McClelland Miscellanea

February 2, 2010 · 11:00 pm

Lynn English Stays Undefeated Winning 14th at Beverly 86-56

Ryan Woumn – 29 points via layups and free throws

(Beverly) No question, Lynn English (14-0) is good.

They defeated Beverly (8-6) 86-56 at Beverly on Tuesday night at Beverly to complete a sweep of the Panthers.

I have now seen the Big Three of Division One – St. John’s, Central Catholic, and now Lynn English. St. John’s took their first loss tonight (Catholic Memorial) while both Central Catholic and LE continued undefeated. CC beat Andover.

The Bulldogs weren’t really tested by Beverly so I can’t do a comparison with the other two teams.

That’s not to take anything away from the Beverly effort – there was plenty of it. Before the game, however, I already suspected that they were in trouble when I saw Co-captain Mike Clayton out of uniform. Not many underdogs can do much minus their primary ball handler and his 14 points per game against what Lynn English throws at you.

With LE they got pressure, turnovers, and points in bunches against them. LE pressure led to turnovers (16 for Beverly in the first half).

The Panthers didn’t fold immediately, in fact, trailed just 12-10 with 3 ½ to go in the first period. The beginning of the downhill slide kicked in over the next 5 ½ minutes, however, as good LE fullcourt, trapping defense turned into easy offense with a 14-2 run for the Bulldogs. The LE points came on nothing but layups and free throws. Ryan Woumn (29 points) had four of those layups.

Curtis Manuel (24 points) responded with five in a row, partly on free throws, thanks partially to Travone Berry-Rogers’ unappreciated evaluation of a referee.

Irving Vizciano – 17 points for Lynn English

The rest of the second quarter, I saw other parts to LE’s offense that make them more of a headache to defend. Irving Vizciano (17 points) and Paradise Hogan (6 points) hit three’s.

Just when I thought LE was all about layups and long-range basketball, they started the third quarter with interior passes to sophomore Keandre Stanton (6’6”). He had a collection of moves that got him to the basket and he knew how to finish.

I was disappointed not being able to see 6’5” LE senior Jarell Byrd (6’5”) play. He warmed up but never saw any action. I learned afterwards that he had hurt his ankle versus Marblehead. During warm-ups, he looked ready to play but there never was a need against Beverly.

Jarell didn’t play so I couldn’t get a read on him. Ryan Woumn (6’3” – senior) did play and was also hard to read. He had 29 points but most of them were on breakaway layups and free throws. He did take the ball into traffic to draw fouls.

No question LE has plenty of weapons. With five games left, I like their chances of going undefeated although Brockton (Feb 7th) might have something to say about that.

Looking ahead, wouldn’t it be great to see LE in the MIAA D1 North tournament get into a dream matchup with Central Catholic with both teams entering the game undefeated. Last year the Bulldogs upset CC in the tournament.

( All stats are unofficial. )

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Filed under Lynn English, St. John's Prep

February 1, 2010 · 10:45 pm

Wilmington Defeats Cold-Shooting Newburyport 55-35 for 9th Win

Amy Fahey (#22) paced Wilmington with 12 points

(Newburyport) The Wilmington Wildcats (6-4/9-6) scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed defeating cold-shooting Newburyport (5-5/8-9), 55-35, at NHS.

The Clippers shot 25% in the first half (8-for-32) and you expected things to improve with the possibility of erasing the 30-21 halftime deficit. Didn’t happen……..in fact the shooting got much worse. How does 10.2% sound – (4-for-39)?

Maybe the Wilmington shot blockers led by sophomore Maggie Brown had something to do with the bad numbers but there were plenty of good-look medium range shots that just weren’t falling. There actually were very few 3’s attempted.

Wilmington shot 33 ½% for the game while missing a ton of in close shots as well. They got many of those good shots via well-run two-player maneuvers.

Sophomore Emily Crannell and Amy Fahey (12 points) executed several backdoor cuts that turned up layups for Amy. The WHS co-captain tallied ten points in the second half.

