Glory, Revisited

Basketball season may be over but, for Wilmington’s 8th Grade Travel Team, the memories will last a lifetime.   For these eleven boys, two coaches and their families this season was filled with challenges, trials and a whole lot of victories.

With an 11 – 3 record the boys were the first-place eighth grade champions in the Central Division of the Merrimack Valley Youth Basketball league.  Defeated in their last playoff game by a dominant Billerica team, the Wilmington boys had their revenge two weeks later in the Shamrock Tournament when they turned the tables and beat Billerica 66-52 in the final game.

Recently, the boys of the 8^th Grade Travel Team had an opportunity to celebrate their season and relive many of the moments that made their team so special.  For head coach Masato Aoki it was a season to be proud of.  “I will remember a season in which every player and the whole team improved,” he said. 

Wilmington’s boys were formidable opponents throughout the season. With 6’5” Connor Bennett and 6’1” Ryan Walsh, Aoki joked, “Several opposing coaches were heard asking what’s in Wilmington’s water?”

Size, of course, is nothing without skill and there was plenty of that on the 8th grade team this year. 

“Feeding the post was a key to the team’s success all season,” said Aoki. “Big men Abbott, Aoki, Bennett, Field, and Walsh posted up with grit, and Colangelo, Daley, Horgan, O’Regan, Penney, and Raffi fed the post with deft passes.”  

No team would be complete without some adversity and, for the eighth grade boys, it came when Connor Bennet was sidelined with a leg fracture. 

Bennet rehabbed and returned faster than expected but, equally important, his friends and teammates stepped up to fill the void and stay on top of the game while he was out. 

“Devin Field,” Aoki said, “stepped up and played a terrific center during Bennett’s rehab; we won all four league games with Field at center.”

For Lori Penney, whose son Matthew was a member of the team, the season was all about the teamwork.  “This is one of those teams that completely stuck together and will bring great memories for the boys, parents and coaches" she said, “The coaches have put their heart and soul into this team, and it showed through the players on the court.”

As the eighth grade travel team closed out their season and celebrated their victories, the true value of what they had accomplished showed. 

“Eleven wonderful families supported the team with enthusiasm tempered by their own good sportsmanship,” said Aoki. “Most of all, working hard and having fun along the way, eleven friends learned that, if they play smart, play with heart, support each other, and work as a team, they can grow and succeed.”

Of course while the community can look at the league championship title with pride, that is not the only thing that it important. 

“If these eleven gentlemen take what they learned on the court into their community,” said Aoki, “Wilmington will have a lot to be proud of.”