Gary Larrabee

It’s been a basketball season of Amazing for the town of Danvers, and hopefully the best is yet to come. It’s no secret about the successes of the Danvers High (18-2) and St. John’s Prep (18-2) basketball teams. The historic two-year run of the DHS boys has been well documented in this space.

The Prep, meanwhile, less than two miles west of the high school campus, like the Falcons, has unexpectedly been near the top of the Greater Boston rankings throughout the winter as they seek a second Division 1 title in three years under Sean Connolly, the legendary Bishop Fenwick player now considered among the top coaches in the region.

The best kept secret in town resides a mere half mile  from the Prep campus, where Mike Kasprzak lives with his family and has led his alma mater, Melrose High, to only the second 20-0 regular season in school history after last night’s 58-56 victory over upset-bent Arlington.

Kasprzak is no stranger to the high school basketball coaching scene. The 43-year-old, after playing at Melrose High (under the highly successful Nick Pappas) and Bridgewater State, coached as an assistant at Melrose, Minuteman Regional and St. John’s Prep before succeeding the legendary Kevin Lucy at Newburyport High for his first head job. He ran the program for five years before moving on to his dream job, guiding his beloved Red Raiders.

“The kids bought into my program pretty well,” Kaspzak said. “They began playing more in the off-season and it’s paid off.”

Kind of. The Red Raiders a year ago went 20-3, winning the Middlesex League title before losing by five to state finalist Brighton in the Division 2 North semis.  Now, in going 20-0, Kasprzak had led Melrose to back-to-back ML titles for the first time in 50 years, since the great teams of John Killilea in the 1960s. One member of those teams was none other than Mike’s father Thomas. A nice connection 50 years hence.

Moreover, this is the first 20-0 regular season team since Pappas’s 1989 squad.

“It’s taken a few years to change the basketball culture among the Melrose kids, but we seem to be heading in the right direction,” says Kasprzak, the son-in-law of former Northeastern University head football coach and former New England Patriots superscout Paul Pawlyk, another Danvers resident.

“I’ve been truly blessed, starting with the kids who are coming up through the ranks in Melrose, the commitment they’ve been willing to make, the really solid mentors I’ve had. I’ve tried to take a little bit from each of them and apply them to my coaching philosophy.

The group of mentors is impressive, from Lucy, the former Salem High athletic standout, to Pappas, Sonny Lane and MHS football coach Bruce McPherson.

“The most important concept to these men and to myself,” Kasprzak said, “is to remind the kids that athletics are an extension of their schooling. Sports events are part of the school day. You’re supposed to conduct yourself in the athletic setting just as you would as a responsible student in school, representing your family, your school and your hometown.

“And that there are many life lessons to learn in sports,” he continued. “It’s about sacrifice, commitment, togetherness, working harder today than you did yesterday, caring for your teammates as you should your classmates. And that they should appreciate the moment at practice and in games.”

Melrose has always been a big sports/basketball town, dating back to the days of Killilea, the late Topsfield resident who went on to be a vital cog as assistant to Tommy Heinsohn when the Celtics won NBA titles in 1974 and 1976 in the Havlicek-Cowns-White era. Killilea’s years at Melrose, which included a New England High School championship (27-1 overall) won in the old Boston Garden (the tourney is no longer played), have always been the gold standard, but Pappas had some terrific teams, too, and now Kasprzak is delivering the same.

“A lot of this coaching thing is about adjusting to the moment over 32 minutes,” says the admittedly animated (on the bench) Kasprzak, “not getting distracted by the officials, never losing the focus on your players, listening to your assistants.

“I’ve been especially blessed with solid assistants, like John Preziosa, who’s with me now and was the head coach at Division 3 Wheelock College. Same goes for my players, a real blessing, their parents, and the community support. I’m trying to enjoy it at the same time as the kids. I want to preserve this special season no matter what happens from here.

After rolling through their first eighteen games in unbeaten — and unprecedented (18-0) — fashion, the Danvers High cagers learned a great deal about themselves after losing two challenging games in the Comcast Invitational at Babson College over the long weekend, chief among them being they must have Eric Martin healthy if they are to win a second straight Division 3 state championship.