Sam Baribeault (left) tallied eleven points in the first half

Junior Amanda Keane (daughter of the coach) and Maggie Brown displayed some fine moves to the basket but had trouble finishing, otherwise the final margin would have been even greater. They both play excellent defense. Amanda had Lindsey Tomasz early on but after senior Sam Baribeault (13 points) made some shots in the first half switched over to Sam.

Thanks go to the basketball rules committee for deciding that the only actual jump ball would be at the start of the game. By my account, there were ELEVEN jump ball situations thereafter. A night of inaccurate shooting is one thing……….

Both teams draw the short straw when it comes to their next opponent. Wilmington gets Pentucket on Wednesday and Newburyport tries the same team on Friday. Good luck to anyone against Pentucket because they’ll need it. Undefeated so far, it’s a safe bet to project the Sachems to still be standing when the Division 3 North MIAA tournament ends.

(All stats are unofficial.)

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Filed under Newburyport, Wilmington

Tagged as Amanda Keane, Amy Fahey, Emily Crannell, Lindsey Tomasz, Maggie Brown, Newburyport High School, Pentucket, Wilmington

January 29, 2010 · 9:41 pm

Scoreless Second Quarter Dooms Hamilton-Wenham vs Newburyport 56-40

(Newburyport) The Hamilton-Wenham girls had their second disastrous second quarter of the week and took another loss as a result. This time it was Newburyport taking advantage getting a 56-40 win on Friday night at Newburyport.

You have to wonder what has gotten into the Generals in second periods this week. Pentucket generated a 27-1 second quarter on their way to a 62-12 rout earlier this week on Tuesday. On this night, the Clippers pitched a 16-0 shutout to turn a competitive game (16-13 at the end of the first quarter) into a runaway 32-13 halftime spread.

The Clippers were extremely patient on offense throughout, despite twenty turnovers, and abandoned long-range shots for a significant number of high-percentage shots (24/59-40.6%) closer to the basket. Sophomore Beth Castantini (21) and senior Sam Baribeault (13) were on the scoring end of many of the interior passes. Both girls can get to the basket.

It is no understatement to describe HW as two-dimensional. Senior Simone Prioli (16) and freshman Cassie Fibbe (20) took almost all the shots for HW and scored all but four of the team’s points. When NHS coach Neil Reardon kept yelling, “Find the shooters,” you knew by game’s end who he was talking about, and HW for its part, did little to discourage the two-dimensional offense perception. I saw very few assists.

The gory details for the Generans in that nightmarish quarter were six turnovers, 0-for-11 from the floor, and 0-for-3 from the line. Delete that quarter from the totals and HW leads 40-39.

Both teams had lost three of their last four games coming in. Newburyport is now 5-4 in league play and 8-8 overall. HW drops to 1-6 in the league and 4-8 overall.

You never like to see players get hurt but HW had players hurt in both halves. Sophie Prince and Caitlyn Tobyne both had to be helped off the court after suffering painful leg injuries.

Lindsey Tomasz (#13) and Bailey Grinnell

Lindsey Tomasz tallied just one basket but had several assists as the point guard for Newburyport. Successful teams need distributors and Lindsey (full scholarship to D1 James Madison for softball) performed that role well. When I watched her last season, she was much more intent on scoring points.

When the half was ready to start, the only person on the HW bench was Coach Jim Burfoot. Someone nearby me suggested that maybe the team had decided, after their shutout second period, to forego the second half. That person was wrong and HW had a good second half.

(All stats are unofficial.)

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Filed under Hamilton-Wenham, Newburyport

Tagged as Beth Castantini, Caitlyn Tobyne, Cassie Fibbe, Hamilton-Wenham Regional, Jim Burfoot, Lindsey Tomasz, Newburyport High School, Samantha Baribeault, Simone Prioli, Sophie Prince

January 25, 2010 · 7:52 pm

Rebuilding Amesbury High School Boys Basketball

Coach Thom Connors with his two basketball captains - Tyler Lay and James Parady

You win some. You lose some. This suggests balanced results.

