Letter to the Editor: Enthusiastic Support Of Amy Checkoway For School Committee

Photo: Amy Checkoway’s campaign poster

To the editor:

I am writing in enthusiastic support of Amy Checkoway for School Committee member.

Amy is an outstanding choice for a School Committee member. She is an intelligent, devoted candidate who will do an exceptional job helping the School Committee navigate the challenging road ahead — building a new school and the reorganization that will follow. Amy is an excellent communicator and she is a consummate professional. I can think of no one else better suited for this role than Amy.

I have known Amy for more than five years as we served together on the Wellington PTO Student Care Board together from 2014 through 2018. I had an opportunity to see Amy and her tireless efforts for the benefit of the Wellington community. Now she is ready to dedicate her time to ensure that the Belmont Public Schools are the best they can be for our kids, the educational professionals, and the community.

Working with Amy has taught me a number of things about her. First, Amy is very bright and is able to appreciate complex situations at multiple levels; she understands the finer details but is able to keep the larger goal in mind. Second, Amy is a highly effective communicator and she understands the importance of clear, open dialog with the community. Further, she has experience as an education professional and therefore knows how to communicate with others in the education field. Third, she is about as organized and dependable as one can be. Amy is the type of person that you know will get the job done, and get it done well. Finally, Amy is extremely ethical, professional, and dedicated to any endeavor she undertakes.

While Amy is just about one of the nicest people you will meet, that doesn’t mean she won’t stand up to do what she believes is right for our schools, our children, and our community. I completely trust that Amy will always do the right thing for Belmont Schools.

Please join me in voting for Amy Checkoway for School Committee member on April 2.

Brooke Bevis

Cedar Road

Belmont Officers Want Insider For New Chief

Photo: Belmont Police Department’s Todd Benedetti speaking before the Belmont Board of Selectmen

Representatives from the Belmont Police Department’s rank and file and their superiors were speaking from the same hymnal at Monday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting, asking the board to limit its search for a new chief from within the force.

With several officers with extensive professional development and advanced degrees in criminal justice, “I honestly don’t believe you’ll find any finer leaders then what we have in this department,” said Belmont Police Sgt. Ben Mailhut representing the department’s Superior Officers Association 

At the end of the meeting, the board authorized the writing of a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking a consultant to assist the town in finding a replacement for Chief Richard McLaughlin who is retiring on Dec. 31, 2019.

In a March 14 memo to the Selectmen, Belmont’s Human Resources Director Jessica Porter wrote that while there are arguments to keep the search inside the department – cost, consistency of departmental operations and morale – including external candidates will allow for a greater pool of professional applicants. She reminded the board it has had success selecting from outside including the appointment of the Town Administrator, the Belmont Light General Manager and Town Accountant.

“There’s pluses and minuses [when including an external search]. On the one hand, you don’t want to discourage people who are internal from moving up and on the other hand you really don’t know what’s out there until you start looking and we’ve made several hires from the outside,” said Selectmen Chair Adam Dash.

In an attempt for a compromise, Selectman Mark Paolillo put forth a two-step approach in which internal applicants would be vetted and only if no one meets the criteria for the position, only then would outside candidates be brought forward.

Belmont Police personnel made it clear their preference where the next chief should come from. Belmont Police Department’s Todd Benedetti said officers like himself, supervisors and the public “are watching this meeting and are very concerned with the possibility that the town spending thousands of dollars on an outside search when there are viable candidates inside the department.”

“Why not interview these candidates first then go to the outside if it is necessary,” said Benedetti, noting that closeby communities such as Watertown, Lexington, Waltham and Arlington are staying inside the department as it will ease the transition and keep morale high. With the renovation of police headquarters soon to be underway, “this is not the time” for an outside hire  “to come in and get used to the department.”

“Our officers believe in our internal candidates and believe it will allow in an easy transition through these tough times,” he said.

Porter presented a four-part recruitment process to the board:

  1. Hiring a consultant/search firm to assist the town.
  2. Whether or not the consultant conducts an assessment center; ie mock exercises involving real-life situations which the candidates would resolve a problem or
  3. Create a nine-person screening committee consisting of  Mark Paolillo, who is leaving the selectmen in April, Belmont Schools Superintendent John Phelan, a representative from the schools such as a principal, a president or member of a PTO, two residents, someone representing the Council on Aging, and a current police chief from a neighboring town.

