Mission begins a-New

Titans start 1st trek in Div. 2 with win
By Dan Keats / Basketball | Friday, March 4, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com |

After conquering Division 4 a year ago, New Mission gave itself a new mission to conquer bigger fish on the hardwood.

The No.  2-seeded Titans passed their first test in Div.  2 North with flying colors last night, routing No.  15 Reading, 61-43, at the Reggie Lewis Center.

After being assessed a technical for dunking in pregame warmups, Kachi Nzerem made up for the mental mistake by matching the Rockets’ first-half offensive output with 14 points. He finished with 20 points, while Samir McDaniels added 15 to go along with nine rebounds. Nzerem opened up the Rockets zone defense to get a number of layups and second-chance buckets.

New Mission (17-4) will face No. 10 Lynn Classical in a sectional quarterfinal on Sunday.

“I was happy with our defense tonight; to hold a good team like that to 43 points, it was good,” said Titans coach Cory McCarthy. “We dominated from start to finish and that’s what I wanted to do.”

The Titans led 21-10 after one quarter and then held Reading (10-11) to just four points in the second for a 34-14 halftime advantage. The lead got as high as 30 at 59-29 with 5:05 left in the game when Leroy Hamilton buried a 3-pointer in the corner, one of eight in the contest for a team that McCarthy considers to only have one true outside shooter in Nzerem, who hit five of the team’s eight.

Jerry Ellis-Williams led Reading with 19 points.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/general/view.bg?articleid=1320934

Cambridge out

Lawrence pulls off stunner in first round
By Adam Kurkjian / Boys Basketball | Saturday, March 5, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com |

The biggest shake-up of last night’s tournament action came in the Division 1 North sectional, where visiting Lawrence stunned No. 2 Cambridge, 82-78, in a first-round contest.

The No. 15 Lancers (14-8) were led by standout guard Jaylen Alicea, who recorded a triple-double with 35 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

“Jaylen did a lot, and we needed him to, but a lot of other players came out and played a great supporting role,” Lawrence coach Paul Neal said.

One of those players was Jessy Hiraldo, who played less than a quarter because of foul trouble but still managed 14 points and 10 rebounds and helped the Lancers handle the length and athleticism of the Falcons in the post.

“(Hiraldo) gave us some good minutes, and then after that it was really just a good team win,” Neal said.

Cambridge (19-2) led at the half, 44-41, and extended the lead to 11 points in the third quarter. The Lancers came storming back to take an 11-point lead of their own in the fourth.

Cambridge made a late run at the lead, but Alicea (15-of-19 free throws) hit 11-of-13 from the line in the quarter to seal the win.

Lawrence will face No. 7 Westford Academy in the quarterfinals tomorrow.

In the Div. 4 South quarterfinals, Cohasset coach Bo Ruggiero feels his team’s strength is its “spunk.”

“It’s all coming from energy,” he said.

That energy, in the form of a jump ball, turned out to be the difference for the No. 3 Skippers, who held off South Shore League rival and sixth-seeded Mashpee, 54-51, in Cohasset.

With Cohasset (20-2) clinging to a one-point lead, Mashpee’s Zak Orcutt missed a jumper with less than five seconds to go. The Skippers, who made 10 steals, were able to tie the ball up near midcourt, and the possession arrow went their way. After Mashpee fouled Sam Richardson (22 points) with 1.4 seconds left, the Cohasset senior calmly sank both.

“We had to make a stop and the ball was on the floor,” Richardson said. “We all just went on it and we got it.”

Richardson and junior Kyrel Jaundoo (six points, eight rebounds, five steals, two blocks) sparked an early 12-0 run.

But the Falcons (18-4), who split the regular-season series with Cohasset, rallied behind Nico Hendricks, whose 10 first-half points allowed his team to slice the deficit to 28-25 by the break. Then free throws did it for Cohasset.

