Head coach Jamal Gomes is the constant of Hendricken's title teams.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

Not that I want to rush into the winter season, because we still have some great fall sports action over the next month, but I was thinking that with Billy Baron having graduated and Ricky Ledo having transferred to St. Andrew’s School, it should be very interesting this winter as Hendricken tries to tie the record for consecutive Division I boys basketball titles.

The Hawks, under coach Jamal Gomes, have won the last six state crowns. That’s one short of the record of seven straight by the Central High teams from 1969-75, which were coached by Don Pastine and the late Jimmy Adams.

Hawks back in race

Speaking of Hendricken, it was only a regular-season game, but even in a program that has won five Division I Super Bowl games over the years, Hendricken’s 14-0 victory over previously undefeated Barrington Sunday night has to be one of the all-time most exciting Hawks football victories.

Hendricken had come into the game with only a 2-2 record in Division I play. Now it is right back in the middle of the race for one of the four Division I playoff berths with only three regular-season Division I games remaining.

Senior quarterback Tom Verdi led the Hawks with 128 yards passing, including touchdown tosses to Mike Flanagan and Bob Manning.

The Hendricken victory Sunday night, coupled with Mt. Hope’s triumph over West Warwick on Saturday, means only three of the Interscholastic League’s 43 football teams are undefeated –– La Salle in Division I, Ponaganset in Division III and Middletown in Division IV.

How about an apology?

Somebody at the Interscholastic League owes the Bay View and Mount St. Charles girls tennis teams an apology.

It was inexcusable that the players who had earned the right to play in the title match in the top division of Rhode Island girls tennis were forced to sit around for two hours for the start of their match on Sunday afternoon. The Bengals and Mounties were scheduled to play at 2 o’clock Sunday afternoon at Slater Park, immediately after the noon Division IV match.

But when wet courts at another site slowed the start of the Division III and II title matches, league officials decided to move the scheduled 2 p.m. Division II match to Slater and play it before the Division I match. That decision wasn’t made until approximately 1 p.m., so by that time most of the Mount St. Charles and Bay View players were on their way to Slater to warm up for their 2 p.m. match.

But instead of Bay View and Mount St. Charles taking the courts at 2, Moses Brown and Smithfield started their Division II match just a few minutes before 2, and the Mount and Bay View players and coaches sat and watched. The first serve of the Division I match came at 4:15 p.m.

The result was that rather than being played in Sunday’s afternoon’s bright sunshine, like all the title matches in the three lower divisions, the major match of the day was played under a setting sun and shadows on the courts throughout the entire match, as well as finishing up under the lights because of darkness.

If league officials felt they needed to move the Division II match to Slater, both the Division I and II matches should have been played simultaneously on Slater’s 10 courts. That format was used several times for title matches in both the boys and girls playoffs in past years. But even if officials didn’t want to play the two matches at the same time, the Division I teams never should have lost their 2 o’clock starting time.

In most sports venues, the feature contest is played in the spotlight. Unfortunately, in this year’s Rhode Island high school girls tennis the top attraction was played in the shadows.

Despite the long wait and the less-than-perfect playing conditions, players on both teams delivered outstanding performances.

As Mount St. Charles coach Richard Lawrence said after his team had dropped a 4-3 decision, “It was a great, great high school final. You can’t ask for anything better than that.”

They call it the resilience of youth.

29 years and counting

Once again this year, MetLife is sponsoring the Interscholastic League boys and girls state soccer tournaments. This is the 29th consecutive year MetLife has been the tournament sponsor. I have said it before, but in these difficult economic times, when most businesses seem to be follow whatever is the new, hot marketing trend, 29 years is amazing continual corporate support for the state’s high school student-athletes.

Bouyssou fifth in judo

Katelyn Bouyssou, who became the first girl to reach the semifinals of the state high school wrestling championships last year, also proved she is one of the top young judo performers in the world last week when she finished fifth in the 48kg division at the Junior World Judo Championships in Paris.

The 15-year-old Bouyssou was one of the youngest competitors in the tournament, which is held annually for athletes 19 and under. The top four finishers in her division were from Brazil, Japan, Turkey and Korea, respectively.

Bouyssou, who completed as an individual entry in Interscholastic League wrestling competition last year, when she was a freshman at Scituate High, is now a student at Cranston West, and is expected to be a member of the Falcons’ wrestling team this winter.

McCooey, Browne prevail

Meghan McCooey, the former Rhode Island high school girls tennis champion from Mount St. Charles and current Tufts University senior, combined with Tufts teammate Julia Browne to win their second straight the National Intercollegiate Tennis Association Small College doubles title last week.

McCooey and Browne captured the title with a straight-sets victory in the title match of the national tourney in Mobile, Ala. Last spring, McCooey, who won the 2005 R.I. high school girls state singles title, reached the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III women’s national tournament.

Field hockey in Cranston

Cranston becomes the field hockey capital of the state this week with the semifinal round of the Division I and III playoffs scheduled for Cranston Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday nights, respectively, and the title matches there on Sunday.

Hall of Fame nominations

Saturday is the deadline for submitting nominations of former Rhode Island high school athletes, coaches or contributors to Rhode Island high school sports for the 2010 R.I. Interscholastic League Hall of Fame induction class.

Nominations must be submitted on the official Hall of Fame nomination form. The forms may be downloaded from the Interscholastic League’a Web site, (RIIL.org), or can be obtained by calling the league office at (401) 272-9844.

Barrington Hall of Fame

Speaking of Hall of Fame selections, current PGA player Brett Quigley and Beth Donovan, the first girl to win an individual state championship in a coed R.I. Interscholastic League sport, are among the eight individuals who will be inducted into the Barrington High School Athletic Hall of Fame next month.

Donovan won the state diving title at the 1981 state coed swimming championships. Donovan won the title again in 1982. She went on to become an All-American diver at Ithaca College.

Quigley led the Barrington golf team to three state championships in the mid-1980s before going on to an All-American career at the University of South Carolina, then to the PGA Tour.

Other former Barrington athletes in the induction class are Joe DeSisto, Katie Fitta, Tim Kindregan, Jon Parker, Marilyn (Hartley) Picerelli and Jay Sarles. Also being inducted are the Eagles’ 1964 state championship baseball team, former track, golf and basketball coach Bob Ainsworth, and Ed McKinlay for his work on behalf of Barrington student-athletes.

The induction dinner is Nov. 21 at the Rhode Island Country Club. For ticket orders and information, call (401) 289-0625.

jgillool@projo.com