Ponderous thoughts I was pondering on the ride back from the TDGarden Friday night:
** My friend Danny Ventura of the Boston Herald put it best whenhe said "The MIAA must have been doing $omer$ault$" over the crowdit attracted to the quadruple-header of basketball games staged atthe Garden on Friday.
Estimates by the Garden security staff placed the crowd for thefour Division 1 sectional finals at anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000,requiring that high school fans be directed to the balcony for thefirst time in recent memory.
Indeed, Peter Gobis and I remarked that in our past trips to theold Boston Garden and the FleetCenter/TD Garden for state semifinalgames (the most recent being the Bishop Feehan girls' visit to playCarolyn Swords' Lincoln-Sudbury juggernaut in 2007), we had neverseen a crowd so big for high school basketball.
Of course, it helped that two of the participating schools hadboth of its teams represented. The fans from Mansfield and CentralCatholic High School of Lawrence came early and stayed put for theentire day, their ranks swelling for the boys' games later in theevening. That's not possible for sectional finals at UMass-Boston(where the small seating capacity requires a clean sweep of thestands between games) or the state semifinals at the Garden, whenthe boys' and girls' teams play on different days.
The atmosphere was electric, with all of the schools bringing inlarge student cheering sections, and things were kept under controlwithout stifling the kids' enthusiasm too much. And the basketballwas good - as should be expected from Division 1.
Now, some people may be offended by the suggestion that Division1 basketball is automatically considered better than the rest. Idon't really mean to suggest that, because I'm one of those whohave said in the past that school size does not always produce abetter starting five.
But from a spectator standout, Division 1 boys' basketball ismore likely to draw in casual fans that don't follow the sport on aregular, day-by-day basis. Certainly, schools like Madison Park,Central Catholic and St. John's Prep were going to draw a lot ofinterest from individuals with only a moderate interest in thesport, and there was a curiosity factor about Mansfield, thenewcomer to the D1 ranks - which, as it turned out, representeditself quite well throughout this tournament.
Add into that the multi-team support for Mansfield and CentralCatholic and the passionate fan followings of the Durfee andAndover girls, and the result was a magnificent day of basketballat the TD Garden - and food for thought for the MIAA, which mightwant to inquire further about that venue's availability in thefuture, or perhaps the Agganis Arena at Boston University.
I also believe that the use of the Garden corrected an inequitybetween the North and South sectional venues. The Tsongas Arena inLowell was not available to basketball this year because of MIAAhockey tournaments, but it has been used for basketball in the pastand it seats 6,500, while the Clark Center at UMass-Bostonsupposedly holds 3,500. The huge response to the South sectionalgames at the Garden proves that UMass-Boston is inadequate for thedemand down in these parts.
One way or another, it was a great day for basketball … and agreat day for Mansfield High to be involved in it, as well.
** The Mansfield-Durfee game provided one moment that had a veryspecial quality to it if you hail from Fall River, but also onethat required some explaining if you happened to be fromMansfield.
Late in the contest, Durfee coach Tony Martin - locals will knowhim as the former coach of the Dighton-Rehoboth boys' hoop team,and the coach that won a state championship with the Case Highgirls - sent senior guard Kate McDonald into the game. Those in theknow about girls' hoop in the South know that McDonald (daughter offormer Durfee standout Judd McDonald, if I'm not mistaken) wasticketed to be the floor leader of the Hilltoppers this year, butan ACL tear in the offseason sidelined her for the entireseason.
Even though she was not able to play Friday, Martin allowed herto suit up - and, with the result assured in the waning seconds, hesubstituted her into the game with the instructions to enjoy themoment and not risk her rehabilitation.
Not long after, Mansfield was assessed a technical foul, andMartin directed McDonald to take the shots. Unfortunately, shemissed both, but it was still a nice moment for a kid who mighthave made a big difference for Durfee this season if not for theinjury.
You may ask, "Why did Mansfield get a technical foul?" Normallythose carry a negative connotation, but this one was more clericalthan anything.
Mansfield coach Mike Redding was trying to substitute youngerplayers into the game, and he had one at the scorer's table waitingto go in at a stoppage. For some unknown reason the officialsfailed to see her there, and thinking she could go in, the playerjoined the action to give Mansfield an illegal six players on thecourt.
Personally, I think the officials should have waved off thefoul, given that it was their error not to see the player who hadchecked in as she was supposed to. But at least it gave KateMcDonald a chance to be a contributing part of her team - in thiscase, truly "no harm, no foul."
** By the way, one of the officials for that game was CathySilva, a former standout guard from New Bedford who starred withDel Malloy's Wheaton College teams back in the 1990s.
** I reconnected with boys' basketball a little more this year,and I'm glad I did. I saw the Mansfield boys play in seven games,and was thoroughly impressed with them. They certainly put a sparkback into the community because of their ability, and because ofhow well they represented the school.
Granted, although I'm a Mansfield High alum from the Jurassicera, I haven't lived in the town for 20 years. So in this case, Iwill rely upon the comments I hear from old friends and people whocome up to me in the stands to confirm what I think.
For instance, a friend sent me an e-mail last week, and I don'tthink he'd mind my sharing some of the comments with you:
"As an alum," he wrote, "I am extremely proud to see thatuniform being respected and worn by kids who work hard, don'ttaunt, and respond to their coaches. And as a coach, I've beenimpressed by the level of solid fundamentals on this team: theyplay near-perfect halfcourt help-side defense … the unselfishnesson offense, the superb passing, the boxing out by (Michael) Loftonand (Patrick) Lambrecht, the superior depth with junior JeffreyHill, especially - all of these things are what most coaches striveto achieve."
** I think we all know that Mike Redding is one heck of a coach.His football track record certainly speaks to that, and he's hadthe Mansfield girls' basketball team playing at a high level forseveral years. But I'm thinking that this year's run to theDivision 1-South championship, and hopefully beyond, may have beenthe best coaching he's ever done …
** The Mansfield girls have joined an illustrious group of localgirls' teams to make it to Boston for the state semifinals.Attleboro and Bishop Feehan both lost in their only trips there,Foxboro is 2-1 in its three trips, North Attleboro won in 1991 (its1987 state semifinal was at Merrimack College, if memory serves),and Seekonk won in both the Division 2 and Division 3 semifinals atthe old Garden …
** For all of the times when we can knock the MIAA legitimately,at least they gave fans a break on parking in the North Stationparking garage. Parking for the sectional finals was $15, asopposed to $25 for Celtics or Bruins games …
** By the way, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'mhaving the most fun I've ever had covering high school basketballthis year. My thanks to the 14 local teams that made it to thepostseason, and all 21 teams, for a truly memorable experience. Seeyou at the Garden on Tuesday …
MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail atmfarinel@thesunchronicle.com.Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.
