Printer Friendly Version - Deep River Parks and Rec Wraps up Winter Basketball Season

The Los Angeles Lakers were crowned the Deep River Parks and Recreation’s 2023 Valley Cup Champions. Pictured are Coach John Dickson, Eli Torres, Luke Buccaro, Colin Carver, Lucas Rogers, Zachary Knox and Connor Dickson. Photo courtesy of Carol Jones

The Deep River Parks and Recreation’s winter basketball program, offered to youth in grades K-12, has finished its 2022-’23 season.

The department thanks the volunteer coaches and referees, who gave their time and talents each week to bring the program to local youth.

The K to 3 program, coached by Danielle Castellano, Adam Sutch, and Nick Rioux, met once a week and emphasized skills and ball handling. The 23 players mastered such basketball skills as dribbling, passing, and shooting.

Grades 4 to 6 also met once a week and were coached by Nick Graham and Nick Rioux. Valley Regional student Nick Cox also helped out. The players improved their skills and also learned game strategies. Weekly scrimmages were held so players could implement what was learned. Both programs were held in the Deep River Elementary School gymnasium.

The NBA high school program, grades 7 to 12, ended its season with the annual Valley Cup tournament. March Madness was alive and well at the John Winthrop gymnasium recently, as the single-game elimination style tournament had the teams battle each other for a chance to take home the coveted silver cup trophy.

Coach John Dickson and his team, the Lakers, beat the Bulls, 73-55, to become the Valley Cup champions. Their name will be engraved on the trophy, which the winning team keeps for the calendar year until the next champions are crowned in March 2024.

Lucas Rogers led the Lakers with 26 points, while teammate Colin Carver added 19. Two other players were in double digits, Luke Buccaro with 11 and Eli Torres posting 12 points. Dickson led his team to a regular season record of 6-1.

Coaches Michael and Paul Cullina led the Bulls, and team high scorers for the tournament were senior Nii Sykes with 17 points and Jacob McKenna with 11.

Deep River Parks and Recreation thanks all who volunteered this season, with a special shoutout to coaches Casey Metz, Steve Kleiman, and Jim Metz. Thanks were also given to the custodial staffs at John Winthrop Middle School, Deep River Elementary School, and Essex Elementary School. The referees for the season were James Daly, Dave Berardis, and Steve Elich.