Fitchburg team is an official contender; Division 1 District title is at stake.

Byline: Fred Sullivan

In the 1950s movie classic. "On The Waterfront," the broken down boxer played by the magnificent Marlon Brando turns to the mobster boss played by Rod Steiger, and laments, "I coulda been a contenda."

After last week's impressive performance against perennial powerhouse St. John's, the Red and Gray of Fitchburg can now officially declare themselves contenders for the Division I District title.

Using their overall quickness and a fearlessness to take the long three-point jump shot, Coach Paul DiGeronimo's squad scored a neat 68-65 victory over a Pioneer squad which had superior inside size with the presence of Matt LaBove, and put themselves in position to get an excellent seed in the Districts. The Red Raiders could also get a home court appearance in the tourney, if they continue to ring up victories.

Last week, FHS had victories over North Middlesex and Algonquin Regional, along with the prime victory over St. John's. Every single player in their top seven or eight scored in double figures in one of those three contests. No Raider will lead the league in scoring, but all the players are able to hit for double figures in any contest. During the last month of play, Hamed Akanni has emerged a major scorer with his slick moves and soft jump shot. When Hamed is on the court, defenders must keep track of his presence. Luis Diaz Ramos delighted the kids in the cheering section when he hit a wide-open three-pointer from downtown, but he knows that his importance to the Raiders is to be found underneath the basket. He has to be able to compete against players like Matt LaBove, or the Raiders will have trouble. So far, Luis has been doing just that.

Good teams have to have good point-guard play if they are going to be successful. Coach Bob Foley has to be happy that David White will be controlling the St. John's offense from the point guard position during the next two seasons. DiGeronimo has to be very pleased with the solid guard play that he has been receiving from Jeremy Kimber, Harvey Grout and Marcus Earley.

Helping Ramos under the hoop for the Raiders has been the athletic Orlando Anderson, who is a real leaper who makes some rebounding moves, and will get your squad 10 to 12 points with his hustling play around the basket. Kyle Dobson might get three or four points, but then in the next contest he will throw up 25 points. Kyle can be very explosive, as can his two teammates, Adam Vasquez and Tralane Whittle, who are...

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