BeantownHoops Blog

Boys Conference Call Friday

8-5 on Tuesday night’s girls games and thirteen more games to add to the record for the boys games Friday night.  How did I do?  11-2 in Friday’s games bringing the overall record to 51-22.
Atlantic
Dennis-Yarmouth vs. Plymouth North: D2 South qualifying is at stake here and both teams need wins to secure a birth.  Pick- Plymouth North
Bay State
Natick vs. Brookline:  A talented Brookline team just hasn’t found their groove this season while Natick is tied for second in the Herget division with a 7-4 league record.  Pick - Brookline
Cape Ann
#20 North Andover vs. North Reading:  North Andover is in a battle with Masconomet for first place in their Division while North Reading needs a win to secure its playoff birth.  Pick - North Andover
Catholic Central
Archbishop Williams vs. Arlington Catholic:  Archies comes in with a three game winning streak and AC is looking to get out of the middle of the pack in the conference.  Pick - Arlington Catholic
DCL
Bedford vs. Wayland:  First place in the DCL Small is on the line with both teams tied at 4-1.  Bedford lives and dies by the three and recently they have dropped two in a row.  Wayland is also coming off a loss, but is at home for this one.  Pick - Bedford
GBL
Medford vs. Somerville:  Our game of the week features a match-up of two GBL all-stars in Medford’s Andrew White and Somerville’s Franklin Salvador.  However, it will be the role players that will decide this game.  Pick - Medford
Hockomock
Stoughton vs. #17 North Attleboro:  Stoughton has some impressive wins on their resume, including a double overtime win vs. Brockton, while North has been taking care of business and is in first place in the league.  Pick - North Attleboro.
MVC
#2 Central Catholic vs. Lowell:  It’s not that Lowell is not very good, in fact, they are quite talented, but Central has been playing well behind Zenevitch and Desrosiers.  Pick - Central Catholic
Middlesex
Wakefield vs. #5 Belmont:   The Marauders have played well versus the top tier of the league, however, they have been in some close ones with teams in the lower tier.  Wakefield is right in the middle and is looking for the upset.  Pick - Belmont
NEC
Beverly vs. #18 Winthrop:  An ugly scene for Winthrop after their game with Lynn English, will it be a distraction?  Beverly has a winning record and may be ready to steal one away.  Pick - Winthrop
Patriot
Rockland vs. North Quincy:  Rockland is looking to extend their lead in the Fisher, while North Quincy is trying to get over .500.  Pick - Rockland.
South Shore
Harwich vs. Hull:  Harwich is in third place and Hull in fourth place.  Harwich has some momentum with a four game winning streak, while Hull has dropped three in a row.  Pick - Harwich
TVL
Hopkington vs. Millis:  Hopkington is still within reach of #22 Medway for first place in the Tri-Valley while Millis is looking to keep their post-season hopes alive.  Pick - Hopkington
Girls Conference Call Tuesday
32-15 going into today’s picks.  A nice variety of games with playoff qualifying implications on the line.   Here are the picks for the thirteen games on tap tonight.  How did I do?  8-5 in last night’s games bringing the record to 40-20 overall.  The wrong picks are highlighted below.
Atlantic
Plymouth South vs. Nauset - South leads the conference right now and Nauset (7-5)  is trying to increase their overall win total to help playoff seeding.  Pick - Plymouth South
Bay State
Braintree vs. #14 Newton North - Similar situation as the Nauset/Plymouth South game.  North leads the Bay State Carey Division by three games and Braintree is battling to stay above .500 at 7-7.  Pick - Newton North
Cape Ann
#12 Pentucket vs. Hamilton-Wenham - Is it beginning to sound like a broken record?  Pentucket has been rolling in the CAL and H-W needs wins at 4-5.  Pick - Pentucket
Catholic Central
#11 Arlington Catholic vs. Cardinal Spellman - This is a must win for both teams as they are tied for second and one game back of league leader Archbishop Williams. Pick - Arlington Catholic
DCL
Weston vs. Acton-Boxborough - Weston has won four in a row and A-B has slipped a bit.  Pick - Acton-Boxborough
EAC
#24 Coyle-Cassidy vs. Bishop Stang - C-C has been rolling and Stang is looking to get to .500. Pick - Coyle- Cassidy
GBL
Everett vs. Cambridge - Everett has struggled, but needs a win to stay in the playoff hunt.  When healthy, Cambridge is a very tough team to beat.  Pick - Cambridge
MVC
Lowell vs Methuen - A good match-up between teams in the best division of Girls basketball (MVC large).  Methuen is on a two game losing streak, while Lowell comes in winning their last two.  Pick - Methuen
Middlesex
#19 Stoneham vs. Winchester - Winchester is just outside the top tier of the league with a 8-5 record while Stoneham needs to keep pace with co-league leader Melrose.  Pick - Stoneham
NEC
Lynn Classical vs. Gloucester - Both teams need this one for league and playoff purposes.  Both are coming off a loss as well.  Pick - Lynn Classical
Patriot
Hanover vs. Silver Lake - Hanover leads the Fisher division while Silver Lake has had a nice year so far at 9-3.  Pick - Hanover.
South Shore
#23 Cohasset vs. Harwich - Both teams have already qualified for the playoffs, but Cohasset wants to keep its unblemished record intact.  Pick - Cohasset
TVL
Ashland vs. Westwood - A power match-up in the Tri-Valley as both teams have one loss in league play.  Westwood comes in to the game winning their last seven.  Pick - Westwood

