Sixth grade boys and girls renewed a Medfield tradition last Monday night when basketball players from the north side of town faced off against their friendly rivals from the south side. Both games were very competitive with the north girls beating the south, 36-30, and the north boys defeating the south by a score of 32-25.
From 1969, when the Ralph Wheelock School opened, until the declining enrollments of the 1980s - 1982 to be exact - the grade organization of the Medfield schools was divided on a Hatfield/McCoy, north/south boundary. Those living in the north end of town attended grades one through six in the Memorial/Dale complex and those living in the south end of town attended grades one through six in the Ralph Wheelock School.
One of the rivalries that developed between the northerners and southerners was in the annual sixth grade basketball tournament between the two sections. This tournament, usually a best out of three, became a town-wide event. Games were played in the then-neutral junior high court, except when the final game three was to decide the winner. For that game, so many students, parents and townspeople turned out that the action had to be shifted to the larger high school gym.
The 1973 spring classic was one of the most exciting of examples, as a new glistening trophy was added to the experience. Arriving at the neutral court of the then-junior high school, the first game was so packed that the 150 spectators, along with the players, had to be moved to the senior high gym to guarantee seats for all. During that first game, the Wheelock team held a slight lead throughout the game, ending with a final score of South 21, North 16.
In the second game, North was ahead of South at the half-time but then fell behind. Ronny Shiels from North pulled his team back into the lead with two foul shots and the North held on for a 21-20 victory. In each of the games, players form the MHS varsity "Big Blue" team acted as the referees.
In the final game, excitement peaked. Cheerleaders from each side rocked the boisterous crowd into a frenzy. At half-time, Dale Street coach Kevin Demeritt told his team they needed to stop South standouts "Pistol Pete" Farrar, Billy Zuccarini, Mike Cote and Mike Bedozian. At the same time, Coach Tom Cowell of Wheelock was telling his players they had to shut down North all-stars Danny DiMezza, Steve Mills and Doug Fetteroll. When the game ended at regulation time, all was tied. Overtime brought Wheelock a 35-33 victory and the new trophy for their school.
All players received "Big Blue" sweatshirts and the rivalry spilled out into the elementary haunts throughout town, only to come to a halt the following September when both north and south six-graders joined together for the first time in the junior high (later middle school) grades. With the closure of the Dale Street School in 1982 due to declining enrollments, and then a reorganization and closure of the Memorial School, all town students, north and south, were once again in the same school and the North/South divide, along with the basketball rivalry, ended.
Among the students and coaches who reignited the North/South rivalry:
South (blue): Will Bergland (jersey number 42), Chase Coughlin (1), Antoine Crosson Jr (13), Nathan DePaola (11), Luke Foley (51), Matthew George (33), Jack Iovino (21), Mason Lau (3), Luca Morello (30), Sam Silk (35), Matthew Stevens (2), and Coach Mike Stevens.
North (white): Joe Bartolotta (jersey number 0), Logan Corbett (55), Ryan Deignan (4), Matthew DiGregorio (32), Nick Gangemi (22), Jason Gelormini (23), Luke Lisciandra (31), Connor Riley (52), Roman Schoenfeld (14), Sean Watts (5), David Wilson (24), and Coach Brian Wilson.
