EMASS Finals Preview

Division 1 - Charlestown vs. Brockton

Early predictions - In the DI North we predicted Central Catholic, our #1 team going into the tourney, to make the final and in the DI South we had Brockton.  We had Charlestown on an upset watch in the first round versus Andover and the Townies put that to rest with an 18 point win.

Keep a close eye on - Charlestown's Rony Fernandez and Tyrese Hoxter; Brockton's Sayvon Houston

Who wins - Charlestown has two of the best MIAA players in the state in Fernandez and Hoxter.  The strength of the Townies is their transition and perimeter game, but lack a true post game which could hurt against Brockton.  Look to Charlestown to play zone to contain Houston so that will put emphasis on outside shooting for the Boxers.  As great as Charlestown has played recently, we think that Brockton is just too tough right now.  It will be close for three and a half quarters and then Brockton will pull away at the end.  Brockton by 10.

Division 2 - Brighton vs. Stoughton

Players of the Day for March 9th

Boys -  Saugus' Joe Bertrand scored 24 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in his team's win over Arlington Catholic

Girls - Pentucket's Coley Viselli scored 19 points in her team's win over Swampscott

Players of the Day for March 8th

Players of the Day for March 7th

Boys - Pope John's Malcolm Brown scored 30 points and added 6 rebounds and 7 steals in his team's win over Lynnfield

Girls - Shawsheen's Emily Irwin scored 20 points in her team's win over Lowell Catholic

Players of the Day for March 6th

Boys -  Cathedral's Kyle Lawler scored 25 pts. in his team's win over Carver

Players of the Day for March 5th

Boys -  Saugus' Curtis Casella scored 29 points in his team's win over Whittier; Arlington Catholic's Bob Wesoloski scored 12 points to surpass the 1,000 pt. mark in his team's win over Newburyport

Players of the Day for March 4th

Boys -  Wayland's Jaleel Bell scored 26 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in his team's win over Hamilton-Wenham

Bell delivers knock out punch for Wayland

Standout junior Jaleel Bell finished with 26 points and 7 boards in his team's 59-46 D3 North quarterfinal win against Hamilton-Wenham.  Despite starting the second half with three personal fouls, Bell stayed aggressive in the third and his 13 points in the quarter paced the Tigers in what was at the time a close game. 

Down only two points at the half, H-W took the lead with four straight points by senior guard Stephen Tam.  That is when Jaleel took over.  His aggressive defense on the perimeter along with the strong inside play of senior Tyler Mordas (5 points, 10 rebounds) and junior Mark Bonner (10 points, 7 rebounds) gave Wayland a 41-32 advantage at the end of three. 

Too many times you see players less aggressive when in foul trouble, but it didn't seem to bother Jaleel.

"My mindset didn't change at all in the third.  I just focused on doing my job and doing what I could do to help us win," said Bell.

"I tell our guys whenever they are in foul trouble that they have to play 100% or else they are no use to us," said Wayland Head Coach Dennis Doherty.

"Jaleel has played a lot of basketball, he is very smart and I trust him out there.  Not only him, but our whole team.  I trust this guys, they have been through a lot this season and I know I can count on them," added Coach Doherty.

H-W would get no closer than six points in the fourth until running out of gas in the final stanza.  Tam led the Generals with 17 points and senior Jake Lindland added 10.  Hamilton-Wenham finishes the season with a 13-7 record.

Next up for Wayland is a rematch with D3 North power Danvers who knocked out the Tigers last year.

"Danvers is an excellent team.  We are going to prepare and practice as hard as we can and we will be ready," said Coach Doherty.

Players of the Day for March 3rd

Boys - Brighton's Malik James had 24 points and 10 assists in his team's win over Lynn Classical

Players of the Day for March 2nd

Boys - Lexington's Patrick Burns scored 34 points and grabbed 17 boards in his team's win over Boston Latin

Players of the Day for March 1st

Boys - Avon's Saleek Marshall scored 28 points to break the 2,000 pt. mark in his team's win over South Shore Tech

Players of the Day for February 29th

Boys - Arlington Catholic's Bob Wesoloski scored 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in his team's win over Minuteman

Girls - Coyle & Cassidy's Tricia Quinn scored 19 points to go along with 14 rebounds and 7 assists in her team's win over Hanover

Players of the Day for February 28th

Boys -Medford's James Hawkins recorded 15 blocks in his team's win over Peabody

Girls - Sharon's Karlie O'Driscoll scored 20 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and added 6 steals in her team's win over Silver Lake

The MIAA Playoffs:  A Closer Look

I've mentioned all year how crazy this season has been and I don't expect the playoffs to be any different.  In our first installment of our playoff preview let's take a look at each division:

Divison 1 North

The Favorites - Central Catholic, Acton-Boxoborough

Major Contenders - East Boston, Charlestown, St. John's Prep

Dangerous teams - Westford, Lawrence

Best first round match-ups - Boston Latin vs. Lexington, St. John's Prep vs. Lawrence

Upset watch - Andover over Charlestown

Division 1 South

The Favorites - Brockton, Catholic Memorial

Major Contenders - Newton North, BC High, Madison Park

Dangerous teams - Mansfield, Franklin, Weymouth

Best first round match-ups - Franklin vs. BC High, Weymouth vs. Mansfield

Upset watch - Needham over Taunton

Division 2 North

The Favorites - North Andover, Brighton

Major Contenders - New Mission, Reading

Dangerous teams - Wakefield, Melrose

Best first round match-up- Wakefield vs. Belmont,

Upset watch - Malden Catholic over Salem

Division 2 South

The Favorites - Falmouth, King Philip

Major Contenders - Stoughton, Randolph

Dangerous team - Hopkinton

Best first round match-ups - Somerset vs. Oliver Ames

Upset watch - Wellesley over Hingham

Division 3 North

The Favorite - Danvers

Major Contender - Wayland

Dangerous teams - Whittier, Arlington Catholic

Best first round match-ups - Saugus vs. Greater Lawrence

Upset watch - Watertown over Newburyport

Division 3 South

The Favorite - Wareham

Major Contenders - Cardinal Spellman, Norwell

Dangerous teams - Rockland, Bishop Feehan, Martha's Vineyard

Best first round match-up - Dighton-Rehoboth vs. Old Rochester

Upset watch - Westwood over Norton

Division 4 North

The Favorite - Manchester-Essex

Major Contender - St. Mary's

Dangerous teams - Pope John, Winthrop

Best first round match-up - St. Mary's vs. Winthrop

Upset watch - Snowden over St. Clement's

Division 4 South

The Favorites - Holbrook, Westport

Major Contenders - Cathedral, Carver

Dangerous teams - Cape Cod Academy, Bishop Connolly

Best first round match-up - South Shore vs. Avon

Upset watch -Avon over South Shore

Players of the Day for February 23rd

Boys: Abington's Tyler DeMelo scored 30 points in his team's win over Apponequet

Players of the Day for February 22nd

Boys: Acton-Boxborough's Jake Pilecki scored 27 points and added 10 rebounds in his team's win over Algonquin

Players of the Day for February 21st

Boys: Hanover's Sean McNally scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his team's win over Abington

Players of the Day for February 20th

Boys: Danvers' George Merry scored 21 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in his team's win over Billerica

Players of the Day for February 19th

Boys: East Boston's Quandell Bush had 17 points and 9 assists in his team's win over Weymouth

Boys: Arlington Catholic's Kevin Connors had 29 points and 10 rebounds in his team's win over Bishop Fenwick

Players of the Day for February 15th

Boys: Madison Park's David Stewart had 32 points and 15 rebounds in his team's win over Charlestown

Players of the Day for February 14th

Boys:  Carver's Miles Dias scored 27 points in his team's win over Harwich

Weekly Notebook #6

Another wild was capped off by then #5 Brockton defeating then #1 Catholic Memorial at the buzzer.  The win gave Brockton three quality wins that week and vaulted them to the top spot in this week’s poll.  It is the fourth #1 we have had this season (St. John’s Prep, Central Catholic, Catholic Memorial and Brockton), while only having a total of three the past two years (Central Catholic ran the table in the ’09-’10 season, while St. John’s Prep and Charlestown held the top spot last year)…..A few weeks back we mentioned the East Boston/Fenway score of 100 to 10.  The rematch provided a much different outcome with Eastie winning 62-41…..Big match-up in the City today as #8 Charlestown faces #16 Madison Park in Charlestown for the right to be in the City Playoffs.  Right now, New Mission and Brighton are in for the South, while Eastie is in for the North.  Winner in/loser out, should be a good one…..Another conference with big implications this week is the Catholic Central Large. Right now St. Mary’s and Arlington Catholic are tied at the top with two losses a piece, while Cardinal Spellman and Cathedral are one game back.  Cathedral plays St. Mary’s and AC this week and if they win both, there will be a four way tie for first and the league will have co-co-co-co conference champs…..In Central Mass, hard to overlook the four overtime thriller between St. Peter-Marian and Quabbin.  SPM ended up winning the game and took Quabbin out as one of the few undefeated teams left in the state….I get asked this a lot so I’ll go ahead and answer it, “What is the best conference/division out there?”  A strong argument can be made for the Catholic Conference with SJP, CM, and BC High all top 20 teams, but as far as overall depth goes, hard to argue with the MVC Large.  Central Catholic, Lawrence, Lowell, and Andover are all in the playoffs already with Haverhill being the only ones out (that would not be the case of Noah Vonleh was still there)…..The playoffs are right around the corner, we will be updating standings every couple of days so please let us know of any corrections