What a big time match-up yesterday with #2 Central Catholic versus our Central Mass #1 team Worcester North.   Central won a close one, but more importantly, it was nice to see power teams in the different parts of the state battle one another…..Another huge game was then #5 New Mission vs. #6 East Boston.  The two city powers both excel on the defensive end and they forced each other into a combined 55 turnovers.  Eastie won it in the end, but I have a feeling we will see this match-up again in the Boston City playoffs….As the playoff picture begins to be a little more clear, there are many teams fighting to qualify.  Keep an eye this week on those teams who are at or just above .500……If any team has a chance to knock off #1 Lynn English in the NEC, it may be #18 Winthrop.  They play on Tuesday at Lynn English, but Winthrop showed yesterday in their win over Cathedral that they will play hard for 32 minutes…..The #12 Pentucket Girls were a close second for our Girls team of the week.  They beat ranked teams in Ipswich and St. Mary’s and got the signature wins we were waiting for before moving up in the polls……Speaking of St. Mary’s, is there a better story out there than that of center Tori Faieta?  Check out her story here…..The perfect regular season?  There are still four boys teams and five girls teams that are still undefeated.  Can anyone of them pull it off?  My picks will be #4 St. John’s Prep  on the boys side and #6 Fontbonne on the girls side…..Finally, I hope all of the injured players out there have speedy recoveries.  Recently heard that All-Middlesex league performer Andrew Scocca of Melrose will be out for the season.  We never want to hear about players being shelved for the year.  Best of luck to all of you.

O.k. so I took a hit with the girls games bringing my record to 23-11.  Good group of games Friday on the boys side of things, I’ll take a shot at these match-ups. How did I do?  9-4 last night, bringing my overall record to 32-15, with the games picked wrong highlighted below.
Big 3
New Bedford vs. Durfee:  Both teams are facing an uphill battle trying to catch Brockton, but they are both still one game out.  It will be close, but I’ll take the home team in this one - Pick:  Durfee
Boston City
#5 New Mission vs. West Roxbury:  New Mission has been playing outstanding, while West Roxbury hit a bump in the road when they lost two games in a row while ranked #17. The Titans will face a challenge from the home team, but will prevail in the end - Pick:  New Mission
Cape Ann
Georgetown vs. Masconomet - A match-up of division leaders in the CAL.  Masconomet comes in with an eight game winning streak and should stretch it to nine on their home court - Pick:  Masconomet
Catholic Conference
BC High vs #4 St. John’s Prep - BC High is fighting to get to .500 while SJP is rolling.  Too much SJP here - Pick:  St. John’s Prep
DCL
#17 Acton-Boxborough vs. Bedford - Our boys game of the week so I’ll repeat my pick from the GotW article - Pick:  A-B
GBL
Medford vs. #19 Everett - The Tide has struggled recently and Medford is coming off an emotional last second win against Malden.  If the game was at Medford, I would pick the upset, but Everett will be tough to beat at home - Pick:  Everett
Hockomock
North Attleboro vs. #18 Oliver Ames - While everyone was talking about O.A., Mansfield, and Franklin when they were all undefeated, North was just staying under the radar.  Now North is tied for first and the hot team in the Hock.  They keep it going against Oliver Ames - Pick:  North Attleboro
Middlesex
Woburn vs. Lexington - How things have changed since the beginning of the year.  Both teams were ranked highly at the start and now find themselves in 5th and 3rd place respectively in the league.  I’ll take Lexington in a close game - Pick:  Lexington
MVC
Lawrence vs. Lowell - If you take out Andover and Central Catholic in the division, these two teams are playing for a league title.  A nice match-up against quality teams, I’ll take the speed of Lawrence in a barnburner - Pick:  Lawrence
NEC
Salem vs. Marblehead - Life is always tough when you are facing ranked teams at the top of your league as these two are right now.  Salem comes in with a 9-4 record while Marblehead is 6-5.  The road team wins this game - Pick:  Salem
South Shore
#11 Abington vs. Norwell - Abington took the first match-up early in the year and it is Norwell’s lone loss of the year.  Norwell gets revenge and the upset - Pick:  Norwell
TVL
Medfield vs. Medway - Medway is playing great at 11-1 and leading the league.  Medfield will try, but to no avail, to give Medway their second loss - Pick:  Medway
My non-league pick because it’s a good game
#6 East Boston vs. #9 Franklin - Franklin got caught looking ahead and right now really dislikes any team in Attleboro (losing to Attleboro and North Attleboro in their last two).  East Boston is absolutely loaded and already won in a tough environment on the road at Wareham.  Eastie stays undefeated - Pick:  East Boston

