GEORGETOWN — Who knew the Queens to Lawrence pipeline had a stop in Georgetown?
Certainly not Georgetown High boys hoop coach Mike Rowinski. But when Rowinski saw a young Neph Carmona bouncing people around his paint and ripping rebounds away from athletes three or four inches taller, he wasn't about to complain.
Carmona, the lone senior on the squad, has helped Rowinski's rebuilding Royals to a solid 7-6 start.
"He's our guy in there," said Rowinski, noting Carmona pulls down 12 boards a night, in addition to averaging 9.6 points per contest. "He outrebounds a lot of bigger guys and really works hard down there. He makes us go."
Carmona hasn't always been that physical presence on the court.
Like many boys in the city of Lawrence, he earned his hoop stripes at the Boys Club and through those long summer days at Bert Hammel's ABA Camp at Merrimack College in the summer.
The detour to Royals country, though was a total surprise.
"I came here to Lawrence in the fifth grade and went to the Henry K. Oliver School," said Carmona, who went to Georgetown on the school-choice program, an avenue which is now pretty much closed. "My mom took me by complete surprise. She thought that Georgetown would be a better environment for me."
Added his mom, Jane, "He didn't want to go there. Of course, they want to be with their friends. But I knew he was going to fit in."
Carmona used sports to pave his way into the Royal family.
"Football started before school, and by the time school started, I pretty much knew everyone," he said. "I made a good friend right away, Eric Augustine, who introduced himself to me when I got there. He showed me around school, and that led me to other kids. Now, I have plenty of friends."
The adjustment, while smooth, was at times trying. Carmona missed the tightness of the inner city. He missed the action, and the noise.
"I'm not used to things being quiet," he said. "I grew up with everything being loud and a lot of things going on. Georgetown has curfew for everybody, and all these rules people follow."
Clearly, Jane's master plan has come to fruition. Carmona has been a CAL All-Star for Georgetown and is pointing toward a four-year school with Endicott and Rivier among his top choices.
"I'm really happy that I did it," said Carmona, whose family now lives in Haverhill. "I probably wouldn't be the same."
Andover coach Fazio speaks on potential league shakeup
You know there was furor over Sunday's Eagle-Tribune story about the potential demise of the Merrimack Valley Conference.
Andover High detractors questioned whether head boys coach David Fazio wasn't quoted. Or did he speak off the record? The fact is that I did interview Fazio for the piece and, either through editing or my omission, his quotes were unused.
Since there has been a call for Fazio's opinion from readers out there, here is how the interview broke down:
HL: What's the latest, what have you heard?
DF: "I've heard nothing since they had the meeting announcing that they were exploring the Dual County League."
HL: What are your thoughts competing in the MVC boys basketball ranks?
DF: "As a coach, I think we have the best league in the state of Massachusetts, and I love being here. It's the league I grew up in, both as a player and a coach."
HL: Andover is part of the dissident five schools — any idea why?
DF: "Do I understand it? Sure. The girls sports in the DCL overall would be an absolute upgrade. As a parent with a daughter in athletics, I'd like her to face the best competition she can, not jut in basketball but lacrosse, too."
HL: How about boys basketball, without the traditional rivals, how does a trip to the DCL stack up?
DF: "It's going to be hard for me. Selfishly, I just don't see how the energy or enthusiasm could be matched."
HL: What about Central Catholic, much has been made of your struggles against them, having lost 14 of the last 15? Would you mind not seeing them again?
DF: "We absolutely love playing Central. Every game, home or away, the place rocks. We compete hard and do the best we can. I hope that never ends. But at the end of the day, I have zero say about any of this."
And that was it from Fazio on the subject.
Quick look ahead
With exactly two hours of practice together in over two weeks, Georgetown, at 7-6, faces a pivotal stretch, hosting Newburyport tonight and then hitting the road at Triton Wednesday.
"They're huge games we need if we're going to make the tournament," said Royals coach Mike Rowinski. "But the weather has absolutely killed us." ...
Speaking of pivotal Cape Ann League collisions, you have to consider Friday night's Wilmington invasion of Crozier Fieldhouse an absolute must-win for North Andover. The loser will have two league losses, while Masco remains perfect in the league. ...
We'll get a much better gauge of the 8-5 Whittier Tech Wildcats after the elongated weekend coming up. Tom Sipsey's crew goes to Lynn Tech Friday, then Haverhill High Sunday and finally hosts CAC large-leading Chelsea, Monday night. ,,,
And finally, we bring you our favorite lunch-pail gang, the Methuen Rangers, who continue to grind it out in the suddenly wild Merrimack Valley Conference small division.
At 5-5 in conference, the Rangers have league games with Dracut, Tewksbury, Chelmsford, Billerican and Haverhill, basically controlling their own destiny if they can win some games in the stretch run.
Boys Basketball Fab 5
1, Central Catholic 16-1
2. Brooks 14-1
3. Phillips 13-4
4. Andover 10-3
5. North Andover 14-2
Honorable mention: Lawrence 10-5, Pelham 10-4, Pentucket 8-5, Whittier 8-5
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