Child takes year off from coaching
By Tim Peterson
Turley Publications Sports Correspondent
STURBRIDGE — Head coaches and managers usually make difficult decisions in every game that their team plays during the season.
Tantasqua boys varsity basketball coach Jeff Child has made a lot of those decisions in the past seven years as his Warriors became one of the best high school basketball programs in Massachusetts.
Child, along his wife, Kristen Child-Ledeboer, who’s a foreign language teacher at Tantasqua, recently had to make another very difficult decision that will affect the Warriors boys basketball team next winter.
Child-Ledeboer, who has taught Spanish for the past 15 years, was selected as a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright program, which is a grant for international educational exchange for scholars, educators, graduate students and professionals. She will be teaching English at a university in Mexico outside the cityof Pachuca for the upcoming school year. The couple, who are parents of three young children, will be moving to Mexico in August.
“It’s going to be a huge change for my family,” said Child, who has compiled a 119-38 overall coaching record at Tantasqua. “I really love coaching basketball, but my family is also very important to me. A lot of things just fell into place, which made it very hard for us to say no to this opportunity. We’re really very excited about it.”
Tantasqua Athletics Director Bob Casaceli has given Child, who isn’t a teacher, a one-year leave of absence from his coaching duties at the school. He’ll resume his position before the start of the 2010-2011 basketball season.
“Jeff is just an excellent basketball coach and he’ll resume his coaching position here when his family returns from Mexico,” Casaceli said. “This is just a wonderful opportunity for his wife professionally.”
It’s the first time that the longtime Warriors A.D. will have to fill a coaching position for only one year. Casaceli will be interviewing candidates during the summer and would like the new coach in place before the start of the new school year.. He’ll also be looking for a new junior high boys basketball coach. Mike Lucas, who had been the junior high basketball coach, was named the interim principal at the high school for the coming school year.
Child, who’s planning on coaching basketball or soccer while he’s living in Mexico, is hoping someone who’s already in the Warriors basketball program will fill his role until he returns. One of the leading candidates for the position is Mark Muska, who has also been the Warriors junior varsity boys basketball coach for the past seven years. The only other current coach in the program is Mike Cote, who’s the freshman coach.
“I’m not the one making the decision, but I just think someone from inside the program would be the best fit because it’ll be only for one year,” Child said. “I’ve already spoken with my players about my decision at a summer league basketball game in Shrewsbury a couple of weeks ago. It’s going to be hard for me to leave this senior class, especially a kid like Jake Gubitose, who has been a member of the varsity team the longest.”
Gubitose was a junior captain on last year’s team, which advanced to the Division 2 semifinals and finished the season with an 18-5 overall record. In the previous two years, the Warriors boys basketball team posted an incredible 49-1 record, as they won back-to-back Central Mass. titles and the Division 2 state title in 2007.
A few of the former Warriors basketball players, who have helped build the basketball program during the past seven years are Andrew Kazanovicz, Terry Perreti, Kevin Vayda, Marcus Gaudet, Ryan White, Brandon Forcier, Jeff Lindgren, who played college basketball at Nichols, Brian Vayda, who was the NEWMAC Rookie of the year at Clark University last winter, and Dan Kemp, who was recently was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 24th round of the MLB draft.
“I really love coaching all of these players here at Tantasqua,” Child said. “I think the returning players will do just fine next year.”
The upcoming basketball season will be a challenging one for the new coach. If the Warriors are able to qualify for the postseason again next year, they’ll be competing in the Division 1 for the first time. They’ll also be members of the new SWCL-West division, along with Auburn and archrival Shepherd Hill, which are the only teams they’ll be playing twice. Some of their Division 1 non-league opponents are Marlborough, Doherty, St.Peter-Marian and Milford. The Warriors have also been invited to play against Cathedral High School in the annual Hoop Hall Classic at Springfield College on Jan. 17.
While Child and his family will be living in a different country next winter, he’ll still be able to follow his basketball team via the internet.
Tim Peterson is a sports correspondent for Turley Publications. He can be reached at dforbes@turley.com.