Case in point No. 1: The Falcons led Division 2 Brighton by nine points early in the third quarter of Sunday’s semifinal battle when point guard Martin, the newly-announced Northeastern Conference Player of the Year (he was also Salem News Player of the Year and NEC Small Player of the Year in soccer), came down hard after a drive to the basket and injured a groin muscle. The senior standout left the game after that, returned a couple times to try and get back in a groove, but he could not be effective. He spent much of the second half watching Brighton storm back for a 66-58 victory.

He visits his doctor this afternoon, hoping it’s nothing more than the aforementioned groin aggravation.

Case in point No. 2: Despite the outstanding fill-in job Nick McKenna performed at the point in Monday’s consolation game against 2005 and 2006 Division 1 state champion Newton North, the Falcons had a difficult time creating offense while scoring only 42 points in a 16-point loss.  The only other game in which the otherwise high-scoring Falcons failed to score at least 57 points was in its 49-47 victory at Beverly without leading scorer McKenna, who was still sitting out a seven-game stretch because of monomucleosis.

Bottom line: If Martin doesn’t get hurt, Danvers may very well have won the Comcast tourney and be celebrating a perfect regular season.

In the big picture, the tournament was a terrific tuneup against top competition before the Falcons begin defense of their D-3 crown next week. The pairings will be announced over the weekend and Danvers will most likely be the No. 1 seed  and play at least its first post-season game at home.

Secondly, it appears Martin should have plenty of time to heal before North section action begins for the Falcons, and even if he can’t play in the opener, the Falcons should have no trouble playing any team with a low-qualifying (.500 or better) record, the likely first-round foe.

The two losses at Babson should also serve as subtle reminders that they need all cylinders clicking to make another title run, especially with, among other teams, Wareham the favorite again in the South section holding currently a 17-1 record. But that’s at least three or four victories away.

There are several issues Coach John Walsh (39-6 in his two magical seasons at Danvers) must deal with in practice time this week based on the Falcons’ showing against Newton North.

The top priority will be turnovers. The Falcons committed a season-high 17 turnovers Monday, seven in the first quarter alone. They uncharacteristically did not take good care of the ball against a suffocating man defense that the Falcons are certain to see in the tournament because of their talented three-point shooters (Vinny Clifford, McKenna, Nick Bates, Jake Cawlina, Kieran Beck) and penetrators (Martin and McKenna). Danvers had little success in either department against Newton North. Martin helps create both situations when on the floor controlling the ball. Sophomore Vinny Clifford, the team’s top three-point shooter all season, did not make a trey at Babson but should take the two games as a learning experience that will hopefully get his re-focused for next week. The Falcons made only three against Newton North, the first coming two-plus minutes into the third quarter.

At the other end, the Falcons, in what has been a strong defensive suit throughout the year, allowed only one three the first half (a key stat in Walsh’s mind) and trailed by only 22-16 at intermission. But the second half was a nightmare defensively. Newton North hit four threes in a five-possession stretch to break the game open in the third quarter and was never threatened after that. NN made three more in a short span in the fourth session.

So it’s not like the Falcons can sit and get fat waiting for the tournament to start for them next week. Au contraire. The Falcons have a monster bullseye on their chests and must be as hungry and determined next week as they were when they began their 5-0 tourney run in 2012.

Bottom line revisited: as long as Martin recovers to 100 percent form, or close to it, the Falcons will be justifiably favored to repeat as state champ, something not accomplished in Division 3 in nearly 20 years.

As for a regular season wrap-up, how’s this read, Falcons fans??????

• 18 straight wins to start the season
• The most dominating NEC season in history — 16-0 in the Small Division to runnerup Saugus 7-8, four games better than NEC Large champ Lynn Classical, which lost to Danvers 68-50), and better still than Large No. 2 Salem (66-44 loser to Danvers), No. 3 Lynn English (90-70 victim) and No. 4 Beverly.
• Dominating a Conference that showed how strong it is by having two teams (Salem and Lynn English) win post-season two-game tourneys, Salem at Woburn and English beating top-ranked St. John’s Prep in the final of the IAABO Board tourney at Lawrwence
• Including the two Comcast games, winning by an average score of 68.8-46.6
• Winning 23 games overall before losing to Brighton
• Winning 17 of its first 18 games by 18 points or more
• Winning 15 of those 18 by 20 or more
• Winning six of the 18 by at least 30 or more
• Scoring at least 57 in 17 of the first 18
• Scoring at least 63 points in 17 of the 18
• Scoring 70 or more in 10 of the 18
• Scoring 80 or more twice
• Scoring 90 once

“It’s been a great regular season,” says Walsh. “The kids have played so well, handled all the tough situations when Nick McKenna missed seven games, and gave it a hundred percent at Babson with and without Eric. But Brighton and Newton North were the better teams, at least when Eric was sitting down.

