STOUGHTON – Eight regional high school basketball teams met at the Dana Barros Basketball Club in Stoughton for the 13th annual Wally Seaver Invitational, all doing so for a greater cause.
The Seaver event raises money to increase awareness and find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
In a highly-anticipated clash between two of the state’s top girls teams, Bella Owumi dominated the paint as St. Mary’s (Lynn) pulled away in the second half to claim the Pink Division championship with a 46-37 victory over Foxboro.
“I think since we’re so young, it shows a lot,” Owumi said. “It gives us a lot of fire, and power to come back and do even better. Beating a team like this? It’s amazing. It’s really (wild) that we (took off) in this tournament. We just have to keep working, keep pushing. We’re a young team, we only have one, two seniors I think. I love inspiring these girls, and they love playing for this program.”
The Spartans were one of four teams to bring home a title at the Stoughton-based facility, with Whitman-Hanson (Purple Division) winning the other girls championship. Abington (Navy Division) and Oliver Ames (Orange Division) completed a South Shore sweep of the boys basketball crowns during the day.
He may not manage the team during the winter, but PJ Norton has come to learn the finer points of each of St. Mary’s athletes as an AAU coach with the MCW Stars.
As the young instructor called out plays to his group, St. Mary’s athletic director and girls basketball coach Jeff Newhall was in the stands, scouting his future group. The two mentors both burst with excitement as the Spartans pulled away with a 21-12 run in the second half.
“It’s awesome to be here,” said Norton. “Being able to come here and support the cause, raise awareness (it’s great). I believe they raised money for it too, and especially with ALS, the (Pete) Frates connection in Boston, it’s really big around here too. I’m super proud to represent that as well.”
As of Sunday, it is expected that this year’s Wally Seaver Invitational, which was split into two separate tournaments in Foxboro and Stoughton, has raised approximately $10k-15k for ALS research.
Since his passing in 2013, Wally’s memory has been kept alive by his son Paul and his wife Whitney Howe-Seaver.
“This year, we had the addition of the Coaches Ice Bucket Challenge, which kind of helped raise funds a little bit more,” said Howe-Seaver. “Paul did his 32-mile walk again, which again, also helped raise funds. We had a really good turnout, lot of great teams… I think that’s what we’re looking at at this point. It fluctuates from year-to-year, but I feel like this was a really good year for participation, and for turnout.”