In Div. 4 South action, Kyle Lawyer led No. 5 Cathedral (19-3) with 26 points in a 76-51 win against No. 4 Westport. Joe Greene added 17 points for the Panthers. . . .

No. 5 Winthrop (15-6), behind 19 points from Michael Griffin and 18 points from Quinton Dale, knocked off No. 4 Mystic Valley in a Div. 4 North quarterfinal.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/general/view.bg?articleid=1321159

Focus lands on Madison Park

New film follows basketball team

Film Trailer: http://vimeo.com/18521014

Flash back to four years ago. Coach Dennis Wilson and the 19-0 Madison Park Cardinals are destined for basketball greatness. The team is the top seed heading into the state tournament, but a slew of interior problems are festering and dissolving the team chemistry.

“Every week, there was always something going on,’’ Wilson said. “One of my players’ mothers was beaten up by a boyfriend who was an ex-boxer. There were constant social problems — whether they would be stemming from the community, a friend, or a cousin. And neighbors were shot and stabbed.’’

The biggest problem involved captain Raheem “Radio’’ Singleton and Malik Smith, who represented rivalry neighborhoods — the Heath Street and Academy project homes. Each party felt the other was getting too much publicity, which resulted in the selfish play of two star athletes and compromised the strength of the team.

Meanwhile, Boston-area filmmaker Rudy Hypolite, who was captivated by Wilson’s relationship with the athletes behind the scenes, captured the roller coaster season that ultimately fell short of its goal and turned it into a documentary, “Push: Madison versus Madison.’’

“The team was No. 1 and was a great team — very talented,’’ said Hypolite, who has known Wilson for nearly two decades. “In my mind, I said, ‘Wow, I’d love to capture that journey whether they go all the way or not. Dennis is also a history teacher, so I wanted to capture the sense of what was happening in the school system. It was a great way of telling the story about the challenges that teachers and these kids deal with, the backgrounds they come from.’’

The documentary was one of 100 films selected from 2,500 entries to air at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, Calif., which begins tomorrow and runs through March 13.

Hypolite praised his supporting cast, including cinematographer Mike Pecci, writer Ian McFarland, and musician Malik Williams, who developed a soundtrack solely for the film.

The 25-year coach said that the purpose of the documentary wasn’t just to capture the struggles at Madison Park, but to show troubled athletes across the country that they can make it, and to not give up.

Wilson hopes that players will end up like Singleton, who is now the starting point guard at the University of Maine.

“I want to inspire coaches like myself, teachers like myself, and kids that are going through what my kids are going through, that they can make it,’’ said Wilson, whose current team opens tournament play Thursday against Franklin. “You got to be strong and you got to persevere. Is everyone going to make it? No, and that’s the sad reality. But if the word gets out, the kid who’s thinking about giving up won’t give up, because he knows I can make it like [Singleton].’’

However, it’s not just the success on the court that motivates Wilson to help students. He also sees himself as a mentor and a resource to students who look up to him in a time of need.

But even with the success of some athletes, Hypolite and Wilson believe it is not enough. Hypolite said that the purpose of the documentary is to reach out to the inner cities and help restore values, morals, and an appreciation for life.

“Outside of [the success], do we keep leaving the system like it is?’’ Hypolite said. “Life isn’t valued anymore. And even with someone like Dennis, who’s a mentor and a father figure, it’s not enough — the neighborhoods have changed. There are no programs like math teams and book clubs to help these kids, and that makes it so much harder to combat these circumstances.

“We want this documentary to serve as an insight to the inner city, and show that something needs to be done.’’

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

Eye-opening MP basketball documentary

Push Madison V Madison Trailer from Rudy Hypolite on Vimeo.

By Dan Ventura | Monday, February 28, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Other High School

Dennis Wilson and Rudy Hypolite didn’t set out to become the next Steven Spielbergs of the movie world.

Their goal was simple — open people’s eyes to the everyday challenges facing inner-city students.

