High School Basketball and more

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View From The Sidelines

By Steev Riccardo

Walking into the old gym at David Prouty High School in Spencer last Friday night felt like walking on to the set of Hoosiers 2.

As the Bartlett Indians were about to take on the David Prouty Panthers in the Indians’ season opener, it was hard not to look around at the gym and marvel. The David Prouty gym is one of the oldest gyms in the area and it just feels like high school basketball when you are in that joint.

Once the reminiscing was over it was time to play basketball and it was good to see Bartlett in action. They look like a pretty athletic unit this year and took care of the Panthers fairly easily in this, their season opener.

The Indians have a trio of captains in Nick Kobel, DJ Kirby-Thomas and junior Matt Huberdault that form a solid nucleus. They are joined by a couple of impressive underclassmen in junior Akeem Belnavis and sophomore transfer Alex Givens-Perry, who came over from Doherty High School this fall. The five give Coach Tony Paranto a speedy athletic unit.

Belnavis had three steals which seemed par for the course for the same guy who picked off five passes while playing cornerback for the Indians this past season on the football field. Givens-Perry looks like he could be a real player and his debut performance of 8 points and 9 rebounds was living proof of this assessment.

Paranto and the Indians will be looking to use their speed against some of the bigger teams they will face such as the Northbridge Rams, who they will meet this Friday night in their home opener.

In other High School action this Friday, the 2-0 Shepherd Hill Rams will travel to Tantasqua Regional in Sturbridge and take on a tough Quoboag team next Wednesday night.

The 0-1 Sean Halloran-coached Oxford Pirates, coming off a loss to Shepherd Hill on Friday, host rivals Auburn High School.

Rocco and Hack: It was hard not to think about the play of the season in high school football while getting ready for the Bartlett-Prouty game since it took place during this season’s Indian-Panther contest. Rocco Di-Stefano’s jarring hit that forced a fumble that was picked up by DJ Kirby-Thomas and run in for a touchdown was a play that anyone who was at Worcester Tech that night and witnessed will not be forgetting too soon. That clip is up on You Tube.

Speaking of Rocco, he is currently weighing his options on college and is expected to make a decision on where he will be bringing his talents very soon.

We ran into Di-Stefano’s teammate and fellow Indian standout Arthur Hackenson, who was the anchor of their offensive line this season, at the game in Spencer. The Honors student told us that he would be attending Springfield College in Western Mass in the fall.

Lastly, the view wants to wish Boston Celtic forward Jeff Green a healthy recovery from his heart condition, which will keep him off the court all season. Of course life is more important than basketball and his well being comes first. As far as replacing him goes, that will be tough but like we said last week, in Danny Ainge we trust.

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