BOSTON CITY BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP

Oh boy, what a treat! It's gametime and it's a rematch of the top 2 teams in the Boston North. After a close 3 point win over South champion Brighton, Madison Park would advance to the final which was hosted in their own house. They would have to play visitor though as the team they faced had beating them twice during the regular season cleaning house pretty much as they achieved the North division regular season title. The first loss was by 20 and the second loss was only by 2. So the Cardinals were getting closer and closer to beating them, could they do it in this game? We will see.

Gametime...Again with the defensive pressure, the Jets who only came in 9 deep to play came hard with it. It would cause a little issue for the refs as they issued a quick warning to both teams for being physical. Pat Santos would sit for the half once he got his 2nd foul at the 26. 2 mark of the 1st. Eastie would walk out with a 12-8 lead to end the quarter.

But here comes MP battling right back and this time they showed equal toughness taking their first lead 14-12 after a 6 pt run that ran to the 6:02 mark of the 2nd. They took alot of rebounds both ways to make that happen when they caught the Eastie guards under the basket. That caused those same guards to pick up small fouls. Dakim Murray for Madison Park would step up getting 11 pts in that quarter alone. And on defense the Cardinals' 2-3 zone really went to work for them. But still the halftime scored left them puzzled as Eastie led 23-22.

The answer would show itself in the 3rd. Zach Gattereau started hitting 3s and when he gets a stroke the 6'4 senior can work some things. But the combination of bench guard O'Shea Joy (hitting long range)and Dakim Murray (dominating inside) would cause issues. The underlying asset was senior captain Ray Matthews who would have no trouble finding both men for multiple assists. He also hit a buzzer beater to end the quarter. Now they're cooking. 39-35 Cardinals to end the 3rd.

David Stewart would get into trouble with his 4th foul to start the quarter for MP. Even with R. Matthews running the floor and Murray on the boards, here comes Eastie. With Santos back in the game as a pawn at point, we saw the unorthodox play of Kwandell Bush handling the ball. This came as a surprise seeing as he is a back up center in most games. So they spread the floor forced the big men out and the Jets now have something going. Kyle Fox hits a long 3 to tie it at 45 with 2:05. They Joy would score to put MP up 2 at 1:59. Then Kenny Ramos (watch out for him)would get fouled and miss on a 1 and 1 but Fox got the rebound and Ramos scored to tie it again. But then he would goaltend a shot by Stewart putting Mp up 2. This then was followed by a Santos foul on R. Edwards who made 1 of 2 to put MP up 3 with 29.0 sec left (50-47 MP). East Boston took the ball down for the last possession to tie it. (Flashback...MP was up 3 on Brighton to end the 4th and Theo Oribhabor would misfire twice to lose the game the day before which is how MP got here.) Gattereau for 3 to tie...and HE MAKES IT!!! with 7.1 sec left. The MP inbound was picked off by Ramos 3/4 of the way down court with 6.4 left. Time expired and we are going to OVERTIME tied 50-50!

To start here comes Joy with another score, then Stewart was goaltended on his shot again! This put MP up 4. But then Dakim Murray would foul out with 2:54 left. He finished with a team high 18. Ramos would make both to put the Jets within 2. Then he would come back and score again to tie it at 2 min mark. Another shot by Joy for MP and Ramos for Eastie would tie it again (56-56). But then Joy would hit a 3. He finished with 17 off the bench. Will March would score a basket bringing the Jets within 1. After an East Boston timeout at 34.7, with the Jets down 1 they would go to Ramos who would score under the basket in traffic. (60-59 EB) Time would run out and for the 3rd time this season EAST BOSTON beat MADISON PARK to become the BOSTON CITY CHAMPIONS! Kenny Ramos who finished with 18 would be the MVP. And both Coach Smith and the MVP would have this to say after the game.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Final
East Boston 12 11 12 15 10 60
Madison Park 8 14 16 12 9 59

East Boston- K. Ramos 18, Z. Gattereau 16, K. Fox 8, K. Bush 7, W. March 5,
E. Jean 3, P. Santos 3

Madison Park- D. Murray 18, O. Joy 17, D. Stewart 10, R. Matthews 8, T. Matthews 2
D. Lawladonnie 2, D. Jackson 2

BOSTON CITY GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP

It's playoff time. After both teams came off of blowout wins in the semifinals in addition to winning their respective division regular season titles, the championship was up next. The reigning champions of the city, the Lady Tigers of O'Bryant would play host to the opponent they beat last year, the Lady Panthers of Fenway High School. Both teams pretty much had no trouble beating their opponents in the semis. They both did so by double digits.