“I’m just happy the kids have done so well to this point, knowing they have so much to look forward to the next few weeks. They’re still learning, getting better as players and young men representing a wonderful community that’s given us great support. If we coaches do our job and the kids do what they’re supposed to from here, winning should take care of itself. We took everyone’s best shot for 18 games and responded well. The last two games were a different story for different reasons but hopefully we’ll come out of those games a better team for next week and beyond.”

Five or six more wins and the Falcons will be state champions again. A difficult road indeed, but one the Falcons are more than capable of finishing in jubilation, a la 2012.

Their dreams of a perfect regular season may have vanished with last night’s hard-fought 74-66 loss to Brighton in the semnifinals of the Comcast Classic at Babson College, but the Danvers High Basketball Falcons have a great deal to play for in this afternoon’s consolation game against former Division 1 state champion Newton North. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30.

After playing late into last night because of the storm delay (there were three games played before theirs), the 18-1 Falcons could do a lot for their mental outlook heading into the defense of their Division 3 state championship with a victory; not an easy task less than 24 hours after suffering their first loss of the season.

But as coach John Walsh has reitereated, most important, these two games against higher division opponents  should serve as an excellent preparation for the state tournament, which in Danvers’ case may not start up for another seven to 10 days, depending on how the Division 3 North bracket breaks down. Onew good thing: that first tourney game should be in the friendly confines of the DHS fieldhouse.

Leading Brighton 35-28 at halftime last night is a definite positive to reflect upon, but a sluggish second half, in which the Falcons had a poor rebounding effort, according to Walsh, is an area he hopes his players improve upon against Newton North.

No matter what happens today, the Falcons will close out their regular season with the best record in Danvers High basketball annals, a nice feather for their caps as they gear up for a run at a second straight Division 3 state title. These two games should make them tournament tough. They will enter the tournament favored to capture another title.

In less than 24 hours we find out the following, at least in partial:

1. Is the Northeastern Conference weak this year, based on Danvers’s annihilation of every team it faced in its first 18 games, except for Beverly, a scary two-point win?

2. Or are the Falcons truly a once in a generation team, like the last NEC squad — Salem — to run roughshod over the oposition en route to an 18-0 NEC mark and a 25-0 record overall, th end result  the Division 2 state championship, the Witches’ second in five years?

3. Are the Falcons prepared to face a Boston city team like Brighton, one of the Division 2 tourney favorites despite a 12-5 record? That’s the opposition in the Comcast/IAABO Board 27 tournament Sunday night at 6 at Babson College. The other matchup, at 4, pits a pair of Division 1 powers, 14-3 B.C. High against 17-2 Newton North. The winners Sunday play Monday at 6:30, the losers at 4:30.

4. Will the Falcons play like the second quarter Thursday night against lowly Gloucester, when they scored only six points in the final seven minutes of the second quarter and the Fishermen closed from a 19-5 deficit to 25-15?

5. Or will they play like they did coming out to start the third quarter, with a 24-4 surge that featured their choking pressure defense and relentless transition offense?

6. Simply put, do the Falcons measure up against the most imposing opposition they have faced all season after seventeen blowout wins and the close call against a Beverly team that has faded badly since almost pulling off the upset of the season?

We find out in less than 24 hours.

The post-season is the ultimate challenge for the unbeaten, defending Division 3 state champion Danvers High Falcons. But for them to achieve the first pefect regular season of any major DHS team in school history, two final tests remain.

The Falcons, fresh off a 63-37 homecourt victory over Gloucester Thursday, boosting their record to 18-0, now take on Brighton Sunday at 6 in the nightcap of the annual Comcast Invitation at Babson College. If they win this one, they take on Monday at 6:30 in the title game the winner of the Newton North-Boston College High tussle, a pair of Division 1 squads. All four teams are highly ranked in the Boston newspaper polls, but only Danvers has a No. 1 ranking, in The Globe.