My record last week was 19-6 for both the boys and girls games.  Let’s take a look at some key conference match-ups tonight.  How did I do?  Not very good last night, 4-5 with the games picked wrong highlighted below.
Bay State
Norwood vs. Natick:  It looks like Wellesley will win the Herget Division of the Bay State, so this is game is about the playoffs.  Norwood is 6-3 and Natick is 4-7 in the DII South.  Natick needs this one badly, but Norwood will be too much - Pick:  Norwood
Big Three
#14 New Bedford vs. #4 Brockton:  Already talked a lot about this one - Pick:  Brockton
DCL
#21 Acton-Boxborough vs. #23 Newton South: Both teams need a win to keep pace with Westford for the DCL large title.  A-B’s Super Soph Liz Belanger has been lighting it up and she continues to against Newton South tonight - Pick: A-B
EAC
Martha’s Vineyard vs. Coyle-Cassidy:  C-C looks to extend their EAC lead, while Martha’s Vineyard tries to keep pace - Pick:  Coyle Cassidy
GBL
#24 Somerville vs. Cambridge:  Both teams are tied for first, the big questions are whether Somerville center Keisha Jean-Louis will play and if Cambridge is healthy after battling injuries all season - Pick:  Cambridge
Hockomock
#8 Foxboro vs. #2 Oliver Ames - Can you say revenge?  Oliver Ames can.  Their lone loss was to Foxboro in the opener.  Oliver Ames will be pumped up for this one - Pick:  Oliver Ames.
MVC
Billerica vs. Tewksbury - Another key game to qualify for the playoffs, specifically for Billerica who is 5-4.  Tewksbury has the Sullivan rule on their side so the game becomes that much more important for Billerica - Pick:  Billerica
Middlesex
Watertown vs. Melrose - The first meeting wasn’t pretty with Melrose winning big.  Melrose needs to stay sharp in this one, looked what happened to Stoneham when they played poorly against Belmont, to continue their quest for a league title - Pick:  Melrose
Non-league
#9 Fontbonne vs. Medfield - I know, the article is  Conference Call and I’m picking an Independent in a non-league game.  The Ducks have been playing great of late and their are no other league games that are as intriguing as this one.  That being said, Fontbonne rolls on tonight - Pick:  Fontbonne