Under the plan’s timeline, the issuance of the RFP will occur in July, and the screening committee appointed in mid-September. Finalists for the position will come before the selectmen in November and a final vote among the candidates in mid-November.

If all goes to plan, Belmont’s next police chief’s first day will be Jan. 6, 2020.

Brownsberger Appointed State Senate President Pro Tempore

Photo: The new Senate President Pro Tempore, Will Brownsberger 

State Sen. Will Brownsberger has got a new job up on Beacon Hill.

The long-time senator and Belmont resident has been appointed by State Senate President Karen Spilka to be President Pro Tempore of the Senate as he will now help her move the Senate’s agenda forward.

“I fully endorse the agenda that [Spilka] has defined for the Senate,” said Brownsberger. “Her agenda speaks directly to the concerns that have motivated me to serve in public office.”

Brownsberger said he agrees with Spilka’s top legislative priorities including adequately funding of the education system, the close relationship between housing, transportation, and environmental concerns, and supporting the Criminal Justice Reform package that was moved forward last year.

“An agenda of this breadth requires a strong leadership team and I’m very pleased that she has asked me to be part of her team. I’m looking forward to all of the important work that lies ahead,” he said.

Belmont’s ‘Triple A’ Worth Millions In School Bonding Market

Photo: Selectman Mark Paolillo signing the 30-year bond note.

Some may ask what’s the big deal if Belmont is a double or triple A? “Is there any real difference by having an added A to your name?” referring to the agencies which assign credit ratings for issuers of debt obligations, or bonds.

In Belmont’s case, that single letter was worth a cool six million in savings to property owners, according to Belmont Town Treasurer Floyd Carman who attended the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, March 18.

“Let me start by saying we should all be proud of these results, we all contributed,” said Carman, referring to town and school officials and the board.

“This is why it is important for people to know the importance of the triple-A bond rating,” said Board Chair Adam Dash. 

Carman’s Monday visit was for the three-member board to sign off on 30-year bond notes that took place on March 12 totaling $108,100,000 that included $100 million in the first of three payments to build the new 7-12 school building which starts construction this June, $7.4 million for the renovation and expansion of the Belmont Police Department police station and $700,000 for the multi-year water main replacement program. The bonds attracted seven bidders and were sold at a 3.31 percent interest rate locked in for 30 years to JP Morgan.

Yet Belmont will only be financing $102,030,000 of that debt. According to Carman, the difference of $6,070,000 is what the town received in “premium money.”

“This is the best possible outcome you could have had with a sale of bonds,” said Dash, which Carman called a combination of “luck and our excellent ratings.” The luck part due to timing as recent actions by the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in stop hiking up the discount rate which impacts interest rates.

For instance, Belmont taxpayers will not be financing $100 million for the new school, but $94,428,000, which will result in a savings of $1.2 million from the town’s operating budget. Preserving the town’s AAA rating will “save” taxpayers between $50 to $60 a year from the initial cost projection for the school project.

Belmont’s credit score was confirmed by two rating agencies – Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s – which assessed the town had an exceptional degree of creditworthiness and could easily meet its financial commitments. The highest rating is a rare honor as only 9 of 350 cities and towns in Massachusetts hold a AAA rating. 

The process of retaining the bond rating began in February when the town’s finance team made up of Carman, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, Town Accountant Chitra Subramanian, Assistant Town Administrator Jon Marshall, Belmont Assessor Dan Dargon, School Department Director of Finance, Business and Operations Tony DiCologero and Glen Castro, the town’s budget analyst, spent the better part of the day on rating calls with S&P and Moody’s, answering questions “to make sure this financing was first rate.”

“They really harped on good financial management and good fiscal and retirement policies. They don’t want any surprises,” said Carman, who told one of the rating agencies last April that the town was coming in with the three large projects.

“It’s a team effort,” said Carman on gaining and then maintaining a triple-A rating. “You have to have all your key financial people together. This didn’t just pop up overnight. We’ve been planning for this for two years.” 

Paying for the debt on the bonds will see real estate taxes increase annually by $760 on the average single family home (in 2019 valued at $1,090,000) effective on Jan. 1, 2020.

Feed Me, Seymour! Belmont High Presents ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’ March 21-23

Photo: Poster for this year’s musicial, Little Shop of Horrors

Don’t feed the plant!