2009 MIAA Central Mass. Girls Lacrosse Tournament Seedings
1-Westboro (11-4-1)
2-Algonquin (13-5
3- Shrewsbury (13-5)
4-Nashoba (14-3-1)
5- N.Middlesex (11-6)
6-Marlboro (12-6)
7-Wachusett (10-9-1)
8-Nipmuc (10-9)
9-St Peter-Marian (9-7)
10-Oakmont (8-6)
11-Grafton (9-8)
12-Tantasqua (7-10)
First round games–
#8 Nipmuc at #9 S.P.M. –Sunday@12 p.m.
#12 Tantasqua at #5 N.Middlesex- Sunday@12p.m.
#10 Oakmont at #7 Wachusett- Saturday@1p.m.
#11 Grafton at #6 Marlboro- Sunday @ 4:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals–
All games are scheduled to be played on Tuesday, June 2 at 4p.m.
Nipmuc–S.P.M.at #1 Westboro
Tantasqua-N.Middlesex at #4 Nashoba
Oakmont-Wachusett at #2 Algonquin
Grafton – Marlboro at # 3 Shrewsbury
Semifinals—
Are scheduled to be played on Thursday, June 4th at Foley Stadium in Worcester. The first game is scheduled to start at 4p.m. followed by the second game.
Finals—
Are also scheduled to be played at Foley Stadium on Saturday, June 6th. Start time T.B.A.
Tantasqua qualified for the postseason tournament because they finished in second place in the Mid Massachusetts Lacrosse League (M.M.L.L.).
The Walker System was used to determine the tournament seedings
2009 central mass. softball tournament pairings
Division 1
1-Milford 19-1
2-Marlboro 18-2
3-Holy Name 16-2
4-Shepherd Hill 17-3
5-Gardner 16-4
6- S.P.M. 13-5
7-Burncoat 11-6
8-Tantasqua 13-7
9-Shrewsbury 13-7
10-Nasoba 11-9
11-Leominster 9-9
12-Fitchburg 9-9
First Round games-
#9 Shrewsbury at #8 Tantasqua on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
#12 Fitchburg at # 5 Gardner on Thursday at 3p.m.
#10 Nashoba at #7 Burncoat on Thursday at 3:30p.m.
#11 Leominster at #6 S.P.M. on Thursday at 3:30p.m.
Quarterfinals-
Shrewsbury or Tantasqua at #1 Milford on Sunday at 2p.m.
Fitchburg or Gardner at #4 Shepherd Hill on Saturday at 2p.m.
Nashoba or Burncoat at # 2 Marlboro on Sunday at 2p.m.
Leominster or S.P.M. at #3 Holy Name on Saturday at 2p.m.
Semifinals-
All games are scheduled to be played at Worcester St. College on Wednesday, June 3 at either 5p.m. or 7 p.m.
Finals-
Are scheduled to be played at Worcester St. College on Saturday, June 6 at T.B.A.
Division 2
1Grafton 18-2
2-David Prouty 16-4
3-Millbury 14-6
4-Hudson 14-6
5-Groton-Dunstable 13-7
6-Clinton 12-8
7- Notre Dame (Worcester) 12-8
8-BMR 10-8
9-Lunenburg 8-8
10- Bartlett 10-10
First round games-
#9 Lunenburg at #8 BMR on Thursday at 3:30p.m.
#10 Bartlett at #7 N.D.
Quarterfinals-
Lunenburg or BMR at #1 Grafton on Saturday at 2p.m.
#5 G-D at # 4 Hudson on Friday at 7p.m.
Bartlett at #7 N.D. at #2 David Prouty on Saturday at 7p.m.
#6 Clinton at #3 Millbury on Saturday at 2p.m.
Semifinals
Are scheduled to be played at Worcester St. College on Tuesday, June 3 at either 5p.m. or 7 p.m.
Finals-
Are scheduled to be played at Worcester St. College on Saturday, June 6 at T.B.A.
Division 3
1-Monty Tech 19-1
2-West Boylston 15-5
3-Assabet Valley 13-5
4-Tahanto 13-5
5-Murdock 14-6
6-Hopedale 14-6
7-Worcester Tech 14-6
8-Whitinsville Christian 11-6
9- Sutton 12-7
10- Ayer 11-7
11 Parker 10-8
12-Hudson Catholic 10-8
13-Narragansett 11-9
14-B.V.T 9-9
15-Nashoba Tech 10-10
First round games-
All games are scheduled to be played on Thursday at 3:30p.m.
