Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don't make.

Exhibit A: Chris Hanson, the Salem sophomore who rewrote Daniel Webster College's record book on the basketball court.

The former Witches' star was also named Athlete of the Year at a school that includes 14 sports, then a first team conference selection.

The 20-year-old shotmaker was also runner-up in conference Player of the Year voting. A year ago, he was Rookie of the Year.

Hanson had a small confession to make after the season. He nearly left Daniel Webster after his freshman year. A coaching change had been made, and he was close to the former coach, Jeremy Courier, the one-time Endicott College star.

"Dave Faucher was the new coach. I didn't know him and I figured on lot of changes, like a new offense and so forth. I was pretty sure I wasn't returning. I even had my mom call Chris Harvey, the Salem State coach. He recruited me in high school. Chris advised her to tell me to stay at Daniel Webster because I would love the new coach, Dave Faucher, who had been at Dartmouth, and is recognized nationally," Hanson said.

"Coach Harvey said to give Coach Faucher a chance and indicated that was the best advice to pass to me."

Hanson said the best part of staying was not a stack of individual records, but the 18-9 ECAC team mark, the best in Daniel Webster history.

And for the record, Faucher did change the offense. He put the ball more in Hanson's hands.

"He got us to play hard. I also got a lot more touches," Hanson said. "I never knew (Faucher) was at Dartmouth for 15 years. We became best friends, but he noticed right away that I was out of shape. I explained that I had become a father and didn't have much time for basketball in the offseason. He understood, but had me in shape in no time."

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Skip Likins is the new girls basketball coach in Marblehead. He might be a rarity in Headerville, having played on a state championship baseball team and coached a state baseball titleist there.

"Many of the parents asked me to apply and I felt good about that," Likins said. "I had a daughter on the basketball team, and I've been frustrated for two years watching the games. Most of all because a lot of talented players decided not to stay with the program. Apparently, they didn't agree with the philosophy of the previous coach. There's no reason Marblehead should be down like this in girls basketball."

Despite the big time challenge of overcoming two winless seasons, Likins said qualifying for the state tournament is a realistic goal.

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So why did Russian-born Anna Dokina leave Danvers for Northfield-Mount Hermon? She had been wait-listed at Andover Academy.

"I had been thinking of it for a while. It was my next choice to Andover. I like the challenge. I liked the campus. It's beautiful, different than the other schools I visited. I think playing tennis with a lot of prep school girls gave me the idea.

"The best player I faced in the NEC was Sabrina Salmela of Beverly. She had the best all-around game. Jennifer Cleary of Swampscott is almost in a tie with Sabrina. Jennifer's great, too."

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Danvers' Brian Day has had a tough summer on two fronts. He's recovering from torn labrum hip surgery June 2 and was told his recovery would be four to six months. He played the entire Colgate hockey season with the ailment. The problem was discovered at the New York Islanders summer camp in 2008.

In addition, Day is enrolled in Dartmouth College's Tuck-Bridge Business Program. It's six days from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday is not an off day. It's for study groups.

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Chris Mastrangelo will be resigning as dean of students at Peabody High to become assistant principal at Malden High. Mastrangelo won't actually resign until he signs a contract in Malden, where the principal is Dana Brown, the former girls hoop coach there. Mastrangelo was the Tanners' boys varsity coach for 11 years and did a commendable job.

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Bill Kipouras is a staff writer at The Salem News. He can be reached at bkipouras@salemnews.com or at 978-338-2615.