For its spring musical, Belmont High School Performing Arts Company presents “Little Shop of Horrors” produced and directed by Ezra Flam.

Performances will take place on:

  • Thursday, March 21 and Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. and
  • Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Tickets:

  • ADULTS: $15 in advance, $18 at the door
  • CHILDREN/STUDENTS: $10 ($5 tickets for high school students for the Thurusday Mar. 21 show)

Tickets on sale at bhs-pac.org and at Champions in Belmont Center

All performances will be in the Belmont High School auditorium.

An off-Broadway hit 35 years ago which was turned into a cult-favorite rock/horror/comedy film, “Little Shop” has become a contemporary musical theater classic. The show featured a catchy score inspired by 60’s rock, doo-wop and Motown, written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the duo responsible for “Beauty & the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin.”

The show features a giant, talking plant puppet – operated by three students – a chorus of singing and dancing street Urchins and a crowd-pleasing score, including “Suddenly Seymour,” “Somewhere That’s Green,” the Dentist’s over-the-top rock song (made famous in the movie by Steve Martin) and more.

The big test that faced producer and director Ezra Flam was taking a show that orginiated on a cramped stage Off-Off-Broadway and ramp it up to include a cast of thousands (well, nearly 100.)

“One of the fun challenges of this show has been expanding a show that traditionally has a small cast of nine performers, to work for our cast of almost 90,” he said.

“We have widened to world of the show, expanding the trio of street urchins to ten, adding a group of dancers who serve as a bridge between the gritty world of Skid Row and the fantasy of a glamorous life Seymour finds himself in, and filling out the world of Skid Row. Every character in the show has some part in pushing Seymour down his dark path, culminating in a huge finale song ‘Don’t Feed the Plants’ that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.” said Flam.

“This production showcases what the Performing Arts Company does best: give our actors and stage crew the chance to learn about theater by creating a fully realized production,” Flam noted.

“The set will bring the world of Skid Row to life, and then open up to reveal the inside of the flower show; the costumes capture a colorful 1960s aesthetic; as always, the singing and dancing are sure to be a highlight of the show, especially with incredibly fun songs serving as a creative springboard, and a Pit Orchestra made up of mostly of students, under the direction of Arto Asadoorian.”

All Electric: Selectmen OK Power Storage, Solar Farm At Incinerator Site

Photo: An example of a battery storage site.

Where once Belmont burned its trash will become an electrical park as the Belmont Board of Selectmen voted to install a combined battery storage facility and solar farm at the former town’s incinerator on Concord Avenue near the Lexington town line.

“That’s the beauty of this use. It’s not tall, it’s not noisy, it’s not disruptive and it will not cause issues,” said Belmont Selectmen Chair Adam Dash.

But the public will need to wait upwards to three years before the new electrical hub is up and running; the town will need to design a “cap” over the contaminated ash produced over nearly 20 years the incinerator was in operation. In addition, the town is looking at a $800,000 gap between the $3.6 million cost of the barrier and $2.8 million in a community stabilization fund to pay of the cap. 

Installed in what resemble cargo shipping containers, the battery storage units will be used to both store electricity from both the solar panels and from the electrical grid during times when energy costs are low – the middle of the night – and distribute it during “peak” hours such as the late afternoon and evening.. 

By using the entire parcel with the exception of land used by the town’s Department of Public Works, the solar segment could generate the two megawatts of electricity that would make the facility financially viable for Belmont Light, the town’s electrical utility which would manage the operation.

The selection process which began in 2017 with 17 options came down to three; the storage facility, a bike/skate play area and open space. Two more controversial uses; an anaerobic digester and a multi-rink ice skating rink, where deemed unacceptable in February by the state’s Department of Capital Assets and Management Maintainance – which transferred the site to the town in 2015 – as both would generate revenue for a third party and was not seen as a municipal use.

The open space was attractive as the town is wanting of recreational space but it is a polluted site, the topography is challenging and the DPW will actively be on site for composting and other uses. While Dash described it as a “great idea”, maintaining and cleaning a “remote” bike/skate park would be a handful as the town is overburdened with patrolling the existing inventory of parks and playgrounds. 

The battery storage/solar farm was seen as the most practical use with the greatest upside. It is a passive use, was not opposed by homeowners on the backside of Belmont Hill and has the added advantage of meeting the town’s climate action goals and both the solar array and storage units can be replaced when technology improves.

