Sports assignments are part of my 2-10:30 p.m. shift nearly every day, since they happen in the afternoon or evening. Though we cover UMass and other college games, most of my time is spent at high school games. Watching the kids day after day, year after year, is often amazing to me. The tremendous growth in ability that occurs in some athletes from one season to another is a testament to their hard work, practice and dedication to their sport. I was thinking this as I watched the Northampton girls basketball team play Pentucket in the state Division 2 championship in Worcester on Saturday. Though the girls lost their game, the effort they displayed was inspiring. Here, Northampton junior guard Amanda Mieczkowski, right, tries to keep control of the ball against Arielle Cleveland, center, after her drive to the basket was halted by Mackenzie Currie, left. After looking at the Northampton roster more closely, I noticed that the team is losing only two seniors; most of their starting players will return, which leaves plenty of hope for next year. After the game, coach Perry Messer agreed, saying "This is not gonna be the end of us. We'll be back."
Sports assignments are part of my 2-10:30 p.m. shift nearly every day, since they happen in the afternoon or evening. Though we cover UMass and other college games, most of my time is spent at high school games. Watching the kids day after day, year after year, is often amazing to me. The tremendous growth in ability that occurs in some athletes from one season to another is a testament to their hard work, practice and dedication to their sport. I was thinking this as I watched the Northampton girls basketball team play Pentucket in the state Division 2 championship in Worcester on Saturday. Though the girls lost their game, the effort they displayed was inspiring. Here, Northampton junior guard Amanda Mieczkowski, right, tries to keep control of the ball against Arielle Cleveland, center, after her drive to the basket was halted by Mackenzie Currie, left. After looking at the Northampton roster more closely, I noticed that the team is losing only two seniors; most of their starting players will return, which leaves plenty of hope for next year. After the game, coach Perry Messer agreed, saying "This is not gonna be the end of us. We'll be back." Credit: —STAFF PHOTO/JERREY ROBERTS

Sports assignments are part of my 2 to10:30 p.m. shift nearly every day, since they happen in the afternoon or evening. Though we cover UMass and other college games, most of my time is spent at high school games. Watching the kids day after day, year after year, is often amazing to me. The tremendous growth in ability that occurs in some athletes from one season to another is a testament to their hard work, practice and dedication to their sport. I was thinking this as I watched the Northampton girls basketball team play Pentucket in the state Division 2 championship in Worcester on Saturday. Though the girls lost their game, the effort they displayed was inspiring. Here, Northampton junior guard Amanda Mieczkowski, right, tries to keep control of the ball from Arielle Cleveland, center, after her drive to the basket was halted by Mackenzie Currie, left. After looking at the Northampton roster more closely, I noticed that the team is losing only two seniors; most of their starting players will return, which leaves plenty of hope for next year. After the game, coach Perry Messer agreed, saying, “This is not gonna be the end of us. We’ll be back.”

Text and photo By Jerrey Roberts