So we get to see to see just how good the Falcons are in these two games, a nice barometer heading into the state tournament. The Falcons got a healthy wakeup call against bottom-dweller Gloucester the other night, when the starters played an atrocious second quarter, turning a 19-5 advantage established by the second unit, comprised of five seniors that got the starting nod, into a 25-15 halftime lead.

Coach John Walsh said the right things at halftime, apparently, because the Falcoms came out and played vintage Danvers defense and transition offense in the third quarter, staging a 24-4 run that put the game away. There are no givens at this point, the Falcons learned. Hopefully they will apply what they learned in these two Comcast games coming up tomorrow night and Monday (title game or third place game).

And the heads keep rolling at SportsRadio 93.7, WEEI, with today’s announcement that Lynn native and former Danvers radio station (WMLO, 1570) sports director Glenn Ordway had been fired from the Boston powerhouse after more than eighteen years in charge of the critical 2-6 p.m. drivetime slot. Overall Glenn has been in the Boston sports radio market moe than thirty years.

Glenn could land at 98.5 the SportsHub or possibly the local NBAsports station (1510). Don’t worry about Glenn, whatever you do. He enjoyed an unprecedented tenure on Boston sports radio, made millions and has had an amazing run, including a long stint as Johnny Most’s sidekick on Celtics broadcasts. Bottom line, he made WEEI the top-rated all-sports station in America. But with the SportsHub beating WEEI in several recent ratings reports, you sensed changes were in store, compliments of parent company Entercom’s Boston stations general manager Jason Wolfe.

Glenn and I go way back to my earlier days at The Salem Evening News when Glenn was breaking in at WMLO, its miniscule studio located in a small cottage adjacent to the Crane River off Endicott Street in Danversport. From those humble beginnings he rose to the top of the Boston sports media ladder and made everyone who knew him on the way up proud, including this agent.

He may have been abrasive to certain listeners and pounded them with his unwavering opinions, but he was King of the sports airwaves for years and gave many an aspiring voice a chance, including Michael Felger and Tony Masarotti, now his show’s primary competition at 98.5.

Now one can only speculate if the days are numbered for John Dennis and Gerry Callahan in the 6-10 a.m. slot and “Mut” Mutsinsky and Lou Merloni in the 10-2 slot. Their competition is good, but in my humble opinion D&C and Mut and Lou are superior to the ears, no matter what the ratings say. Then again, ratings lead to advertising revenue and that’s the bottom line in this business.

Just a quick note to observe the 79th birthday —-  one day late — of the greatest Celtic of all the great Boston Celtics — Bill Russell, Number 6 — the greatest champion in all of American team sports.

Need I remind you? Eleven NBA championships in 13 years with the Celtics between 1956-57 and 1968-69. The first of only two misses came in 1957-58 when the St. Louis Hawks of Bob Petit and Cliff Hagan beat the Celtics in six games in the finals because of an ankle injury to Russ. You know who was a member of that Hawks’ team? Frank Selvy, who a few years later, as a Los Angeles Laker would miss the wide open 15-foot jump shot in Game 7 in Boston Garden that could have deprived Russell & Company of a championship. Thanks, Frank.

The other year the Celts didn’t fly a banner was 1967, the year the Philadelphia 76ers, led by Wilt Chamberlain, Wally Jones, Hal Greer, Luke Jackson and Chet Walker ousted the Celts in the Eastern Conference finals in five games.

So toast one to the amazing, remarkable, unparalelled William Felton Russell, the Greatest Celtic of them all, with no aplogies required for Bob Cousy, Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, Dave Cowens or anyone else!!!!!!!!!!

And……a belated happy 45th birtday — one day late — to one of the luckiest men in the world, Josh Brolin, husband of the luscious Diane Lane. He’s 45.

As Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton climbs the country’s Top 100 Courses ratings lists, its prestige is apparently growing as well, if that’s possible.

The winter 2013 edition of Links magazine places Myopia with the likes of Cypress Point, Augusta National and Pine Valley as one of “The 100 Most Prestigious Private Golf Clubs in the World.” The list is provided alphabetically, with Myopia placed between Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, the best of Jack Nicklaus’s creations, and Nanea Golf Club in Kona, Hawaii.

