Girls BB Archives 

2006-2007 Season

Varsity Girls Basketball Team 2007

Seniors and Captains

Girls Basketball Junior Varsity Team 2007

Team Roster - - - Carisa Brown , Katrina Mishel , Kim Sandiford, Diamond Doe, Shelby Innes, Diedra Archibald, Terresa Laboy, Dora Malila, Iraday Matoes, Danielle Murphy, and Charianna Torres

Congratulations to TANEKA BROWN, named as a League All-Star from Classical: Senior guard ... NEC/ North MVP ... averaged 16 points per game, six rebounds, four steals and four assists ... led team in all four categories ... three-year league all-star ... ability to not only create her own shot, but penetrate and create good shots for teammates ... will play at Merrimack College.

Head Coach : Tom Sawyer  

Assistant Coach :   Chris Warren

 JV Coach :  Dennis Baldini

 Taneka Brown has Memorable Night for Classical

Taneka Brown had a senior night to remember, scoring 25 points to help the Classical High girls basketball team to a 75-49 win over Gloucester.

"(Brown) played a complete game at both ends of the court," Rams coach Tom Sawyer said. "All of the seniors had a great night, but (Brown) led them all."

The Merrimack College-bound Brown also finished with assists and six steals. Fellow senior, Savanna Clemens was only two points away from a double double, with 10 rebounds. Lindsey Rogers (16 points) and Jillian Lukegord (15 points) led the Gloucester offense.

After the win, Classical is 7-9 and 5-7 in the NEC. The Rams need three wins to make the tournament.

English's Jenicia Duggins goes up for a shot with Classical's Jillian Reddy Friday at Classical. Photo/Reba M. Saldanha

Classical Girls Hang on to Put Away English

By Christian Mielcarek, For The Daily Item of Lynn, 1/27/2007

LYNN -- The Classical girls basketball team hung on for dear life last night, withstanding a furious last-minute rally by English to take a 59-52 win over the Lady Bulldogs in the first of two intra-city games this season.

The Lady Rams seemed to have the game won with two minutes to go and a 10-point lead. All they needed to do was hit their foul shots and ice the game. But English was intent on a different ending.

English engineered a late 10-3 run, and seven consecutive Ram free throw misses allowed the Lady Bulldogs to claw within three with 13.7 seconds left. However, the Lady Dogs could not stop Classical standout Taneka Brown, who scored when it mattered most, carrying her team to a 59-52 triumph in another cross-town classic.

"It would have been nice if we could have hit our free throws at the end," said Classical coach Tom Sawyer. "It would have made it a lot less interesting."

Brown made the most of her free throw opportunities, shooting 15 of 20 from the charity stripe (11 for 14 in the second half) and led all scorers with 23 points to go along with four steals and three assists.

Sophomore forward Jeanette Anderson was a force on the glass, and her 26 rebounds were single handedly more than  Rams pulled down collectively. Anderson also dropped in 16 points and was her team's high scorer along with co-captain Renay Hamilton.

Hamilton got off to a slow start and only managed two first half points, but she bounced back in the latter portion of the game to finish with a double-double of her own. The feisty guard filled out the stat sheet, totaling 16 points, 10 boards, four assists, three steals and a block. Her eight of 10 shooting from the free throw line in the second half was a key component to the Lady Bulldog's spirited late game comeback.

"We never say die," Hogan said. "That's the attitude we have. No matter the situation we have a chance to come back. We believe in that philosophy and our team is built on our never say die attitude."

Although English trumped Classical 58-54 in the first round of the City Championship earlier this season, Sawyer insisted that loss was not a motivational factor heading into last night's match-up.

"You don't need any motivation when English and Classical play each other," Sawyer said. "It doesn't matter what the sport is or what the records are, you know it's coming down to the wire."

The win pushed the Ram's record to 6-7, while the loss dropped the Lady Bulldogs to 7-5.

Classical-English Basketball Rivalry to Write Another Chapter Tonight

By Joyce Erekson, The Daily Item of Lynn, 1/26/07

Throw out the record books.