Another eventful week of high school basketball in Massachusetts.  It’s roughly the halfway point of the season and already some teams have been eliminated from the State playoffs.  I don’t want this site to be a place to vent frustration, but the MIAA playoff system makes no sense to me:  “Exclusion games”, “The Sullivan Rule”, what is going on here!  I’ll have my solution soon on the site…..On that note, you have to respect the teams that have gone out and played a tough non-league schedule, when all you need is ten wins to get in, coaches could easily play weaker teams, but have decided not to (St. John’s Prep, Franklin, East Boston, to name a few on the boys side)…..Have you ever heard of a league game that was changed because of voting?  I haven’t but two games in the Hockomock were moved to Thursday night to help set-up polling places for Tuesday’s vote…..Congratulations to Lynn English’s Ryan Woumn , Chelsea’s Cesar Castro, and Dighton-Rehoboth’s Josh Koneski for reaching 1,000 pts. for their careers…..Up until The Globe put out an article on them last week, the Fontbonne Girls have gone under the radar.  They destroyed two good teams last week in Notre Dame (Hingham), who just beat #5 Andover, and Catholic Central power Cardinal Spellman…..How about these double doubles last week from Westford’s Asia Ewing and Newton North’s Greg Kelley, 22 points and 22 rebounds for Ewing, and 34 points and 20 rebounds for Kelley…..Is there a better player in the Middlesex league right now than Watertown Junior Marco Coppola?  He is averaging 25 pts. a game this season and is keeping Watertown afloat after losing a strong senior class that won a state title last year.  His strongest competition for Beantownhoops.com’s Middlesex player of the year will come from Belmont’s Andrew Musler who has the Marauders in first place and undefeated for the season….The Newton North student section still gets my vote for best students fans this year.  Some schools have had impressive numbers at their games, but nothing like the numbers and amount of support the Tiger faithful has shown…..Two big match-ups this week for fans to keep an eye one:  Girls - New Bedford vs. Brockton, both teams are undefeated and ranked in their first meeting of the year; Boys - East Boston vs. Franklin, looks like Franklin got caught looking ahead in their OT loss to Attleboro, but this will be a good battle, especially the individual match-up between Eastie’s Jeff Amazan and Franklin’s Matt Palazini…..Do you think the Boys Division I North will decide the state championship?  Just look at the teams in this side of the playoff picture:  #1 Lynn English, #2 Central Catholic, #4 St. John’s Prep, #6 East Boston, #11 Andover, #14 Cambridge, #17 Acton-Boxborough. #19 Everett (who may have Nerlins Noel healthy by playoff time), #24 Westford, and solid teams in Lincoln-Sudbury, Lawrence, and Lowell.  Whoever wins this Division will certainly have earned it……Hope some of you had a chance to check out the Hoophall Classic this weekend.

I was 8-4 in the Boys conference call Tuesday, let’s see how I do with the thirteen key conference girls games Friday.  How did we do?  11 wins and 2 losses in our predictions, our wrong picks are highlighted.
Atlantic Coast
Plymouth South vs. Marshfield - both teams come in undefeated in the league and have a combined two losses between them.  It’s a toss up, but I’ll go with the home team - Pick:  Marshfield
Bay State
Needham vs. #18 Newton North - another first and second place match-up.  Needham was once ranked and has played a very tough schedule.  North has a one game lead in the division, but I like Needham to win on the road - Pick:  Needham
Big Three
#5 Brockton vs. Durfee - they finally play a league game in a battle of undefeated teams.  Durfee has not had as tough a schedule as Brockton, but you never know what can happen in league play - Pick:  Brockton
Catholic Central
Cardinal Spellman vs. #23 Archbishop Williams - it’s bad enough they play in a loaded league, but now they are playing for sole possession of first place.  Archies has a four game winning streak coming in and Spellman doesn’t want to drop two in a row.  It will be a battle - Pick:  Archbishop Williams.
Dual County
#16 Newton South vs. #7 Westford/#20 Lincoln-Sudbury vs. #19 Acton-Boxborough - had to go with two games in the DCL tonight.  Four ranked teams separated by a game in the division, if it was playoff time and these games were in the same building it would be sold out for these two.  Tough ones to call, but I’m going with the home teams - Pick:  Westford, A-B
EAC
Bishop Stang vs. Bishop Feehan - battle of the bishops, much like the GBL, the EAC has only five teams which makes every league game important.  A win keeps that team in the hunt for the league title, a loss makes it look bleak - Pick:  Bishop Feehan
GBL
Cambridge vs. Medford - a tough non-league schedule and injuries have slowed Cambridge down, but they are still in first place in the league.  Medford looks to pull off the upset at home - Pick:  Cambridge
Hockomock
#8 Franklin vs. #3 Oliver Ames - It would have been nice to have this one back-to-back with the boys game, which is our game of the week.  Not to sound like a broken record, but like many other conferences tonight, both teams are in first place and have played well all year. Ames is rolling however after their opening night loss and have won eight in a row.  Make it number nine tonight - Pick: Oliver Ames
MVC
#2 Andover vs. Lowell - Andover looks to rebound after a non-league loss and they face a tough Lowell team.  Both teams can shoot the three and it will be a wide open affair.  It will be entertaining - Pick:  Andover
Middlesex
#21 Stoneham vs. #24 Reading - Stoneham did not play well in their last win versus Belmont, while Reading lost to a good Woburn team.  It is an absolute must win for Reading, a loss will put them three games back of Stoneham in the league race.  I think they play with a sense of urgency tonight at home and pull off the minor upset - Pick:  Reading
NEC
Peabody vs. Danvers - An intriguing match-up between two teams still in the hunt for their division titles.  Peabody is 8-1 while Danvers comes into the game with a 7-2 mark.  Peabody has been playing well this year and should be able to win this one on the road - Pick:  Peabody
South Shore
Cohasset vs. Abington - Cohasset is undefeated coming in, but is only one game up on second place Abington.  Abington needs to keep it close all game and hope that Cohasset gets nervous down the stretch about losing their unblemished record.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it will happen that way - Pick: Cohasset

Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to focus on league play.  What that means for the fans are more upsets, close games, and quality of play going up.  One league to keep a close eye on will be the Girls Catholic Central Large Division.  The division has five teams in St. Mary’s, Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop Williams, Bishop Fenwick, and Arlington Catholic who are very close to each other talent wise and all of their games against each other have been battles thus far……The youth movement is in full swing for a number of teams this year.  The Cambridge Boys have seven underclassmen on their roster and they are talented.  The Weymouth Boys have been getting great play from Freshmen Jared Terrell and Sophomore Damian Lugay.  The two have been a key reason Weymouth has been able to turn around a winless season last year.  Reading Girls Freshman Olivia Healy is a starter for Coach Kim Penney and is definitely a player to watch in the girls ranks…..What a great week for the Cathedral Boys.  They defeated two ranked teams and league rivals in Cardinal Spellman and Archbishop Williams…..This part is for the players who follow the site - in one of the games I recently attended I saw something that drives coaches, college recruiters, and fans crazy.  Here is the scenario:  A player just made what he thought was a good play.  The next dead ball situation, the coach took the player out.  The player pouted all the way to the bench, didn’t acknowledge any of the players on the bench who were trying to give him five, and then proceeded to stay on the bench while everyone else was huddled around the coach during a timeout.  The lesson:  If you are serious about basketball, no college in their right mind is going to give you the time of the day let alone a college scholarship.  All you are doing is making basketball miserable for you, your teammates, and especially your coach.  You never know who is in the stands watching you play so please act accordingly.  You are not in the NBA so stop complaining to the officials and trying to shoot like your Kobe Bryant.  O.K. my rant is over…..Big game in the Middlesex league with the Belmont Boys and Reading Boys squaring off tonight.  I have seen both teams play in person and they are both evenly matched with different strengths, should be a good one….The New Mission Boys finally have their team together with Taj Banks now ready to play.  Banks is a 6′5″ inside player who gives the Titans another weapon to their already loaded roster…..Speaking of new additions, Brockton big man Mario Monroe was granted his waiver by the MIAA.  A 6′8″ senior center, Monroe gives Brockton more size and another weapon in the rotation…..Don’t forget the Hoophall Classic is this weekend in Springfield, the Newton North Boys have just been added to the field and will play St. Francis of Baltimore.

