Wahconah basketball coach wins 500th game in Massachusetts

Milestone victories often invoke memories of great performances past, generally performances that helped make the milestone possible in the first place.

For Wahconah Regional (Dalton) boys basketball coach Ed Ladley, who won his 500th game last week, he didn't have far to look in relishing one of the highlights of his 40-year career. His team's 58-56 road victory against previously unbeaten Lenox Memorial, the game that allowed Ladley to reach the 500-win plateau, was punctuated by a gem of a performance by Johnny Lavinio.

With the Warriors in danger of blowing an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead, Lavinio hit seven of eight foul shots down the stretch and finished with a game-high 28 points, dropping Lenox to 9-1 for the season in the landmark event.

Wahconah, which improved to 5-5, also got 10 points and several key foul conversions in the final period from Greg Horth.

"After the game, we were reminiscing about some of the great players who have helped me (win 500 games)," Ladley told the Berkshire Eagle. "Johnny is another one we'll remember."

Among others whom Ladley cited as influential in the achievement were assistant coaches Dustin Belcher, Nick Persson and Jared Chivers. The latter two also served as players on some of the veteran coach's greatest teams ever.

"The fact that (Persson and Chivers) came back here is really gratifying," Ladley said. "It tells me we have been doing something right.

"It was our objective to get this win to try to get back on track," Ladley added. "(Lenox) made a run at us, but the kids stuck together."

Said Lenox coach Brian Cogswell: "(Wahconha's) zone defense was fantastic. Hats off to Coach Ladley."

Later in the week, Lenox (10-1) bounced back from the loss to Wahconha with a 71-57 win against Lee as Kevin Carpenter scored 32 points and Chris Bravo recorded 18 points and 16 rebounds.



"Sometimes a loss is not a bad thing," Cogswell said. "I think we needed a big wake-up."

AMHERST REGIONAL GIRLS RELOAD
New look, same winning results for Amherst-Pelham Regional.

Brianna Leonard scored 17 of her 25 points in the first half as the Hurricanes built an 11-point lead on the road and held on for a 63-60 victory over previously unbeaten West Springfield in a battle of premier Division 1 teams from the Springfield area.

Amherst (8-1) went undefeated a year ago during the regular season and reached the regional playoff final before having to rebuild prior to the current season. Its only loss of 2010-11 has come against undefeated Lee.

"West Springfield is a great team, with one of the best players in Western Mass., so I am very proud of these kids to work this hard on the road,'' Amherst coach Christal Murphy told the Springfield Republican. "We have not been in a lot of tight, tough games."

Dana Theobald, West Springfield's junior point guard who averages 25 points per game, scored a game-high 26.



"You can't hold (Theobald) in check, but we wanted to make her work for everything she got,'' Murphy said.

Leonard nailed two foul shots with 29 seconds remaining for a 61-60 Amherst lead, and Victoria Stewart hit two more from the line with 14 seconds to go, giving the Hurricanes a three-point lead.

Amherst has won 28 of its last 29 regular-season games. It bowed out of last year's regional final in a 45-39 loss to eventual MIAA state finalist East Longmeadow.

LEE ROLLS ON WITHOUT ALEX YOUNG
Despite having to play without injured star Alex Young, the Lee girls basketball team rallied from an early 12-point deficit and extended its winning streak to 29 games with its second victory in 10 days against rival Pittsfield, 55-48. The Wildcats are rated No. 13 in the state in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings.

Lee (9-0) got 17 points from Steph Young, while Tara Dooley scored 13 and Megan Gaul had eight.

Lee, the defending MIAA Division 3 champs, expects to have Alex Young back before the season is over. Watch out.



Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}WHALE OF A START FOR NEW BEDFORD GIRLS
New Bedford began its Big 3 Conference schedule last week the same way it stormed through its first 10 non-conference games - by winning.

Alyssa Roach scored a game-high 27 points and Allexia Barros came on strongly in the second half, finishing with 19, in the Whalers' 67-58 win against rival Brockton.

The victory improved New Bedford to 11-0 for the season overall. The Whalers are No. 6 in the state in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings.

Barros hit three 3-ponters in the third quarter after Brockton (2-7) had rallied to within 44-40.

