It's Leap Day!

Well, here we are at a phenomenon that happens only every four years -- Leap Day, the addition of a day to the calendar so we can keep the clocks matching the rotation of the earth or its orbit around the sun, or whatever the Flat Earthers may believe. I'm inclusive. One way or another, it's Feb. 29, and it's making me wait one more day before the daunting task of re-setting all 12 of my wrist watches.

It's going to be a busy day. First, I'll be off to Northborough to attend the funeral of my good friend and former Patriots beat writer Dick Cerasuolo, who died earlier in the week at the age of 80. As reported in an earlier post, Dick worked for many years at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and was one of the best colleagues an individual could have. I joined the beat in 1977 and Dick retired in 2000, and the memories of our hi-jinks, shared with a number of other veteran reporters that aren't on the beat any longer, will be treasured for as long as I live.

Then later in the afternoon, I'll be recording a podcast with my good friend and sometimes broadcast partner, Alex Salachi. Alex was the long-time basketball coach at Xaverian Brothers High School and he's still a member of the executive board of the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association, and we'll talk about some of the changes in the sport that will be coming in the wake of the MIAA's vote to go to statewide tournaments in the fall of 2021.

In the meantime, I'll add one last link to Episode 14, when I was joined in the studio by Foxboro coach Lisa Downs. Her team has just reached the Division 2-South semifinal round (5:30 p.m. Monday at Taunton vs. a foe to be determined later today), so it's timely listening still.

The rest of the day will be devoted to "show prep," preparing my notes and crib sheets for Sunday's Division 1-South boys' semifinal between top-seed Mansfield and Needham, a 3 p.m.-or-thereabouts start at Taunton High School. Alex Salachi and I will handle the delayed-telecast call for Mansfield Cable Access.

And yes, I'll also be with the Foxboro Cable Access crew on Monday. Busy, busy, busy.

And the season continues!

It was a happy night for some of our local basketball teams, especially two for which I provide play-by-play or commentary.

I went to the boys' Division 1-South quarterfinal between Attleboro and Mansfield at a fully-packed Albertini Gymnasium, and was treated to a real nail-biter -- Mansfield 54, Attleboro 52, sending the Hornets on to Sunday's semifinal at Taunton High (3 p.m. start) against Needham.

Mansfield's Sam Stevens drives

past Attleboro's Qualeem Charles

(Sun Chronicle photo)

In the time I have available, I can't recap everything here. Let it suffice that the Hornets rallied from 12 down -- the game almost spirited away from them by Attleboro's Jason Weir (three three-pointers), Nick McMahon (13 points) and reserve forward Lorenzo Wilson (six key points). Plus, Mansfield was horrific at the foul line, hitting just 11 of 26.

But Matty Boen pumped in 19 of his 22 points in the second half, hitting six threes, and some absolutely amazing defense was played by Andrew Rooney, Brendan Foley and Jack Colby to deny Bryant Ciccio and Qualeem Charles the ball down the stretch. Those two finished with 11 and 10 points respectively, just six points among them in the second half.

Then, the good news came in from Foxboro where the Warrior girls avenged last year's loss to Pembroke, beating them 56-43, to advance to Monday's D2-South semifinal at Taunton (5:30 start) against either Old Rochester or New Mission. Katelyn Mollica led Foxboro with 20 points and Shakirah Ketant had a huge rebounding night despite her tender ankle.

And even better news, the scheduling is such this coming week that I can participate in the telecasts of both. Alex Salachi and I will be providing the call on Mansfield Cable Access for the Mansfield-Needham game Sunday in Taunton, and I'm assuming that I'll be working with Mark Davis for the Foxboro game the next night.

And by the way, it was also announced at the Attleboro-Mansfield game that both Mansfield girls' basketball coach Mike Redding and athletic director Joe Russo will be retiring at the end of this sports year. Redding will still be football coach. More to come on these important changes in the days to come.

The vote is in: Statewide tournament passes.

The member schools of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association descended upon Assabet Valley Tech in Marlborough for an important vote this morning, and their decision is in.

The proposal to create statewide tournaments in all high school sports passed by a 193-140 margin. That vote indicates that representatives of 37 of the MIAA's member schools did not attend, or roughly 12 percent. Frankly, that's unpardonable. For a vote that will create such sweeping change, any school that had a stake in it -- and I'd have to believe all of them did -- should have sent someone to cast a vote.

Readers of this blog know that I objected to the statewide tournaments, for reasons that I shall repeat below. But I also understand that the time has come to put aside disagreements and make the most of it. There are other issues that will need to be addressed in the weeks and months ahead, but in the meantime, it's time to wrap our heads around what's coming and to figure out how to make it work.

Anyway, here's what is coming beginning in the fall of 2021:

** Most sports will be ordered in five enrollment-based decisions (some fewer depending upon number of participating schools, and there are still provisions for Super Eight tournament). There will be no sectional alignments or championships.

** 32 teams in each division will qualify for the tournament according to a power-ranking system developed by MaxPreps, a national clearinghouse for high school sports information. Teams that finish with records of .500 or better that do not meet MaxPreps' criteria will still qualify and will be seeded in a preliminary, play-in round.

** Higher-seeded teams will have home-site advantage until the Round of Eight, when neutral sites will kick in.

The push for a statewide tournament began in 2016, as a means of mitigating inequities in the current format that has been in place for almost a half-century. Because 247 of the MIAA's 380 member schools are located within the North and South sections, it might take a North or South school five playoff games to reach the state semifinals, while in the more sparsely populated Central or West sections, it could be as few as two or three games according to the number of qualifiers.

The other alternative would have been a sweeping realignment of the current four sections, with many more schools being removed from the two eastern sections and assigned to the Central and West sections in an effort to balance the membership.

Several coaches to whom I've spoken, both privately and on the record, said they objected to the losses of the sectional championships because they provided reachable goals for their teams. While a state championship is the ultimate goal, sectional championships provided validation to programs that were building toward being able to compete at the highest level.

I've also heard (and share) concerns about travel to far-flung venues within the tournament schedule. Although the option is available to find neutral sites, I suspect those will be last-minute announcements (just as they are now) and will wreak havoc with the travel plans of fans or parents.

And let's face it … it's already tough to go from where I live in southeastern Massachusetts to some North Shore venues or even sites along Route 3 on the South Shore because of the ridiculous rush-hour traffic that's met when it's time to head to tournament venues. As I noted in a previous post, it's very doubtful that parents will brave their rush hours to get home and then turn around and head out for a two-hour (or more) drive to a venue deep in western or central Massachusetts. Nor would I expect them to give permission to their children with driver's licenses to be out until midnight or later in transit from tournament sites.