Every Tuesday we will look at some key boys conference match-ups for the night and make our predictions.
How did we do? 8 wins and 4 losses in our predictions, our wrong picks are highlighted.
Boys
Atlantic Coast
Falmouth at Marshfield - both teams are at the top of the division, while the other contender, Plymouth North, plays  a 1-5 Nauset team.  It will be a big victory for the winner. Our pick - Marshfield
Bay State
#3 Newton North at Brookline - North has cruised through conference play, while Brookline has not played to their potential.  A win for Brookline would be huge in this rival game. Our pick - Newton North
Cape Ann
Masconomet at Hamilton-Wenham - Both teams have one loss on the year in league play and Masconomet heads into the game with a six game winning streak.  Our pick - Masconomet
Catholic Central
Arlington Catholic at Austin Prep - A.C. needs a win to stay close in the division race while Austin Prep needs a win to salvage the season.  Our pick - Arlington Catholic
Catholic Conference
Xaverian at BC High - Overall both teams have struggled, but are still in the hunt league wise.  It is a must win for both teams. Our pick - BC High
Commonwealth
Greater Lowell at North Shore - North Shore has been playing well with a 6-2 record in the Small, but they play a team in the Large tonight.  Unfortunately for Greater Lowell they are on a two game losing streak and have to play on the road.  Our pick - North Shore
Dual County
#7 Acton-Boxborough at #20 Westford - The winner is in first place in the DCL Large and the loser gets second place and drops down in the rankings, needless to say a big game.  Our pick - Acton-Boxborough
GBL
#12 Everett at Malden - Everett is coming off an emotional win against Cambridge with Nerlins Noel going down and Malden won a nail biter versus Somerville.  Without Noel, Everett still has plenty of fire power to stop Malden.  Our pick - Everett
Hockomock
#19 Mansfield at #11 Oliver Ames - Mansfield plays it’s second undefeated team and needs a win to stay in the league race with Ames and Franklin.  A loss for Mansfield will be devastating and a win for Ames set’s up another undefeated match-up against Franklin.  Our pick - Mansfield
Merrimack Valley
Dracut at #15 Andover - Dracut leads the Small division of the MVC and Andover needs a rebound win after losing to Central Catholic again.  Our pick - Andover
Northeastern
Lynn Classical vs. #18 Winthrop -Undefeated Winthrop hosts a Lynn Classical team that just can’t seem to get it going this year.  I think Classical will be up for this one, but Winthrop is truly rolling right now.  Our pick - Winthrop
South Shore
Norwell at Harwich - Norwell is one game back of league leader Abington, while Harwich is two games back.  This is one of those positional games that teams can’t afford to lose if they want to make a run at first.  Our pick - Norwell
Did we miss a key conference game?  Let us know about it by email at webmaster@beantownhoops.com

If there is one basketball constant across the country it is that league games are much different than non-league games.  The teams know each other very well, the fans attend these games more because of familiarity, and if the coaches have been in the league for awhile, they probably have beaten each other at least once.  Every game that I have attended this year, I don’t think there is at least one fan sitting around me that doesn’t comment on how tough their league is compared to others.  I agree with some of these fans, but not all.  It has been clear to me in the first quarter of the season that there are some conferences that just stand out more than others.  Here is my list of the Top 5 Boys and Girls Conferences so far this season (1/7/2010):

Boys

#1 Bay State:  In a conference with two divisions, it is hard to find consistent play from top to bottom.  Of the twelve teams in the league, eight have records of .500 or better.  Braintree has a record of 3-4, but also have DI prospect PJ Douglas who can carry his team to victory on any given night.  The team with the worst record in the league is Framingham at 0-6, but even they are well coached and have some players who can be dangerous if given confidence.  In addition, the team that went 0-20 last season, Weymouth, is 4-3 and playing everyone tough.

#2 Boston City:  Four ranked teams, #4 Madison Park, #6 New Mission, #7 East Boston, and #20 West Roxbury.  With three of those teams being in the Top 10, the league has a strong argument to be ranked #1, however, the bottom half of the league is not as good as the bottom half of the Bay State.  That being said, I can’t wait to see the Boston City championship with these top tier teams going at it.

#3 MVC:  The Large division is absolutely loaded with #2 Central Catholic, #10 Andover, and two real solid teams in Lawrence and Lowell.  The Small division is not as strong, with Dracut being the best team there, but the top part of the league is so good the league deserves at least a #3 ranking.

#4 DCL:  The league features two ranked teams in #8 Acton-Boxborough and #25 Westford along with Lincoln-Sudbury, Bedford, Wayland, and Waltham all having .500 or better records.  Arlington at 3-4 is very good and two teams that haven’t won yet, Boston Latin and Concord-Carlisle have young talent that will only get better.

#5 (tie) Hockomock/Middlesex:  I know, my first conference power ranking and I have a tie for fifth, but hear me out first.  The Hock has three teams in the Top 25 in #12 Franklin, #16 Oliver Ames, and #17 Mansfield who are all undefeated while the Middlesex has two ranked teams in #11 Belmont and #23 Lexington.  The top half of the league between the two goes to the Hock.  However, the bottom half of the Middlesex is much stronger with Melrose playing without All-league center Andrew Scocca and Winchester losing to Belmont by two points last game.  Thus, a tie for now, but I’m sure as the season continues one of the conferences will outperform the other.

