February 6-12

A rainy Sunday evening provided the perfect conclusion to a quiet week, the only noteworthy activity was on a very busy Tuesday which we will review in reverse order. In the evening we were at McCaskey for the final basketball games of the regular season, the JV squad lost to finish their year at 8-9 while the varsity suffered a 61-51 setback which eliminated the team from league playoff contention. We spoke recently about "frustration games", this night was all of that with a capital F. Sometimes it can be absolutely mind-boggling how one team can play thirty-two intense minutes of basketball and shoot a total of THREE foul shots and how the exact same play can be one thing at one end of the floor and something completely different at the other end. It's not THE reason we lost but it certainly didn't do us any favors. The final mark within league play is 6-4, overall the record breaks even at 11-11. At week's end the team was still barely alive for a district playoff berth but that won't be determined until the qualifying deadline on the 15th. All things considered the highlight of the night may have been the pregame Senior Night recognitions as we recognized Zayden DeSanctis, Javen Sierra, Jashuar Nunez, Branden Wright, Anthony Henson, Markelle Caine, Elias Garcia, Eric Centeno, Deshaun McFadden and Jonathan Byrd as members of the Class of 2023. The day had started early with a 7:00 wakeup call, by 8:30 I was at the Arena for the annual Education Day game. The Worcester Railers were making their final appearance of the regular season for the 10:30 faceoff before a crowd of better than 5400, the majority of them schoolkids. Brendan Hoffman gave the Royals a 1-0 lead five minutes after the game started but Worcester scored the next four and carried that lead into the last period. Two goals by Dominic Cormier in the third made it a 4-3 game but the Royals could not pull even, Pat Nagle (back from the Phantoms) took the decision in net. The club's record drops to 14-7 at home. 26-14-2 overall. The club returns home from a four-game road trip to host the Newfoundland Growlers on Saturday the 18th. Take care, thanks for reading.