Nice adage, but not applicable to the 2009-10 Amesbury boys basketball team.

When I visited AHS on January 25th, the team was 1-13.

I hoped to find a silver lining and was not disappointed.

Coach Thom Connors was neither surprised nor upset with the record so far. “We are a young team (two seniors) and clearly trying to rebuild.”

When Coach Connors (6th season) talks “rebuilding” he means all the way through the system. “The three teams at the high school have all implemented the same style of play.”

In the meantime, the losses pile up. I walked in on a JV game that had Amesbury trailing North Reading, 45-12. However, to Coach Connors the scoreboard is incidental for the time being. “Our goal in each game is to get better,” he explained. “If we do our best we can go away satisfied.”

He credited his two captains (junior Tyler Lay and senior James Parady) for helping move the rebuilding program along. “They both play three sports and are in leadership positions (James captains basketball and baseball – Tyler is next year’s football captain). They understand that the teams we play now are better than us and that skills development is crucial for us to be more competitive.”

Being a senior, James Parady, looks for gratification for his hard work now. “I keep coming back for more because I want to win, everyone on the team does. If we put together a complete game of team basketball we have a chance to do that.”

I was at Bentley University (Waltham) on December 6, 2008 and saw the Amesbury football team defeat Martha’s Vineyard to win the Division 3A Super Bowl. The coach of that football team was Thom Connors. When he talks about building a program, he’s been there, done it.

Can he do it with Amesbury boys basketball is to be determined over the next couple of years. He was part of Neil Reardon’s girls basketball program in Newburyport for ten years so he knows what a good program in basketball looks like.

Of major importance to Coach Connors is to love what you’re doing. “I tell kids that I love to coach and that I hope that they love to play.”

“We all like to play,” admitted Tyler Lay. “We play our hardest no matter what the record of our opponents.”

Nevertheless, despite all of the “keep your eyes off the scoreboard” talk, the most exciting day for this year’s team was January 18th when the Indians got that first win (49-47 over Danvers) after losing their first twelve.

“For about 15 seconds afterwards, you’d have thought we had won the Cape Ann League title,” recalled Coach Connors of the exciting home game. “It was nice not to have to say afterwards that we played well but took a loss. We needed a win to reward our efforts.”

The irony of the victory was that because of the long Martin Luther King weekend, the team had taken Sunday off with plans to have a shoot-around and go over the Danvers scouting report on Monday morning before the game. The snowy weather cancelled that preparation. Therefore, as a result, the team just showed up on Monday afternoon and as James Parady mentioned earlier, “played a complete game,” and got more than “nice try,” out of it.

Coach Connors is optimistic about the games ahead in this season. “We are getting better and I am enjoying watching the improvement take place. We could win some games.”

For now, the team works to master the basics, confident that their hard work will eventually pay off on the scoreboard if they do.

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Tagged as Amesbury High School, Danvers High School, James Parady, Thom Connors, Tyler Lay

January 22, 2010 · 11:20 pm

Late North Reading run snuffs out Amesbury 68-51

Stephan Deas – Has 27 points in Amesbury loss

(Amesbury) North Reading (9-4) finished its sweep of Amesbury with a 68-51 victory on Friday night at Amesbury. They had won earlier in January at North Reading, 69-48.

The Indians (1-13) were coming off their first win Monday (vs Danvers) but after a competitive first period fell into a double-digit deficit in the second period (22-11). Hornet’s senior Jeffrey Tyner (6’5”) did most of the damage in an 11-2 run with seven points on two baskets from in close and three free throws.

Amesbury’s lack of size (tallest player 6’3” Tyler Lay) and depth had them playing zone most of the night. The Hornets attacked the zone with passing and patience and turned up plenty of high percentage shots ( 26-for-56 ) many after penetration.

Another unanswered run, this time of eight straight, ballooned the NR advantage, to 36-16, one minute into the second half. It seemed like a good time to suspect that the rout was on but the home team had other ideas.