In a nutshell, I believe attendance will suffer.

I've also heard that by eliminating the "state" basketball semifinals, the schools in eastern Massachusetts have sacrificed the use of the TD Garden in the future. Personally, I believe that's where the state finals should be, but I doubt the MIAA will be able to secure weekend dates in March.

But as Bill Belichick might say, "It is what it is." A decision has been made by roughly 50.8 percent of the MIAA's member schools, and now it's time to live with it.

I firmly believe that further discussion must be devoted to another decision that has already been made, the move to involve MaxPreps in seeding. I steadfastly object to any system that allows people to arbitrarily and secretly determine that a team that finishes 20-0 with the schedule it chose is unworthy of a top seed. I think that power seeding is contrary to the mission of high school sports, a means of artificially establishing "elite" programs based upon manipulatable math.

I also don't believe that truly good teams need any more help to compete in the tournament. If a team finished 13-7 but is regarded by the so-called experts as being better than eight teams with higher records, you may as well hand that team the trophy and save us all the travel expenses.

Prove it on the court. Save the power seedings for the big-money NCAA tournament.

There will be opportunities in the weeks ahead to express concern about the proprietary and secretive method MaxPreps will employ, and it's my fervent hope that the coaches that object to it as much as I do will make their voices heard through their athletic directors.

One last thought -- in 1991, the MIAA tried to tinker with the tournament format when it established an "open" basketball tournament, in which all schools were eligible to compete regardless of record. It was loosely based upon the Indiana model (although enrollment-based divisions still existed), and it was a noble effort -- but one that failed under its own largesse. Not only were all teams required to play their games at neutral sites, but also the preliminary rounds took forever. Thinking that an 0-20 team should not have to play a 20-0 team, the multiple play-in games forced top seeds to sit around and wait for more than a week before they played -- and many of them suffered from the long layoffs.

It was a disaster -- and the lesson it left behind should not be lost upon the MIAA. The association now has more than a year to figure out the logistics of these travel-dependent tournaments -- and at the top of the to-do list should be learning how to schedule playing dates and venues
that are firm and well-publicized in advance.

See you on the road, folks.

One way or another, the MIAA is about to screw up its tournaments.

The DCU Center in Worcester, site of past MIAA basketball tournament championship games.

On Friday, it's expected that representatives from all 380 member schools of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association will descend upon Assabet Valley Tech in Marlborough to vote upon the most sweeping changes ever to be made to the high school tournament format -- the proposal to go to a statewide tournament in all sports, eliminating the four-section (North, South, Central, West) format currently in use.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. And even if the schools reject the statewide tournament, there will still be sweeping changes to the tournament format that have already been approved by MIAA committees -- changes which many coaches feel have been shoved down their throats with little, if any, opportunity for them to offer their input.

The statewide tournament proposal is fairly simple.

Most sports would be reconfigured into five enrollment-based divisions (fewer divisions for some sports with lesser participation). Seedings would be done according to a proprietary system managed by MaxPreps, a national high school sports information clearinghouse. The top 32 teams in each division according to MaxPreps power seeding would qualify for the postseason, as well as teams with .500-or-better records that did not meet MaxPreps' criteria.

Higher-seeded winners would retain home-court advantage until the Round of Eight, at which time the action would switch to neutral sites. There would be NO sectional championships as there are today.

What instantly comes to mind is an immediate impact upon the schools' travel budgets, as well as the likelihood that fan attendance from visiting teams would drop considerably without the early rounds being competed within the traditional sections.

Worst-case scenario

The possibility would exist that in the first round of a Division 2 tournament, a team from Nauset Regional High School in North Eastham (at the elbow of Cape Cod) would have to play a team from Pittsfield High School. According to Google Maps, the travel time between the two schools is 3 hours and 57 minutes under optimum conditions -- which are not likely to be found on a Tuesday night during the winter sports season. So what you're looking at is a departure from a school at around 1 p.m. and arrival back at that school at 1 a.m. -- yes, on a school night.

Some might say, "well, get a hotel room and stay over." Frankly, I'm not sure if too many schools want to add multiple hotel accommodations for athletes and coaches to their travel budgets, as well as sanctioning unexcused absences from school the next day for anything less than the most unavoidable circumstance.

More realistically, my feeling is that the worst inconvenience would be to fans or parents in the eastern part of the state having to make the early-evening drive west. Parents that get out of work around 4 p.m. and have to brave the ever-growing traffic congestion inside I-495 are not going to want to get back into their cars for a two-hour drive to a tournament venue, assuming there's even the most remote chance that they can make it in time. By having sectional competition, there are still some nasty drives (try getting anywhere down Route 3 after 4 p.m.), but they are more manageable.

The statewide tournament, it's believed here, would lessen fan interest and participation, not increase it.

So who was clamoring for it to begin with?

A quest for "fairness"

The MIAA's Tournament Management Committee undertook this challenge in 2016, reacting to the complaints of some that saw inequities in the current format. Most notable among those is that 247 of the MIAA's 380 member schools are located within the North and South sections, and thus, the number of qualifiers in those sections are greater than in the Central and West.

In some sports, it might take a North or South school five playoff games to reach the state semifinals, while in the Central or West sections, it could be as few as two or three games according to the number of qualifiers. Attempts have already been made to move some Eastern Mass. schools into the Central section to balance things off, but there are still significant inequities.

Also, because the Central and West sections are less-populated than the two sections in the east, there are far fewer schools that can compete in the higher-enrollment divisions.

I've long wondered why the MIAA didn't consider merging the Central and West sections, except for the fact that a four-section tournament works much better. So, it seems as if the only alternatives are to wipe the sectionals off the face of the earth, or to reconfigure them significantly -- and if the former fails to gain the member schools' approval, the latter is going to happen no matter what.

Some coaches have openly objected to the demise of sectional tournaments because they offer a measure of validation to programs that were successful enough to reach the top of their respective sectional brackets. One of the more influential voices in support of sectionals among coaches in this state is that of Kristen McDonnell, the current boys' basketball coach at Norwood High, whose Braintree High girls' teams won seven sectional championships over her 10 years as head coach.

“I still think there’s something positive and so great about having the local camaraderie,” McDonnell told the Boston Globe. “Having it be regionalized brings a certain competitiveness and community-building piece that I think you’re losing if you’re going to do it statewide.”

