History in the making!

New Mission is ready to make history. In the state of Massachusetts, never before has a team jumped from Division 4 to Division 2 or higher in one year and made that state final the same year. The Titans just did. After having won the division 4 state title last year, they are now one win away from the division 2 state title. A hard fought battle was finished in excellent style tonight as Hopkinton (South regional champs) fell to New Mission 67-57 at the TD Garden. The Titans made easy work of the North region beating Reading, Lynn Classical, Woburn and city-rival Brighton as they went to the Garden. They await the winner of the Central and West regions. They will take them on in Worcester at the DCU Center this Saturday at 4. I hope to see you there.

Tonights game featured a big turnup from the 2 all american nominees. Samir McDaniels and Kachi Nzerem both had big turnouts. McDaniels finished with a double-double as he posted 15pts and 17rebs with 4asts. His partner Kachi dropped 21 including 3 tre-balls. Charles Gunter and Leroy Hamilton added to the party with 13 pts a piece. It didnt seem like this win was evident in the early going though. At halftime the score was tied at 33. One major part in this second half turnup was the fact that no one had more than 2 fouls. They let them shot. I like to mention that the refs in this game showed excellent judgment with each call. It was the fairest calling of a matchup I have ever seen in the city. Hopkinton did have threats though. Big man Jake Doucette showed skill from beyond the arc hitting 2 3 balls. He is 6'7 and in Boston you just dont see that. His teammate Barrett Hanlon was the only other man who seemed to help the cause. They both scored 13. After Darius and Kachi finally started hitting long range, Isshiah Coleman ended the game with the only dunk of the game. New mission is going to the 'ship.

STATES IN FULL EFFECT!

UH OH! Beantown stand up...if you aint already heard, the champions of the city are Charlestown. They defeated East Boston who was the only team who beat them in the regular season. Right now though, its time to stand up. Going into this first weekend of the state playoffs, we see 4 teams making noise. This weekend in Division 2, New Mission as a #2 seed in the north region will play host to Lynn Classical. This should be an easy victory but i wouldn't jump out my seat quite yet. This bracket has already seen upsets including Lynn Classical as an 11 seed beating 6th seeded Chelsea. Lets not forget that East Boston beat New Mission in the city semifinals a week ago. That brings me to my other Division 2 spotlight game. Brighton is hosting. There is something wrong with that right? yes, Brighton didnt make the city playoffs so how could they host someone in the second round. How bout there opponent is 16th seeded Winchester who upset number 1 seed Wilmington. Yea, have fun with that one! Lets see if either of these Division 2 squads can keep it together this weekend. Into division one we go...Madison Park. Thats a story in itself. Last year, they lost at the Garden to Central Catholic who started a 6'11 center. Mp's tallest man was 6'6 off the bench. Guess what, he's gone and now Central Catholic has to go pay Charlestown a visit this weekend. Good luck! Townies and City MVP Akosa M. need to represent on their home floor which they are undefeated on this season. Meanwhile, lets see if Mansfield who lost last year in the Division 1 south regional semifinals can beat the team they lost to in a rematch this Saturday. That team, MP Machine. Beantown better represent this weekend.

I plan to be in attendance for a sweet doubleheader this Sunday afternoon.

Division 1 North region
Central Catholic at Charlestown-3pm

Division 2 North region
Lynn Classical vs New Mission at Reggie Lewis Center-5pm

Be there or be square and for any of you wanting to follow the updates...all brackets, scores, locations and times can be found at the MIAA website. www.miaa.net


CRUNKDUB FROM THE HEART OF THE CITY...EARLY!

City Title Preview

Uh oh, its time for the Boston City Championships. On ThursdayFebruary 24th, I encourage you to come out to a doubleheader of epic proportions featuring the 4 toughest teams in the city. Representing the South division are the West Roxbury Raiders and the New Mission Titans. And representing the North is the East Boston Jets and the Charlestown Townies. The way the bracket is set up is the top seed faces the 2nd seed of the opposite division. That will be your semifinal setup. And then the championship is the second matchup of the city title doubleheader the following day. So on Thursday the games will be at 4:00 and 5:30 pm. And the boys Boston City basketball championship is at 6:30 on Friday. (Sidenote: Unfortunately for me, I have a shift to work on Thursday from 2-8 that doesn't allow me to show up for the semifinals. I will be there on Friday for the championship.) This is why I want to toss out my prediction and give you just a little depth on what to expect for this tournament.