Fast forward ahead to just 2:46 left in the game and the Hornet lead had been trimmed to 56-48. What happened? NR certainly helped by misfiring on free throws (11-for-26 for the game) and three point shots (4-for-15 for the game). On the other side, the electric Stephan Deas and co-captain Tyler Lay generated some offense.

Stephan, who poured in a game-high 27 points, contributed fourteen of them during the Indian rally. The 5’5” sophomore used his quickness to get open and seldom missed when he got there. NR used an assortment of defenses during the game to try to neutralize him. The best matchup to watch was the Hornet’s Bobby Rosano defending him one-on-one.

Tyler nailed a couple of jumpers in a row (he had eight points during the rally) and that had NR head coach Joe Casey burning a timeout to try and ice the Indian attack.

Unfortunately, for Thom Connor’s squad, North Reading turned up twelve points on their next six possessions and Amesbury only three on a very late long one by Stephan. A converted miss started the downfall, followed by a turnover that turned into a layup. Four quick points and the Indians were toast.

Captain PJ Dionne (20 points) and junior Nick Rosano (16 points) paced NR’s scoring. Both of them were quick enough to find openings in the Amesbury zone especially during the second half when they each had eleven points.

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Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, North Reading

Tagged as Amesbury, Amesbury High School, Bobby Rosano, Jeffrey Tyner, Joe Casey, Nick Rosano, North Reading, PJ Dionne, Stephan Deas, Thom Connors, Tyler Lay

January 17, 2010 · 10:47 pm

Scott Brown for US Senate

US Senate candidate Scott Brown is making a strong run against Democrat Martha Coakley in Massachusetts

Now that we have had a year to see what “hope and change,” is all about, the time has come to “hope for some change.”

That is why I am voting for Scott Brown in his US Senate race here in Massachusetts against state attorney general Martha Coakley on January 19th.

On stage with Barack Obama today (Sunday) at Northeastern, Martha said that people, “deserve someone who’s going to handle the tough problems and get us back on track.” She hit the target but not the way she expected. In my opinion, a vote for Scott Brown, not Martha Coakley, sends a clear message that the current administration is trying to take this country in directions we do not care to go.

Scott has promised to be the 41st vote against the health care reform bill. It interests me that already strategies are in circulation detailing what the Democrats will do statewide and nationally to thwart the impact of an elected Scott Brown.

Someday there will be a book written about Martha Coakley’s race for the US Senate. The title? “How Not to Conduct a Political Campaign.” The writer will detail Martha’s head-scratching decisions to try to avoid debating Scott Brown as well as avoiding the voting public.

I think that probably the toughest thing for Martha has been to try to speak positively of Obama’s administration. He is strongly approved by a miniscule 27% according to a January 17th Rasmussen poll. Presenting oneself as less of a lock-step partisan for an unpopular national government has been an untried strategy for Martha.

Another big surprise has been the usually predictable Boston Globe running articles critical of Martha’s campaign. What are they trying to do, increase circulation??

Another positive for Scott’s electability is “Mad Money’s” Jim Cramer saying that a Brown election would cause a huge stock rally because it would be considered pro-business. Who wouldn’t want that??

The Far Left has not done Martha any favors. An example is MSNBC’s Ed Schultz saying on his Friday radio show that he would try to vote ten times if he lived in Massachusetts to keep Scott Brown from winning. In a bygone era, someone could get away with these types of remarks because they would not be distributed very far or very fast. Not anymore and Ed has unwittingly stirred up folks to vote against Martha.

Anyhow, I am voting for Scott again – I did in the primary as well.

The optimist in me has the race close but the difference being the votes that Independent Joe Kennedy gets. I can imagine some confused Democrat voters, who would have chosen Martha otherwise, mistakenly selecting the Kennedy name.

It is safe to say that a Scott Brown win will have me recalling the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, when in the final seconds of the upset of the Russian hockey team the announcer said, “Do you believe in miracles?” A Martha Coakley loss would certainly fall into that category.

