Hanging over the locker room door in the Johnson Middle School gym, the “JMS Wall of Fame Banner” chronologically lists all of the tournaments winners in the last seven years. The banner features six separate tournaments: ping pong, dodgeball, four-square, volleyball, boys basketball, and girls basketball. Past winners have included some Walpole High greats: Summer King (who recently reached 1000 kills in volleyball and 1000 points in basketball), Kevin Manson (a current starting pitcher for the Rebels), Nolan Murray (Walpole alum who has gone on to play soccer at St. Anselm College), and Michael Rando (Walpole alum who has gone on to play football at Tufts University). On May 11 and 12, the boys and girls competed in the Johnson Middle School 3-on-3 Tournament to add their names to the banner.
For the nine girls teams that entered the tournament on May 11, “CBBL” – the team name for Lauren Lavanchy, Casey Poli, Bridget Abril, and Bridget O’Connor – won the title. For the fourteen boys teams that entered the boys tournament on May 12, “Oh Wait” – the team name for Matt Donato, Drew Mullen, Matt Falvey, and Mark Falvey – won the title. Both tournaments had a five dollar entry fee that helped to fundraise four-hundred dollars so JMS can get new gym equipment.
Johanna Madge, one of Johnson’s Physical Education teachers, manages the tournament. “Every tournament Ms. Madge runs is successful, and basketball is no different,” said Principal William Hahn. In addition to forming their own teams, many also picked unique team names and uniforms. For example, the “CBBL” team name was a combination of their first-name initials, and they all wore tie-dye t-shirts. Although the student-selected teams favored the older eighth graders, all students participated in the hopes of a big upset. Seventh grader Bridget O’Connor said about the win over older eighth graders, “as the clock ticked down, I was so happy to see that my team won the tourney out of all the other teams older than us in the tournament.” Seventh grader Casey Poli also said, “I have fun playing my favorite sport with my friends and I’m proud to be able to see our names on the banner.”
The tournament itself provided students with an intense playoff-like atmosphere. Faculty members reffed four games simultaneously throughout the first round. Eighth grader Brendan Moser said, “Every year I’ve been here, I have played in this tournament, and I like getting the chance to get my team’s name on the banner.” As the tournament proceeded with the first round wrapping up, and as latter rounds passed by, fewer and fewer teams remained.
In the end, after hard fought and close games, only “CBBL” and “Oh Wait” remained. “CBBL” completed the upset and pulled off a tournament win as seventh graders. “Oh Wait” was winning from beginning to end and also earned themselves the title champion. All future students that attend Johnson Middle School will be able to see “CBBL’s” and “Oh Wait’s”’players’ names etched on the Wall of Fame banner to be remembered forever.
