Sharon 8th Grade Boys Travel Team Wins Fourth Muscato Title

A Sharon boys basketball team defended a tournament title Saturday -- its fourth win in five years -- but definitely won't repeat next year.

Ninth graders can't play in the eighth grade travel basketball league.

The Sharon eighth-grade gold team defeated Easton, 62-46, for the Muscato Tournament championship Saturday at Stonehill College.

It was Sharon's fifth straight Muscato title game, starting when this graduating class was in fourth grade, "from the time the kids were really tiny until they're now mature young men going into high school," said head coach Marc Filipkowski, who's assisted by Steve Dubrow.

Counting tournaments, Sharon is 13-2 this season, and ranked second in Select Hoops' Power Rankings behind Marshfield. Coincidentally, Sharon's one Muscato title loss was to Marshfield, as sixth-graders. Sharon's Muscato title wins all came against Easton, Filipkowski said.

Sharon, Newton-A and North Quincy are tied for the MetroWest Basketball Division 1 lead, each at 3-0, according to the league's website. Filipkowski said Sharon has nine regular-season games left, and could play 35 to 40 games total this winter, depending on its tournament and post-season success.

Depth has been key for Sharon.

"It's a very talented pool of kids in eighth grade in Sharon," Filipkowski said.

"We carry a roster of 13, and they all play."

Saturday, Sharon was led in the scorebook by center Michael Zola, with 13 points; point guard Alex Dubrow, with 11 points; and forward David Roelke, with 10 points and seven rebounds, Filipkowski said.

However, every game, "different kids will start (and) different kids will finish. They all contribute," he said.

Tryouts have turned the roster over by 50 percent over the five-year run, Filipkowski said.

Only seven of the 13 eighth-graders have been on the team all five years, he said: Daniel Bender, Matt Lowerre, Jordan Mello-Klein, Andrew Filipkowski, David Roelke, Coby Tippett and Alex Dubrow.

Sharon's eighth-grade boys travel program has 36 to 38 players among its three teams, Filipkowski said.

"It's a great group of kids," he said.

"I think a number of these kids will go right to JV. I think they'll all be playing freshman basketball."

Sharon also won the Muscato seventh-grade title Saturday, finishing 4-0 in the tournament, Filipkowski said.