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Filed under Barack Obama, Scott Brown

Tagged as Barack Obama, Ed Schultz, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, Martha Coakley, Massachusetts, Northeastern University, Scott Brown, US Senate

January 15, 2010 · 11:28 pm

Central Catholic struggles vs Lawrence 60-54 but continues undefeated

Carson Desrosiers – The Wake Forest recruit had 20 points and some foul problems against Lawrence.

(Lawrence) It took the Lawrence Lancers (7-4) nine possessions to get their first points but once they got going they gave Central Catholic all they could handle.

But at the end it was CC with a surprisingly tight 60-54 win in Merrimac Valley Conference play on Friday night before a spirited crowd on both sides.

The Raiders (9-0) by winning will stay among the top three in the state in Division One with Lynn English and St. John’s Prep. They face the Eagles in Lawrence on February 17th.

Their gymnasium is loaded with banners describing the many championships they’ve won in all sort of sports.

Of more interest to CC might be their return date with Lawrence (February 5th) at Lawrence High School. You’d have to think that the Lancers would shoot better at their gym then the 33% (22-for-66) they shot at CC.

What made this game interesting was the way Lawrence took the ball at All-American Carson Desrosiers (20 points/12 rebounds/4 blocks). There were some rejections (Carson is 6’11”) but he also got called for fouls. His second foul put him on the bench for a good portion of the second period and Lawrence responded with a rally that got them within three (24-21) at the half.

The Lancers started the second half with six unanswered including a slashing layup by Jaylen Alicea (20 points) and had the lead. CC rallied back but a Dawrin Pereyra three had the teams even at 33 with three minutes left in the third period.

Central Catholic grabbed the lead for good over the next 1 ½ minutes running nine points in a row for a 42-33 advantage. During this decisive segment guard Luis Pulleo (9 points/13 rebounds) converted a miss, Carson drained his only three of the game, Jimmy Zenevitch hit a couple of free throws and Carson clicked on a short jumper. This collection of solid offense was the difference maker. Lawrence hustled its way back to within five a couple of times thereafter but could not get closer. They even got a 4th foul on Carson early in the 4th quarter but it didn’t matter.

Carson appears to play now as he will at the next level. You would imagine that he could dominate inside at the high school level, and he probably could, but he avoids the heavy traffic inside. He doesn’t force his offense and the other CC players pursue their own offense. His greatest value in this game, in my opinion, was being the safety valve in the CC press breaker. This position put him in a position to defend the basket if there was a backcourt turnover.

The Raiders were very good at breaking down the Lawrence defense on the rare occasions when they put two or three passes together. Carson had several dunks at the end of such sequences.

The turnovers committed by a quality team like CC (23 including 11 in the second period) were shocking. The Lancers swarmed nonstop but there were way too many bad passes to make any coach happy.

Jaylen Alicea launches a free throw. The 6′ junior scored 20 points for Lawrence.

The best matchup was easily Luis Pulleo defending Kaylen Alicea and vice versa down the other end. You talk about quickness and althleticism! Luis is a sophomore and Kaylen a junior.

The gym was filled and the crowds seemed to behave as far as I could tell. I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to have the first row of the CC student section standing right along the sidelines, however.

(All stats are unofficial.)

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Filed under Central Catholic, Lawrence

Tagged as Carson Desrosiers, Central Catholic High School, Jimmy Zenevitch, Lawrence High School. Jaylen Alicea, Luis Puleo, Merrimac Valley Conference

January 8, 2010 · 11:45 pm

St. John’s Prep Still Undefeated After 57-40 Win Over Malden Catholic

(Danvers) St. John’s Prep (7-0) continued undefeated after a 57-40 win over visiting Malden Catholic (3-4) on Friday night at St.John’s despite some very poor Eagle shooting ( 18-for-57 – 31.5%).

If the home team’s shooting hadn’t been off, they might have reached the magic number of the night – 75. Right, that is how old Elvis would have been. Fittingly, quite a few of the St. John’s very active student body section had the Elvis look.

While St. John’s shooting was off, their defense was on. I came away especially impressed with the efforts of senior George Sessoms. He had the MC guards moving sideways instead of toward the basket with his footwork and hustle.