“I just love the idea of having a use that can help solve so many issues,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo who has long been a support of the energy storage concept.

In addition, Belmont will have some expertise in the installation of electrical solar power. Belmont Light General Manager Christopher Roy led the Concord utility in the building of a solar facility on an old land ll, which generates up to 1.7 megawatts of electricity. Roy also submitted data to the Belmont Selectmen of the potental of cost savings with the creation of a combined solar and storage park. 

Planning Board Shelves McLean Residential Project As Affordability Takes Center Stage

Photo: The Planning Board in session.

A proposed 125 unit residential development on one of the last large parcels of open space in Belmont was shelved by the Belmont Planning Board as questions of affordability, density and other issues were raised by residents and board members.

“We don’t have the time” to satisfactory review the proposal before a Town Meeting vote, said Board Chair Chuck Clark at the Thursday, March 14 meeting as the board voted unanimously to not bring six bylaw changes to the town’s annual legislative gathering.

The postponement is a victory for affordable housing campaigners who contend the McLean Hospital Zone 3 project is the one best and likely final opportunities to bring a substantial number of accessible units into the town’s housing inventory.

“Let’s slow this down so we all can get to and work together,” said Rachel Heller, co-chairman of the Belmont Housing Trust, which has been advocating for greater income diverse housing through public policy – securing the town’s Housing Production Plan – and with growing activism. 

The delay is a blow to property owner McLean Hospital and Northland Residential, the proposed developer, which were seeking a positive vote at the annual Town Meeting in May to expedite the construction of what a Northland executive called an “age directed” project on nearly 13 acres of land set aside for housing when Town Meeting approved a mixed-use development plan with McLean nearly two decades ago in July 1999.

While the proponents pointed to the success of the nearby Northland-developed The Woodlands as being replicated on Zone 3, board vice chair Stephen Pinkerton said: “there are a lot of issues in terms of density and interest in affordable housing that need to be vetted among a half a dozen entities in town.”

“This won’t pass [Town Meeting] by a two-thirds majority” as Pinkerton motioned to the residents filling the Selectmen’s Room, suggesting the process be “paused.” 

Clark told the Belmontonian the Planning Board will ask the Belmont Board of Selectmen to create a task force with “everybody” including the Housing Trust, residents in addition to McLean “to figure this out.”

“I see this come back to Town Meeting in the fall,” said Clark, referring to an anticipated Special Town Meeting that typically takes place in November. “I suspect we’ll come to an agreement, it will just take a while.”

While campaigners did not have specific numbers or percentages of units, advocates said they are available to assist McLean and Northland either by introducing established affordable developers to partner with the proponents or work independently.

“A task force will create the opportunity for all these voices to be heard and then really think how to develop something that’s beneficial for McLean meets the town’s needs,” said Heller.

The question now hanging over the stalled development is if McLean and Northland will accept a new round of negotiations that could result in a greater affordability component.

McLean and the developer both noted in their presentations Thursday night the nearly 13 acres is currently zoned to accommodate approximately 500 apartment-style units in a high-density complex that includes buildings upwards to six stories tall and generating considerable vehicle traffic.

But it’s unlikely McLean would go that route and the developer admitted the “bankability” of such large assisted living/care complexes has waned considerably in the past decade.

The development – located on the southern ridge of the hospital close to Star Market and Pleasant Street – would be a “senior directed independent living residential community” consisting of 34 large 2 to 3 bedroom townhouses with a sales price of upwards of $1.5 million similar to those in the adjacent Woodlands along with 91 “flat” 1 to 2 bedroom apartments located in four-story buildings. The complex would provide town coffers with $1.6 million in added tax revenue.

Under a revised plan, 20 apartments would be designated “affordable” for those making 80 percent of the area median income (for a two-person family, an 80 percent AMI would be $63,050), an increase from a proposed 9 units that target buyers with an AMI as high as 120 percent ($94,550 for a two-family household). 

When the meeting was thrown open to public comment, it was quickly evident that despite a doubling of the number of affordable units in Zone 3, housing advocates felt, as Heller noted, “we can do a lot better.”

With Belmont still 337 units short of the state’s goal of 10 percent affordable housing. McLean is “one of the few if the only way for the town to get to that 10 percent,” said Heller, who said that rather than townhouses, the community needs more rental units as more than 40 percent of Belmont renters are “cost-burdened” as housing costs take more than a third of their income.