The two spent more than three years working on a documentary featuring the Madison Park boys basketball program. The 90-minute film, called “Push: Madison versus Madison,” recently was accepted by the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose and will be shown three times in early March.

A sneak preview can be found on their website, www.pushmadison.com.

“We’re so excited that we were one of the few selected,” said Wilson, the Madison Park coach. “Our goal is for someone like ESPN, HBO or Showtime to see the movie, pick it up and show it nationally.”

Push Madison V Madison Trailer from Rudy Hypolite on Vimeo.

The genesis of the documentary came about shortly after the 2005-06 season, one in which a youthful Cardinals team advanced to the Division 1 South sectional final. With the bulk of the squad returning the following season, Hypolite approached his good friend Wilson and suggested combining forces on a documentary following the 2006-07 team.

“Dennis and I worked together on his sports show on cable access, so we would always talk about the challenges he faced in dealing with players,” said Hypolite. “I knew they were ranked No. 1 in the preseason, so I asked Dennis about following the team and he said, ‘Let’s go for it.’ ”

Much of the film focuses on the ’06-07 season, one in which Madison Park went through the regular season undefeated. While things looked good on the surface, the film displays the daily battles Wilson faced in keeping the train on the right track.

The petty issues reared their ugly head in the sectional semifinals, when Madison Park was stunned by Braintree. To this day, it pains Wilson to talk about a golden opportunity wasted away for selfish reasons.

“I will never forget seeing the blue and white of Braintree celebrating after that game,” said Wilson. “We had cut down 30 hours of film into 90 minutes and what happened in that game was one of the toughest things I had to see.

“I know Radio (star point guard Raheem Singleton) was very bitter, feeling we didn’t do enough to stop the selfish attitudes. I think when he sees the film, he’ll see I tried to do everything possible to address it.”

The film also takes a look at the senseless murders of two of Wilson’s most successful student-athletes, Lloyd Industrious and Errol Morrison. While Wilson tries to keep their memories alive, he wonders whether the newer generation fully grasps what transpired to Industrious and Morrison.

“Unfortunately, many of the young kids we deal with have already dealt with a friend or relative having been murdered,” said Wilson. “I just hope they understand what special young men Lloyd and Errol were, but I am not so sure that they always do.

“Young people nowadays tend to devalue their life and not value the life of others. Too many times, they just don’t value life enough and that’s sick. That has to stop.”

The movie closes with footage from the 2009-10 season. Many of those seniors were freshmen on the ’06-07 team and Wilson constantly leaned on them to avoid the pratfalls which derailed that squad.

With seniors Spencer Brathwaite and David Campbell leading the way, the Cardinals captured the Boston City League title, went on to win the Div. 1 South sectional championship, before falling to Central Catholic at the Garden.

“They saw firsthand what happened when you don’t play as a team,” Wilson said. “We kept telling them the 2007 team was a more talented team, but you are a better team.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/general/view.bg?articleid=1319837

Barros's mission to change lives - Basketball his vehicle for good will

‘ I want the kids out there to know there are alternatives
to the life they see on the streets.’
- TOME BARROS

By Bob Hohler
GLOBE STAFF

Bullets would fly and someone from his neighborhood
would die. The law of averages told him so.
When Tome Barros departed UphamsCorner in
Dorchester last summer to try to change the
world —Barros is the first recipient of a $25,000
international sabbatical grant aimed at improving
children’s lives through basketball —he anticipated hearing along the way about another senseless killing back home.

The moment came 44 days after he began his 10-month odyssey. The son of Cape Verdean immigrants, Barros, 24, was teaching children in Senegal about striving for the best in life and basketball when word arrived that his cousin, David Martins, was shot to death on a Dorchester sidewalk. Martins was murdered 10 years after Barros lost another cousin, Michael Tavares, to gunfire on the streets.

To be young and Cape Verdean in parts of Dorchester and Roxbury has spelled danger since a conflict between Cape Verdean factions in 1995 turned into a street war. The death toll has topped 25, according to police estimates, while dozens have been wounded, and many others are behind bars.

