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March 4, 2009

'Best game imaginable' nets Waring first hoop title

By Paul Leighton

Waring School had never hosted what could be considered a big basketball game before, so yesterday's league championship was missing a few of the essentials as the 200-or-so fans filed into the school's tiny gymnasium yesterday afternoon.

A place to sit, for example.

But since this was history, and no one wanted to miss it, the students, teachers and parents leaned on the railing of the balcony overlooking the court, or stood on folding chairs behind the lucky fans who got to the railing first, or sat on a few benches and chairs crammed into the four corners of the gym, inches away from the court.

And then, for the next two hours, they watched the action unfold, a game school Headmaster Peter Snick would ultimately label "Waring's version of 'Hoosiers.'"

Waring is a small private school of 150 students in grades six through 12, tucked into the woods in the Centerville section of Beverly. It's known for its strong academics, including its French-immersion classes. The ninth-grade class — the entire class, including three members of the basketball team — couldn't make yesterday's game because it was on a trip to France.

The school has won its share of soccer and lacrosse championships but has never had much success in basketball. But this year's boys team had a 6-foot-9-inch center, a talented point guard and a determination to make basketball mean something at Waring.

"It's always been soccer and lacrosse," said Zander Goepfert, the star point guard from Manchester. "All the championship banners on the wall are for soccer and lacrosse."

Robine Vaneck got there early yesterday and grabbed one of the coveted spots along the balcony railing. Vaneck is a teacher at Waring and coaches the girls junior varsity basketball team. She also played basketball at Waring as a student.

"This is a testament to how the school can come together and how the kids can come together for each other," she said as she surveyed the crowd. "There are people here who have nothing to do with the basketball life."

Matthew Patey, a junior from Rockport, took up a spot on the stairs leading up to the balcony. He said Waring is the type of liberal-arts school that promotes a range of activities, a school where the star athletes take voice lessons or play an instrument like everyone else.

"This is a really big deal," he said. "The last time we had a really good basketball team, we weren't even in a league. Soccer is definitely Waring's big sport. This year, basketball is bigger than it's ever been."

The team started the season with eight straight wins, but then lost the next seven games as Zach Johnson, their 6-foot-9-inch center from Hamilton, was sidelined with a sprained ankle.

But the team rebounded with a win in the league playoffs, with a recovering Johnson limited to only five minutes. That sent the team into yesterday's championship game against Boston University Academy.

The game was tied at halftime and still tied at the end of regulation. With 17 seconds left in overtime, Goepfert drove the length of the court to break a 52-all tie.

When the final buzzer sounded, and Waring had its 54-52 win, the fans poured out of the balcony and down the two stairways onto opposite ends of the court. They surrounded the team at center court, bobbing up and down, Johnson's smiling face towering above the rest.

Waring's coach, Nick Drayer, called it "the best game imaginable." Goepfert, who finished with 36 points, said it was "the biggest, craziest atmosphere I've ever seen."

Goepfert then looked up the wall covered with championship banners for soccer and lacrosse.

"I've been on the varsity for five years," he said. "I just wanted to have a basketball banner."

After a day like no other at Waring School, his team and all its fans will finally get their wish.

Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.

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