Crabtree pg 9 7-5-12
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- Category: Past Issues
By Ron P. Coderre
A sporty RPC hello and Happy Birthday to Putnam octogenarian plus, Joe “Chief” Bousquet. A decorated World War II veteran, Bousquet and his wife Sylvia still find time to take in many Putnam High School athletic events.
Killingly High School didn’t waste much time in filling its vacant varsity basketball coaching slot, when it named former Putnam High School standout Jim Crabtree to take over Scott Derosier’s spot on the Redmen bench. Crabtree, who is employed by the Town of Putnam Recreation Department, has plenty of basketball experience both as a player and coach.
Crabtree, a Putnam native, was a standout guard early on as a youngster for the St. Mary’s Hawks prior to moving on to a brilliant career at Putnam. The 1986 grad along with Kyle Leeman led the Clippers to the 1986 Connecticut Class S title. He left Putnam as the all-time career assist leader with 429 and single season leader with 232, a record he set in 1985. Although his primary role as a player was to get the ball inside to Leeman, Crabtree still racked up 707 career points, ranking him 24th on the all-time Putnam list.
Crabtree also amassed a number of honors along the way, including All-State in 1986. He was a Quinebaug Valley Conference North All Star in 1985 and 1986 and earned QVC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors in 1985. The following year he was named an All-Tournament first team pick.
The 44-year-old Crabtree embarked on his coaching career in 2000 as an assistant and junior varsity coach for Putnam under coach Tony Falzarano, a role he continued in through 2006. He assumed the Putnam varsity coaching reins for a period in 2005, when Falzarano was sidelined with a cardiac condition.
Since leaving the high school ranks, he’s kept his hand in coaching by working with another former Putnam coach and Marianapolis head coach, Dave Vitale. The pair has been involved in AAU basketball with the Rhode Island Breakers. A ‘gym rat’ by nature, Crabtree is often spotted in the crowd wherever and whenever there’s a good game on the agenda.
Although he knows the ins-and-outs of offensive basketball, having been a point guard and coach on the floor in high school, Crabtree is a fiery type who loves to teach the defensive side of the game. If his players are anything like he was as a player, and we’re certain they will be, their game and style will be upbeat and in your shirt.
Matt Smith Connecticut
State Amateur Champ…
Matt Smith, the former Tourtellotte and University of Hartford golfing great, battled his way through four days of intense golf competition to emerge as the top amateur golfer in the state of Connecticut.
Smith, competing in the 110th Connecticut State Amateur Championship at Race Brook Country Club in Orange, captured the title with a 7-6 victory over Ben Conroy of Durham June 29. The quiet, always in control Smith won four of the final 10 holes and halved four others for the win. The key to Smith’s win occurred early on in the match when he won the first two holes, setting the tone for his dominance of the championship.
The competition opened June 26 with individual play, where Smith fired a one under par 71 to qualify as one of 32 golfers who moved on to the match play competition. His qualifying score seeded Smith third in the field of 32 golfers.
He advanced to the finals by besting Devon O’Rourke of Darien 5-3 and followed that up with a solid 4-3 victory over Alex DiClemente of Fairview Farms. The following day, Smith captured a victory against Michael Massa, who was representing Lake of Isles Country Club at Foxwoods.
For the humble and affable Smith, the 2012 championship held a bit of sweetness, as he came ever so close to being a two-time champion. In 2011, Smith lost a heartbreaker in the championship match.
Former Killingly High School standout Fletcher Babcock, representing Connecticut National Golf Club, finished 62nd on opening day with a disappointing 12 over par 84.
From Days Gone By
- George Dargati…
When the word “legend” is mentioned around people that remember the heyday of Tourtellotte Memorial High School sports, the name George Dargati is certain to pop up. Dargati was a student/athlete at Tourtellotte from 1947 through 1950. In that time he put together one of the schools most remarkable sports resumes.
A product of the town’s fabled “Greek Village” Dargati played varsity baseball and basketball for four years and ran track for two seasons. During his basketball years, the team’s he was part of won State Championships in 1949 and 1950. In his senior season he led all Connecticut scorers with 529 points, surpassing 1000 career points as a Tiger and was name All-State by the New Haven Register. Following high school, he played one season of basketball at UConn.
In 1954 he was signed as a pitcher by the then New York Giants of the National League. When that didn’t work out, Dargati returned to the area and enrolled at Eastern Connecticut State University, where he enjoyed a stellar basketball career from 1958 through 1960. A member of the ECSU Hall of Fame, Dargati played three seasons for the Warriors. During that time he scored more than 1000 points. He still holds the Eastern single season scoring average (25.8 points per game) and career scoring average (24.5 ppg.). He’s ranked 6th all-time in NCAA Division II/III in scoring.
In 2009 Dargati was enshrined in the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
100 Year Old Visits 100 Year
Old Fenway Park…
In April of 2012 Fenway Park celebrated its 100th birthday as home of the Boston Red Sox. In October, former Danielson and current Westview Health Care resident Ernie Beausoleil will celebrate his 100th birthday.
To get Beausoleil in the birthday mood, a party of 18 people accompanied him to Fenway Park for the game against former Boston tenants the Atlanta Braves June 23. The trip was organized by Beausoleil’s daughter, Yvette Zahansky of Brooklyn and included his grandchildren and great grandchildren, some who came from as far away as Florida. The party was accompanied by Westview LPN Tammy Dexter.
During the game, the Red Sox saluted Beausoleil and his party by featuring them on the Jumbotron for the crowd of more than 37,000 that was on hand that day. Beausoleil, who was the owner of Beausoleil’s Market for more than 25 years, received another gift from the Red Sox, an 8-4 win over the Braves.
RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking. Happy 4th of July.