The Eagles put this one in the win column in the first half, during a 5 ½ minute segment (starting in the first period and ending in the second period), in which they outscored the Lancers, 16-2. The run turned an 8-5 advantage into 22-7. The Lancers didn’t do themselves any favors during this crucial spurt by missing seven of eight field goals and the front end of three one-and-one’s.

Patrick Connaughton – St. John’s junior with D1 college basketball future

I came to get my first look at highly regarded 6’4” Eagle junior Pat Connaughton. (He averaged 22 points/17 rebounds per game last season.) He didn’t shoot very well in this one but still ended up with 21 points. His rebounding was noticeable – 18. He also had a number of assists and steals.

During the game-turning run, he hit a jumper, turned a steal into a layup, and had another layup.

He played both inside and out. He will certainly be a guard at the next level. He showed good court vision and got open shots for sophomore Michael Carbone (15 points). Michael drilled five 3’s including three in the final quarter.

Malden Catholic is a Division 2 team playing in the extremely tough Catholic Conference. MC has a couple of Division 2 opponents (Gloucester and Masconomet) on their schedule. They play Gloucester twice and Masco once. If MC can win two of those three they’ll make the state tournament. Another way to the tournament is to win half their games in the Catholic Conference. That second option looked unlikely from what I saw tonight.

Division 1 St. John’s is ranked third in Massachusetts behind Central Catholic and Lynn English by MaxPreps. All three teams are undefeated.

On February 17, St. John’s plays at Central Catholic (Lawrence). That is a Wednesday night (7PM) and it might be worth circling on the calendar now.

(All stats are unofficial.)

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Tagged as Central Catholic, George Sessoms, Malden Catholic, Michael Carbone, Patrick Connaughton, St. John's Prep

December 30, 2009 · 11:26 pm

North Penn Rallies Past Downingtown West in Championship Game

North Penn Knights pose with championship trophy in Chris Smith Holiday Tournament

(Lansdale PA) North Penn rained down accurate 3’s on Downingtown West in the third period and that spell of good shooting provided the margin that sparked the Knights to a 47-38 win in the Chris Smith Holiday Tournament championship game on Wednesday night.

Downingtown West led 17-12 at the half with little offense by either team in evidence. Those on hand waited for the stars of the opening round games (Mike Milito – 18 points against Engineering and Science) and/or (Matthew Possanza – 19 points versus Methacton) to put some points on the board. Didn’t happen. Mike ended up with eight points on off-shooting stats while Matthew had very few touches thanks to the Whippet know-where-he-is defense.

What went on in the North Penn locker room at halftime? Those meager twelve points that North Penn took sixteen minutes to get in the first half surely were discussed. Anyhow, it took the Knights only five minutes to get their second batch of twelve points in the decisive third quarter.

Sophomore Wes Brooks – high scorer (15) and all-tourney selection

Junior Conner Silhanek was the early catalyst with a couple of baskets (one assisted by Wes Brooks) and two free throws to narrow the Downingtown West advantage to 19-18 with 4 ½ minutes to go in period three.

After that was when the rain of 3’s kicked in for North Penn. They tallied 15 points in their next five possessions including one three (by Matthew Possanza) the old-fashioned way. Matthew also had a regular three as did TJ Gill. The game’s top scorer (sophomore Wes Brooks) chipped in two in a row.

By the time the quarter ended, Downingtown West was on the wrong end of a 33-23 score and never recovered.

In the midst of the Knight scoring run was a very crucial, if not controversial play. The Whippets were just down two (21-19) and Mike Milito was breaking away. From where I was sitting, it was clear that someone had grabbed his shirt causing the ball to get away from him. No whistle and a quick pass off the steal to the right corner gave Wes Brooks an open look at a three which he buried to boost the lead to five points. If a foul is called on the shirt grab, that play doesn’t happen.

In the final frame a couple of Knight turnovers and a run of successful Whippet free throws made things interesting at 39-34 with 2:42 to go. But with a chance to get even closer, the visitors had a possession with three missed shots before a turnover. The Knights made eight of ten free throws the rest of the way to seal the championship.

