Tewksbury Boys Basketball League Hosts Annual Officer James Hood Tournament

While most of us in Tewksbury were relaxing after over-indulging in turkey or hitting the Black Friday sales, the Tewksbury gyms were hopping with more than 40 travel basketball teams playing in the Officer James Hood Travel Basketball Tournament.

With 11 competitive divisions in 4th through 8th grade, more than 80 basketball games were played at the Ryan, Wynn, TMHS, and Lowell Catholic gyms over the weekend. Teams from all over Merrimack Valley and New Hampshire competed in this annual tournament.

Tewksbury travel teams successfully made it to 6 of the 11 championship games, with two of them bringing home the hardware. Scott Wilson guided his team to the seventh Grade Division 1 Championship with a hard-fought 1-point victory over a strong Westford team.

The sixth Grade Red team, coached by Jim Sullivan, played one of the most exciting youth basketball games in recent memory, with a triple overtime victory over Hudson, NH. Christian Marsden made a 3 point shot with less than 4 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime for Tewksbury. Luke Maresca, Tommy Crawford, and Christian Marsden made clutch free throws in the third overtime to seal the victory for the Tewksbury sixth graders.

Leading scorers for the game were Luke Maresca and Christian Marsden with 14 points each while Brady Lane had 6 points, Jeremy Perez 5 points, Tommy Crawford and Danny Fleming 4 points each and Aidan Trulli chipped in with 2 points. Ryan Melo contributed with outstanding defense while Michael Sullivan contributed with several assists and David Miller was outstanding on defense and contributed rebounding.

This was a complete team win in which these boys fought back from a 10 point deficit in the second half and went 5 of 6 from the free throw line in the third overtime to outscore Hudson 5-3 for the victory.

In other championship games, the eighth Grade Red team, coached by Mike Iannacci couldn’t hold off a powerful Hudson (NH) team, while Joe Zenga’s eighth Grade White came up short against Lowell. Ken Griffin’s 7th Grade Blue battled to the end but fell 5 points short against a physical Wilmington team. Anthony Burgess took his fourth Grade Red team to the finals in this preseason tournament for their first travel basketball season, but they couldn’t get past an athletic Methuen team.

This tournament was dedicated to Tewksbury Police Detective Sergeant James Hood in 2003. Officer Hood as he was known by most was the town’s first juvenile officer. His passion for helping the youth in this community remains unmatched and extended far beyond his official duties as the town’s juvenile officer. Officer Hood supported all youth activities within the town, especially the Tewksbury Boys Basketball League, to which he was an avid supporter and longtime volunteer.

For all that Officer Hood did for the youth of Tewksbury, it was decided after his untimely passing in 2003, by unanimous vote of the Tewksbury Boys Basketball Leagues Board of Directors and with the full support of the Tewksbury Police Department, that the formerly named Tewksbury Turkey Shoot-Out Thanksgiving Tournament would be re-named and dedicated in his honor.

The proceeds from the tournament support the TBBL Scholarships given annually to Tewksbury students.

Courtesy Photos:

7GA Champs: Back Row: Assistant Colby Wilson, Coach Scott Wilson, Kalu Olu, Rory Power, Luke Tryder, Dom Valaway, Will McKay, Assistant Tyler Wilson & Assistant Derek McGaffigan. Front Row: Benny Svendsen, Elias Melki, Michael Kelly, Adam Favreau. Missing from photo: Hunter Delonais and Michael Cronin

6G Champs: Back Row: Assistant Kevin Maresca, Assistant Tricia Fleming, Thomas Crawford, David Miller, Christian Marsden, Daniel Fleming, Brady Lane, Coach Jim Sullivan. Front Row: Jeremy Perez, Luke Maresca, Ryan Melo, Michael Sullivan, Aidan Trulli