The magazine does list a “top ten,” namely Augusta, Pine Valley, Cypress Point,The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (Muirfield), National Golf Links of America, Shinnecock Hills, Chicago, Merion and Sunningdale.

Two other Massachusetts clubs are listed: The Country Club in Brookline and Kittansett in Marion. Two other New England clubs made the grade: Wannamoisett in Rhode Island and The Country Club of Fairfield in Connecticut.

Myopia also ranks highly among Links’ online readers in the publication’s interactive “Links 100: found on its website, the top one hundred courses in America. As of today, Myopia ranked 33rd with a 5.47 score. Cypress Point is No. 1 at 9.2. Essex is well regarded as well, ranking 53rd with a 4.9 score. Other Massachusetts clubs in the current top 100 are The Country Club at No. 22, Boston Golf Club at 39, Old Sandwich at 46, Kittansett at 48 and Eastward Ho! at 78.

Why Salem isn’t on both lists baffles this observer; the imperfectionism of rankings, I guess.

Make that two weeks in a row that the Danvers High boys basketball team has been named No. 1 in the Boston Globe rankings. Buoyed by the return of top scorer Nick McKenna after he missed seven games with mononucleosis, the Falcons remained undefeated at 16-0 following road victories last week over Swampscott, 79-31, and Saugus, 64-40. They had beaten the same teams at home before Christmas by respective scores of 65-43 and 81-51.

No Danvers High varsity team in any major sport has gone an entire regular season undefeated. But they can become the first to go through a Northeastern Conference campaign perfect with victories tonight at Winthrop and Friday at home against Gloucester. They beat those team the first time by margins of 37 and 26 points.

The defending Division 3 state champs could take their dream season one step further if they can win the four-team Comcast Invitational this Sunday and Monday at Babson College.  Danvers plays No. 11 Brighton (11-3), a Division 2 squad, at 6:30, preceded by No. 6 Boston College High (12-3) meeting No. 13 Newton North (15-2) at 4:30. They are both Division 1 teams. The title game is Monday at 6:30, the consolation game at 4:30.

No matter what they do at the Comcast Tournament, put on by IAABO Board 27, one of  Greater Boston’s boards of basketball officials, the Falcons will be favored to repeat as Division 3 state champions, an unheard of prospect a mere two years ago when the Falcons suffered through a losing season and then appointed an unknown John Walsh, at the time the five-year junior varsity coach at Watertwon High, as their new coach. Under the youthful Walsh, 32, the Falcons are 37-4 and currently riding a 21-game win streak.

Through 16 games, the Falcons have amassed some amazing statistics. They have won 15 of their 16 games each by at least 18 points, 14 by at least 20, eight by at least 25, five by at least 30.

The Falcons have made 110 three-pointers, an average of seven a game, and allowed only 40, only 13 of those in the first half. They have pitched 10 first-half defensive shutouts, not allowing a single three in those first sixteen minutes of action.

Individually, Eric Martin is averaging 7.9 assists, four steals and three steals per game, while hitting double figures in scoring 10 times. Dan Connors is averaging eight rebonds a game, has blocked 17 shots and hit double figures scoring nine times, including a team season-high 32 in one outing. He’s averaging 19 points a game in his last five outings.

Nick Bates has hit for double digits 12 times and been the team’s top rebounder averaging 11 per game, and has blocked 33 shots, a team high.  Before he got sick, McKenna averaged 19 points per game his first seven games. Clifford leads the team with 47 three-pointers and has contruted 33 assists. Sixth man Kieran Beck has been a steady relief off the bench with 17 steals, 64 rebounds and three double figure scoring games.

Now the Danvers Falcons are in a position to become the first repeat Division 3 state champion since Pioneer Regional in 1996-97. Lynn Classical did the same in 1993-94 and Cohasset was the first in 1985-86. The state tournament went to a three-division format in 1972.

“The kids have been terrific since Day One,” says Walsh. “They refuse to let up, though they really struggled, and learned a lot about themselves, the night they just edged past Beverly (49-47). They deserve all the credit for what they’ve accompliaahed so far, but they know there is a long way to go before we achieve all our goals. The bottom line seems to be that they believe in themselves and their coaches and they know if they play hard and do what the coaches tell them they can win under any situation (exhibit A: Beverly game).