Many coaches to whom I've spoken in recent weeks agreed that sectional championships maintain regional fan interest at a high level and are worthy goals for their programs. And they don't want to lose the regional rivalries.

"It's a means of getting away from the support that you would have had from your fans -- especially the youth (basketball players), and I try to steer a lot of them to our games," said Foxboro High girls' basketball coach Lisa Downs, whose Warriors won a state title in 2018. "It's going to be next-to-impossible for the parents to follow us to some of these locations."

The MIAA has already decided that realignment will take place if the statewide tournament proposal fails, which would include shifting several schools from the two eastern sections to the Central, and a few Central schools to the West. One such possible realignment suggested by the Boston Globe involved the move to the Central section of Hockomock League schools King Philip, Mansfield, North Attleboro and Sharon (joining Franklin and Milford, which are already there) as well as nearby schools such as Walpole and Wellesley.

The MaxPreps issue

Perhaps of even more concerns to the coaches is the MIAA's apparent commitment to MaxPreps for its seeding of tournaments in all sports. Even coaches that are active in the state coaches association and who generally try to keep up with rule-change proposals say they were blindsided by the decision.

"We're all in the same boat," said Downs, noting that the MaxPreps issue was a hot topic at her recent league meeting. "Everyone has so many questions and there are just no answers right now."

MaxPreps can be a valuable resource for schedules, rosters and recent history of various high school sports nationwide. But the content is often inaccurate and incomplete. And because so much of it relies upon computer programs, inaccuracies often happen. It's not unusual to see games from other states showing up on local teams' schedules. Schools such as Mansfield and Canton, which share their names with several other communities across the country, occasionally find games from Texas, Ohio, Connecticut, Louisiana or other states showing up on their schedule pages.

Additionally, representatives from MaxPreps refuse to reveal their methodology for creating power seedings, making them impossible to duplicate by coaches or fans. Downs said that not being able to predict how seedings might be at season's end hinders her ability to either scout potential opponents herself, or assign others to do it.

Downs said she was also concerned about factors that might affect seedings, such as point differentials and the quality of league competition.

"If you look at our league in general," she said, "the (Hockomock League) Davenport had some pretty weak teams this year. Is that going to hurt us? And it's all out of our hands."

MaxPreps officials have scheduled a series of meetings through the MIAA in an effort to explain some of their procedures, but they have insisted that they will not reveal specifics about their methods for power rankings. And one way or another, there is no recourse for coaches that object to the intrusion of subjective opinion into the seeding process. It's a done deal.

"There's just so much ambiguity out there, and no one really knows how this is going to work," Downs said. "Had we had concrete, written details and we could refer to those and ask questions, it would have been a lot easier to swallow as this point."

Another rematch looms for Foxboro.

Foxboro High's Yara Fawaz

The Foxboro High School girls' basketball team overcame some early shooting jitters and turned on the defense to humble Dighton-Rehoboth, 54-27, Wednesday night in the opening round of the MIAA Division 2-South tournament at Foxboro High.

The victory sets up yet another rematch in the tournament for Foxboro, which will entertain No. 7 Pembroke Friday night at home, game-time 6:30. The Titans rallied from an early deficit to defeat No. 10 Notre Dame of Hingham, 64-35, to set up the rematch of last year's sectional semifinal -- a crushing 50-24 defeat for the Warriors at Bridgewater-Raynham. The biggest difference this year? It'll be on the friendly Foxboro High hardcourt.

The second-seeded Warriors (20-2) and 15th-seeded Falcons (11-10) started playing at a breakneck pace in the early going and the results were a lot of missed shots and flying bodies. But Foxboro emerged with a 7-4 lead after the first quarter, and junior guard Katelyn Mollica found the range early in the second.

Mollica hit three of her seven 3-pointers in the second quarter as Foxboro -- momentarily stunned by an ankle injury suffered by starting center Shakirah Ketant -- regained its composure and outscored D-R 13-2 in the quarter, taking a 20-6 halftime lead.

Ketant made her way back onto the court for the beginning of the second half, and scored an early basket in the paint to reassure her teammates before Foxboro coach Lisa Downs gave her the rest of the game off as a precaution. Mollica, meanwhile, pumped in another 11 points in the quarter for a 23-6 quarter advantage and a 43-12 lead entering the final eight minutes.

Mollica finished with a season-high 29 points, just two shy of her career high set last year against Canton. She now has 1,137 career points. Senior center Meghan Reed led D-R with eight points.

As there were plenty of contributors to Foxboro's success, here are the hockey-style three stars from the contest (I'd say they are sponsored by Mrs. Sherman's Fine Foods, but you have to listen to my podcasts to get that joke):

No. 3 Star: Lizzy Davis. The senior guard contributed in all sorts of ways. First, she scored seven of her eight points in the third quarter as the Warriors took full charge of the game. Second, she was the primary defender of D-R's leading scorer, junior guard Emily D'Ambrosio, who entered the game averaging 18 points a game but scored her only basket in the third quarter and finished with just five points. And finally, Davis took at least three baskets away from the Falcons by stepping in to take charges from driving players under the basket. Hopefully, her folks found plenty of ice for her hard-earned bruises after the game.

No. 2 Star: Yara Fawaz. The senior forward was a dynamo on the court all night long. When Ketant went out with the ankle injury, Fawaz sent her rebounding skills into overdrive and started pulling down practically every offensive rebound in sight. She also would race downcourt on defense, beating the smaller and presumably quicker D-R guards to repeatedly create steals or turnovers. Fawaz never paused in her effort, reacting almost immediately to the circumstance on the court and making the appropriate play.

No. 1 Star: Katelyn Mollica. They say that the best players bring their best when their teams need it the most. No question, Mollica brought hers. After the early adrenaline rush of Opening Night wore off, Mollica stopped clanging the ball off the back of the rim and made the adjustments needed to hit her full repertoire of shots. After a quick-burst layup in the first quarter to get her into the scoring column, she would throw nine more shots through the rim, including seven 3-pointers. And it's not as if D-R left her free; freshman Anna Damon did a creditable job of sticking with her. But Foxboro's superior screens and ball movement made the task of containing Mollica almost impossible.

Elsewhere:

Bishop Feehan girls 58, King Philip 46: A second straight win over the No. 5 Shamrocks was not to be for the No. 12 Warriors, ending their season at 12-9. The Shamrocks (16-5) were led by Lydia Mordarski (16 points), Kyla Cunningham (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Hailey Coupal (10 points). Faye Veilleux scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Faith Roy had 10 points for KP, which fell into an early hole by shooting 5-28 from three-point range. Feehan faces No. 4 Newton South (16-5), a 68-43 victor over No. 13 New Bedford, 6:30 p.m. Friday at Newton South in the Division 1-South quarterfinals.