Every time Classical and English play each other, no matter what the sport, the "throw out the record books" cliché gets trotted out and sometimes it even ends up being true. There have certainly been plenty of upsets over the years, but for the last decade or so, at least in girls basketball, Classical has pretty much owned the rivalry.

English coach Fred Hogan is looking to change that when the teams meet tonight at Classical (7). This will be the second time they've played each other this season and English is up 1-0 in the three-game set, having defeated the Rams in the Boverini Tournament over Christmas vacation.

Although the jury is still out on whether the win constitutes a shift in power or the beginning of a much more balanced rivalry, the English girls are shaping up as a team to be reckoned with this season and in the foreseeable future.

English heads into the game with a 7-4 record and Classical is 5-7. The Rams have been without one of their big guns, Tonisha Tate (broken foot), for several games and her absence has been felt.

"It's definitely going to be a good game," Hogan said. "They're still a good basketball team over there. Taneka Brown is one of the best players in the league ... We're going to be well-prepared for Lynn Classical. We expect them to come out really pumped up. We won the Lynn tournament this year and that was their trophy for the last two years."

After getting off to a rocky start this season, English strung together a five-game winning streak that went a long way toward putting last year's 4-16 season in the rear-view mirror.

Although Hogan has seen several of his younger players, including freshman Jenicia Duggins and sophomore Jeanette Anderson, make huge strides this season, the heart of the English attack is still senior guard Renay Hamilton.

Hamilton is averaging 16.9 points per game. Anderson, a forward, is averaging 12 points per game and a whopping 18 rebounds. She had 157 rebounds as a freshman and is already up to 200 this year. Duggins has also had a big impact, averaging 10.8 points per game. She leads the team in threes with 15. Diaysha Brewington is coming off what Hogan said was her best game of the season, scoring 16 points and pulling down 18 rebounds in the Bulldogs' last game.

Teams tend to have different ways to get motivated and English is no exception. After a particularly tough loss to Beverly early in the season, Hogan had his players out running the Lynn Commons the next morning at 8 a.m. The Bulldogs went on to rattle off a couple of wins and now the team, at the players' urging, runs the Commons on a regular basis.

Classical coach Tom Sawyer is expecting a good game tonight.

"We hope it's going to be a very competitive game," Sawyer said. "Both teams are fairly equal and the first game was really close (English won 58-54)."

Although this is Sawyer's first year as head coach, he was on board for several English-Classical games during his tenure as former coach Gene Constantino's assistant.

"Since I've been here, we've been very fortunate to have some very good teams," Sawyer said.

Sawyer will be counting on senior Taneka Brown, who's averaging about 14 points a game; junior Keila Brown, who has been steadily improving all season; and Christina MacKenzie, to shoulder a lot of the offensive load.

Although English has become much more of a force this year, Sawyer said the Northeastern Conference probably has eight or nine teams that can get the job done on a given night.

"You have to be on your 'A' game every night," Sawyer said. "The game in front of us is always the most important one."

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Taneka and Keila Swish Classical to Victory over Gloucester

By Joyce Erekson, The Daily Item of Lynn, 1/17/07

It was a productive day for the Classical, English and Tech girls basketball teams, with all three picking up wins.

At Gloucester, the Rams (4-5) have been struggling lately, but they got the job done against the Fishermen. Junior Keila Brown had a huge game, scoring what coach Tom Sawyer believes was a career high: 16 points. She also had five assists and four offensive rebounds. Point guard Taneka Brown led all scorers with 23 points.

"Taneka had another outstanding game," Sawyer said.

Classical trailed 26-25 at the half, but the Rams turned up the heat defensively after the break and started to pull away. Jill Lukegord had 10 points for Gloucester (2-8) and Alicia Unis added eight.

"We played much better defense in the second half," Sawyer said.