His community in crisis, Barros is training to help rescue it. When he returns in April, he plans to honor his slain cousins and help save the next generation of Dorchester’s Cape Verdean youth by applying the teaching experience he gained in the back country of Senegal and the violent slums of Brazil on the streets of Boston.

Barros is the face of a better tomorrow in a city scarred by a rising tide of homicides. Of the 72 murders last year in Boston —up nearly 50 percent from 2009 —few were more shocking than the shooting death of a 14-year-old who was allegedly ambushed on his scooter by two Cape Verdean youths a mile from Barros’s home.

“I want the kids out there to know there are alternatives to the life they see on the streets,’’ said Barros, who has embraced the values he learned from his parents, teachers, priests, and mentors.

“I want the kids to see me as a role model they can follow away from all of that,’’ he said by phone from Cape Verde, an island nation off northwest Africa.

Cape Verde is the last stop on Barros’s 10,000-mile mission, a journey on which he has exemplified the spirit of the Peace Corps and the power of sports to improve society. On each stop, he has spent days inviting boys and girls to basketball clinics, then weeks teaching them not only about the game but the power of education, leadership, and healthy living.
He carries with him the hopes of a South Boston couple —Justin and Lindsey Kittredge —who four years ago launched Shooting Touch Inc., a nonprofit that first served needy children in Boston, then went global.

“Tome has surpassed our expectations on every level,’’ said Lindsey Kittredge. “He has been a gift for us.’’

His greatest contribution could be helping to transform the culture of crime and violence back home. For 19 years, the challenge has largely fallen to Paulo De Barros, director of the Catholic Charities Teen Center at St. Peter’s Church in Dorchester and president of Cape Verdean Community UNIDO.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino last year honored De Barros’s peace efforts by naming him Crime Fighter of the Year.

“I’ve been doing this work 19 years and the community has been lacking the young leaders we need to step up,’’ De Barros said. “Tome has it all: the vision, the innovation, and a special talent for connecting with kids. He could make a huge difference.’’

Connection through ‘Touch’ De Barros has twice led youths, including Barros, on goodwill basketball missions to Cape Verde. On each trip, Barros lugged extra clothes to give to poor children, some of whom had no shoes. Barros said he lives by a motto he learned at Boston College High School: “Be a man for others.’’

Now he is a humanitarian for the Kittredges, who once knew little about the deadly violence in Dorchester. They had privileged youths —Justin playing basketball for Northfield-Mount Hermon, Lindsey for Rivers —before Justin played hoop at James Madison University and Lindsey joined the lacrosse team at the University of Vermont.

Mayor Thomas M. Meninolast year honored De Barros’s peace efforts by naming him Crime Fighter of the Year.

“I’ve been doing this work 19 years and the community has been lacking the young leaders we need to step up,’’ De Barros said. “Tome has it all: the vision, the innovation, and a special talent for connecting with kids. He could make a huge difference.’’

Connection through ‘Touch’ De Barros has twice led youths, including Barros, on goodwill basketball missions to Cape Verde. On each trip, Barros lugged extra clothes to give to poor children, some of whom had no shoes. Barros said he lives by a motto he learned at Boston College High School: “Be a man for others.’’

Now he is a humanitarian for the Kittredges, who once knew little about the deadly violence in Dorchester. They had privileged youths —Justin playing basketball for Northfield-Mount Hermon, Lindsey for Rivers —before Justin played hoop at James Madison University and Lindsey joined the lacrosse team at the University of Vermont.

Justin, 34, was so consumed by basketball that he joined Canton-based Reebok International in 2000 because employees can play in the company gym on their lunch hours. He made such good use of the court that he set Guinness world records there in 2009 for the most blindfolded free throws made in one minute (16) and the most unassisted free throws made in two minutes (64).