Wes Brooks (15 points) and TJ Gill (9 points) paced North Penn while Idris Jones (13 points including six in the first period) and Mike Milito (8 points) led Downingtown West.

The guard play of North Penn was the difference maker. The Whippets played a very physical man-to-man defense and yet North Penn had only eleven turnovers.

North Penn got away with a zone defense because Downingtown West took very few three’s and didn’t make one until the last minute – Ian Jones.

Best defender was the Whippets’ Terrell Brice. However, late in the game, when it came time to intentionally foul, he drew his fifth by planting 5’9” Wes Brooks out of bounds with a two-hander. No need for that but his defensive play other than that was a coach’s delight.

Matthew Possanza, Wes Brooks, Mike Milito, and Idris Jones were chosen for the All-Tourney team.

Andrew Bargman takes free throw as Taylor Koffke, Terrell Brice, Dexter Shy, and TJ Gill look on.

(All stats are unofficial.)

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Filed under Chris Smith Holiday Tournament 2009, Downington, North Penn

Tagged as Chris Smith Memorial Tournament, Conner Silhanek, Downingtown, Idris Jones, Lansdale, Matthew Possanza, Mike Milito, North Penn, Terrell Brice, TJ Gill, Wes Brooks

December 30, 2009 · 6:51 pm

Ready For Action in Ipswich

Action Inc has been active on Cape Ann since 1965. They have offices in many towns throughout the area, including recently opened sites in Ipswich and Rockport.

In a press release regarding the new offices, Action Inc. Executive Director Tim Riley said, “Although Action has served Ipswich and Rockport residents for more than 40 years, these new satellite offices will make our services accessible to a greater number of people. We expect to deliver services to 30% more people in Ipswich and Rockport this year.”

The funding for the offices in Ipswich and Rockport came from the Stimulus Bill signed into law by President Obama in February.

The Action Inc office in Ipswich is located at the Birth to Three Family Center at 15 Market Street, Suite 4. Office hours are on Monday (10AM-5PM) and Wednesday (Noon-7PM).

More important than the office hours is the office phone number – (978-879-3667). That number has voice mail (I know, I tried.) and the woman in charge of the office, Harmoni White, assured me in a phone interview that all calls will be answered. “If I don’t answer right away,” she said, “I’m probably researching the problem. I will get back to everyone who calls.”

Trying to describe what Action Inc does is a bit like explaining what a stay-home mom does – a little bit of everything. They are especially intent on helping the Cape Ann area needy of all ages in practical ways.

Harmoni told me that she is getting plenty of calls about needs in Ipswich. “Once we put out our information in Ipswich school newsletters the calls picked up considerably. Each call usually describes a particular need and I try to get that person help. I’m psyched to be able to do it.”

I learned from Harmoni that her passion for helping others was part of her background. “My grandmother directed the Teen Center in Beverly and my mother was involved in foster care. I have about 40 brothers and sisters as a result. I have also lived in public housing as well as on welfare and know about navigating for help. The important thing is to keep going.”

Harmoni told me that the biggest barrier she has been confronted with in Ipswich is pride. “This is a town where people are used to meeting their own needs,” she said. “To some here, asking for organized assistance is the very last thing they would do especially for those who have never been on the receiving end before.”

She added, “Part of it is their worry that others will be alerted to their condition of need. I cannot tell you how many people, with obvious shortages of money from job reductions or losses will refuse to apply for food stamps. They are afraid that someone at the local supermarket might see them using food stamps. It is unfortunate.”

Obviously, for Action Inc to live up to its name, needs needing to be addressed, must be presented. Action Inc is already serving over 3,000 families in Cape Ann and it sounds as if they are ready, willing, and able to help if allowed into the mix.

Action Inc has a website and there is always the Ipswich office phone number (978-879-3667) for those searching for information and help.

( This article appeared in The Town Common in December 30, 2009. )

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Tagged as Action Inc, Harmoni White, Ipswich, Tim Riley