Girls

#1 MVC: For the simple fact that the #1 and #2 teams in our poll play in the same division of the conference is merit enough to garner the top spot. Besides Andover and Central Catholic, Lowell and Billerica have winning records and Methuen has a DI player in Ashley Agboola making the Large division tough to beat. In the Small division, the records may not show it, but Chelmsford beat a ranked Fenway team and Tewksbury lost by six to Central and beat Fenway as well.

#2 Hockomock: Four teams in the Top 25 in #3 Oliver Ames, #10 Foxboro, #11 Franklin, and #19 Mansfield. Sharon has a winning record and North Attleboro at 3-4 has been a tough out. The bottom half has struggled, but that is to be expected when you have to play against the top tier teams.

#3 Catholic Central: The Large division is stacked up with great competition: #6 St. Mary’s, #24 Archbishop Williams, and you know it’s good when #12 Arlington Catholic has a losing league record right now. Add Bishop Fenwick and Cardinal Spellman who were once ranked and you have no games to rest. The problem is that the Small division only has two teams with winning records and they have not fared well, making the two divisions pretty unbalanced.

#4 DCL: Very similar to the Catholic Central with four ranked teams: #9 Westford, #16 Newton South, #20 Acton-Boxborough, and #21 Lincoln-Sudbury. However, the DCL is missing that one other marquee team to take the #3 spot. Still, the top tier teams can compete with any other conference’s best, making the DCL one of the premier leagues in the state.

#5 Big Three: Alright, I’m ready for it. “How can a conference with only three teams be considered in your Top 5?” Easy, #5 Brockton, #17 New Bedford, and Durfee are a combined 22-0 to start the season. They all have played quality teams and if they were in a bigger league, those three alone would make their league amongst the top in the state.

Regular season notebook #4

What a week of movement in the rankings for both the boys and girls.  The most notable move was former #3 Andover Girls moving to the top spot with their defeat of #1 Central Catholic.  The two teams don’t have to wait long as they will play this Friday at Central in a game that will count in the league standings and our first match-up of #1 and #2…..Before you email me and hound me in the forums, I know it is a big time match-up against the two top teams and a conference game, but Andover/CC is not the girls game of the week.  A few reasons:  1.  I want more teams to get exposure so I avoid covering a team twice so close together (Lowell and CC were the girls game of the week on Dec. 18)  2.  I’ve seen the best players on both teams play and although they are outstanding (Polce and Zenevitch for Central and Boudreau and Gomez-Martinez for Andover) I want to see some other players in action and 3.  #22 Reading and #8 Melrose are no slouches either and the game will also decide who is first in their league as well….I love to watch teams like #5 St. John’s Prep play:  great ball movement, well-coached, play extremely hard, and they look like my 35 and over rec league team could beat them.  They are clearly the class of the Catholic Conference this season…..Lynn English’s Jarell Byrd should get his 1,000th point this Tuesday.  I know there was a lot of controversy about him this off-season, but that doesn’t deny the fact that he is an outstanding player and plays on the #1 team, early congratulations to him….On that note, congrats as well to Marshfield’s Nicole Beresford for reaching the 1,000 pt. milestone last week….Don’t you just hate it when you miss a good high school basketball game?  Would have loved to see the overtime thriller versus  Stoughton and Brockton.  Anyone have a DVD for me?…..Remember that the Hoophall Classic in Springfield is coming up next weekend (Jan.15th - 18th). If you want to see some of the best high school talent in the country you don’t want to miss this one, I don’t care how long the drive is from Eastern Mass…..Have a good week of hoops and I’ll see you at Melrose for the girls game of the week and at Cambridge for the boys game of the week should be two good ones.

