Few have noticed, but Northern Essex Community College men's basketball coach Darren Stratton and his able assistant, Joe Tardif, have performed magic this winter.

Coming off a brilliant 23-9 season, Stratton was hardly confident entering into the 2007-08 season. In fact, prior to the season, Stratton confessed that "anything over .500 would be excellent. ... We're young and inexperienced and we don't have any height."

Well, the Knights are currently 15-4, ranked second in the region and are clearly the surprise Division 3 junior college team in New England. How has it happened?

Part of it is that second-year standout Anthony Griffin is having a monster season, averaging 23.7 points a game and leading the team in rebounds and several other categories. But that's hardly the only explanation.

"It's the chemistry of this team," said Stratton, whose club hosts No. 1-seeded Springfield Tech at 3 p.m. today. "I didn't realize it would be so good. Everyone has played so well together."

The only other returning starter other than Griffin, point guard Justin Cooke of Amesbury, has been the team's glue, freshman Roberto Velon of Lynn has provided a lot of energy, Lawrence's Jesus Montero has improved greatly and freshman Tim Bent of Dracut has been a pleasant surprise.

Off the bench, Kevin Guicho of Lawrence and John Olivere of Wilmington have also added more than anticipated.

"It's been a very enjoyable year," said Stratton, who hasn't been able to say that in every one of his 10 years. "The kids have worked hard."

Stratton and Tardif deserve much of the credit as well. They work well together and know what needs to be done in the junior college ranks as far as preparing players to succeed both on and off the court. It takes a lot of monitoring, and a lot of patience, and they have both. It also takes year-round recruiting, although much of it is done in the summer.

Basically, they have a system that works and could keep working. That's why it's worrisome that Stratton is giving consideration to calling it quits after this year, partly to spend more time with his family. That would be a serious blow to the program.

Fortunately, Tardif - who took over the program for a year three years ago when Stratton took a year off - will probably stay on and he's hoping that he and Stratton can just switch roles.

"We both do a lot of the same things anyway, but maybe I have a little more time right now," said Tardif. "Sometimes, other coaches think I'm the head coach anyway."

It'd be great if that happened. Stratton can't say enough good things about Tardif and it'd be a shame if the program had to be totally rebuilt under someone else.

Rydstrom returns to action

Just as she promised, Northern Essex Community College's Heather Rydstrom of Windham, N.H., returned to action for the Knights last week.

Rydstrom, 22, had surgery Dec. 27 to remove polyps in her sinus cavity, polyps which might have been cancerous and signaled the return of sinonasal adenocarcinoma, an extremely rare kind of cancer which she had already beaten once.

After the surgery, the doctors tested the removed polyps and they all came back negative, allowing her to return to the court. Although she is not yet back in top condition, she returned against Roxbury with two points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of action in a 63-53 loss.

Not only was Rydstrom missed on the court while she was recovering, but her affable presence off the court was definitely noticed.

"Practices, van rides, everything was quiet ... oh, yeah, Heather wasn't here," said teammate Lauren Kantak.

Unfortunately, the Knights are now missing standout guard Brandi-Badgett-Fernandez and Carolyn Gurissi, both of whom are academically ineligible for the second semester.

Carlisle promoted by 49ers

For those of you didn't hear, Haverhill native Duane Carlisle has been promoted by the San Francisco 49ers to head Strength and Conditioning coach. He had been the assistant to Johnny Parker, who recently retired.

Prior to joining the 49ers, Carlisle served as a speed consultant with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2000-2004. He has also worked with pro teams in women's soccer, lacrosse and baseball, having worked with the Tampa Bay Rays in 1997-98.

He has prepared numerous players for the NFL Combine including Brian Westbrook, Priest Holmes, Matt Hasselbeck and Jerry Azumah.

A former track standout at Haverhill High, Carlisle had a superb career as a triple jumper at the University of Maryland, where he graduated from in 1989.