“We don’t talk about our record or what is ahead of us, except for the very next game. Everyone’s made a contribution, whether be in games or in practices.”

Thye “X” factor coming in was finding the fifth starter and Clifford has excelled stepping in. “Vinny has been terrific. His shooting has been more than we expected and his defense seems to be getting better every week. His defense is as important to us as his offense since we play a lot of man-to-man.”

******On a side note, the cross town St. John’s Prep Eagles continue to shine, ranked third, at 16-1, in the Globe poll and very much in the mix for a second state championship in three years.  As I’ve noted before, Danvers is surely the Hub of Hoops these days in Greater Boston high school basketball circles.

The unprecedented success of the Danvers High boys’ basketball program last season and this reached another new unimaginable height today when The Boston Globe’s weekly Top 20 poll had the undefeated Falcons (14-0) Numero Uno — Number 1. This achievement marks the first time in school history any major DHS varsity sports team has attained such recognition.

The state champion hockey and baseball teams of recent years never gained the coveted “top of the heap” status from The Globe; nor did the football team when it won the first two Northeastern Conference titles in schoool history during the mid-2000-2009 decade.

Yet another extraordinary accomplishment by a group of young men who snuck up on everyone a year ago en route to their first NEC title (South) in 37 years and who are on the the verge of winning their first outright NEC title since the same year referred to, 1975.

The most astounding aspect of the Falcons’ exalted No. 1 ranking in The Globe is that they earned their respect among the voters while winning the first state championship last March. The voters had high expectations for Danvers this winter and the boys have delivered. No matter that it was the Division 3 title they won. Fact is, rarely — if ever — will you see anything but Division 1 schools atop any of The Globe polls, which are conducted for the football, basketball, hockey and baseball seasons only.

The Falcons, incredibly, outrank currently three Division 1 teams in the 2-3-4 positions: Mansfield (15-1), cross-town rival St. John’s Prep (15-1) and Lawrence Central Catholic (13-3). Moreover, the Falcons are the only undefeated quintet in the top nine. No. 10 North Reading is in the same select company at 15-0.

The Falcons project to win their last four NEC contests between tonight and Friday, February 15, especially with top scorer Nick McKenna, sidelined the last three weeks with mononucleosis,  due back in the lineup Friday at Saugus.

That would most likely keep Danvers No. 1 in the poll leading into the Comcast Invitational, set for Sunday the 17th and Monday the 18th at Babson College. That will be the supreme, end-of-regular-season challenge. Reportedly, Division 1 teams Boston College High (No. 7, 11-3) and No. 15 Newton North (13-2) will face off at 6, followed by Danvers and No. 11 Brighton( 10-3), a Division 2 team, at 8. Winners will play the next night at 8, the losers at 6. The official poairings and times should be announced shortly.

It’s all part of a magical tour the Falcons have traveled from last season to this in which they have compiled a 46-6 record, won their last 18 in a row and posted a 35-4 mark under second-year coach John Walsh.

Who knows where it will end? Maybe not until the Falcons plow through a perfect regular season and another few games for a second straight state title. We shall see soon enough.

The last North Shore squad to go perfect from start to finish? The 1995 Salem High Witches, led by the great Scoonie Penn, who later starred at Boston College and Ohio State. That Witches crew finished 25-0.

Of course, Danvers might very well be called at this moment The Hub of Hoop-mania, what with the Prep and Danvers riding high in both The Globe and ESPN Boston poll. The Prep, led by former Providence College and Ohio State standout Sean Connolly, is No. 2 in the ESPNBoston poll. Danvers stands at No. 4. If only the hoop gods could intercede and make possible a Danvers-Prep showdown in the next week to 10 days. Sadly, it isn’t possible. But it’s a beautiful play on the Prep-Danvers baseball dynasties of the last 10-15 years, in which Danvers native Pat Yanchus has created a powerhouse at the Prep and Roger Day has done the same with the Falcons. Yanchus is already in the Massachusetts High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.  Day was inducted the end of January. Now it’s happening in hoops. What a golden era in Prep-Danvers round ball sports.

It should be noted, too, that the Prep remains a state title contender annually in virtually all of its other sports, including hockey, and last December won the Division 1 Super Bowl in football. Maybe it’s something in the Danvers water supply these days.

How about state titles for both the Prep and Danvers basketball teams come mid-March?