Local Hoops Team Wins Top New England Tournament

Let's face it. Christmas vacation is probably every sixth grader’s favorite week of the school year. It means a chance to celebrate a holiday, open gifts, spend time with family and friends and, yes, take a long break from the school routine. Not too many ways to improve on that situation, right?

Well, for the Wilmington Wildcats grade six “A” Travel Basketball Team, their holiday break went way above and beyond your average school vacation. For these 12 players it meant earning a championship title at this year’s Fundamental Hoops Holiday Tournament.

The largest holiday tournament in New England, Fundamental Hoops Holiday Tournament is known for attracting the most competitive teams in the area. 

This year, Wilmington’s sixth grade “A” team played a total of four games.  Dominant throughout the tournament, Wilmington outscored MASCO CAL, Hopkinton and Pentucket in regular play and, finally, defeated Tewksbury Red in the championship round.

Of course, while winning is a lot of fun, it isn’t always the most important part of playing the game. As coach Andre Vega pointed out, sometimes, good sportsmanship is the biggest part of any sport. 

“They played very hard and earned every win,” Vega said. “The best part of it, however, was that after each game the refs commented, ‘You've got a good team there, very respectful.’ As a coach and a father, that’s what I care about.”

With a long basketball season still ahead of them, players Andrew Almeida, Matt Amentola, Josh Bartnicki, Danny Gracia, Chris Grecco, Connor MacKenzie, Ben Maynard, Billy McEvoy, Andrew Pearson, Joey Robiero, Graham Smith, and Mason Vega will, undoubtedly, have plenty more opportunities to make coaches Andre Vega and Keith Pearson proud.