Charlestown basketball deals St. John's Prep first loss in Massachusetts

Bad practices can sometimes lead to great results.

Responding to the challenge of its coach following a lackluster practice, the Charlestown boys basketball team produced its biggest win of the season on Saturday, scoring 15 of the game's final 16 points and handing top-ranked St. John's Prep its first loss of 2010-11, 72-56, at Charlestown.

St. John's Prep had not lost since falling to Lawrence Central Catholic in the 2010 MIAA Division I state final.

"We had our worst practice of the year yesterday and I let them know about it," Charlestown coach Edson Cardoso told the Boston Herald. "They came in today, apologized and went out and played great defense against the top-ranked team in the state."

Six-foot-3 junior forward Akosa Maduegbunam scored 22 points and pulled down five rebounds for the Townies, 12-1, who were ranked No. 7 last week in the MaxPreps.com Freeman Rankings for Massachusetts (they have since moved up to No. 3). Maduegbunam also worked on the defensive end to try to contain Notre Dame recruit Pat Connaughton (29 points, 13 rebounds).

The tongue-lashing by Cardoso also helped spark a defensive effort by Charlestown that held all St. John's players besides Connaughton to 0-for-12 shooting from the floor in the decisive fourth quarter. For the game, Connaughton accounted for more than half of the points scored by St. John's (11-1).

"We believed in our heart we could do it," Maduegbunam said. "When we get out there and run, there aren't too many teams who can run with us."

Point guard Rony Fernandes added 23 points and seven assists for Charlestown, while Tyrik Jackson (14 rebounds), Tyerese Hoxter (nine points, five rebounds) and C.J. Dowdell (six points, six rebounds) also contributed mightily.

 "We're more than just one guy," said Cardoso. "If Akosa isn't scoring, then Omar Orriols can score. If he isn't scoring, then Rony can score."

Though Fernandes' primary role is playmaking, he isn't averse to shooting.

"That's my job, get the ball to the other guys," Fernandes said. "If the shot is there, I'm going to take it."

WEST BRIDGEWATER'S BARRETT GAINS 500TH VICTORY
Who would have thought that a coach who began working with his school's boys basketball team would wind up winning 500 games with the girls?

That's exactly what happened to West Bridgewater girls basketball coach/athletic director Steve Barrett, who won his 500th career game last Friday in a 50-31 victory at Upper Cape Cod Tech in Bourne.
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"My first year in 1980 I was the boys coach and then when I became AD in '81, I thought I may not have time to keep coaching," Barrett told the Boston Globe. "We didn't have a girls' coach that year so I stepped in and I've been doing it since. I still love doing it."

West Bridgewater (10-1) has qualified for the MIAA playoffs in each of Barrett's 30 seasons at the southeastern Massachusetts school; the 2010-11 season will be no exception.

"For such a small school, we have good, hard-working kids," said Barrett. "It's been a very rewarding experience. I've been fortunate to have so many hard-working girls over the years.

"The best part is seeing kids after they graduate," Barrett added. "We've had so many girls that have become successful attorneys, mothers, housewives and doctors."

TURNAROUND IS GREAT PLAY BY WEYMOUTH
The Weymouth boys basketball team is just two seasons removed from an 0-22 campaign. Today the Wildcats are 12-2 and have already beaten Bay State Conference kingpin Newton North.

"We were hoping something like this would happen," Weymouth coach Jim Dolan told the Boston Herald. "We made some tough decisions that we felt would help us in the long run. Getting into the tournament and beating Xaverian last year was a big thing for our confidence."

Weymouth responded to its winless season in 2008-09 with an 11-victory season in 2009-10. That included a 65-63 win over Xaverian in the first round of the MIAA Division 1 South tournament.

Now Weymouth is building for future successes behind 6-foot-1 sophomore guard Jared Terrell, who is averaging 16 points per game and offers a variety of other intangibles. The Wildcats' two losses this season, to Needham and East Boston, have been by a total of five points.

"Jared is a real student of the game," Dolan said. "He's worked very hard on his game to become a better player. Even though he leads the team in scoring, he's very unselfish. There are times when I wish he would be a little more selfish and shoot more."

Weymouth also gets 14 points per game from senior John Perez. Patrick Deegan and Damian Lugay both average more than 10 points per game.

"I think that's why we've done well; we have a good mix of kids," said Dolan. "It's been a lot of fun so far."

QUINCY FIRES LONG-RANGE PATRIOT MISSLES
Sparked by six 3-point field goals in the first quarter, Quincy jumped out to an early 13-point lead and went on to score a 59-40 victory over Duxbury in a battle of Patriot League girls leaders last Friday in Quincy.

The Presidents (11-2, 8-1 Fisher Division) used their sharp-shooting first quarter to build an immediate 24-11 lead against Duxbury (10-2, 7-1 Keenan Division). They increased their lead to 35-19 at the break.

"We look for those shots (3-pointers)," Quincy coach Jeff Bretsch told the Quincy Patriot Ledger. "(Duxbury) plays a zone, so we knew we'd have to make them. I'd be lying if I said I expected to hit six in the first quarter, but we have a lot of confidence in our shooting. We got on a roll."

Nicole Lamie scored eight of her 10 points in the first quarter to jump-start the Quincy attack. Junior center Kiley McDonald scored a game-high 18 points for the Presidents, and also had 16 rebounds. Her defensive work down low against 6-foot-2 sophomore Michela North (17.9 points per game) proved to be key as well.

"(McDonald) was just absolutely stellar on defense and unbelievable on the boards tonight," Bretsch said. "Her play inside allowed us to get open looks and apply pressure on defense."

North finished with 16 points but scored only eight through three quarters.

Kori Sorensen and Caity Lowry each added 12 points for Quincy.

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