Varsity Roster

 Girls Freshmen Team 2007

 Difficult Night for Classical Girls

By Joyce Erekson, The Daily Item, 1/10/07

It was a tough day on and off the court Tuesday for the Classical High girls basketball team. The Rams lost to Danvers, 51-36, at Danvers, and they did it without three key players, Tonisha Tate, Lauren Kolodziej and Jill Reddy. Tate, who averages approximately 10 points per game and dominates the boards, is out four to six weeks with a broken foot, and Kolodziej and Reddy are mourning the death of their cousin, former St. Mary's High hockey player Patrick Reddy, in a car accident Monday night.
"It's just heartbreaking," Classical High coach Tom Sawyer said about Reddy's death. "I just feel so bad for those kids (Jill and Lauren)."
Danvers coach Pat Veilleux also felt for the Classical team playing under such difficult circumstances.
"We know it wasn't a full Classical team," Veilleux said. "They (Classical) hung in there."

Discussing his missing players in yesterday's game, Sawyer said, "We could never get over the hump ... We must have had eight to 10 traveling calls alone. We didn't play good defense. We gave up too many points."
The coach added that turnovers hurt his team as well.
Taneka Brown led the Rams (3-5) with 15 points.
The Falcons (5-4) had another strong game from Danielle Sherry (16 points), Kayla Corbett (14 points) and Ashley Burnham (10 points).

Sawyer said the team has another tough one on Friday when Beverly comes to town.
"We have to come out and play better defense and take care of the ball," he said. "If we can do that, we can play with anybody, but if we don't do that, we're going to struggle."
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Swampscott Girls Hoop Stops Classical in Season Opener
By Matthew Roy / For The Daily Item of Lynn, Wednesday, December 13, 2006

It might say December on the calendar, but there was a tournament feel at Swampscott on Tuesday as the high school season kicked off.

     The Big Blue and Lynn Classical were back-and-forth for 32 minutes before the hosts came away with a 62-55 win thanks to 17 points and 15 rebounds from sophomore Tara Nimkar.

     "Boy, it really felt like a championship tournament in here (Tuesday)," Swampscott coach Jack Hughes said. "Classical is very good but I was happy with our kids' effort."

     The Rams (0-1) certainly didn't make life easy for the defending Division 3 North champions as Taneka Brown maneuvered through the Swampscott defense for a game-high 21 points.

     "This is a tough place to play and I thought we came in and competed really well," first-year Classical head coach Tom Sawyer said.

     Brown's performance even had the attention of Hughes on the Swampscott bench.

     "She (Brown) is a heck of a player. She made a couple of moves that were great, but I think we did a real good job on her. She had to earn her points," Hughes said.

     Things started off on the right foot for Classical as it ran out to a 7-1 lead before the Big Blue responded to lead 10-9 with nine minutes left in the half.

     Brown would then be the spark of a 13-5 Rams spurt over the next three minutes that gave Classical a 22-12 lead on Christina McKenzie's pull-up with 5:00 left in the half.

     The Big Blue, who were cold from the floor for the first 11 minutes, finally got going when McKinley Tennant buried a three from the left corner.

     Allie Beaulieu added a pair of hoops in a 14-2 half-closing run that gave Swampscott a 26-24 lead at the break.

     "We looked a little rusty and unsure of ourself early, but this group has confidence in each other and I knew that they would get in it," Hughes said.

     Classical played most of that first half without Tonisha Tate, who was in foul trouble. She returned at the start of the second and brought the Rams within a point twice before leaving with four fouls at the 11:00 mark.

     Swampscott proceeded to exploit the Rams' weakness down low thanks to a constant pounding of the glass. The Big Blue's lead grew to a game-high eight at 40-32 with 8:10 to go.

     Classical wasn't quite ready to pack it in as McKenzie and Brown led the Rams on a 9-4 stretch that closed the gap to 46-43.

     The margin was still three as the clock ticked under 2:00 left before one of the Big Blue's seniors, Tara Driscoll, got a long rebound and buried a three from the right wing with 1:40 left for a 55-49 lead.

     Tennant and Beaulieu would then go 7-of-10 from the line in the final 1:21 to salt away the win.

     "The kids competed all night and I couldn't be any more proud of them for that," Sawyer said.