Regular season notebook #3

With the season off to a nice start, we head into the holiday stretch.  For some teams they will be playing in competitive tournaments and testing how good they are while others have so many league games they can’t participate.  Wouldn’t it be great if each team was required to be in a holiday tournament?….Caught a couple of games at the BABC tournament, great atmosphere and quality match-ups….The New Mission boys headed to Springfield to play six time Rhode Island champion Bishop Hendriken.  Samir McDaniels came up huge with 22 pts. and 16 rebs. as New Mission won 66 to 52….Congratulations to Lynn English’s Jenicia Duggins on achieving 1,000 points for her career….Went to watch the 2nd annual Urban Suburban xmas tourney for 4th-9th grade youth teams.  Came out very impressed with the amount of young talent on display and the professionalism of Visionary Basketball in their organization of the event….Although Wareham lost to #5 St. John’s Prep in our boys game of the week, watch out for the Vikings come playoff time.  Plenty of talent to do damage in Division three…..Nerlins Noel continues to improve each game for Everett.  He is long and athletic and is a consistent jump shot away from being a big time college prospect…..Seen plenty of games since the opening weekend and the Newton North fans are clearly the most vocal and supportive thus far….I think it is time for Massachusetts to have three official crews for high school games.  I know it is a tough job, but there were many missed calls in recent games that changed momentum….Keep a close eye on the Acton-Boxborough Boys.  They are quietly undefeated and have a solid core of players along with good coaching….The St. Mary’s Girls are making their case as one of the top teams in the state.  They recently defeated #2 Lynn English to win the Boverini tournament and they are well-balanced and play a tough schedule that will prepare them for the postseason….Happy New Year everyone and our staff looks forward to bringing you the latest on high school basketball in Massachusetts.

Regular Season Notebook #2

A great week of high school basketball as a lot of teams have made drastic improvements coming into this season.  The Medford boys are 3-0 after going 3-17 last season….Weymouth boys are 2-1 after going 0-20 last year….Case Cardinal boys win their first game after losing the previous 43….Belmont boys beat Lexington at Lexington for the first time in over a decade…..I swear I didn’t plan this, but last weeks boys and girls games of the week featured the Melrose Red Raiders versus the Watertown Red Raiders while the girls game was between the Lowell Red Raiders and the Central Catholic Raiders….Concern for the Cambridge girls?  A very talented team that dropped their first two games by a significant margin…..Do you think that Fenway’s Tajanay Veiga had a good week?  How about 53 points, 33 rebounds, and 16 assists in two games….Congratulations to Molly Breen of Millis and Brittany Obi-Talbot of Watertown who reached 1,000 points for their careers….Watch New Mission big man Ousmane Drame closely.  He just took up the game a few years back and is only going to get better in college….We are proud to be working with emasssports.com and coachstorm5.com to help you get the best coverage of high school basketball in Massachusetts.  We want what’s best for our sport and working with other basketball sites only helps to achieve that goal…..Short week of basketball due to Christmas, but everything will be back to full throttle after the holidays.

Regular Season Notebook #1

The first weekend saw our first big upset with the Foxboro Girls defeating the Oliver Ames Girls, 49-45.  Foxboro was ranked #25 in our Fall pre-season poll while Oliver Ames was #3.  Although both teams are ranked, many local pundits consider Oliver Ames a top two team in the state….East Boston Boys got off to a great start with two wins over South Boston and Lawrence; they are currently ranked #14 in our first regular season poll….Greg Kelley of Newton North was stellar in our last game of the week versus Framingham.  He is the rock of their team, but how far the Tigers will go in the playoffs probably will depend on the development of Sophomore point guard Michael Thorpe.  He struggled in the first half, but exploded in the third quarter when Newton North put the game away…..It seems that the rumors are confirmed and Zach Hurynowicz has come back to Burlington.  This immediately shakes up the Middlesex league even more with Lexington, Woburn, Belmont, Watertown, and Melrose all considered strong teams…..A game that went under the radar this weekend was Arlington defeating a good Boston Latin team by 16.  Arlington did not have their whole team in the Fall League and it looked like it, but they return a lot and should be a tough team to beat in the DCL…..Disturbing story about Coach Maureen Jennings at Norwood who resigned a week before the first game.  The word is it was a difference in opinion between parents and administrators.  I’ll make my point and be quiet about it for the rest of the year:  1.  Administrators - please support your coaches and let them do their job.  You have every right to question any wrongdoings physically or verbally, but when you don’t support them everyone suffers 2.  A.D.’s - somewhere along the line you were part of the hiring process of every coach.  If you weren’t, you definitely sat down with them and laid out your expectations, so you should be supporting your coach 100%.  I’m not saying that the A.D. is at fault here, but a coach should never have to resign a week before the season if the coach has full support of the administration and athletic department.  3.  Parents - I’m sorry your son or daughter was cut.  In my fifteen year coaching career it is definitely the hardest thing to do.  However, somewhere along the line you have to realize that there are just better players out there than yours.  As a parent, I know you want what’s best for your child, but complaining because they were cut and asking for the coach’s head is not fair to the coach and their family as well…..Big games this week, looking forward to the first full week of basketball.