excellent 2320 SAT score. “She looked at me and said: ‘What do you mean? School’s easy. I’m more worried about hockey this year.’ ’’

With that, the number one student in Braintree’s senior class entered her senior hockey season wondering if it would be her last truly competitive one. Hassan, who also plays lacrosse, has the academic credentials to attend Harvard, Princeton, or Dartmouth, but probably does not have the hockey skills to play in the Ivy League.

The fourth-year varsity forward could possibly walk onto a Division 3 hockey team.

“Even though I love hockey, I’m not worried about the hockey part,’’ said Hassan, who has 40 goals and 34 assists in her career, including two goals and one assist this season. “I just want to get in [to schools]. I know I’ll never play hockey professionally, so I can’t worry about it too much.’’

Picking between Harvard, Dartmouth, Princeton, Amherst, Williams, and Bowdoin is a pretty good predicament, one that Burchill cannot help but laugh at.

“She’d make a sacrifice [to play Division 3] that in anyone else’s eyes is not a sacrifice,’’ he said. “Amherst, Bowdoin and Middlebury are schools some kids would give their right arms for. . . . She has the world by the tail. She can do whatever she wants to do.’’

Braintree might just be the brainiest team in the area. Almost all 25 players are honor roll students. Sophomore Tori Machado is also at the head of her class, and after being tutored by Hassan, junior goalie Nikki O’Brien made straight A’s.

Hassan’s sister Jessie is also on the team as a sophomore defender.

“That truly makes my job so much easier, because they understand what we’re trying to do,’’ said Burchill, whose team started the season 3-1-1 through Dec. 22. “On the other side, when you’re coaching kids that are not on top of the food chain academically, they do what you say, rather than trying to sort it out and figure out the whys.’’

But even though his team, especially Hassan, has a tendency to overthink the game, rather than playing it instinctually, Burchill said the Wamps did not get competitive until the current senior class entered the program.

They finished with a 14-5-3 record last year, after losing in the second round of the Division 1 state tournament for the third straight year. Playing more fluidly than ever this season, the Wamps feel it is their best shot to make a run at the state title.

“That happens sometimes,’’ Hassan said of thinking too much on the ice. “I get frustrated. I’m almost trying too hard, and that makes me play worse. I’m working on it.’’

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On the other hand, Hassan has college-level calculus, AP psychology, AP human geography, AP physics, AP biology, and her AP language class under control.

She has her eye on an engineering or premed undergraduate track.

After scoring 2320 out of 2400 on her SATs last May, she regrets the day that news of her score spread like wildfire in the school’s hallways.

“I told a couple of people, and, before I knew it, I was walking down the hall and heard people talking about me,’’ said Hassan, who, despite being shy about sharing her score, said she never hides her intelligence. “. . . I don’t try to be dumb, but I don’t try to be a know-it-all.’’

Hassan knew she wanted to play hockey from the moment she pressed her nose against the glass at one of her brother’s youth games.

“All the little sisters would run around the rink,’’ she said. “I was glued to the boards watching the game. I just liked the game from the beginning. I persuaded my parents to sign me up.’’

Despite her parent’s initial misgivings, she played hockey just like her brother, who attends college in Minnesota. Unlike her brother, Hassan’s college choices have been limited by her parents to a three-hour driving radius.

“Luckily, there are many good schools within three hours of Boston,’’ said Hassan’s father, Captain James Hassan, who heads the Area E-5 police station in West Roxbury. “I think she will be a worthy candidate at any one of them.

“She’s at a crossroads determining where she wants to go,’’ he said. “Of course, a lot will depend on which schools will accept her. . . . I used to tell her: ‘Do the best you can. You don’t want your choices to be limited by other people. To make yourself most effective, you make the choices. You’re in charge.’ I guess she picked up on that theme.’’

© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.