Gloria Leipzig of the Belmont Housing Authority noted the 40-unit Waverley Woods, designated in the 1999 agreement for low and moderate income housing, was built on 1.4 acres, “eight times” the space being proposed for the Zone 3 development.

“Certainly more than 34 large townhouses and 90 [apartments] can be built on this property,” she said.

Squandering The Potential 

As the land was “laid aside for specific community needs,” once a development proposal is adopted, “we can’t take this zoning back,” said Joseph Zarro, pastor of Belmont’s Plymouth Church. “I think we’d be squandering the potential of this land” under the proposed project.”

One resident commented on a statement by a Northland executive who said the new townhouses that would likely sell for $1.5 million was built “for folks that look like me and you.” Elizabeth Lipson of the Housing Trust said she is sensitive to “dog whistle” comments that housing in Belmont should be built with a certain income level in mind.

“One of the objectives of many of us is to diversify our town by income and … also by race,” said Lipson, who found the comment “upsetting.” 

Throwing another wrench into the works was a legal ruling brought forth by attorney Roger Colton who noted a 2002 ruling by the state’s Land Court against the town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals (American Retirement Corp vs  et al) limiting both boards “to make its own interpretation of what was ‘best’ for the town” which should be left “to the legislative process.”

With issues of housing diversity, density and a sticking point that the bylaw changes would benefit the current proposal but not alter the existing zoning map, leaving the possibility of a future developer to build to the approved level of nearly 500 units, Clark said there was no chance the board could resolve any of the outstanding issues by the end of the month.

“There are too many moving parts,” he said.

Nearly lost in the residential development discussion was McLean’s earlier proposal to construct a campus for children and adolescence education and a research and development center on an adjacent parcel located to the northeast. Known as Zone 4, the development will not start for upwards to five years as the hospital raises funds for the project, said Michele Gougeon, McLean’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Eventually, the site will include a combined academic and residential building and a “small” Research and Development building which will fit inside a 150,000 sq.-ft. envelop.

Clark noted in past agreements, due to the R&D portion is being reduced by more than half of the original, the town could be obligated to pay McLean for that change, a statement Gougeon said would need to be reviewed.

By the end of the night, Clark believed there will be a solution to the issues face all parties.

“I think McLean can do better. I think Belmont can do better,” said Clark.

League Of Women Voters Candidates’ Night Thursday, March 21

Photo:

The annual Belmont League of Women Voters® Education Fund Candidates’ Night will take place on Thursday, March 21 at the Chenery Middle School, 95 Washington St. 

  • 7 p.m.: Town Meeting Member candidates meet with voters by precinct in the lobby.
  • 7:30 p.m.: Town Meeting Member candidates introduced.
  • 7:45 p.m.: Short Speeches and Question and Answer with All Town-Wide candidates.

Belmont’s Town Election day is Tuesday, April 2.

Belmont Education Association Holds Forum On State Ed Funding Reform

Photo: Merrie Najimy, Barbara Barry, and Lindi DeLorio discuss improving education by recalculating the formula to calculate state educational aid.

A major component of the Massachusetts education reform law past in 1993 known as Chapter 70 was the state’s “foundation budget” formula, used to determine the cost of educating students in each district.

But for many, the more than a quarter-century old formula is now badly out of date.

On Thursday, Feb. 28, the Belmont Education Association held a Fund Our Future Forum at the Chenery Middle School with Cliff Gallant, a teacher at Burbank Elementary, leading a panel discussion on the foundation budget formula. According to a 2015 report by the Foundation Budget Review Commission, the state is underfunding our public schools by more than $1 billion a year. Of that total, Belmont would receive $3,5 million in additional annual funding. 

Butler Elementary teacher Lindi DeLorioChenery parent Barbara Barry, Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy and Vice President Max Page discussed the improved opportunities for our students which could be provided with the additional state funds to support class sizes, music, and art programs. Funds could also be used to provide needed staff such as classroom aides, nurses, counselors and librarians.

Kings Of The North: Belmont Boys’ D2 Sectional Champions After Dominating North Andover

Photo: Kings of the North, 2019 Belmont High School

Belmont High School senior guard and co-captain Danny Yardemian said at the beginning of the 2018-19 season he didn’t want to end his basketball career without bringing a title, make that any title, back to the school. 

