By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
Any team that wins 52 out of 53 games and captures back-to-back state Division I titles shouldn't have to answer to anyone.
But the two-time defending champion Newton North boys basketball team is facing major question marks and doubters just the same as it enters the 2006-07 season.
The Tigers (21-0 last season) started five seniors a year ago en route to a 67-58 win over Holy Name in the D1 final at the DCU Center in Worcester. Included in the group of departed seniors were Anthony Gurley, now at Wake Forest, and Corey Lowe, who is off to a fast start as a freshman at Boston University.
Gurley scored 27 points in last season's championship game against Holy Name.
Darius Abramson, another key contributor for Newton North a year ago at 6-foot-3, is playing at Division III Curry College in nearby Milton.
In all, the Tigers graduated eight seniors from their two-time championship rotation.
"In my five years as coach here, (last season) was the first time I went with an all-senior lineup," Newton North coach Paul Connolly told the Boston Globe.
There's a price to pay for everything.
Newton North began the season with a 33-game winning streak.
"We graduated players who scored more than 4,000 points for us, including the two top scorers in Newton North history," said Connolly. "But we have a lot of kids that worked very hard and they are ready."
Brandon Stephens, Zack Amato, Kyle Roth and Marcel Malafaia are among the players Connolly will be counting upon in 2006-07.
"It was nice to have all that attention,'' Connolly said of his team's championship run. "But this year is a different season. We can't go into this season looking to win another state championship. That's ridiculous. We're just taking it one game at a time."
Duxbury Rebuilding
Duxbury, last season's Division 2 state champs, are in a position similar to that of Newton North. Coach Gordon Cushing graduated four of his five seniors.
"In high school, every year is different," Cushing said. "It's not fair to judge this year's team by the past team's experience."
Lynn English Deals With Fiasco
Lynn English had to prepare for the season after having its new coach, Jack O'Brien, quit on the first day of practice. O'Brien was replaced the next day by Buzzy Barton, the former girls basketball coach at the school.
"He (Barton) really stepped up for us," English athletic director Gary Molea told the Salem News.
O'Brien, who won five state titles in 13 years at Charlestown before resigning, had first accepted the Lynn English job in early April, but rescinded the position six days later. Two days after that, he asked for his job back.
All was quiet until Nov. 27, when O'Brien called the Lynn English principal at 3 p.m. from the school's parking lot, announcing that he was backing down again. One of the stumbling blocks appears to have been the teaching salary that his assistant coach, Zach Zegarowski, would have been paid at English.
"(O'Brien) definitely would have raised the bar; he's a great coach and has had tremendous success," Salem coach Tom Doyle said.
"But I think English has always been good. It's a situation where he could have done some good things and brought them back to a contender - but I think the next coach can, too."
"A lot of people are angry and upset," said Lynn Superintendent Nick Kostan told the Boston Globe.
"We took this guy at his word that he would be there and he had plenty of time to call the principal and let him know if he wasn't interested. To wait until the first day of practice, that's absolutely unacceptable."
New Coaches in Western Mass
The biggest change takes place at Central, where Tyrone Sullivan has retired after 10 years of coaching the boys. He has been replaced by a familiar name in Western Massachusetts boys basketball, Mike Labrie, a 23-year veteran from Chicopee High. Labrie was also briefly an assistant at Division II American International College.
Paul Scoville, another former AIC assistant, is the new coach at High School of Science and Technology. He replaced Chris Sutton. Scoville also coached at NCAA Division III member Elms and at Springfield Technical Community College.
Other coaching changes include: Chris Gerber at West Springfield, replacing Gary Bestman; Mike Vedovelli at Agawam, replacing David Federico; Tim Allen at Longmeadow, replacing Aaron Patterson; and Matt Gauvin at Athol, replacing Peter Whitmore.
Sister Act Takes Center Stage at Notre Dame
The boys basketball coach at two-year old Notre Dame High in Lawrence yells a lot, is tough on the players, and does what is necessary to get the most of the players.
In other words, the coach is just another coach.
Except this boys coach is named Sister Gwynette Proctor.
Sister Proctor, a 54-year-old Washington, D.C. native who became a Sister of Notre Dame De Namur 26 years ago, will guide Notre Dame through its first varsity season this winter.
"I never thought a sister could intimidate me," assistant coach Huron Escribano told the Eagle Tribune. "I've played sports since I was 5 years old. Every sport. She's intimidating.
"But," Escribano added, "she's really sweet, too."
"Sister G," as many call her, has been coaching the boys since the small co-ed Catholic school opened in 2004. Instead of a habit, this nun wears a black T-shirt, warm-up pants and a pair of New Balance sneakers.
"She's tougher than the average male coach," junior Eddie Contreras says of Proctor.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com master photographer for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island region and a Northeast region columnist. He may be reached at j.stout@jmstout.org