Duchane Jamboree Excites Girls Basketball Fans
By Jonathan Weiner / For The Daily Item of Lynn, Monday, December 11, 2006

Aficionados of girls basketball flocked to Lynn Classical this past Saturday for the 14th Paul Duchane Jamboree. According to Classical athletic director Dick Ruth, the jamboree raised more than $2,000, the most it has ever raised.

     Classical got ready for the first season of the Tom Sawyer era by falling to Masco, 25-16. The Rams scored the game's first two points on a pair of free throws by Tameka Brown just nine seconds into the contest, but went cold from the floor until teammate Jill Reddy netted the squad's first field goal with 2:58 remaining in the first half.

     "Tonight we wanted to knock the rust loose, and to see how we did with our defense," said Sawyer, who replaced longtime coach Gene Constantino. "The kids have been competing every minute they've been out on the court, and my system isn't a whole lot different than Gene's. We do a lot of the things he did."

     The Rams trailed 12-5 at the half, and closed the gap to 12-9 early in the second half. Yet Masco, which fell to Melrose in the Division 2 North final last season, took control the rest of the way.

     Brown led Classical with nine points, while Reddy added five.

Classical Opens Season versus NEC Powers Swampscott and Winthrop

Story and Photo by Cary Shuman, The Lynn Journal, December 6, 2006

Think of being Wisconsin and playing Ohio State and Michigan in your first two Big 10 football games.
And that’s the challenge facing new Lynn Classical girls basketball coach Tom Sawyer, whose club faces Northeastern Conference co-favorites Swampscott (Tuesday) and Winthrop (Friday) in the season’s first week.
Swampscott and Winthrop met in last year’s Division 3 North final with Swampscott prevailing in overtime. Both teams have several of their players returning, and along with Jeff Newhall’s St. Mary’s Lady Spartans, they represent the teams to beat in Division 3 North.
Sawyer has planned his preseason schedule accordingly. The Rams have scrimmaged Masconomet and Peabody. They’ll play Andover Friday and Masconomet again on Saturday in the Paul Duchane Jamboree. Masconomet, Peabody, and Andover are all reigning league champions and state title contenders.
“We tried to get the best scrimmages to get us ready for the season,” said Sawyer. “We want to play the best.”
Sawyer will look to captains Taneka Brown, Tonisha Tate, and Lauren Kolodziej to lead the Rams back to the Division 1 tournament. Classical was 17-5 last year under former coach Gene Constantino.
The other returning players are Savanna Clemens, Christina McKenzie, Shardaye Berry, Jillian Reddy, Jen Saravia, Bryanna Connolly, and Keila Brown.
Looking at Games 1 and 2 on the schedule, Sawyer said, “It doesn’t matter if you play those teams early or late in the season. Swampscott and Winthrop are really good teams, and if you want to be successful against them, we’re going to have to play really well.”
Swampscott features returning players Tara Driscoll, McKinley Tennant, Gwen Luke, Tara Nimkar, and Ali Beaulieu. Winthrop is led by sensational sophomore guard Courtney Finn, who scored more than 400 points as a freshman. Other returning players are sophomores Meredith Soper, Katerina Mallios, and Kelley Mahoney and juniors Kristen Finn and Nicole Giaquinto.
“Swampscott and Winthrop are loaded again,” said Sawyer. “Winthrop has a number of players who are basketball smart and can shoot the ball, and they’re well-coached as well.”

Jillian Reddy and Bryanna Connolly have been named as the captains of the 2007 Lynn Classical girls soccer team. Coach Marcy Durgin announced the captains at the team’s break-up banquet Thursday night. Reddy and Connolly are forwards and three-year varsity players. They are also members of the school’s varsity basketball team.

     Sawyer said he had approximately 40 girls show up for the first day of tryouts, including between 15-18 freshmen. Classical will open at Swampscott on Tuesday, Dec. 12. The Rams will tune up for that one in the Paul Duchane Jamboree on Saturday, Dec. 9, at Classical They'll face Masconomet in that one.