Players of the Day for February 12th

Boys:  Cristo Rey's Brandon Williams scored 35 points in his team's win over Trinity Catholic

Richey and Hoxter prove their worth in intriguing match-up of Central and Eastern Mass ranked teams

Of all the talk about teams and players and their potential this season, we really don't know how they stack up until they play against top competition.  Such was the case Saturday afternoon when Central Mass #7 (and defending D3 state champs) Whitinsville Christian and Eastern Mass #8 Charlestown met in a key non-league tilt.  Both teams have qualified for the state tournament already and the game provided both teams with a chance to get playoff ready.

The game was a series of runs as Whitisville was able to knock down open jump shots to keep the game close through three quarters.  However, a key fourth foul on WCS point guard Colin Richey forced him to the bench and it turned the tide as Charlestown never looked back after that, cruising to an 87-69 win.

Prior to Richey sitting, he and Charlestown's Tyrese Hoxter were putting on a show.  Both players are considered top prospects in the 2013 MIAA class and their steady team and individual play proved that on Saturday.  Let's take a closer look at their games:

Stat line:

Hoxter - 16 points on 6/9 shooting, 4/4 FT, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 0 turnovers

Richey - 23 points on 7/14 shooting, 7/10 FT, 3 assists, 1 turnover

- as much as those two handle the ball, the fact that they only had one turnover combined (Richey's came late in the game) is outstanding

Scoring:

Hoxter - Tyrese is a slasher and very dangerous in full court situations with his ability to finish.  He can finish with both hands (he's lefty by the way) and his athleticism allows him to create space against good defenses.  His weakness is his jump shot.  He will have to improve this during the off-season to really become a complete offensive player.

Richey - Colin has a complete offensive game.  He can shoot the three, the mid-range jumper, and is aggressive at the basket.  He can go off the dribble either direction and he knows what a good shot looks like, rarely have I seen him take a bad shot within the offense. 

Ball Handling:

Together, both of them handle the ball extremely well.  What's really impressive is how low both of them stay in their dribble with their heads up against pressure.  Lateral quickness with the ball is very good for both as well and their ability to change the pace of the dribble in full and half court situations is solid.

Vision/Passing:

Hoxter -  In my opinion, the strength of his game.  He makes good decisions with the ball and all his passes are crisp and on point.  In addition, his ability to pass in traffic while drawing defenders to himself is another top quality.

Richey - Great vision and more conventional in his passing style, but still effective.  Only three assists registered during the game, but many set-up passes for his teammates who didn't complete the shots.

Defense:

Hoxter - Long and anticipates well in the passing lanes.  When he is trapping players, it is hard to see around him.  He can have a tendency to get cheap fouls, but it looks like he has improved on that since earlier in the season.  Would like to see him be more aggressive on the defensive glass and be more fundamental in his block outs, rather than using his athleticism.

Richey - Solid on the ball defender and tough as nails.  He dives for loose balls, will take charges, and probably leads the team in court burns.  Colin will have to get stronger physically to play against bigger players, but that's what the off-season is for.

Overall:

The game's leading scorer was not Tyrese or Colin, but Charlestown's other talented guard Rony Fernandez, who finished with 26 points.  However, the complete games of Tyrese and Colin were the most impressive to me.  By no means were they Bird vs. Magic, but the style of game was similar.  Both players don't need to take thirty shots a game to be effective and can dominate with their passing and intangibles.  I like both of them as college prospects and this will be a big playoff and off-season for both to show improvement.

Players of the Day for February 11th

Boys:  Plymouth North's Jesse Bunting had 31 points and 11 rebounds in his team's win over Nauset; Manchester-Essex' Sean Nally scored 14 points to reach the 1,000 pt. mark in his team's win over Ipswich; Lawrence's Franklin Martinez had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in his team's win over Lowell

Players of the Day for February 10th

Boys:  East Boston's Will March had 17 points and 12 rebounds in his team's win over St. John's Prep

Players of the Day for February 9th

Boys:  Matignon's Bob Crane scored 25 points to reach 1,000 pts. in his team's win over Lowell Catholic