CHARLESTOWN VS WEST ROXBURY

The Raiders return 3 all stars this year in Givaughn Jones, Roger Paul and Jason Hall. Expect their somewhat deep lineup to spread out for mid range shots. The style of Westie usually shows 2 bigs including Jason Hall to attack the boards at all times and they rely on 2 shooters including Roger Paul to hit the outside shots. If he gets started, don't expect to shut him down. They have maybe one key ball handler and one key mid range threat off the bench. This matchup is going to be scary for them. They come into the tourney having lost a plethra of games but sweeping the 3rd ranked team in the conference. So because the only team in the division they couldnt beat was Mission twice, they are the South #2 seed and earned the spot to play the Townies. Charlestown is going to run it hard tomorrow. They come into this game having lost once in the city, they are too strong and they only lost by 4. Keep in mind it was on the road and in the tougher division. And it was the second of two tough games in two days. Which only occured because of snow day makeup games. Charlestown is too deep. The return one all star in Akosa Maduegbunam. He is apart of a duo who likes to play around with every team they face. Both him and Rony Fernandez average over 10 pts a piece. They both are deadly from the outside. Rony is an insult to anyone playing zone defense because his shot is better the farther you force him out of the paint and please understand that if you let him inside the paint hes going to score or be fouled. You have to foul him. There is no other option. Then you have Tyrik Jackson who at 6'5 is an excellent shot blocker and his hook shot which he uses for putbacks is consistent most of the time. Also they have 2 point guards in Iser Barnes and Tyerese Hoxter who if you sleep on them will drop an easy 20 on you in addition to the sixth man who is Omar Orriols. If you leave him open he will drop a 3 from the corner on demand. They average about 8o+ points a game. They beat St Johns Prep by 12 or more and they were the late season 1 seed in the state.

Projection: Charlestown in a blowout...94-71

NEW MISSION VS EAST BOSTON

The Titans and Jets did the same thing last year, playing once in the season and facing off in the semifinals. The Jets are all shooters. They return one all star in Jeff Amazan and his tandem with Stan Greene and Stan Winn will score like crazy. If you let any of them start they will not stop. Jeff Amazan and Stan Winn can easily drop 20 a game. They have alot of scorers off the bench too. But they rely way too much on the 3 ball and so if for any reason it doesnt drop consistently they will lose. A tough coach in Malcolm Smith is not going to help this one in the books. They just finished losing to the Titans the other day. Now they gotta face them again. Here is whats funny. They played zone against the Jets and barely beat them. If they play straight up, they are going to toast them. There is simply too much height and strength in the Titans. They start all 6 footers and all of the starters are returning all stars except for the center and hes just a sophomore. Two of them are McDonalds All American nominees for the state. That means their caliber is not to be messed with. They play way too hard inside and will dominate the boards. Their full court and half court trap will scare you into plenty of turnovers. So again I believe the Jets will lose.

Projection: New Mission in a sizeable one...75-63

I won't even begin to preview what will take place in the city title. If it turns out the way I saw it, Charlestown and New Mission in the city final will be the best game all year and rightfully so seeing as the championship should include the best teams. I don't know about you but I am ready and since I can't come tomorrow, I fully expect to see what I want in a beautiful game. Boston City are you ready...see you at the Madison Park Community Center in the heart of the city. It's gametime.

