Some colleges can go years with out seeing a generational basketball participant cross by way of their ranks. Those who file 1,000 factors are normally remembered eternally.
Weymouth High School has two of these athletes. Classmates Edric Louissaint and Megan Doyle every attained the lofty milestone.
When the 2 hoopsters joined the illustrious Wildcats scoring membership, they hooked up themselves to a really slim checklist. Louissaint and Doyle grew to become simply the fourth and fifth athletes to shatter the mark from the city. This dates again to when Weymouth was divided right into a two-school system.
That’s simply on the court docket. Off of it, each Louissaint and Doyle are seen as highschool heroes. They excel within the classroom, and function function fashions for his or her fellow college students.
On prime of all of it, the 2 stars have been simply named Homecoming King and Queen, respectively.
Having served as each the boys and the women basketball head coach at Weymouth in separate stints over the previous 20 years, Jim Dolan is aware of a factor or two about program historical past. In truth, he has coached each gamers.
“Edric is certainly right up there with some of our best players,” Dolan stated of Louissaint, who averaged greater than 20 factors a recreation. “He’s a two-time All-Star, but what’s crazy about this story is that Megan and Edric are the two best kids in the school. They really are. They’re just great kids, great teammates, great leaders.”
The stretch of latest success for the 2 seniors truly began throughout a hard-fought loss for Weymouth’s boys basketball program on Jan. 30. Louissaint registered profession level No. 1,000 in a heartbreaking 64-60 defeat by the hands of Bay State Conference rival Walpole. The lengthy bus journey residence was dejecting.
For a short second, the senior thought issues have been about to worsen when it reached the staff parking zone. As Louissaint started to scrub issues up earlier than leaving, he was instructed to return to the gymnasium, the place all of his coaches and teammates had silently congregated alongside the varsity’s athletic director, Rob O’Leary.
“After the game, we all got told that we had gotten in trouble,” chuckled Louissaint. “We all walked into the gym and I was confused, because I saw the athletic director there.”
It then hit the senior. He had simply achieved college historical past. His buddies swarmed over to rejoice. Suddenly, the sting from earlier within the night was gone.
“It all surprised me,” stated Louissaint. “And it was a great moment.”
Given the camaraderie and the bonds that the 2 athletes have developed in recent times, it ought to come as no shock in any respect that Doyle discovered herself trying to match the feat. She would have a possibility just a few days later.
“It’s pretty cool,” laughed Doyle. “When Edric got (the milestone), I was like: ‘Oh, now it’s my turn.’”
Even stated, Doyle knew she was approaching the mark throughout a bout with Newton North on Valentine’s Day. However, as she stepped to the free throw line early on Senior Night, the standout had no clue that she was actually on the cusp. She sank her first try and hit the milestone, and stored making ready to shoot her subsequent.
After releasing her second, the group, and her staff bench set free a roar. Moments later, the sport was paused briefly for a ceremony to commemorate Doyle’s newest profession accomplishment.
“It was kind of a full-circle moment that I got to do it in front of all my friends,” stated Doyle, who averaged practically 21 factors and 12 rebounds a recreation. “It’s really special because it’s senior year. This is the last year, and I’ve been playing with these girls since I was literally 5-years-old. To be able to go through this whole season with them was really special.”
Led by Doyle and her teammates, the Wildcats would flip of their newest victory later within the night, an epic 68-58 win over the Tigers. An ideal punctuation to an unforgettable night time.
During his highschool teaching tenure, Doug Kirby has witnessed nearly each kind of participant conceivable, relationship again to his days as an assistant with Scituate’s boys program, by way of his later days as a head coach at Plymouth South.
Now on the helm of Weymouth’s ladies basketball staff, Kirby views Doyle in a category with the elite.
“I believe she is a generational athlete,” stated Kirby. “She’d be good at playing pinochle if you put a deck of cards in front of her. She would study the game, she’s just a really good kid, and she’s smart. She leads our team in a way (that stands out). … I’m very proud to have had her on our squad, and I’m going to miss her incredibly. A lot, after this state tournament here.”
Loussaint and No. 26 Weymouth (14-7) will host Barnstable within the opening spherical of the Div. 1 boys basketball playoffs Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Doyle and the seventh-seeded ladies squad (18-4) can have a bye to the Div. 1 Round of 32 of their discipline.
“It’s funny,” Dolan laughed. “Having done this for a while, it’s that success breeds success. We’ve had a good year with football, both boys and girls soccer. With girls cross country, both hockey teams in the tournament. Both basketball teams in the tournament. I think there’s been a real upsurge in support from the student body, and the staff. Both of those kids? They’re easy kids to root for.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com