Players of the Day for February 8th

Boys:  Wareham's Darien Fernandez scored 36 points to go along with 10 rebounds, 11 assists, and 8 steals in his team's win over Old Rochester

Players of the Day for February 6th

Boys:  Brockton's Sayvonn Houston had 12 points and 16 rebounds in his team's win over #2 Newton North

Girls:  Coyle-Cassidy's Missy Perry had 18 points to lead the #11 Warriors in their win over Mansfield

Players of the Day for February 5th

Boys:  Charlestown's Omar Orriols had 23 points and 13 rebounds in his team's win over Cathedral

Girls:  Pentucket's Sarah Higgins had 22 points in her team's win over Notre Dame (Hingham)

Weekly Notebook #5

Just when I thought I had this MIAA thing figured out Central Catholic drops a conference game to Lowell.  I still believe that Central will be the favorite entering the DI North, but there are some teams that are flying under the radar that could cause serious trouble.  In fact, they all come from the same conference, the DCL.  #13 Acton-Boxborough, #14 Westford, and Boston Latin are all well coached and have one player that can take over a game (A-B's Joey Flannery, Westford's Ryan Jann, and Latin's Jack Duggan).....In the DI South, current #1 Catholic Memorial is the early favorite, with #2 Newton North, #5 Brockton, and #11 Weymouth  as possible contenders.....Another big story last week was the fight, which included fans from the stands, at the CM/BC High game.  In the middle of league play, it is not uncommon for tempers to flare, but it can't escalate like the way it did.  I think it is time for the MIAA to highly consider a third referee for the regular season.  Other states have a third, and come playoff time a third is used here.  I'm not saying that this fight could have been prevented, but a third ref could have helped this situation from blowing up the way it did.....Please MIAA, hear me out again.  You want everyone to have a chance and for more teams to be successful, right?  OK, so everyone needs to be in the playoffs.  Teams are  power ranked at the end of the year by the coaches and high seed/low seed games are played accordingly.  It will take one more week for this to happen and more games means more money for the MIAA.  More importantly, teams will stop scheduling weak teams to get in, which means more better non-league match-ups, exclusion games go away, and the Sullivan Rule will become extinct.  I have a lot of respect for Coach Harrington at Watertown and what he has accomplished, but the simple fact that they are 3-12 and have already qualified for the playoffs in this current system is ridiculous.  Just let everyone in MIAA and this is not even a debate.

Players of the Day for February 4th

Boys:  Westford's Ryan Jann scored 26 points, including the final two free throws with 2 seconds left, in his team's one point win over Boston Latin

Girls:  Weston's Saliah Serrette had 25 points and 19 rebounds in her team's win over Wayland; Acton-Boxborough's Liz Belanger had 40 points in her team's OT loss to Billerica; Nantucket's Jess Halfordregistered a triple-double (25 points, 10 assists, 13 rebounds) to become the school's all-time scoring leader

Who thought that bingo could decide a conference champion?  That might be the case this Monday as the St. Mary's boys plays at Arlington Catholic for first place in the division.  St. Mary's hosts bingo nights on Tuesday's at their school which has prevented the boys and girls teams from playing on those nights.....In other non-related bingo news, teams are already punching their tickets to the post-season, while other teams are scrambling for those key wins to push them into contention.  I don't need to go into a long spiel about this one like I do every year, but the MIAA needs to get rid of the Sullivan Rule and Exclusion Games.  O.K. I'm done ranting......Is it possible to lose a game and still move up in the rankings?  In the case of the Billerica girls that may be the case.  They showed they are more than worthy of playing with the #1 team in the state when they pushed Andover to the final buzzer.....Looking at the Boston City playoffs at the end of the year it is going to be tough to pick a favorite.  It has been pretty easy the last couple of years with New Mission, Charlestown, Eastie, and Madison Park being the cream of the crop, but you have to add Brighton to that group and their is still no clear cut favorite.  All of them are ranked in our Top 20 and could beat each other on a given night.  It will be an interesting tourney.....How does a team lose by almost 50 points and then win the next meeting?  Such was the case as Malden Catholic took down a declining St. John's Prep team.  The loss dropped SJP to its lowest Beantownhoops ranking in three seasons and another league title looks bleak at this point.  I'm not ready to count them out however.  Stay tuned......In girls basketball news, some big upsets occurred last week as Lynn English and Masconomet fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with losses to Medford and Pentucket respectively.....The Watertown girls have turned it around under second year coach Pat Ferdinand.  The Lady Red Raiders have struggled of late, but have developed a style that has established them for the future.  Watch closely sophomore point guard Gabby Coppola (yes, she is the younger sister of the Coppola brothers) as she we will be a rising player in the 2014 class.