Tri-County girls 37, West Boylston 34: The sixth-seeded Cougars (13-6) edged 11th-seed West Boylston (11-10) to advance to the quarterfinals of the Division 4-Central playoffs. T-C will face No. 4 Blackstone Valley Tech (16-5) on the road Saturday at 5 p.m.

Big night in local basketball.

It's center stage for the local girls' basketball teams tonight in the MIAA Tournament!

I'll be at Foxboro High tonight, working alongside Mark Davis with the Foxboro Cable Access crew to cover the No. 2 Foxboro Warriors entertaining the No. 15 Dighton-Rehoboth Falcons (6:30 start). It's a touch of deja vu for Lisa Downs' crew, as they defeated D-R in the quarterfinal round of last year's tournament, 66-35.

Mark Davis, left, interviews Foxboro coach Lisa Downs

 and junior guard Katelyn Mollica after a recent game.

(An aside: It was funny to see a typo in a tweet by the Foxboro athletic department today that said the Foxboro girls were playing "B-R," which would be Bridgewater-Raynham, the top-seeded team in Division 1-South. No need to panic!)

A lot of those Falcons have returned under new coach Chris Perron, particularly junior guard Emily D'Ambrosio, who is their leading scorer at 18 points per game and is most likely to become the area's next 1,000-point scorer. Forward Meg Reed is also a talented athlete, but I'm not sure that D-R (11-9) has the overall balance and depth to overcome the challenges that 19-2 Foxboro puts forth.

And it could be more deja vu for the Warriors if they win -- a possible visit (day and time TBA) from No. 7 Pembroke, which is playing No. 10 Notre Dame Academy of Hingham tonight. Pembroke, of course, put a world of hurt on the Warriors in last year's sectional semifinal at Bridgewater-Raynham, winning 50-24. Can't think of better motivation for the Warriors to get to the next round.

At the same time, I'll be keeping a keen eye on the results of the Division 1-South opener over on Holcott Drive in Attleboro, in which No. 5 Bishop Feehan (15-5) will play host to No. 12 King Philip (12-8). You may recall that just a couple of weeks ago, Faye Veilleux scored a career-high 26 points against the Shamrocks, who wilted in the fourth quarter and suffered a 65-59 defeat at KP.

Indeed, the Hockomock League was not kind to the Shamrocks this year. In all, Feehan had six games against Hockomock foes, and after defeating Attleboro, King Philip and North Attleboro earlier in the season, they dropped successive games to Foxboro, KP and Mansfield in the second half.

The winner will play (day and time TBA) against the winner of No. 13 New Bedford at No. 4. Newton South at the higher seed's home court.

It's Attleboro vs. Mansfield on Friday.

Bryant Ciccio hit two free throws with 3.2 seconds left in the game and Nick McMahon's pass deflection after the inbound pass sealed the deal as the Attleboro High School boys' basketball team edged Brookline, 50-49, in the opening round of the MIAA Division 1-South playoffs.

The Bombardiers, now 17-6, will visit top-seeded Mansfield on Friday (6:30 p.m. start) for the third meeting of the teams this year. Mansfield has won both so far, 71-62 at Mansfield on Dec. 29 and 77-65 at AHS on Jan. 31.

Qualeem Charles had 16 points and Ciccio 14 against the Warriors on Tuesday night. Ciccio, by the way, had his career-high of 32 points in the first game against Mansfield this season.

Both players are making their way up the 1,000-point list, and here's where they stand at Attleboro High entering the quarterfinal round of the South playoffs.

Player                             Points   Games    Career
Leland Anderson              1,629     74          1995-99
Derek Swenson                1,463      92         1995-99
Sarah Deyo                      1,341      92          2013-17
Rebecca Hardt                 1,221      72          1990-94
Mark Houle                     1,219      64          1986-90
Sara Wright                     1,209      75          1995-99
Tom Sherman                  1,127      63          1992-95
Bryant Ciccio              1,126      86          2016-
Tim Walsh                       1,117       74           2010-14
Jesse Martinez                 1,085       75          2000-04
Qualeem Charles        1,068      89          2016-
John Shockro                   1,061      n/a         1962-65
Rebecca King*                1,038       40          1949-53
Nikki Lima                      1,030       79          1990-94
Emily Houle                    1,025       90         2012-16

*— Scored under six-player rules.

The Legend of Deputy Dick.

From left, Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal, Dick Cerasuolo of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and Howard Ulman of the Associated Press at a meeting of the Patriots Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.

When I heard the news yesterday that a former colleague on the Patriots' beat, Dick Cerasuolo of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, had passed away early in the morning at the age of 80, I was saddened. I had worked alongside Dick for 23 years, from the time I first started on the beat in 1977 until his retirement in 2000, at the very start of the Bill Belichick Era. And we continued the association through our memberships on the Patriots Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.

But I was also reminded of happier times -- the sort that could only be experienced as part of the wild ride all of us took as the Patriots transformed themselves from the standing joke of the National Football League to its most enduring dynasty.

I could tell stories of road-trip hi-jinks, of poker games and evenings spent in hotel bars listening to famous people prattle on while we watched them down a few too many libations, and other tales of the sort. But there's something that will always stick in my memory as something that captured the good-natured essence of Dick Cerasuolo.

At some point, we started calling him "Deputy Dick." There was a good reason for it.


Dick was one of the true veterans of the beat, there from almost the very beginning. He was a gruff sort of guy at first glance, a bear of a man, but once he got to know and trust you, there was no more loyal individual on the beat in terms of friendship. He could also poke fun at himself along with the rest of us, and eventually laugh along with those that might tease him for some of his eccentricities -- such as the time he spent almost an entire game grumbling about getting a third-row seat in the Giants Stadium press box despite his lengthy tenure on the beat, which should have warranted front-row accommodations.

The writers of the so-called "Suburban Alliance" (the non-Boston papers) basically valued friendship and trust over competitiveness. Since few of our newspapers overlapped in our coverage-area spheres, we would share transcripts of interviews with each other as long as it was accepted that no one would steal stories verbatim out of print. The philosophy was to send along the quotes from group interviews and craft your own stories, and to respect exclusives, and it worked.

