Khadijah Ellison chooses Miss. St. hoops

Burke star signs
By Dan Ventura | Tuesday, November 16, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Other High School

The halls of Burke High have housed some of the best female basketball talent in the state.

Burke now can add another name to the list.

Khadijah Ellison signed her letter of intent yesterday to attend Mississippi State on a basketball scholarship starting next fall.

The 5-foot-8 senior guard averaged more than 25 points in guiding the Bulldogs to a 17-4 record last season and the Division 3 South sectional quarterfinals. In a season-ending 55-54 loss to Ashland, Ellison poured in a game-high 36 points to go along with seven steals.

“We’ve been fortunate to have some real good players here - Elanie McCants, Starr Fuller, Rekiya Penton, Brianna Forde - and this girl is right there with them,” Burke coach John Rice said. “A school like Mississippi State isn’t recruiting her unless they are sure she can play at that level, and I think she can.”

Ellison took a pair of official recruiting trips, one to Temple in Philadelphia and the other to Mississippi State. She immediately fell in love with the Starkville campus and was ready to sign on the dotted line.

“I just loved everything about it,” Ellison said. “I liked the girls, talked to the players about how things worked.”

Ellison praised Rice for preparing her on what to expect during the recruiting journey.

“He told me how everything was going to be,” Ellison said. “He didn’t beat around the bush, he told me straight up.”

Last season, the Bulldogs won 21 games and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time. Rice, familiar with the Southeastern Conference landscape, teased Ellison as she was signing.

“You know, next year, you’re going to be playing Tennessee,” Rice said with a laugh. “This ain’t going to be New Mission anymore.”

Ellison simply smiled and went about the business of becoming the newest member of the Bulldogs.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/general/view.bg?articleid=1296677

Madison Park captures Boston North flag

City crown in the Cards
By Bruce Lerch | Saturday, November 13, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com |

After three years of being the bridesmaid in the Boston City North, Madison Park can now call itself champion.

Khayree Hudson caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ely Plaza, and Dequell Golson and Isiah White each ran for scores as the MP Machine cranked up a 22-14 victory over East Boston at Airport Stadium last night.

The win clinches the North title and a Division 4 playoff berth for Madison Park (6-1, 5-0) for the first time since 2007.

“All year our whole mentality was to get to the Super Bowl,” Plaza said. “Second place is the first loser and we were sick of that. We aren’t losers anymore.”

Following a sloppy quarter and a half of play that included three turnovers, the Cardinals went to work on an 11-play, 71-yard drive to close out the first half. Hudson had a 15-yard run out of the Wildcat formation to get MP into Jets territory, and a pass interference call set them up at the 30-yard line.

Four plays later, Plaza found a wide-open Hudson on a fade route to give MP 6-0 lead at the break.

“The first time I threw it to him, he dropped it. And when he came back to the huddle, he looked at me and said he was going to make up for it,” Plaza said. “I didn’t think he was going to be open, but he broke out and I just tossed it to him and he caught it. That set the tone for the rest of the game.”

MP forced Eastie (6-3, 3-1) to punt on the opening possession of the second half, and a 37-yard return by Stevon Brathwaite gave the Cardinals the ball at the Jets 34. Big runs by White and Chris Philyew (12 carries, 86 yards) helped push the ball to the 3, with Golson punching it in. After Philyew’s two-point rush, it was 14-0 to the Park.

Eastie responded quickly, getting off to a good start on a 58-yard kick return by Marvin Depaz, then scoring on an 18-yard TD pass from Anthony Whitney to Maicol Restrepo.

Undeterred, MP marched right back downfield with White (8 carries, 51 yards) capping an eight-play drive with a 1-yard plunge with 4:40 remaining.

Eastie tacked on another score when Whitney caught an 11-yard pass from Davonte Holloway on a flea flicker, but MP’s Plaza was able to kneel out the clock.

“I’m really happy for the seniors, because they have watched years of us being in second place,” said MP coach Roosevelt Robinson. “Now they can finally take this one home. I’m really proud for them. This is what you set your sights for, and we were the ones that got it done.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/football/view.bg?articleid=1295983

Paul Pierce in higher Big 3 - Joins Hondo, Larry Bird at 20,000 feat

By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Beat | Thursday, November 4, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Paul Pierce couldn’t do it during the game. The Bucks were too close on the Celtics’s heels. There was still business at hand.

But once the overtime came to a close and the C’s had beaten Milwaukee, 105-102, the 33-year-old grown man cried.

He had reached the 20,000 career point mark and gone five beyond. That made him the 36th player in NBA history to do so. More importantly, it made Pierce just the third player to score 20,000 while playing only for the Celtics.

John Havlicek, Larry Bird and Paul Pierce.

A sentimental tear or two was, indeed, appropriate.

“Even when my mom whupped me, I didn’t cry,” Pierce said later, smiling as he held up his right arm to display the proper defensive stance against maternal attack.

With 13.3 seconds left in the game and the Celtics leading by two, Pierce was fouled. It stands as testament to the fans’ depth that, before they were prompted, the noise began to swell and they rose. Pierce needed 23 points coming into the night, and he was sitting on 22.

He looked into the hoop at the west end of the Garden, paused and sent the ball cleanly through the strings. Pierce let his right arm linger a moment on the follow through.

The standing ovation grew even louder after he made the second shot and Milwaukee called a timeout. Pierce nodded as he moved toward midcourt, then the Celtics bench.

“Coming into the game I knew it, but I didn’t want to press it,” he said. “It was going to happen. But I knew I needed 23 I think tonight to get it. I knew once I got to 22, I looked up and it was a great opportunity to go to the line.

“As a player . . . you ask players about certain things, they know. Like when guys are close to a triple-double, they know if they need another rebound, they need another point. Whether they like to admit it, the players know.”

Pierce knew he didn’t want to reach the milestone in a loss, so he hit four more free throws to keep the Bucks at bay.

Then he dropped a few tears into Boston Harbor.

“A little bit,” Pierce said when asked about losing it. “It was a little emotional, man. I mean, a lot of people in here, they’ve seen a lot of that 20,000. You know, not a lot of people in NBA history have accomplished that. Just to make history for the NBA is great.

“Five years ago, I wouldn’t have even dreamed I would be scoring 20,000 points in a Celtics uniform. The team was going in a direction, I was a disgruntled player at the time, and to still be here and still be talking about this feat is an incredible moment for me.”

Pierce said he found it tough to swallow when he hit the mark.

“I was just thinking about all the years I have been here, and you don’t see it to often where a player accomplishes that kind of feat playing with one team,” he said. “It is a great accomplishment, you know, the fans seeing my ups and downs throughout the years and sticking with me. Just to be able to accomplish this type of feat, it means a lot to me. I am not going to even downplay it. It means a lot.”

In his 13th season in Green, the Celtics history of which he’s always been well aware has become even more important. There have been few players here who have enjoyed being part of this fraternity as much as Pierce.

And now . . . John Havlicek, Larry Bird and Paul Pierce. Seven players have scored their 20,000th point while wearing the uniform, but just those three have worn it only.

“You know, you say those names,” Pierce said. “Those are Hall of Fame players, top 50 players. Just to be mentioned in the same sentence with them as far as scoring, it means a lot. These guys are part of history. These are guys you’re going to remember in Celtic lore forever.

“Hopefully I can enshrine my name in that category as I continue to play and continue to do good things for this franchise.”

It’s more than fair to say he already has.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1293944