Here we go, Fenway right from the start had their chemistry together. In addition to their excellent rotation of the ball, they used their new center 6'2 Jalissa Ross to completely dominate the paint. The other 4 girls would straight press forcing shots from the perimeter and easy turnovers in the post. Due to the short height in the post under a towering Ross, they got into early foul trouble. the quarter ended with a breakout 15-4 lead from the Lady Panthers.

It got ugly real quick with O'Bryant fouling into the double bonus with amazingly 6:08 left in the half. Then the pressure really turned up as they missed open shots and didn't crash the boards hard enough. To add insult to injury, Tajanay Veiga-Lee would hit a couple long balls to close the half. Fenway was sitting pretty 27-11 at halftime.

But, not so fast, O'Bryant came out with a hard half court press that translated into a 6-0 run that spanned from the start of the 3rd until the 3:25 mark of the 3rd. That's where Veiga-Lee would score and go back to the line. 4 of the starting 5 for O'Bryant (Daley 4, Kelsey 4, Bradshaw 3, and Green 3)would now be in personal foul trouble. This would lead to the double bonus by the 2.2 sec mark of the 3rd. Much of this was caused by Veiga-Lee who took over scoring 8 of the team's 11 3rd quarter points. So into the 4th after an unintimidating run to start the half, Fenway led 38-22.

A couple clutch shots by Veiga-Lee and C. Matthews would seal the game and foul out Kiana Daley who finished with O'Bryant's team high 11. It was all over and the revenge that was sought for last year's defeat at the hand of O'Bryant was achieved. Even with the coaching change of John Rice to the Fenway team, the city title was accomplished. It helps that title MVP Tajanay Veiga-Lee and most of her squad returned from last year's game, so Rice (13 previous girls city titles) had no problem coaching them to victory. Both Coach Rice and the MVP had these words to say after the win.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Fenway 15 12 11 20 58
OBryant 4 7 11 12 34

Fenway- T. Veiga-Lee 23, C. Matthews 16, K. Cox 10, J. Ross 8, L. Chandlor 1

OBryant- K. Daley 11, R. Kelsey 9, A. Bradshaw 5, S. Kaba 4, A. Green 3, L. Dorsinville 2

Blue vs Red

This is a little projection of what I would like to see in the city's annual all star game. Right now, this is my current fantasy roster of top 5 players at each position. There are alot of honorable mentions, but for now this is just the list of best by position.

Point Guards

1. Jahkari Christopher (Burke)*
2. Greg Bridges (New Mission)
3. Pat Santos (East Boston)-
4. Malik James (Brighton)
5. Ray Edwards (Madison Park)

Shooting Guards

1. Jeduan Langston (Dorchester)*
2. Rony Fernandez (Charlestown)-
3. Paul Maurice (Snowden)
4. Kwame Townsend (English)
5. Daivon Edwards (Brighton)

Small Forwards

1. Tyrese Hoxter (Charlestown)-
2. Nick Simpson (Brighton)*
3. LeRoy Hamilton (New Mission)
4. Marcus Neal (West Roxbury)
5. DeVaughn Riley (Boston Latin Academy)

Power Forwards

1. David Stewart (Madison Park)-
2. Isshiah Coleman (New Mission)*
3. Kenny Ramos (East Boston)
4. Jerard Mayes (Brighton)
5. Joseph Farrell (OBryant)

Centers

1. Jared Butler (OBryant)*
2. Tyrik Jackson (Charlestown)-
3. Dakim Murray (Madison Park)
4. Nathaniel Anderson (New Mission)
5. Frederick Oliviera (West Roxbury)


* means I want them to start for the South all stars
- means I want them to start for the North all stars

I am sure there are different opinions and I am sure I might have overlooked some but here are just a few of the honorable mentions...

F Omar Orriols (Charlestown)
G Sterling Brown (West Roxbury)
F Alexander Brown (South Boston)
G Travon Moore (East Boston)
F Will March (East Boston)
F Dane Lawladonnie (Madison Park)
G Wiley Shipman (English)
F Anselm Engebe (Dorchester)
F Javaughn Kittrell (Snowden)
G Nick Thomas (Boston Latin Academy)
F Euclides Semedo (South Boston)
G Curtis Alger (Fenway)
F Justin Phillips (Fenway)

...there are a couple of captains for the CASH Chargers who I think are good but I don't have their current roster. There are alot of athletes in the city under the radar...looking forward to the playoffs(city and state) and the all star game.

Have a goodnight!

city action update

What's up folks? Playin a lil bit of catchup here. It's really heating up. A couple of big games just finished in this past week in the Boston North.