For a while, about three decades ago, the Patriots media corps was not allowed to work within the administration building inside Schaefer/Sullivan/Foxboro Stadium. The team's front office had outgrown the available space within the building, and we were no longer trusted to work inside the Stadium Club overlooking the north end zone seats, so the team set up a three-room house trailer in the parking lot, perched precariously at the crest of a hill overlooking the parking lots for the harness racing track next door. The Globe and Herald and the Associated Press occupied one room to the left of the trailer, the center section was a communal area with access to the tiny bathroom, and the third room was where the rest of us ink-stained wretches worked. If you were from Providence, Hartford, Quincy, Brockton, Worcester, or Attleboro, you were pretty-much assured regular seating. Anyone else from the many other newspapers that wanted to cover the Patriots had to hope there were enough cubicles left after the regulars claimed their work stations.

WBZ's Rex Trailer

After a while, we started calling the media trailer "Boomtown," an homage to the long-running, weekend-morning children's show on Boston's WBZ-TV, Channel 4. The show had a cowboy motif and was hosted by an actor named Rex Trailer who looked good in Western attire sitting atop his trusty horse Goldrush, hence the connection to our trailer.

The trailer was cramped and not very climate-controlled. The electricity was sketchy, ventilation was bad, and the small bathroom (not connected to any sewer or water lines) was often rendered uninhabitable -- and no, the Patriots would not let us go to the bathroom inside the stadium. And on days when high winds blew through the parking lot, it often felt inside Boomtown as if the whole thing would be sent cascading over the precipice and down into the gravel pit below.

Another quirky thing is that the trailer was often mistaken by fans to be the ticket office, which was actually a few thousand feet further down U.S. 1. So they'd just storm right into Boomtown and wander into our working areas, expecting to buy tickets. Often when that happened, they'd run headlong into Dick Cerasuolo at his work station -- and, annoyed as he was at being interrupted while on deadline, he'd respond to them in his distinctive growl that tickets were not to be found here.

It became a source of great amusement to the rest of us to see fear in the eyes of the ticket-seeking fans upon their meetings with Dick. I'm not sure who came up with the moniker of "Deputy Dick" -- maybe Carlo Imelio of the Springfield Union-News or Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal -- but as Dick was the one laying down the law in Boomtown, he became "Deputy Dick" for all time thereafter.

Deputy Dick … the man that cleaned up Boomtown. Rest in peace, my friend.

Greatest Hits: The Owner's Box, Ep. 10

Missy Traversi

On Saturday, the Adelphi University women's basketball team improved to 25-2 with a 64-52 win over the University of New Haven, so it's entirely fitting that as part of the "Greatest Hits" series for my podcast, The Owner's Box, I return to Episode 10 and my interview with Panthers' coach Missy Traversi, the former Bishop Feehan standout.

Traversi's Panthers are very likely to be the No. 1 seed in their region of the NCAA Division II tournament, but first will have the conference tourney ahead of them. But their hard work and success this season has ensured that Bishop Feehan's Emily Miccile, Attleboro High's Julia Strachan and the rest of the team will be playing a lot of home games in postseason play this year.

I particularly enjoy the part where Missy got tired of me saying how successful she was. Indeed, after this interview was concluded, the Panthers went on to lose to Stonehill and St. Anselm. Fortunately, the newly-minted "The Owner's Box Jinx" has worn off.

Enjoy this episode, recorded in the coach's office in Garden City, N.Y.

MIAA basketball tournament pairings. (updated and corrected)

Here are the MIAA basketball tournament pairings for Divisions 1 and 2 boys and girls, where my broadcasting clients reside. For other divisions, go to www.miaa.net and click on the link to the basketball tournament page. Note that all of these pairings are subject to swift and surprising change. And the best of luck to all of the area's teams!

* In Division 1-South, the 12th-seeded King Philip girls (12-8) will travel to No. 5 Bishop Feehan (15-5) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

* In Division 2-South, the second-seeded Foxboro girls (18-2 for seeding purposes) will entertain No. 15 Dighton-Rehoboth (11-9), 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Rematch!

* In Division 1-South, the Mansfield boys (19-3) drew the No. 1 seed. They will await the winner of No. 9 Brookline (14-6) at No. 8 Attleboro (16-6), to be played Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

* The 12th-seeded King Philip boys (12-10) will play at No. 5 Newton North (15-5), at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

* In the Division 4-Central girls' tournament, sixth-seeded Tri-County (12-6) will entertain No. 11 West Boylston (11-9) in an opening round game Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Franklin.

DIVISION 1-SOUTH GIRLS

Seeds: 1. Bridgewater-Raynham 18-2 (.900), 2. Needham 18-2 (.900), 3. Plymouth North 16-4 (.800), 4. Newton South 15-5 (.750), 5. Bishop Feehan 15-5 (.750), 6. Newton North 14-6 (.700), 7. Oliver Ames 14-6 (.700), 8. Barnstable 14-6 (.700), 9. Whitman-Hanson 14-6 (.700), 10. Walpole 13-7 (.650), 11. Quincy 14-8 (.636), 12. King Philip 12-8 (.600), 13. New Bedford 10-10 (.500), 14. Braintree 10-10 (.500), 15. Attleboro 10-10 (.500).

First round -- Wednesday, Feb. 26

(all games 6:30 p.m.)

Game 1: Whitman-Hanson at Barnstable.
Game 2: New Bedford at Newton South
Game 3: King Philip at Bishop Feehan
Game 4: Attleboro at Needham
Game 5. Walpole at Oliver Ames
Game 6: Braintree at Plymouth North
Game 7: Quincy at Newton North

Quarterfinals -- TBA

(at higher seed)

Game 8: Game 1 winner at Bridgewater-Raynham
Game 9: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 10: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Game 11: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner.

DIVISION 2-SOUTH GIRLS

Seeds: 1. Norwood (19-1) .950, 2. Foxboro (18-2) .900, 3. Old Rochester (18-3) .857, 4. Hingham (17-3) .850, 5. Falmouth (18-4) .818, 6. New Mission (15-4) .789, 7. Pembroke (15-5) .750, 8. Dartmouth (15-5) .750, 9. Nauset (14-6) .700, 10. Notre Dame-Hingham (13-7) .650, 11. Westwood (13-7) .650, 12. Somerset Berkley (11-7) .611; 13. O'Bryant (12-8) .600; 14. Canton (13-9) .591; 15. Dighton-Rehoboth (11-9) .550, 16. Hanover (11-9) .550.
.

First round -- Wednesday, Feb. 26

(Games 6:30 p.m. unless noted)

Game 1: Hanover at Norwood
Game 2: Nauset at Dartmouth
Game 3: O'Bryant at Hingham
Game 4: Somerset Berkley at Falmouth
Game 5: Dighton-Rehoboth at Foxboro
Game 6: Notre Dame at Pembroke
Game 7: Canton at Old Rochester
Game 8: Westwood at New Mission, 5 p.m.