He also scaled the corporate ladder, most recently taking charge of basketball and tennis products for the sneaker and apparel giant. But he worked at the grassroots level along the way and learned about the unmet challenges in the inner city.

“I saw a lot of kids who needed mentoring,’’ Justin said, “but I didn’t see a lot of it going on.’’

Shooting Touch’s early years were dedicated to running clinics and providing academic incentives through a Gear 4 Grades program for urban high school athletes. (The boys’ basketball team at Boston’s New Mission High School was among the first recipients.)

Then the Kittredgesdreamed bigger, designing a sabbatical program similar in spirit to the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders. Through Shooting Touch, they grant graduating college seniors $25,000 for independent study programs, including travel expenses, anywhere on the planet. The traveling ambassadors are free to design their own journeys and programs so long as they use basketball to promote social change.

Enter Barros. With two days to go last year before the Kittredgesclosed their first application process, Barros contacted them with an urgent appeal. A senior at Hampton University in Virginia, he had been tipped off about the sabbatical by a cousin who was helping Shooting Touch produce a promotional video.

“Tome came in and blew us away,’’ Lindsey said. “A lot of applicants talked about using basketball to escape from the streets, but in Tome’s case it seemed a lot more real.’’

Barros told of avoiding the bloodshed by exercising extreme caution and deft street diplomacy. He found safe havens at schools —St. Patrick in Roxbury through eighth grade, then BC High. And while some friends aligned with gangs, Barros found refuge on the basketball court at the Boys & Girls Club of Dorchester —the same court where mentors once helped a troubled kid named Mark Wahlbergturn his life around. (The club was recently featured in a “60 Minutes’’ segment on Wahlberg.)

Barros quickly established himself as one of the club’s stars. He immersed himself in basketball, community service, and the Keystone Club leadership program, and in 2004 received the center’s top honor as Youth of the Year.
“Tome came here to be safe from the streets, but he evolved into a leader and made a profound impact on his peers,’’ said Mike Joyce, the club’s vice president for programming, who has mentored youths there since 1979. “He’s one of the finest kids we’ve had.’’

Barros grew up in the club with EdsonCardoso, who is widely respected in the Cape Verdean community as a teacher and the boys’ basketball coach at Charlestown High School.

“Tome and I went through the same struggles,’’ Cardoso said. “He has grown up to be a very passionate and positive leader. He’s really going to make an impact when he gets home.’’

The journey continues Barros already has made a difference overseas. In Senegal, he restored dilapidated basketball courts, organized clinics, and taught impoverished children about leadership, the value of education, and AIDS prevention. He befriended strangers who gave him places to live. He also learned enough French and Portuguese —he already knew Cape Verdean Creole —to communicate in Senegal, then Brazil, the second stop on his mission, and the most jarring.

As bleak as life seemed for many children in Africa, nothing prepared Barros for the desperate poverty in the sprawling shanty towns of Rio de Janeiro. Soon after he arrived in October, government forces cracked down on drug gangs in advance of the 2016 Olympic Games. Dozens were killed, and heavily armed troops continue to patrol the slums.

Amid the danger, Barros reached out to scores of homeless and hungry children, some of whom followed him after his clinics in the hope he would house and feed them.

“The best thing was, I was able to give them the experience of feeling like kids again,’’ Barros said. “I felt like I was making a difference every single day.’’

Barros has tried to ensure his legacy continues overseas by mentoring young adults in each country to carry on his work.

He already has established a nonprofit, Basketball Outreach Unifying Neighborhood Communities Everywhere (BOUNCE), to fund his efforts to use basketball as a way to guide high-risk youths in Dorchester toward peace and prosperity through educational programs.

Shooting Touch measures the success of its sabbatical ambassadors by monitoring their personal development and requiring them to chronicle the impact they make on each step of their journeys.

Now he is back to his family’s roots in Cape Verde, mentoring children too young to grasp the depth of their poverty.