"Allexia didn't look like her usual self early in the game; she was out of sorts," New Bedford coach Mickey Gonsalves told the New Bedford Standard-Times. "She kept at it, though, and she gave us a big lift with her shooting in the second half. She made some big shots when we needed them."

Brockton guards Nephie Marsh and Leah Spencer scored 23 and 12 points, respectively, for the Boxers.



PERFORMANCES OF NOTE
* Sarah Foss made 20 saves for her team's fourth consecutive shutout victory and the top-ranked St. Mary's (Lynn) girls hockey team extended its unbeaten streak to 87 games with a 2-0 win against No. 2 Fontbonne.

* The No. 13 Reading Memorial boys hockey team got a first-period goal from Ross Anderson and second-period scores from Thomas Crowley and Peter Nugent as its knocked off defending Super 8 champ and No. 3 Hingham, 3-2. Hingham was coming off a win over top-ranked Malden Catholic.

* Newton South (11-0) features Villanova recruit Kendall Burton, Brown-bound Sophie Bikofsky and Chloe Rothman (Merrimack), but it was little-known Julia Sloan-Cullen who scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Lions knocked off previously undefeated Acton-Boxboro, 55-41.

* Six-foot-7 junior forward Joey Glynn notched a career-high 40 points in leading Cardinal Spellman (Brockton) (8-1) to a 72-54 win over St. Mary's in a Catholic Central League showdown.

* Antonio Reyes had 27 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals in Salem's second consecutive overtime victory, 71-70 against Marblehead. He also had a quote of note concerning the Witches' recent OT run: "It's tough. It's stressful," Reyes told the Salem News. "I know the coach (Tommy Doyle) is losing hair, the little hair that he's got now."

* Kyle Gibson scored 19 points and pulled in nine rebounds as Franklin remained unbeaten at 9-0 with an 88-72 win over Oliver Ames. The 6-foot-4 forward is averaging 20.8 points per game and 10.9 rebounds. Franklin later lost for the first time, 72-63, to North Attleborough. It began the week at No. 2 in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings.

* Senior forward Mark Cornelius registered 26 points and 17 rebounds as Westford Academy, No. 5 in the state's MaxPreps Freeman Rankings, beat Newton South, 75-61, in a Dual County League game. Matt Ellis added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Grey Ghosts.

* Mashpee improved to 12-1 with a 55-41 win over Abington. Jason Farias scored six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter, providing Mashpee with the late cushion, while Eric Lopes (13 points) and Nate Sprague (nine points) had big first halves for the Falcons.



* Richard Rodgers led all scorers with 28 points as the Central Region's top team, St. John's (Shrewsbury), held on to beat No. 10 Holy Name, 64-63, in Worcester.

* Nicole Beresford, Marshfield's 6-foot-0 senior forward, became the school's all-time leading scorer, hitting the 1,499 point mark for her career. That's why Boston University, Rhode Island, Dartmouth, Sacred Heart and North Florida are all interested in her.

* Wellesley senior guard Blake Dietrick, who averages 18.7 points per game and is headed to Princeton in the fall, has her team at 9-1. She and Sophia Mavrommatif hit a series of 3-pointers that helped fell Natick, 56-43, in a Bay State Conference game. Wellesley also features 5-8 senior Tierra Allen, daughter of Boston Celtics' guard Ray Allen.

* Norwell sophomore center Brenna Diggins contributed 19 points and 16 rebounds as the Clippers roared from behind in the second half to win their 11th straight game, 68-54, against Harwich. Diggs is averaging 17.3 points per game and 13.3 rebounds while Ryanne Williams averages 12.3 points for coach Matthew Marani.

* Maryland Eastern Shore recruit Alexis Udoji, a 6-foot-4 Cardinal Spellman senior, had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 17 blocked shots in a game earlier this season against Bishop Fenwick.

* Sophomore forward Saliah Serrette recorded 28 points, 21 rebounds, six blocked shots and six steals to help Weston beat Concord-Carlisle, 66-41.



* Vanessa Rice hit five 3-pointers after having made only two all season, scoring 21 points and leading Hampshire Regional (Westhampton) (10-1) past South Hadley, 50-44.

Jim Stout is the CBS MaxPreps Media Manager for the Eastern U.S. He may be reached at 845-367-2864 or at jim.stout@cbsinteractive.com.