Charlestown tops rival East Boston in City Championship, 72-55

By Seth Daniel

It was a Mystic River skirmish last Friday night at the Boston City Championship basketball game, with Charlestown besting their rivals from across the river, East Boston by a score of 72-55.
After losing two regular season games to Eastie, one by 27 points, Charlestown rolled by Eastie in the championship game through their unrelenting pressure defense and the play of junior point guard Paul Becklens, who nearly finished with a triple double (28 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds).
It was the fifth time in the last seven years that Charlestown has won the city championship.
"I thought the defense was awesome," said coach Jack O'Brien, noting that his team barely made it to the championship game. "We lost to them by 27 the first time, by four the second time. It shows the improvement of these guys, how far they have come."
For the first time, Madison Park hosted the championship because of a scheduling conflict at UMass-Boston, which is where the championship is usually held.
The first half was all Charlestown.
Becklens hit five three-pointers in the first half, and the play of senior Bernard Coleman livened up the offense. However, the Townies offense was spotty. It was their defense that just never let up, preventing Eastie from making any meaningful surge in the first half, which ended with Charlestown ahead 30-19.
The Jets just never could get anything going in the first half, struggling just to play catch up. To their credit, they were missing their leading scorer, junior Aaron Williams. His presence and scoring ability was absolutely missed.
"We're down now," said Eastie coach Malcolm Smith. "Our top scorer is out with an ankle injury. He puts up 24 points a game, and we didn't have him."
Eastie, though, spent some extra time in the locker room at the half and came out firing, cutting the Charlestown lead to 7 points. However, the second half was dominated by drama and some referee troubles that started with a strange double foul at the 14-minute mark.
Eastie made several mistakes and Charlestown's offense went into a lull, causing frustration by the players on both sides that manifested in a very physical loose ball scenario that ended in a technical foul on Charlestown's Jimmal Marshall.
A bizarre "inadvertent whistle" from the referees followed that, which killed a small Eastie rally when Charlestown took possession via the arrow on a default jump ball.
After a few times up and down the court, Becklens sealed the deal. Becklens, who is number 3, hit a 3-pointer with around 3 minutes on the clock. Marshall followed that with another three and the game was basically over after that, with a 72-55 Charlestown victory.
"The refs let them paw our backs a bit," said Coach Smith. "The refs did lose control at one point, too, but I don't think they had an effect on the outcome...We persisted, but we were lazy on defense and we didn't get back."
Becklens led scorers with 28 points and also collected the Tournament MVP honors. Eastie's leading scorer was sophomore Jarett Calhoun, who had 23 points.

Quick Study

Seventh grader Paul Wrenn begins his high school hockey career

Charlestown’s Paul Wrenn has a bright future in the Latin Academy hockey program. He’s certainly off to an auspicious start.
Wrenn has been getting varsity minutes for the Dragons, who captured the Boston City Championship with a 10-1 win over East Boston Friday at Matthews Arena. The talented skater is also playing for the Latin Academy junior varsity team.
Wrenn, who is 12 years old, is the only seventh grader on the Latin varsity. It’s thus not unusual to see Wrenn out on the ice, skating with and against 17-and-18 year-old players.
“I was very apprehensive about it because 17-and-18-year-olds don’t think like 12-year-olds,” said Paul Wrenn, young Paul’s father. “I talked to the head coach, Hank Quigg, about it and he told me not to worry, that he would use him in the right situations and look after him in regards to the social aspect of the team. The coach has done a really good job with him.”
Latin coach Hank Quigg said that Wrenn has made strides in his hockey skills this season. “We’re very happy with his progress in the program and the way he does things,” said Quigg. “He has a great attitude and he does good things. He has a lot of potential and if he keeps on progressing the way I think he will, he’s going to be a terrific player.”
Quigg said that Wrenn’s keen skating abilities were noticeable on the first day of practice. “He’s an excellent skater and we saw that at the tryouts,” said Quigg. “We noticed the way he moves his feet, which is kind of unusual for kids his age. He’s also a good stickhandler.”
Paul Wrenn began playing hockey in the Charlestown Youth Hockey program when he was four years old.
“I was coaching the Charlestown Pee Wee ‘A’ team at the time and he wanted to play hockey,” recalled Mr. Wrenn. “He tagged along and he was the stick boy for our team. He’s played for the Charlestown Mites, Squirts, and the Pee Wees.”
Wrenn helped lead his Squirt ‘A’ team to a state title. This month Wrenn and his Charlestown Pee Wee ‘A’ teammates will compete in the State Championships in Fitchburg. He also plays center for the North Shore Wings select team.
Wrenn, who is 5 feet, 3 inches and weighs 108 pounds, is enjoying his first year in the Latin Academy program.
“It’s a very good team and it’s been a fun season,” said Wrenn, who scored a varsity goal against Snowden this season. “It’s really a challenge some times playing against some of the older kids but it’s gone well. The Latin players treat me very well and our coaches really know the game. I like hockey a lot. I’d like to play hockey in college.”
Hockey is a way of life in Paul and MaryAnn Wrenn’s family. Mr. Wrenn played in the Charlestown Youth Hockey program and was a hockey star at Christopher Columbus High School, skating on the same line with Charlestown native and future NHL player Jim Vesey and future Boston College captain Billy Nolan, also of Charlestown. Columbus won the Division 2 state championship in 1984, defeating Wilmington in the finals at the old Boston Garden.
“Jim Vesey was the leading scorer in the state in Division 2 that year,” recalled Mr. Wrenn. “He was quite a player.”
Paul Wrenn has two younger brothers, Patrick, 10, and Sean, 7, who also love to play hockey. “We’re one hockey family,” said Mr. Wrenn. “That’s all we do.”
And Paul Wrenn has been doing it very well in his first season at Latin Academy.