The following was submitted by the Westford Youth Basketball Association. To submit your own content, e-mail the editor at asylvia@westfordcat.org
(WESTFORD, MA) — The 24th Annual Westford Youth Basketball Association ‘Guy Coraccio’ All-Star tournament was held on Saturday, February 14th and Saturday, February 21th at the Blanchard Middle School in Westford, MA. Hundreds of spectators enjoyed watching boys and girls recreational all-star basketball players between the grades of 5 and 8 from Westford, Chelmsford, Billerica, and North Andover participating in the annual competition which is also the Westford Youth Basketball Association’s (WYBA) only fundraiser. Chelmsford and Billerica have participated with Westford in this event all 24 years and this year we welcome North Andover to the Tournament.
The WYBA thanks our tireless veteran tournament committee, our generous patrons, the wonderful area businesses who supported the event and the many volunteers including numerous High School students who gave their time to making this event so successful. The committee consists of Westford residents Ed Brown, Diane Chrysikos, Joe Mario, Fran English, Tracy LeBlanc Cook, Mike Leary, Brett Fleckner, Bill Breslin, Sue Hanly, Ken Teal and Guy Coraccio. Special thanks go to our two Tournament announcers and raffle coordinators, Jillian and Taryn Chrysikos and the fantastic custodians at Blanchard Middle School.
Special thanks also go to Bertucci’s of Chelmsford, BJs Wholesale Club, Silver Palate, and Printing Solutions of Westford for their generosity and to our many patrons who sponsored this tournament with financial contributions and businesses and individuals who made wonderful donations to our raffle and silent auction
Division Results
5th and 6th grade boys:
Saturday 02-14
Billerica 25 – North Andover 15
Westford 46 – Chelmsford 40
Saturday 02-21
North Andover 33 – Chelmsford 29
Westford 25 – Billerica 24
Westford won the Championship.
5th and 6th grade girls:
Saturday 02-14
Westford 21 – Chelmsford 10
Billerica 22 – North Andover 8
Saturday 02-21
North Andover 28 – Chelmsford 10
Billerica 32 – Westford 12
Billerica won the Championship.
Division Results (continued)
7th and 8th grade boys:
Saturday 02-14
North Andover 53 – Chelmsford 38
Billerica 63 – Westford 34
Saturday 02-21
Chelmsford 50 – Westford 29
North Andover 45 – Billerica 35
North Andover won the Championship.
7th and 8th grade girls:
Saturday 02-14
North Andover 27 – Westford 20
Billerica 44 – Chelmsford 16
Saturday 02-21
Westford 36 – Chelmsford 6
Billerica 27 – North Andover 19
Billerica won the Championship.
The tournament was created in 1991 by Westford resident Guy Coraccio and current tournament coordinator, who developed this tournament as a way to recognize players who have excelled in their town leagues but are not on travel or select teams. “This tournament creates an opportunity for many very strong players to receive recognition for all of their hard work and talent”, states Guy. There have been players who have come back to coach in this Tournament. A coach once had to leave his game during the tournament because his wife was having a baby and 12 years later that baby girl played in the Tournament. Four years later she came back and coached in the Tournament. One player, Patrick Ewing Jr., went on to play in the NCAA Final Four. These are some of the examples that make this tournament a success.
Since the All Star tournament began, 384 games have been played and more than 4,600 All-Stars have participated in the event, many coming back as coaches.
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