You can get a lot for $10 these days. It would be hard to list all the great things, so we urge you to use your imagination and fill in the blanks.
But on that list you may or may not have made, is there a place where you have the opportunity to watch five, count them five, high school basketball games in one day? Well if not, we do, and it just so happens to be at Bishop Brady High School this Sunday.
The second annual Frank Monahan Foundation Fore the Kids Basketball Showcase will feature the hometown Giants squaring off with Division II foe Lebanon in the first of two match-ups this season. And here’s a little knowledge for ya – both teams were near the top of the D-II standing at the time this article was written, so it should be a good one. You could also say the same for the other four games being played on Frank Monahan Court the day after Valentine’s Day, featuring some of the top prep teams in New England.
“Our big thing is showcasing all that talent under one roof,” said Marshall Crane, president of the Frank Monahan Foundation.
The court at Bishop Brady is named for the longtime boys varsity coach, who passed away suddenly from a heart attack in 2000, and some of his former players like Crane wanted a way to memorialize the coach. And since he already had a court named after him, they created a foundation.
The day of basketball fun begins at 11 a.m., with Proctor Academy taking on Commonwealth Academy, followed by Lee Academy versus the MacDuffie School at 12:30 p.m. Bishop Brady and Lebanon battle at 2:30 p.m. and it will be broadcast live on 107.7 in the Concord and Lebanon markets, while the 2013-14 prep national champion Brewster Academy takes the court at 4 p.m. against Worcester Academy. The final game of the day will feature New Hampton and Notre Dame Prep at 5:30 p.m.
“The kids at Bishop Brady are going to be smack dab in the middle of eight great prep programs,” Crane said.
Total it up and that’s about eight hours of sitting in the stands watching some serious hoops and 160 minutes of live basketball action, although there could be more if any of the games are decided in overtime.
“New England is such a hot bed for prep school basketball, having some of the best talent in the country,” Crane said. “And all these coaches, in one way or another, had a tie or knew Coach Monahan.”
There will be more than 50 NCAA Division I commits, who we’ve heard are willing to take a picture and sign their John Hancock – or whatever name they actually go by.
“Our vision for down the road is to have these games televised,” Crane said. “This is top notch basketball.”
The $10 price tag is for adults, while students and children are just $5. The proceeds from the day will benefit the Concord Boys & Girls Club and the James Ceriello Scholarship, which helps a student at the Boys & Girls Club with tuition to go to Brady. Raffles will be going on all day and include two signed basketballs from each team.
For more, visit frankmonahanfoundation.org.