On Saturday, Yardemian and his fellow Marauders picked up that long-sought after silverware and will be placing a sectional crown into the school’s trophy case as number one seed Belmont captured the Division 2 North title beating defending champions North Andover, 64-51, on March 9 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. 

“It’s mission accomplished,” said Yardemian, whose magical season continues having set new school marks for game scoring (46 points) and career points now somewhere close to 1,400. 

“I’m so proud of my team mates, we as a team worked so hard for this. Words can’t describe it. It’s surreal,” he said. 

The victory sends Belmont (23-2) to the Eastern Mass championships against the defending Division 2 state title holders, TechBoston Academy, on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:15 p.m. at the TD Garden. It will be a rematch from last month when TechBoston outlasted Belmont, 73-68, in the finals of the Comcast Classic in Woburn.

“It sounds good to me,” said Belmont Head Coach Adam Pritchard when asked his thoughts of playing for the second time on the Garden parquet floor this season – a loss to Algonquin Regional High School in January – now for the eastern Mass title.

The victory is the first sectional title since 2007 when Belmont, coincidentally, defeated North Andover before losing to Catholic Memorial in the Eastern finals.

The game was decided over the final four plus minutes of the third quarter when the Marauders outplayed an exhausted Scarlet Knights team to the tune of 17-1. The game also turned into a showcase for sophomore reserve forward Preston Jackson-Stephens who dominated the hardwood on both ends of the court coming off the bench, scoring 18 points (co-high scorer with Yardemian and North Andover’s Jake McElroy) and taking on North Andovers’ front line.

“It didn’t matter who was against me, it was the Eye on the Prize. The only person who can stop me is me, no other opponent [can],” said Jackson-Stephens.

“Preston came in and made some big moves and helped us out a great deal,” said Pritchard, in his 19th year at the helm of the Marauders.

The first half was a game of runs with Belmont stretching up to a lead only to see North Andover bounce back. After senior co-captain Ben Sseruwagi opened the scoring with a hoop and one – which was accompanied by a pose in front of the Scarlet Knights bench – Belmont fell behind 6-3 when Jackson-Stephens gave the crowd a preview of his night by driving to the basket for two than hitting a line drive 3 as part of a 7-0 Belmont run.

Behind by one, 11-10, enter the second, the Marauders took advantage of its speed and confidence with the ball. After Sseruwagi made two free throws, Jackson-Stephens had a monster block then drove the length of the court before being fouled and converting one of two from the charity stripe to put Belmont up 16-15 with 6 minutes to play. The Marauders would then run off a 12-2 spurt over the next four minutes highlighted by threes from sophomore Tim Minicozzi who ended with 9 for the game and senior co-captain center Daniel Seraderian (5 points) who played stellar defense against North Andovers’ big men.

After Yardemian hit one of two from the line to give Belmont a double digit lead, 29-19, with two minutes left, the Marauders appeared to be cruising to a big lead at the half. But North Andover would put on a furious comeback culminating with a pair of 3s from senior guard Jake McElroy and junior guard Kyle Moore (whose basket bounced three times before dropping) and cutting Belmont’s advantage to 30-29 at the break. 

The Knights came out strong early in the second half, up 38-36 when Sseruwagi tied it up with a behind his back drive to the hoop at 4:30 in the quarter. And for the remainder of the half, it was all Belmont as they ran North Andover ragged, outscoring the Knights 17-1 in a display of both ends of the floor total basketball with Jackson-Stephens starting the push with a driving hoop followed by Yardemian’s two in the lane.

After Minicozzi nailed a jumped and one from distance to increase to lead to 10, 49-39, North Andover called a time out with 1:14 left in an attempt to stem the bleeding. But Belmont took the ball from the Knights resulting in another Jackson-Stephens basket who scored eight points in the quarter while Sseruwagi (12 points) threw down seven of his own in the run.

By its end of the third quarter, North Andover was looking up at a 16 point deficit with the final 8 minutes before them. There was no response to the onslaught as Belmont eased through the fourth, going up by 20, 62-42, midway through the quarter, to claim their prize. 

For Belmont Head Coach Adam Pritchard, the victory was due to the “five good offensive weapons” on the court at any one time. And when the game was close at the half, “It was the players that talked about defense and rebounding.”

“The reality is that half time was all about Danny Yardemian, Ben Sseruwagi, [center] Jake Herlihy and [Seraderian] did all the talking,” said Pritchard. And that group returned to the court and proved they could walk the walk.