Charlestown High School

I had the privilege of going to 2 games in a row for this live bunch of athletes. So I decided to do a combined story. Highlights and interviews will be posted in my next blog. The Charlestown Townies are 7-1 right now. They are officially the team to beat in the Boston North Division. Having not lost, they are the top rank in my book in the city. Led by Akosa Maduegbunam, and Rony Fernandez, this team of mostly juniors is putting teams to shame. They already play in the tougher of the 2 Boston divisions, then to add insult to injury, they haven't lost in the city yet. Their only loss came from Franklin High in a Christmas tournament this past school break. In the past 2 games, they had 4 scorers who averaged double digit points. The funny thing about it is, their leading scorer, an all star from last year as a sophomore, who hasn't started in the past 2 games because of disciplinary issues comes in at or about the 2nd quarter and doesn't turn up until halftime or after on the score sheet. You know what that means? They have a habit of beating teams without a need for him to play. They could actually win by double digits against most of the teams in the city without their double digit scorers. But that is just my opinion. They have a lot of height. I have between 3 and 6 picks for the all star game from thier team alone this year. One being, Akosa M. and his backcourt partner, Rony Fernandez. At any time, they don't even have to run the ball down, you have Tyerese Hoxter to do that and he is the tallest ball handler in Boston right now. He is listed at 6'4 and he is only in the 10th grade. Then you have drifters in CJ Dowdell, Iser Barnes, Mike Keough and Omar Orriols who all can be found at any given point for an easy basket. Big man Tyrik Jackson easily averages 12 points a game which could be more except for the fact that the Townies have a plethra of outside shooters and slashers. Maybe I am blowing them up too much, they have yet to play East Boston, Madison Park or South Boston. Not to mention, their toughest challenge which no doubt will be St. John's Prep at the end of this month. South Boston has been rumored to have a good squad. And I look forward to that matchup a couple days from now. Madison Park and East Boston both have less than perfect records having about 3 losses including at least one city loss so far. So I predict that CTown will have challenges but run through the division with no losses. We will find out soon enough. All I am saying is, look out for Charlestown to be a contender for a top spot in the city playoffs and definitely to make a run in Division 1 states. No doubt in my mind, they will have 2 all stars, maybe 3 if the Blue and Red Foundation does another all star game. Yessir, the Townies are on their way and off to a great start.

Last 2 games

Charlestown 75 at Boston Latin Academy 52 Akosa M. and CJ Dowdell 15/points a piece-leading scorers

Hope(RI) 44 at Charlestown 91 Akosa M. 18- leading scorer

NEXT STOP: IF THE WEATHER PERMITS, NEW MISSION AT BRIGHTON 1/12
SOUTH BOSTON AT CHARLESTOWN 1/13

Dorchester at New Mission

Ahhh, it's time to go down the street and see my squad hoop. New Mission is the defending Division 4 state champions and they moved up to Division 2. They lost their starting point guard and center to graduation but not to worry because they only got taller in their lineup. So here we go! From jump street, they came out firing. It was an 18-4 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. But they could've done alot better, they made sloppy turnovers. Their press keep Dorchester at bay. But 4 of the 5 starters accounted for all the points. On to the 2nd, and more of the same only this time, 5 players combined for 19 which of course more than the last quarter total. The only one who seemed to respond was Ronnie Jackson of the Bears who dropped 10 in that quarter alone. This time the same players dropped another 16 on them. New Mission led by at least 10 after each quarter. By the 4th quarter, it was smooth sailing for the Titans and they matched Dorchester point for point as both dropped 20 so New Mission after having a tough time against out of town opponents win another easy Boston South matchup against Dorchester 73-54. Not much of a story huh? They blew them out with ease. Hopefully next week brings a better tougher opponent in Brighton. looking forward to it. I had interviews with Samir McDaniels and Coach McCarthy after the game who had this to say.

So here is your box score and player totals.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final

New Mission 18 19 16 20 73

Dorchester 4 18 12 20 54

New Mission- S. McDaniels-15 D. Davis-15 K. Nzerem-13 L. Hamilton-12 N. Anderson-8

C. Gunter-5 N. Joseph-3 J. Morgan-Thames-2

Dorchester- K. Nelson- 14 R. Jackson-14 D. Bass-13 D. Mathurian-8 D. Cora-Perez- 3

