It's time for other towns to follow Naugatuck's lead
By Patrick Tiscia, Litchfield County Sports, April 13, 2011In my 10 years on the media scene, I've been asked on more than one occasion by local basketball coaches why Naugatuck High School, a school with a strong athletic following, does not have as strong a student body presence at basketball games as other teams.
It’s a very good question. And it comes with a very easy answer. Those kids have their own games to play.
Thanks to the Naugatuck Basketball Association, kids cut by the high school team have a place to play. The league, as popular as it has ever been in its 35 years, has 13 teams and around 200 players.
Growing up, basketball was a great passion of mine, but, believe it or not, I struggled in a few aspects of the game. Namely, dribbling, shooting and interior defense. For the record, I could hold my own guarding the perimeter in a zone, but you get my point. I had just as strong a chance of playing for the Yankees than I did the Naugatuck High School basketball team.
Thankfully, I still had an opportunity to play the sport I love in a team setting. And, to this day, I have fonder memories playing in this league than I did any baseball one, despite the fact I was a lot better baseball player. Countless high school classes were spent trash-talking my friends on other teams and countless hours were spent at the gym watching other teams play. The league and my team meant everything to me, as it did with many others I know.
The past four years, I had the chance to kind of relive my youth by attending my brother Billy’s games.
To my pleasant surprise, the league was full of players from my era, such as Bill Cowan, Justin Savarese, Mike Monahan, Paul Singley and Ricky Toole, either coaching of refereeing. Not to my surprise, the intensity and passion from the players in the league is as strong as it’s ever been.
Seeing this always makes me wonder why other towns don’t have leagues like this for kids. Players who don’t make high school baseball teams still have the Babe Ruth League, yet leagues like the Naugatuck Basketball Association are far and few between.
Naugatuck has been lucky to have someone in Kevin McSherry, the commissioner of the league, to do the dirty work to make the league go. McSherry has been a vital part of the league since 1982 in every role conceivable, spending thousands of hours working and thousands of dollars on sponsorships, rent and uniforms. And in doing so, he’s paved the way for thousands of kids to have a place to still play basketball and a place to go after school.
Setting up a similar league is unquestionably a major task, but one look at Naugatuck is all you need to know it’s worth it. Hopefully, one day down the road leagues across the state like the “NBA” will be the norm, not a rare exception.
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2010 NBA Champions - McSherry Law
Team sponsor Kevin McSherry (left) holds the NBA championshp trophy with head coach Bill Cowan, as the rest of squad poses for a team photo. The players are, in no particular order: Jake Bendler, Jake Mulhall, Brandon Halbert,Dave Kimball, Sean Brelsford, Evan Dwyer, Seth Mulhall, Zack Williams, Billy Tiscia, R.J.Hanson, Conner Mohan and Rob Antidormi.
McSherry Law captures NBA championship
NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck Basketball Association concluded its playoffs Tuesday night at City Hill Middle School, as McSherry Law swept Nardelli’s, 2-0, in the championship series to claim the NBA crown.
The Lawmen finished a perfect, 16-0 season with a 60-37 victory. They had taken game one of the best-of-three series with the Grinder Guys by a convincing, 77-54 margin Monday.
Sean Brelsford knocked down 24 points, blistering the nets with six three-pointers to pace McSherry Law, last year’s NBA runner-up. Jake Mulhall threw in 17 points with a big game in the paint, and Seth Mulhall added eight points for the Lawmen, who led 42-14 at the half.
“We came into this series fired up,” McSherry head coach Bill Cowan said. “We should have taken it last year,” in reference to his team’s loss to Rich’s Car Works in the final game. “This year we knew what we had to do, and we had the players to do it. We were strong inside and had the outside shooting to keep teams on their heels.”
The Lawmen built a 13-6 first-period advantage with Jake Mulhall (25 points and 10 rebounds) doing most of the damage. He netted eight in the stanza.
McSherry began to pull away with an inside tandem of Brandon Halbert (seven rebounds, three blocks) and Jake Bendler (13 points, six rebounds) cleaning house in the paint.
Dave Kimball (six assists) directed the offense from the point guard spot and with four minutes to go in the first half, the Lawmen were in control, holding a 26-15 lead.
Evan Dwyer and Billy Tiscia (six points) banged home shots with Zack Williams, R.J. Hanson and Conner Mohan tightening up the defense, allowing only one more Nardelli’s point the rest of the half.
McSherry took a 34-16 lead into the locker room. Despite being a man down, with Rob Antidormi on the bench, sporting crutches and a cast, the Lawmen dominated on both ends of the court.
Nardelli’s stayed with the Lawmen in the second half, outscored by only a 26-21 margin, but the game was decided by the 21-10 edge McSherry gained in the second period.
Nardelli’s gave a game effort, led by Nick Santo (11 points) and Justin Petella (eight points), with Manny Nobre (six points, six steals), Ryan Petella and Eddie Barrett (five rebounds) working to cut the deficit.
By the time the B-squads took the court at the end of the third period, McSherry was in front by a commanding, 44-20 margin. Mike Butkus (four rebounds) gave the Grinder Guys a lift with hard-nosed play under the boards.
The Lawmen entered the final quarter with a comfortable, 46-25 margin. Nardelli’s tried to battle back, but it was too little, too late, as McSherry won going away, by a 60-37 final margin. In an act of sportsmanship, the Lawmen brought on Antidormi—cast and all—for the final shot, as the seconds ticked off the clock.
“I think we came into the season thinking we had something to prove after last year’s tough loss in the final game,” Cowan said.