DIVISION 1-SOUTH BOYS

Seeds: 1. Mansfield 19-3 (.864); 2. Brockton 16-4 (.800); 3. BC High 16-4 (.800); 4. Needham 16-4 (.800); 5. Newton North 15-5 (.750); 6. Catholic Memorial 15-5 (.750); 7. Marshfield 15-5 (.750); 8. Attleboro 16-6 (.727); 9. Brookline 14-6 (.700); 10. Taunton 14-6 (.700); 11. Newton South 13-7 (.650); 12. King Philip 12-10 (.545); 13. Plymouth North 10-10 (.500); 14. Bridgewater-Raynham 10-10 (.500).

First round -- Tuesday, Feb. 25

(all games 6:30 p.m.)

Game 1: Brookline at Attleboro
Game 2: Plymouth North at Needham
Game 3: King Philip at Newton North
Game 4: Taunton at Marshfield
Game 5: Bridgewater-Raynham at BC High
Game 6: Newton South at Catholic Memorial

Quarterfinals -- TBA

(at higher seed)

Game 7: Game 1 winner at Mansfield
Game 8: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 9: Game 4 winner at Brockton
Game 10: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner.

DIVISION 2-SOUTH BOYS

Seeds: 1. Dennis-Yarmouth (20-2) .909; 2. Westwood (20-2) .909; 3. Whitman-Hanson (20-2) .909; 4. Scituate (18-2) .900; 5. Hingham (16-6) .727; 6. Dighton-Rehoboth (14-6) .700; 7. New Mission (14-6) .700; 8. Randolph (14-6) .700; 9. Bishop Feehan (13-7) .650; 10. Tech Boston (13-7) .650; 11. North Quincy (13-7) .650, 12. Foxboro (14-8) .636; 13. Stoughton (12-8) .600; 14. Somerset Berkley (10-8) .556; 15. Hanover (11-9) .550; 16. Milton (11-9) .550; 17. Nauset (11-9) .550; 18. Oliver Ames (11-11) .550; 19. Dartmouth (9-10) .474.

Preliminary round -- Monday, Feb. 24

(all games 6:30 p.m.)

Game 2: Oliver Ames at Hanover
Game 3: Dartmouth at Somerset Berkley

Tuesday, Feb. 25

Game 1: Nauset at Milton, 6:30 p.m.

First round -- Thursday, Feb. 27

(all games 6:30 p.m.)

Game 4: Game 1 winner at Dennis-Yarmouth
Game 5: Bishop Feehan at Randolph
Game 6: Stoughton at Scituate
Game 7: Foxboro at Hingham
Game 8: Game 2 winner at Westwood
Game 9: Tech Boston at New Mission
Game 10: Game 3 winner at Whitman-Hanson
Game 11: North Quincy at Dighton-Rehoboth

The Owner's Box, Ep. 14.

Foxboro coach Lisa Downs

It's almost time for the basketball pairings to come out, and what better time is it than to have a repeat visit from Foxboro High girls' hoop coach Lisa Downs on "The Owner's Box?"

The ninth-year coach of the Warriors has her team in the No. 2 seed in Division 2-South, and we'll chat about how the season unfolded for them. We will also delve into many controversial issues facing high school sports in the commonwealth in the future, including the proposal for statewide tournaments in all sports that will be voted upon by all of the MIAA's member schools on Feb. 28.

We will also discuss the lesser-known but no-less infuriating decision of the state association to hand over all future seeding to the MaxPreps organization, using a proprietary power-ranking system that will remain secret. Already approved by the MIAA Board of Directors for the future, the power rankings could allow subjective opinions to enter into the tournament seeding process with little hope of transparency.

Don't miss this interesting conversation, and yes, we did it in less time than a couple of recent podcasts. Still great for when you're stuck in traffic! And all of these podcasts will be great if you have to drive two hours or more to a tournament game in the future. (Hint: Lisa and I are against it!)

And now, we wait.

The high school basketball regular season is over, at least locally, and now everyone will be awaiting the MIAA Tournament pairings that will be finalized Friday at the association's headquarters in Franklin.

For one of the top contenders for a Division 1 boys' championship, the season ended in disappointment. Mansfield, winners of 16 straight games entering Wednesday's Roundball Classic final, suffered a 72-59 loss at the Albertini Gym to a red-hot Whitman-Hanson team (now with 18 straight wins), rallying late to an eight-point deficit before falling by the wayside.

The Panthers hit 12 three-pointers, five by guard Nate Amado (23 points), and rode a 31-13 advantage in the third quarter to the win. Sam Stevens paced the Hornets with 24 points.

The loss does not affect the Hornets' No. 1 seed in D1-South, as Needham knocked off Brockton in the consolation game to keep Mansfield in the top spot.

It was a bad day all around for Mansfield basketball, as the Hornet girls suffered a 68-37 loss to Natick in the girls' title game. Yale-bound center Brenna McDonald pumped in 20 points to lead the Redhawks, who should be a contender in Division 1-Central. Ashley Santos scored seven points to lead the Hornets, who finished 9-14 and missed the tournament for the first time since 2013.

But keep in mind that these Hornets, after losing 10 seniors from last year's team, started 1-6. Coach Mike Redding promised at the beginning of the season that the team would be much better by the end of the year, and it clearly was, posting quality wins over North Attleboro, Bishop Feehan and King Philip. And the majority of these Hornets will be back next year.

Meanwhile, as reported here earlier, Foxboro clinched the No. 2 seed in the girls' D2-South tournament with a hard-fought, 34-26 win over a very good Old Rochester team to earn the Warrior Classic crown on Tuesday night. By the way, Foxboro coach Lisa Downs will be making a repeat appearance on The Owner's Box on Thursday (probably will post it Thursday night) to preview the tournament and chat about some upcoming issues for the sport.

And yes, on Friday I'll post the tournament pairings that have the most bearing on the teams within my vast play-by-play announcing sphere. Also, keep your eye on the rail to the left of this page to see what games I'll be doing and for what cable channel in the days to come.

The mysterious case of Stetson High School.

Mysteries often pop up when you least expect them.

Case in point: I was in attendance at Foxboro High last night as the boys' basketball team was wrapping up its victory over Randolph High to earn the Warrior Classic championship. And the topic came up at the scorer's table that Randolph had once been a member of the Hockomock League, many moons ago.

