Twenty-three years ago this spring, I walked across a varsity lacrosse field during the half time of a crucial game, and heard legendary coach Bob Livingston deliver the most empowering speech a team could receive. In hushed tones, he invoked the following: "Don't do it for yourselves. Don't do it for your team. Do it for your school!" They went on to beat a Division 1 power that day. At their best, high school sports teams represent their schools, the school's character, spirit and pride. We have so many teams accomplishing this today, that I have to start by promising girls' basketball: "I'll cover you very soon" (because their character and performance are superb.)
Over the years, boys' varsity basketball has been most successful conveying the ethic of sports at Proctor Academy, and if you want an example, check out Principles and Leaders, which I wrote two years ago. Today was a great day in Proctor sports history. Girls' varsity took a 2-1 win at New Hampton, boys' varsity hockey upset #1 ranked Brooks School 6-3 at The Ted. Now about basketball: on Wednesday, Gregor Makechnie's boyz beat a very talented Tilton squad convincingly. Senior Jack Minister (Manchester, England) drains a three:
In his three years at Proctor, Jerome Dyson has emerged as an exceptionally talented, coachable team player, and it was a treat for him that U. Conn's legendary Jim Calhoun flew up to see him score his 1663 point Wednesday. Jim stuck around outside the locker room for a few words of congratulations.
Today's game was for the Lakes Region Championship, between Proctor and an outstanding Brewster Team coached by Jason Smith. The lead changed countless times, and--no matter whom you rooted for--its was a superb contest. Here, our big guy, Phill Wait (Manchester, England), fights for position in the key before a key hook shot.
A huge three-pointer put Brewster ahead by two with less than a minute to go, and the crowd of 400 (including many Andover townspeople who have taken to this team) was chanting and stomping.
I don't know how many points Jerome has now, but his last three came from the left corner with no time left, after a nifty give-and-go (he in-bounded the ball from half court with 2.3 seconds!) This was the most exciting game I have ever seen in any sport, and the crowd pig-piled Jerome to start a celebration that continued throughout Farrell Fieldhouse for ten minutes.
The locker room featured individual displays of dance moves.....
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