NEXT STOP: HOPE HIGH(RI) AT CHARLESTOWN

Madison Park at East Boston

Welcome to the Boston's biggest high school rivalry, it's not as big as North-Hopewell but it'll do. Last year, they split a season series losing their home games. Hopefully, it would be better. And it would be. From the start, it would be high scoring, the Cards would take a 6 point early run lead by point guard Ray Edwards and their big men who would dominate inside early. But Coach Smith wasn't going for that, so before the 4 minute mark of that quarter, he would upgrade his lineup, so that the Jets players were guarding someone their height or smaller. Then they started pulling 3s and making them. I must emphasize that, they made 3s. Usually teams always drive to the hole or play big, and with the interview I caught with Coach Smith after, he brought out an excellent point. If you are going to play college ball, you better be able to shoot. So if you come to East Boston, one thing you are guaranteed to do is be able to shoot. And with this upgrade and aggressive shooting, the Jets took a 8 pt run late and a 4 pt lead to end the 1st quarter. In the 2nd, Coach Wilson didn't care, he used his starting 3 big men to account for all 18 pts it took to tie up and lead by 1 into the half. The Cardinals put backs and drawn fouls in the paint slowed down the Jets. In the 3rd, it became 2 on 1 as Roderick Tyler would hustle and highlight for MP and Stan Winn and Jeff Amazan would highlight for Eastie, who took back the lead for the Jets and combined for 17 of the 18 that give them a 4pt pt lead into the final quarter. The battle raged on as Dakim Murray and Khayree Hudson would continue to dominate int the paint. But in the end it was clutch shooting from Amazan who would drop 26 including 4 3s, to squeeze out a home win against their Boston North rival. The Jets post an even 3-3 record and look forward to the rematch in Roxbury later this season. Here is your box score and player totals.

1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL
EAST BOSTON 17 13 18 17 65
MADISON PARK 13 18 14 17 62


EAST BOSTON- J. Amazan-26 S. Winn-12 A. Senior-10 A. Jean-5 K. Bush-4 P. Santos-4
I. Jones-2 K. Ramos-2

MADISON PARK- K. Hudson-16 D. Murray-15 R. Tyler-14 R. Matthews-11 G. Turner-2
J. Soares-2

NEXT STOP: DORCHESTER AT NEW MISSION

Somerville at Burke

Gametime in Grove Hall! To the Burke we go as the Bulldogs host the Highlanders of Somerville High School. Intimidating from the start, you would think Somerville was going to win seeing as Burke only had one big man and a 7 man roster. But never underestimate, David beat Goliath right? Jakhari Christopher went off to the races with stunt after stunt. He dropped 10 points in the first quarter alone combined with another 10 points from 2 other starters which gave them a 25-13 first quarter lead. The guards took over with not only assists and multiple steals on the wing but blocks as well. Then to add insult to injury their only big man got in foul trouble and sat most of that quarter and next. Their opponent staggered out of the gate showing weak hustle and defense not to mention a tall stature that did almost no rebounding. But at the start of the next quarter that mess ceased real fast as Coach Antonelli fussed his players all the way out, the 2nd quarter the 3 pt misses changed into 15 and 18 foot field goals that dropped like crazy. This is when Somerville guards Skerby Odivin and Billy Bonnet took off, they couldn't be stopped. They would post 11 of 16 pts to crawl within 6 of the Bulldogs at the half. Even though Burke's big man was back in they couldn't finish at the basket and didn't knock down free throws. So in the 3rd quarter, you can understand how Somerville's guards played with more intensity. Odivin and Bonnet would combine for 13 of another 16 this time taking the first lead of the game and keeping it for good. In the fourth quarter, Burke gave a good effort even though, 2 of the 7 guys on the Bulldogs walked out of the gym literally after getting one technical foul a piece. That left one bench player to fill in as only 5 players with no bench finished almost the entire quarter. Odivin would seal it for them, going to the line 3 times in which he would score 6 points which included the techs which were all shot at once. His guard play was nearly unstoppable and he finished with 23. His backcourt buddy, Bonnet finished with 20. This game was given away by a lack of effort by Burke and an intense push by the Highlanders backcourt. Somerville beat Burke in their house 64-59. Here is your box score and player totals.

1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL
SOMERVILLE 13 16 16 19 64
BURKE 25 10 9 15 59


SOMERVILLE- S. Odivin-23 B. Bonnet-20 K. Silva-7 G. DeMoura-5 J. Thomas-5 S. Julce-2
M.Laurent-2

BURKE- J. Christopher-18 D. James-14 Chris Nelson-11 James Nelson-8 B. Lim-8

NEXT STOP: MADISON PARK AT EAST BOSTON