Indeed, both Randolph and Westwood were members of the Hockomock back in the 1950s, long before the league embraced football. The Hockomock itself cites 1932 as its founding date, but its core membership -- schools like Mansfield, Foxboro, Franklin, Oliver Ames, Canton and Stoughton -- can trace their affiliation back to the "Norfolk Interscholastic League" of the 1920s.

But as the discussion continued, Ryan Lanigan of HockomockSports.com raised the question of another school that may have had Hockomock membership at about the same time. After a quick smartphone search, he came up with a Twitter post by the honorary "Mayor of Norton," Peter Wiggins, a familiar fixture at the Lancers' sporting events. The post included a photo of an old newspaper clipping from 1950 that had the Hockomock's basketball standings -- and among the teams listed was "Stetson."

Nobody seemed to know what or where Stetson High was -- but after a little searching, I think I've come up with the answer.

Stetson High apparently WAS Randolph High, at least at one point in the town's history.

Here's what I found:

One of the more prominent citizens of Randolph in the early days of the republic was Maj. Amasa Stetson, a former military officer and boot manufacturer who eventually became a state senator. He provided the funds for the building of a new town hall for Randolph -- not surprisingly, called "Stetson Hall" -- which was completed in 1842, two years before Maj. Stetson's death.

The town's first high school occupied part of Stetson Hall, until a new building was built nearby and opened in 1909. The school retained the "Stetson" name, however -- and did until it graduated its last class in 1952.

By that time, Randolph had built a new, modern high school -- and upon its opening, the town decided to call it "Randolph High School." Accordingly, later listings of the standings which I used to find in the old microfilm files of the Mansfield News included "Randolph" instead of its former name.

Naming a town's high school (as opposed to elementary schools) after a prominent community figure is rare, but not unheard of. Of course, Easton's high school is Oliver Ames High, after the patriarch of that famed political family, who was governor of Massachusetts from 1887-90. Joseph Case High School of Swansea was so named by Mr. Case's daughter, who married into money and basically paid for the construction of the town's first high school as long as it was named after her dad. And the original name of Falmouth High School was Lawrence High School (not sure why), but it was changed in 1973 when the newer Falmouth High was opened. The old Lawrence High School is now Lawrence Middle School in downtown Falmouth.

And I almost forgot this humorous aside -- several years ago, there was a short-lived proposal to rename Attleboro High School as "Coelho High School" after a beloved school superintendent. The proposal didn't get much traction, however, and the ink-stained wags of my former newspaper had a field day with it (although not in print). We believed that the proposal was doomed to failure all along because North Attleboro would never agree to becoming North Coelho. Ha, ha.

So there you have it. But a caveat -- if I don't have the story right, please feel free to email me at theownersbox2020@gmail.com, and we'll tell the tale again.

Whitman-Hanson shocks Brockton, will play Mansfield.

The Whitman-Hanson boys' basketball team apparently does Senior Night right, as the Panthers knocked off the Brockton Boxers, 75-70, in what was technically their first-round game in the Mansfield Roundball Classic on Tuesday night.

The two teams agreed to play at Whitman-Hanson, and not at Mansfield on Monday, so the Panthers could stage their Senior Night festivities at home. Whitman-Hanson will play the other first-round winner, host Mansfield, at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday at the James Albertini Memorial Gymnasium.

Prior to that game, the Mansfield girls will take on Natick for the girls' championship at 5:30 p.m. I'll have the call of both games on Mansfield Cable Access.

In other local basketball action, the Foxboro girls overcame a terrific defensive effort by Old Rochester to win the Warrior Classic title, 34-26, to clinch the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Division 2-South tournament. Lizzy Davis netted 12 points and Katelyn Mollica eight for the Warriors, 19-2.

As the saying goes, "Hoop is life."

Foxboro's Katelyn Mollica. (HockomockSports.com photo)

It's the girls' title game of the Warrior Classic for me today, as the Foxboro girls take on Old Rochester for the crown. Game time is 6:15 at the Warriors' gym.

Foxboro earned the title try with a 60-48 victory over Scituate, in which Katelyn Mollica hit for 26 points to lead the way. Old Rochester, meanwhile, downed Hoosac Valley by a 50-33 score.

Last night was a strong night for my alma mater as both Mansfield teams won their openers in the Mansfield Roundball Classic. The girls upset Bishop Feehan, the third-ranked team in Division 1-South entering the game, 47-44, thanks to an 18-9 fourth quarter, while the boys fended off a late Needham comeback to prevail over the Rockets, 63-58. Matty Boen had a great night for the Hornets, 23 points and 13 rebounds.

The girls, now 9-13 but winners of three of their last four, will close the season Wednesday (5:30 p.m.) against 18-2 Natick, which dismissed Westford Academy 48-32 in the other girls' game.

The Mansfield boys, now 20-2, await the winner of tonight's game between Brockton and Whitman-Hanson at the latter school. Those two teams opted not to play at Mansfield because Whitman-Hanson needed to schedule Senior Night festivities, but the winner will come to the Albertini Gym for Wednesday's title game in the Roundball Classic, a 7:15 p.m. start.

So I'm typing talking-point notes for my broadcasts and writing names into my scorebooks -- while, at the same time, writing out my script for a Thursday recording of my next "The Owner's Box" episode. Sometimes I think I work harder now that I'm retired than I did when I was employed.

And it's more fun.

Hoops du jour

It’s the abbreviated Mansfield Roundball Classic for me. Brockton and Whitman-Hanson have opted out of their first-round games at the Albertini, so instead, the lineup is Natick vs. Westford Academy girls are at 3:45, Mansfield girls vs. Bishop Feehan at 5:30 and Mansfield boys vs. Needham at 7:15. Finals and consolations are on Wednesday.

And yes, I do have my seating pad. I don’t leave home without it.

Let's try a little bracketology.

As of today, there are four days left in the 2019-20 high school basketball regular season in this state -- a sad time, because I just love basketball, but we're also just a few more days short of the start of the "second season," the MIAA playoffs.

In my current incarnation as a cable TV basketball announcer, I cover the teams from three local Hockomock League schools. And so far, of the six teams hailing from those, four of them have qualified for postseason play -- the Mansfield boys, the Foxboro boys and girls and the King Philip girls. The King Philip boys need one win in their two games this week, while sadly, the Mansfield girls are out of the running for the first time since 2013.

So, I decided to do a little bracketology -- well, maybe not to that extent, but I did want to see how some of the teams' seedings were shaping up.

