Mastrangelo calls it quits

Chris Mastrangelo has resigned as Peabody High boys basketball coach after 11 years at the helm.Mastrangelo, whose teams qualified for the state tournament for seven straight years before missing the cut this year, said he is no longer able to put in the time required to do the job right.Mastrangelo said the combination of his new position as a dean of students at the high school and a desire to spend more time with his family (wife, Christine, and two-year-old daughter, Carmella) led to the decision. His wife, who is a dietician, also runs her own business.”I’m just missing too much time with my family,” Mastrangelo said, adding there were times during the season when he left the house with his daughter sleeping and arrived home after she went to bed.”I just can’t do the job the way I need to do it, and that’s not fair to the kids,” Mastrangelo said.This past school year was his first in his new position as a dean. He said he and his wife decided to give it a season and see how it would work out, but it didn’t.”It was the easiest tough decision I’ve ever made,” Mastrangelo said. “You know I love it (coaching). It such a big part of what I am.”Mastrangelo took over the head basketball job 11 years ago from Mark Metropolis. Prior to that, he had been an assistant coach in Watertown for three years. He was also an assistant boys soccer coach in Wakefield for 15 years up until this past season.”I try and give 100 percent to everything I do, and I couldn’t do it,” he said. “It’s something I had to give up, even though I enjoy the heck out of it.”Mastrangelo, who picked up his 100th coaching win a few years ago, led the Tanners to a Greater Boston League title in 2002 and made it to the North championship game that year. His teams also finished second in the GBL a couple of times.Mastrangelo said Peabody High principal Ed Sapienza and athletic director Phil Sheridan were very understanding about his decision. He thanked them both.”You couldn’t find a better guy to work for than Phil Sheridan,” Mastrangelo said.