#9 Sutton at #8 Whitinsville Christian
#13 Narragansett at #4 Tahanto
#12 Hudson Catholic at #5 Murdock
#15 Nashoba Tech at #2 West Boylston
#10 Ayer at #7 Worcester Tech
#14 B.V.T. at #3 Assabet Valley
#11 Parker at #6 Hopedale
Quarterfinals-
All games will be played at the higher seed.
Sutton or Whitinsville Christian at #1 Monty Tech on Saturday at 2p.m.
Narragansett or Tahanto – Hudson Catholic or Murdock on Saturday at 2p.m
Nashoba Tech or West Boylston – Ayer or Worcester Tech on Saturday at 2p.m
B.V.T. or Assabet Valley – Parker or Hopedale on Sunday at 2p.m
Semifinals-
Are scheduled to be played either on Tuesday (June 2) or Thursday (June 4) at Worcester St. College at T.B.A
Finals-
Are scheduled to be played at Worcester St. College on Saturday, June 6 at T.B.A.
Maynard + Quaboag –Division 3 Central Mass. finals
Fourth quarter–A 8-2 Maynard run cuts the dicit to -55-27 with 5 minutes left. Quaboag starters are sitting on the bench at this point
Final Score–55- 35
Third quarter–Baskets by Jankins and Burns increased the Cougars lead to 34-13 with 5:00 left.
An 11-2 run at the end of the quarter gives the Cougars a 49-17 lead.
Second quarter–O’Keefe scored two more hoops at the start of the quarter to give Quaboag a 17-9 lead. Timeout Maynard. The Tigers only have made four field goals.
Quaboag leads 21-11 with 3:27 left in the half.
A reverse layup by Kayla Sokol gives the Cougars a 23-11 lead
Jankins hits a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Quaboag a 30-11 lead at the break.
First quarter–Maynard has 4-2 lea at 5 minute mark
A Burns driving layup gives the Cougars a 6-4 lead with 3:13 left in opening quarter
Quaboag has a 13-9 lead after the first quarter. O’Keefe is the Cougars leading scorer with 5 points
Starting lineups
Maynard-
# Name
10 Danielle Fairweather
12 Kelsee Howes
21 McKenzie Corcoran
23 Ashley Howes
44 Becky Karner
Quaboag-
10 Meaghan Burns
14 Meagan O’Keefe
15 Olivia Jankins
25 Brianna Fleming
32 Sam McCann
We’re high above court side here at the Recreation Center on the Fitchburg State College campus on this warm Saturday afternoon. In a few minutes the top-seeded and undefeated 23-0 Quaboag Cougars will be facing NO.10 Maynard99(16-5) in the Division 3 Central Mass. finals. The Cougars are looking for their 7th straight District title and 13th overall.
Back soon with the starting lineups
Quaboag + Tantasqua Girls game in progress
2:27 left in second quarter Quaboag is leading 27-15
Halftime–Quaboag 27 Tantasqua 19
Quaboag dominted the first quarter behind a well-balance attack
The Warriors played much better in the second quarter, as they outscored the Cougars 15-4
The Cougars had a 23-4 lead after the first quarter.
Start of second half from the Reservation
5:00 Quaboag 29 Tantasqua 21 Following an inside hoop by Heather Picking
Late in third quarter– Tantasqua has outscored Quaboag 17-8 since the end of the first quarter
31-21 Cougars with 3:15 left in the third.
35-23 Quaboag 1:30 left
39-23 Quaboag following a layup by Quaboag’s Meaghan Burns.
:41.1 left-Tantasqua timeout
End third quarter Quaboag 41 Tantasqua 23
Quaboag 44 Tantasqua 23 6:57 –Tantasqua fought back in the middle two quarters. They sliced the deficit down to 10 points at the end ofr the third quarter. Quaboag scored a couple of quick hoops to pull away again
3:38 Quaboag 48 Tantasqua 25.
The Warriors undefeated Super Bowl team will be honored in a ceremony between games
Less than a minute to play here. Quaboag 50 Tantasqua 29
Final Score Quaboag 50- Tantasqua 31
Quaboag coach John Vayda said that Quabog’s defense was the difference.
Tantasqua’s Kristina Lindgren wasn’t surprised about the Cougars’ intensity. But she believes Tantasqua’s overall prospects are strong.
Heather Picking said, “We believe we can play them. But we need to start the game off, better.
