Our basketball journeys follow unpredictable paths.
March 6, 1973 brought unexpected joy to an unheralded Wakefield High School team. Eight seniors played together since Junior High school. Five were at least 6'5". First, some background...
An arsonist torched the old part of Wakefield High, leading to double sessions, upperclassmen 7-12 and underclassmen 12-5. Practice was at night. "Wear your hats and mittens home. You're no good to us sick."
Playing in a bandbox with an antiquated scoreboard, we had a 'new era' coach, Sonny Lane who believed in game film, detailed scouting reports, shot charts, and statistics. He was a twenty-something disciple of Wooden and Dean Smith. He knew how to teach and motivate kids.
The ancient team room smelled of sweat and Tuf-skin, but had a large framed poster of the Pyramid of Success.
Starting from scratch, Coach Lane's first two seasons hadn't gone great, 3 and 17 and 8 and 12. The latter closed with three wins. We played in the tough Middlesex League that spawned Rollie Massimino, the top Massachusetts division State Champion two years running, and a pair of NBA first round choices, Ron Lee and Bob Bigelow.
Expecting a lot for 1973 was unrealistic against strong competition and lacking a winning tradition. The team elected me "Captain," a kid who had never started a varsity game. I changed the title to "Team Representative."
Our league opener yielded a controversial 90-89 loss as our star player's hoop at the buzzer was disallowed. The buzzer was broken on the clock. Coach Lane had no sympathy. "Greatest game ever in Wakefield? You gave up 90 points."
But maybe there was a 'there' there. Note that pre-shot clock, pre-3-point shot, we scored 35 points in a frenetic final eight minutes.
Meanwhile, politics simmered in the background amidst a School Committee investigation. School Committee members evaluated the purpose of athletics, participation or winning. They arranged a series of hearings, questioning coaches favoring winning over playing time. Just two and a quarter years earlier the football team won the State Championship and winning wasn't an issue.
Late in the season, The Wakefield Daily Item editor Robert Dolbeare postulated, "If victory is not the goal, then why put forth the effort?" Winning mattered and the coach stayed.
We headed into the playoffs sporting a nine-game winning streak and a 17-3 record, having lost three games by a combined four points. We still went into the "Tech Tourney" unranked. Nine of the twenty past sectional finals featured two Middlesex League teams.
The first round matchup opposed the local vocational school. It wasn't competitive as we won 76-23, not a true test.
The quarterfinals matched us against perennial power Andover and their seventeen game winning streak. We dispatched them 57-37, shooting 23-42 with our ball control offense.
The semifinals moved to Boston Garden against the top seed, St. John's Prep, 22-0, averaging 89 points per game. Their top player, Dave Winey, eventually became a Celtics draft choice after a career at Minnesota. We fell behind 26-12, but had a stunning 23-0 run over 8:35, including a 17-0 run to close the half. We won 47-41. Coach said that when you play defense, you can get back into games.
That brought us to March 6, 1973 at the Garden, against the twice defending State Champions Lexington. Their coach had called us, "a three quarters" team that would fold in the fourth. Cub reporter Peter Gammons had the beat.
I'll never forget the final play.
The shot misses, I jump and literally do not come down as a teammate catches me in the air.
Basketball creates unforgettable moments. I was blessed to live through one fifty years ago today.