Fall League Draws High School Teams to Boston

BOSTON - The Boston neighborhood of Dorchester is noteworthy for a few reasons.  One is historical: it was home to the first recorded town hall meeting in American history, held in 1633.  It is also home to a team in the Boston Park League, the oldest amateur baseball league in the country.  Affectionately known to locals as “The Dot”, it is also home to the Beantown Slam Pre-Season Jamboree, a fall high school league that has lately become the talk of the town on the subject of basketball.

The site is the Dorchester House.  If you drive down Dorchester Ave (affectionately known as Dot Ave, as you might guess), you almost certainly won’t see it unless you’re almost at a stop, because it’s behind two other buildings and there isn’t much of a line of sight to it from the street.  Even when you finally walk up to it, the location and the unassuming appearance from outside still belie what you see after you walk behind the doors and off to the right once inside.

Inside is what an atmosphere is all about.  The court is small and unassuming, but pack fans into the seats right near where the ball is live - as happens for significant stretches every day of action - and you get an atmosphere like many high school games.  Naturally, you see family and friends of the players, and head coaches of teams - who cannot sit on the bench as per state association regulations - are also often among those present in the seats around the court.  And when a big play is made, there’s no secret of it because there’s a clear response from the crowd.

Many of the players come well before their teams play and/or stay later once they are done for simple reasons: they know each other and don’t mind knowing who they are competing against.  Other kids from city schools who live in the area come because they, too, know some of the players and love the game; a few have said they wish their team was in the league.  It all illustrates something that not even the NCAA can change: players love to compete, and as long as there’s a setting for them to do it, they will play.

It all got started four years ago by Steve Drayton, the league’s founder.  Previously, many schools from the city of Boston would leave to play suburban schools in the fall, and it wouldn’t be at just one location.  Drayton wanted something different for the kids in the city, and he certainly has that now with the help of his staff, which includes Derrick King as the operations director, Larry Merritt as program director and basketball operations director Claude Pritchard.  Now it all takes place at one site, with suburban teams coming into the city, and with good teams playing in it.

“We wanted something different that nobody has,” said Drayton.

The league features 20 boys and 12 girls teams; 30 more teams wanted to get into the league this year.  The number of girls teams is up by two from last year, while the boys division has had 20 teams all along.  Every Saturday, games begin at 8 a.m. and a new one starts on the hour until 11 p.m.  The last six games of the day involve boys teams.  The games are not tightly officiated, so players have to play through contact whether there is a foul called or not, and with the court being smaller than what most are used to, an athleticism advantage only means so much.  It’s all about who will make the better basketball plays.

The schools include a mix of Boston city and suburban public schools, and they aren’t also-rans.  City schools include Madison Park, widely expected to be the favorites this year, along with a New Mission team that should give them a run for their money and a young but talented Charlestown team.  Milton and Watertown, which won the state championships last year in Division II and III, respectively, and perennial power Newton North are also in the league.  Even teams from public schools well outside the city compete, with schools like Andover and Lawrence in the boys division and Andover and Hull in the girls division.  Boston College High School, Boston Trinity Academy, Catholic Memorial and Xaverian Brothers are the only private schools in the boys division.  Even there, the city theme remains: BC High is located in Dorchester, Catholic Memorial’s starting backcourt includes two players from Dorchester in seniors Daniel Brooks and Kyle Lawrence, and Boston Trinity has several city kids.

In fact, amidst the surge of prep schools in recent years, it can be easy to forget that a good number of kids excelling in prep schools are from the city of Boston.  Cushing Academy, Lawrence Academy, Marianapolis Prep and Tilton School all have players from Boston on their rosters, to name a few.  For good measure, Tilton won the national prep championship last year anchored by Connecticut freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, who grew up in Dorchester, and with an assist from Gerard Coleman, a future Providence Friar who also grew up in the city.

Even with some talent leaving the city in recent years, the city championship still draws big crowds at the Shelburne Community Center and UMass-Boston.  Teams still take a lot of pride in being city champions even though they head into the championship game already knowing their opening state tournament game.  It’s still a big deal, and with that in mind it’s not a surprise to see it now in the fall when city teams match up.  There is still an extra rivalry edge each team has in wanting to win that game just a little more.

The league is working to market itself more.  It already has sponsorships from Coca-Cola, Reebok, Expressions, and Dorchester Youth Collaborative (DYC) and Dotwell under the direction of the Mayor’s Office.  Your Complete Player is present to film many of the games, footage of which can be accessed at its Web site or via a DVD.  The staff is already seeing more potential for the league just from its early efforts.

The staff is running a similar league starting in December at the middle school level.  After a little break in the action once the fall league is done, the Dorchester House will be home to the Beantown Slam Middle School Jamboree starting on December 5.  With the success they are seeing at the high school level, they are looking forward to what this will bring.

After eight weeks of regular season play, the Beantown Slam Pre-Season Jamboree holds playoffs over two Saturdays on November 14 and 21.  Every team makes it, so they all have a chance to win.  With the way regular season games have gone thus far, one can expect the playoffs to have a similar atmosphere and even one like the city championship always has - all in the small and unassuming building you can barely see from Dot Ave.

Player Notes

• Newton North figured to be a sizeable underdog against a talented New Mission team on Saturday, as the Tigers were without Yale commit Greg Kelley (ankle injury) and junior Tevin Falzon, who was away with family. They were already without Macam Macam Bak, who suffered a serious knee injury early in the season and will be out of action for about a year. But the Tigers made it a ballgame in losing 37-32, and that has head coach Paul Connolly optimistic, especially since his team also didn’t have the services of a couple of players currently playing football.

• Jeff Amazan has a new home after leaving Charlestown High School. Now at East Boston, the 6′3″ guard gives the team an immediate boost alongside the very athletic Dimitry Coronel, especially since he can shoot and has been demonstrating that thus far. His talent could be seen while playing with BABC in the spring, but now he looks more at home on the court. He has a ways to go defensively, but he’s a Division I prospect if he puts the work in.

• The aforementioned Catholic Memorial team lost two key guards from last year’s team, as Jeff Tagger (Taft) and Allen Harris (Suffield Academy) are now at prep schools in Connecticut. While they will need Brooks and Lawrence to play like seniors, one underclassman who should help them stay more than relevant is Matt Droney. The lefty wing has a good motor and a developing game offensively, and could be the X-factor in their season.

• Rodell Whittington has seemingly burst upon the scene for Boston Trinity Academy. The native of Nova Scotia had a big day last Saturday at the New England Elite 75 Frosh/Soph event, then on Saturday willed his team to a win with several key plays that included a game-winning stickback in the final seconds. He’s a well-built 6′3″ wing, with good athleticism and a nose for the ball that comes in part from playing inside for his prior school.

• Brookline has a sleeper prospect in the senior class in forward Jordan Rogers.  One of the better players in the league, he’s not entirely there yet physically but has a great motor and some skills to play both forward spots.  Simply put, he gets things done on the court as he’s around the ball often at both ends of the floor.  If he is to play at the Division I level, his height dictates that he plays the wing, and he’s athletic and skilled enough to get there although he needs to continue improving.