The good news locally is that at least two of those teams will have really high seeds. As today dawned, the Mansfield boys have the top seed in Division 1-South, while the Foxboro girls were checking in at No. 2 in Division 2-South. If all that sounds familiar, well, two years ago both teams parlayed high seeds into state championships.

However, a lot can change.

The Hornets enter today's game against Needham (third at 15-3) at 18-2 for the purposes of qualification (their game against Providence Classical does not count). Brockton, also a participant in the Roundball Classic, is 16-2 and two wins in the tournament could propel the Boxers into the No. 1 spot.

Foxboro's girls are 16-2 for tourney purposes, having chosen not to count their win over Feehan. They may not catch 17-1 Norwood (coached by former Feehan star Amy Lepley Quinn) for the No. 1 spot, but they need wins over Scituate and either Old Rochester or Hoosac Valley in the Warrior Classic to fend off Hingham (16-3) or Falmouth (17-3), which is playing in the Riley Classic in Westwood.

I don't do the Foxboro boys' games on Foxboro Cable, but right now they're looking at a No. 13 seed in Division 2-South with two games to go in the boys' Warrior Classic.

As for KP (for whom I broadcast the games on North TV's Plainville Channel), the girls improved their record to 12-8 but could end up anywhere between the No. 9 and No. 11 seeds in D1-South depending upon the results of other games.

And the KP boys are 10-10 going into their participation in the Somerset-Berkley Tournament (playing the host team in the first round), and they need one win in those two games to qualify to get one of the last two seeds in what projects to be a 14-team D1-South field.

As I said, it can all change in a heartbeat before the MIAA has its annual meeting to determine the seeds on Friday. And yes, I'll publish all of them here, and the TV information as soon as I know what I'm doing.

Elsewhere around the area, the Attleboro boys are looking to check in around 6-8 in Division 1-South. Both of Feehan's teams are in, the boys likely around 7-10 in Division 2-South, while the girls (15-3) right now look like a No. 3 seed in D1-South. North Attleboro's girls (9-10) must defeat Attleboro on Wednesday to qualify for D2-South, and both Dighton-Rehoboth teams, Norton's boys, Seekonk's girls and the Tri-County girls are also heading to the postseason.

Because you asked for it ...

A friend of mine on Facebook asked to see the 1,000-point scorers for Mansfield High because he wasn't sure who was among them, so I gladly will oblige.

Mansfield's Ryan Boulter.

Hard to believe that a school so good at basketball has only six names on the 1,000-point list, but there are good reasons for it. First, from the 1970s through much of the 2000s, Mansfield basically sucked at basketball. Sorry to be so harsh, but I went there and I know. There were good individual players from both the boys' and girls' teams, but not enough of them. And second, the style of play entering this period of excellence has been such that the scoring has been spread around among a lot of very talented players, and not all residing in one or two.

Still, talent usually rises to the top, and that's how it was recently for Ryan Boulter and Meg Hill. And keep your eyes on T.J. Guy and Matty Boen, who should enter next season with more than 600 points apiece. The Hornets also play a lot of games, often 23 in the regular season thanks to exclusion and endowment games, so long tournament runs are very helpful to the quest for quadruple digits.

Player                    Points   Games     Career
Ron Gentili              1,387     91        1958-62
Ryan Boulter           1,324     79        2012-15
Sue Patchett           1,214     80         1989-93
Meg Hill                  1,090    100        2014-18
Paul Souza              1,036      58        1976-79
Geoffrey Stearns    1,008    n/a        1956-59

Greatest Hits: The Owner's Box, Ep. 8

Mansfield coach Michael Vaughan

As part of my podcast's "Greatest Hits" series, I offer this link to Episode 8, which features Mansfield High School boys' basketball coach Michael Vaughan.

Vaughan is an MHS alum that started at point guard and returned to his alma mater intent upon changing the culture and making Mansfield a basketball town. The results speak for themselves -- 293 wins (so far) in 16 seasons, 12 straight winning seasons, seven straight with 20 or more wins (with one more to go this year), eight straight Hockomock League divisional championships, two state Division 1 title games, and one state championship in 2017-18.

And Brandon Borde makes it five!

Foxboro High School's Brandon Borde became the fifth local basketball player this season to reach the 1,000-point plateau on Friday night, scoring 21 points to help the Warriors clinch one-third of the Hockomock League Davenport Division championship with a 68-57 win at North Attleboro.

Borde needed 17 points to reach the milestone. He now has 1,004 points, scored in 81 career games.

He became the 13th Foxboro athlete to reach 1,000 and the second this year, following junior Katelyn Mollica. Earlier this season, Seekonk's Mia DiBiase and Attleboro High's Bryant Ciccio and Qualeem Charles all got to quadruple digits.

Borde is just the fourth Foxboro male athlete to accomplish the feat, and the first in 14 years since Tim Cheney finished with 1,039 points in 2006.

Here's the list of Foxboro 1,000-pointers:

Player                          Points Games    Career
Sarah Behn                  2,562   93        1985-89
Jennifer Brown           1,701   95        1994-98
Ashley Sampson         1,530   99        2014-18
Heather Morgan         1,394   90        1997-2001
Mark Gaffey                1,350   77        1979-83
Mike Myers                 1,156   81        2000-04
Katelyn Mollica          1,074   70        2017-
Kristen Hoffman         1,056   88        2006-10
Angela Astuccio          1,048   96        1999-2003
Tim Cheney                 1,039   85        2002-06
Danielle Murphy         1,024   91        2000-04
Holly Grinnell              1,018   85        1984-88
Brandon Borde           1,004   81        2016-

Attleboro's Dynamic Duo, 3.0

Here are the updated career scoring totals for Attleboro High School, including the progress of the latest same-season duo to reach the 1,000-point list, Bryant Ciccio and Qualeem Charles:

Player                           Points Games   Career

Leland Anderson         1,629   74        1995-99
Derek Swenson           1,463   92        1995-99
Sarah Deyo                  1,341   92        2013-17
Rebecca Hardt            1,221   72        1990-94
Mark Houle                 1,219   64        1986-90
Sara Wright                 1,209   75        1995-99
Tom Sherman             1,127   63        1992-95
Tim Walsh                    1,117   74        2010-14
Jesse Martinez            1,085   75        2000-04
John Shockro               1,061   n/a       1962-65
Bryant Ciccio               1,050   82        2016-
Rebecca King*             1,038   40        1949-53
Nikki Lima                    1,030   79        1990-94
Emily Houle                  1,025   90        2012-16
Qualeem Charles        1,000   85        2016-

*— Scored under six-player rules.