“When I see them, I see myself as a child,’’ Barros said. “I realize I would be one of them if my parents hadn’t strived to go to America and find better opportunities for us.’’
He tells the Cape Verdean children anything is possible if they get their educations —a message he plans to make a cornerstone of his campaign back home.

His journey, he said, has primed him for the challenge.
“I’ve changed countless lives and learned how to change many more,’’ Barros said. “It’s been a dream come true.’’
The dream could help him shape a better Boston.
Bob Hohlercan be reached at hohler@globe.com.
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

Lasting friendship buoys Woburn duo

WOBURN — Mickel Simpson and Ricky Aponte had the course all charted out — play basketball together on club teams, get to high school and lead Woburn to glory.

But fate dealt the duo a cruel hand.

Aponte was diagnosed with a heart condition following his freshman year and had to give up basketball. The news was a crushing blow for Simpson, but the 6-foot-3 senior guard has used it as personal motivation.

“I was devastated. I was there when he found out. I was shocked,” Simpson said. “Now, I play for him, I don’t want to let him down. I know if he was out there, he would be giving it his all, so I want to give it my all.

“I don’t want to look back and see what I could have done better. I want to give it 100 percent all the time.”

Aponte’s name may not appear in the box score, but his presence clearly can be felt. From his spot on the Woburn bench, Aponte is quick to offer encouragement or advice when the situation calls for it.

“We’ve played together since the sixth grade and we’re like family now,” Aponte said. “I see things on the court and I make sure to tell him what’s going on out there.”

Simpson hasn’t needed much advice, relying on his god-given talent to make an impact on the Woburn program. Coach Tom Sullivan had so much faith in Simpson’s ability from the start that he didn’t think twice about putting him out there against defending Division 1 state champion BC High on the road.

“They had the big shot blocker (Jake O‘Brien), one of the best around,” Sullivan said. “Mickel went right at him and finished with 18 points. He played like a seasoned veteran even though he was a baby at the time.”

Simpson blossomed as a sophomore, playing a key role in Woburn’s march to the Division 2 sectional title. Even though the dream ended in a crushing last-second loss to Milton at the Garden, it was a joyride Simpson gladly would take again.

“Oh it was a great experience,” Simpson said, “to play at the Tsongas (Arena) and the Garden, oh my goodness. Not everyone gets that opportunity. I’m hoping we get back there this year.

“I have that 2009 orange sticker (signifying Woburn’s postseason run) on my wall. I see it every morning, it’s an incentive. I want to get back there.”

The Simpson of today is a far cry from the youngster who played a secondary role on the championship squad.

“The beauty of Mickel is that he is a terrific athlete. He was a great athlete as a young kid,” Sullivan said. “His ballhandling, shooting and his knowledge has increased immeasurably over the last three years, and it’s all because he wants to get better.”

Those skills have caught the eye of several colleges. Simpson already has been accepted at Trinity, while other schools would be more than happy to see him land on their doorstep.

“As competitive as he is on the court, he’s a great kid off the court,” Sullivan said. “He truly is a coach’s dream.”

Do you have a similar story in your community? Let us know at dventura@bostonherald.com or e-mail your own Hot Shots-worthy video (max. 25 megabytes) to hotshots@heraldinteractive.com.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/general/view.bg?articleid=1317343

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CLASSIC >>> MONDAY 2/21 @ EMMANUEL COLLEGE

Time Monday, February 21 · 10:00am - 5:00pm

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Location Emmanuel College Gym

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Created By Basketball X-Perts

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Black History Month Classic 2/21 @ Emmanuel College (PRESIDENTS DAY/ NO SCHOOL)

Public School Event I (Emmanuel College)

12:30pm - New Mission HS vs. East Boston HS
2:00pm - Everett HS vs. Lowell HS

Independant School Event II (Emmanuel College)

3:30pm - Lee Academy (ME) vs. NIA Prep National Team (NJ)

FOOTAGE OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMvmlK9A9zI