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Saturday, March 17, 2007
Time can’t erase thrills
Doherty win’s 40th birthday
Dave Nordman Sports Editor
Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most exciting Central Mass. championship basketball games ever played.
On March 18, 1967, Doherty High defeated St. Bernard’s, 85-84, in double overtime before a capacity crowd of more than 2,500 at Assumption College. Senior Flip Davis made the winning basket, a short put-back off a rebound with 19 seconds left.
Wayne Storms’ long jumper set up the shot by Davis, who then stole the ball with 5 seconds left to preserve the win.
“I don’t remember the first overtime or much of the second, but I do remember the last shot,” said Davis, now living in Auburn. “I remember we missed and the rebound came to me. I made the shot. Then I remember almost suffocating from the bottom of the pile during the celebration.”
The Division 1 title came during Doherty’s first season after the merger of Classical and Commerce high schools. Davis played his first three seasons at Classical and credits coach John Flaherty for quickly melding the two very different teams into a winner.
“He brought two schools, two different cultures, together,” Davis said. “He should get a lot of the credit for our success. It’s amazing what he was able to accomplish, really.”
The Highlanders — then spelled HiLanders — advanced to the state tournament, where they lost to Melrose, coached by future Celtics assistant John Killilea, at the old Boston Garden. Davis doesn’t remember much about that game.
“I only remember how bad the locker rooms were,” he said.
According to an account of the Doherty-St. Bernard’s game by former Worcester Telegram sports writer Jim Cunningham, the Highlanders trailed, 74-64, with 3:36 left, but rallied to tie the Bernardians twice — 77-77 at the end of regulation and 81-81 after the first overtime.
George Singas, who later played professionally in Europe, led Doherty with 33 points on 16-of-22 shooting and sent the game into OT with a turnaround jumper with 11 seconds left. The Highlanders’ John Driscoll made two shots to send the game into a second overtime.
What made the win even more improbable, according to Cunningham, was that Doherty played both OTs without three of its top players — Bobby Rothemich, Phil Andreson and Jimmy Bulak — who had fouled out during the fourth quarter.
Storms finished with 16 points, Andreson 12, Rothemich 7 and Driscoll 5. Ron Gabriele led St. Bernard’s with 23 points, while John Monahan added 20, Jim Small 19 and Dave Beaulac 14.
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