RPC column pg 9 1-12-12
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- Category: Past Issues
By Ron P. Coderre
An RPC opening to Lesley Neal of Putnam who celebrated a birthday Jan. 3. It’s great to open with a greeting to you, Lesley.
As RPC hits the streets today the high school and prep school basketball schedules are quickly approaching the halfway mark. As much as the season is anticipated, it seems that once the young men and women hit the hardwood, the season just flies by. Before we realize it, we’ll be talking league, conference and state tournaments.
A look at the scoring column indicates that Tourtellotte’s Ed Kopacz is leading the local scoring parade. The Tiger’s senior standout student –athlete is scoring at 22.4 points per game. After watching Kopacz perform at the Clipper Classic, where he was the Most Outstanding Player it’s no surprise that he’s on top of the scoring heap.
Trailing Kopacz is Plainfield sophomore Ryan Pambuku who’s tickling the twine at a 19.4 ppg. pace. Putnam’s Dino Porcic is third at 18.5 ppg., followed by Jeff Clang of Killingly at 17.8 ppg. The fifth slot belongs to Shaun Lawton of Putnam Science Academy (17.6), with Marianapolis’ Kristian Medina (17.2) close behind. The remaining leaders are John Lorange of Plainfield (17.0), Kachi Nzerem of Marianapolis (16.2) and Dayshon Smith of the PSA Mustangs (15.8).
Lawton is the top three-point scorer from long range with 22 treys. He’s followed by his teammate Smith and Pambuku with 20 and 19 from beyond the arc respectively.
Hailey Griffin of Plainfield leads the female scoring parade with an average of 18 points per contest. She’s followed by Killingly’s multi-talented Devin Hill who checks in at an even 17 points per game. The remainder of the top five includes Melanie Mills of Marianapolis (14.7), Ashley Espinosa of Putnam (14.4) and Kim Bouten of Plainfield (14.1).
Jill Bodreau of Marianapolis and Bouten are the three-point field goal leaders with 17 and 13 respectively.
Milestones…
There are many milestones in life. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and the number of years we work in one place for instance. But for the young men and women who play high school basketball milestones are often measured by the number of points you record in the scorebook.
The aforementioned Eddie Kopacz is quickly approaching the vaunted ,1000-point plateau. With little more than five games under his belt this season, Kopacz seems like a sure shot to ring the 1,000-point bell. He is currently at a career 825 points and racking up the markers very quickly.
Putnam’s Dino Porcic, who spent one season at Putnam Science Academy, recently passed the 500-point level and appears to have an outside shot at eclipsing 1,000 points before he completes his senior year. Another 500-point scorer is Dan Gagnon of Pomfret School.
Plainfield and Marianapolis each have two players who appear destined to reach the ,1000-point level. Hailey Griffin has 906 career points and should surpass 1,000 points very shortly. Her teammate Kim Bouten is at the 877 point mark and should also reach the magic number this season.
On Thompson Hill, Melanie Mills is at 875 career points and her teammate, junior Sydney LaTour has 647 markers. Both should go by the 1,000-point mark barring any unforeseen event. Pomfret School’s Megan Gaudreau, who is headed to St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vt., next year, is only 175 points shy of 1,000. The way she shoots three-pointers she should be there by season’s end. Devin Hill with 747 points has an outside shot at the 1,000-point milestone.
Kiss You’re on Candid Camera…
The UConn basketball program has a new feature to entertain its restless fans during extended time out periods. The feature is called “Kiss Kam.” Internal cameras focus on an unsuspecting couple and while everyone in the arena can see them on the big screen, they’re encouraged to kiss for the camera.
Since this little feature started two local couples have been caught on the “Kiss Kam.” The first couple was well known former car dealer Sam Markley and his wife Kathy. In December, in the game between Fairfield University and the Huskies, the featured couple was Doug and Gail Porter. According to sources at the games, both couples could have smooched a little longer for the camera. Doug Porter, who is not a great sports fan by his own admission, had to be nudged by his wife to get his nose out of the book he’d brought to the game.
Hoop It Up….
The Putnam Lodge of Elks #574 is once again providing youngsters 8 thru 13 the opportunity to demonstrate their free throw skills. According to Exalted Ruler Lisa Morrissette, the 2012 Putnam Lodge Hoop Shoot is scheduled for Jan. 14 at the Putnam Middle School. Registration is at 1 p.m. with the competition beginning at 1:30 p.m.
The Elks competition is for boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 13 with birthdays as of April 1, 2012. The youngsters will compete in age brackets of 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13. Winners of the competition will move on to District competition Jan. 29, also at the Putnam Middle School. This is a great opportunity for kids to show off their skills but also to meet other youngsters.
Thank You…
Despite the fact that the circulation of the Putnam Town Crier is limited to the greater Putnam area, it was nice to receive e-mails from former longtime readers of the column who reside outside the circulation area. Correspondence came from as far away as Florida, where we’re read by Ed Hamill; Norwich where former Putnam High School Athletic Director Bob Demars sent his best; and Pomfret where we heard from ex-Plainfield great Jan Koivisto. Thanks guys. We hope the cards and e-mails keep coming.
RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: God gave us two ends. One to sit on and one to think with. Success depends on which one you use; heads you win – tails you lose.