Charlestown 73 East Boston 66
East Boston 68 Madison Park 42

For those of you that dont know... all 3 teams are fighting for 2 playoff spots representing the north division of the city playoffs at the end of this month. Right now Eastie has finished the biggest threats this season in the division by finishing 3-1 in the 4 games they have against those 2. So barring any upsets from teams lower than 3rd in the conference they have won the North and will be a city contender.

Brighton and New Mission will be facing off next Wednesday and this time...freshman phenom Greg Bridges will be active. Will it be the same outcome? The bengals could sweep the season series this year which is great for seeding in the playoffs as well as rankings in the state...in addition to the fact that they havent beaten Mission in the last 5 games before that including the tough loss in the state playoffs all the way in neutral turf on the campus of UMass Lowell.

I'm beyond ready for the playoffs. Cities and states..and the all star game.

Upcoming big games

New Mission at Brighton Feb 8
Madison Park at Charlestown Feb 14

See you soon!

Big matchups as playoffs approach...video preview of a couple matches. Let me know what you think. Testing out the commentator skills.

Brighton vs Dorchester

81-59...and a break from the stats and story. Got some nice dominant clips.

@:24 Jerard Mayes with a steal and dunk @:50 Theo Oribhabor with a tre-ball

@4:00 Jeduan Langston crosses over Daivon Edwards

@2:50 Daivon Edwards for 3 after another steal

@4:25 Malik James 3 to end the 3rd quarter

@2:40 Malik James to Jerard Mayes alley-oop

Nick Simpson highlights

Interview with Jerard Mayes

BRIGHTON AT NEW MISSION

Gametime...this is for sole position of Boston South Division. Brighton Bengals and New Mission Titans at the Tobin Gym in Roxbury Crossing (heart of the city, I love it!). Bengals with a record of 7-1 having only lost to Brockton at the Rotary Classic Holiday tourney and New Mission with a record of 6-2 only loss to St. John's Prep and St. Anthony's (NJ) both come into this game undefeated in the city. So to the game we go...the first quarter was interesting as Mission shared the ball like crazy. They were at one point up 16-5. 7 players scored in the 1st. They kept it high pace and the Bengals defense couldn't contain sprints in the full court press they had. Since their 3-2 zone was using an inside focus, they couldn't stop the long ball in the first quarter. But the tempo switched in the 2nd quarter real quick, junior Nick Simpson would lead his squad with 8 of the teams 20 point 2nd qtr points. They walked into the half only trailing by 5 which is better than the 11 they tried to make up after the 1st. New Mission still didn't need much 2nd chance opportunities as their long ball was deadly to run through the half.

But onto the 3rd qtr we go...Brighton's hustle picked up and this time, it involved more players. Junior captain Daivon Edwards stepped up dropping 9 of his 12. Simpson added another 7. He finished with a team high 23. (It helps when the opponent you are playing has the coach you play AAU for.) Therefore, even if your team doesn't come up, no one will stop you from dominating. The slow climb in 2nd become a 3rd quarter ending 1 point deficit. It's on now!

This quarter was all about crucial turnovers in which New Mission would show weakness. The shots stop dropping and the inside focus from the height Brighton brought earlier in their zone started working. And then quick stops from the half court press that walked into a zone would bring the Titans to their knees. They couldn't hardly breathe except for the clutch 4 straight free throws at the 1:30 mark by Dashawn Fennel (only points of the game) and a couple baskets from Isshiah Coleman. With him playin post and being double and triple teamed most of the game through the ugly zone Brighton's bigs gave him he only dropped 10. After trailing the whole game, Malik James got the go ahead bucket at 1:33. He put up 10. With the rotation of James, Edwards and Theo Oribhabor who added another crucial go ahead basket around the minute mark. It was all over.

With this 60-58 win, Brighton did a few things. They move to a mark of 8-1. They end the 2 year home winning streak of New Mission and they take sole posession of first place atop the Boston City South Division. I spoke with Daivon Edwards, Malik James and Head Coach Hugh Coleman of the now leading Bengals. They had this to say after the game.

Brighton Bengals (8-1)- N. Simpson 23, D. Edwards 12, M. James 10, J. Mayes 9, T. Oribhabor 4, T. Dowman 2

New Mission Titans (6-3)- L. Hamilton 11, P. Gomez 11, I. Coleman 10, S. Murray 8, T. Watson 6, J. Deane 4, D. Fennel 4, F. Rivers 4

Ready to see what happens Feb. 8 for the rematch...SEE YOU THERE!