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This article was published 12 year(s) and 10 month(s) ago

Lynn all-city summer hoop league semis at historic Herb Brenner gym Friday

Bob Keaney

August 3, 2012 by Bob Keaney

Those bouncing basketballs heard every Friday this summer inside the Fecteau-Leary Middle School would be music to the ears of Coach Herb Brenner, who recently died at age 93.The basketball court is officially named “The Herb Brenner Gym” where Brenner coached his Lynn Classical Rams for 23 years.On Friday, the 63-year-old gym hosts Fred Hogan’s Summer Hoop League, which features championship games and top players such as Antonio Anderson, one of Lynn’s all-time greats.Some college standouts include former English High star Ryan Woumn of Merrimack College; Classical grad Jasper Grassa of Bentley; Jake Fay, a Division 1 talent at Fordham; Travonne Berry-Rogers of Merrimack; Richie Warren Jr., Bunker Hill Community College; Alvin Abreau, formerly of UNH; Ryan Salvadore, Salem State University, and Wale Abraham of UMass-Dartmouth.Friday’s semi-finals schedule is: 6 p.m., Heat (Jasper Grassa and Berry-Rogers and others) versus Celtics (Cory Bingham, Fred Hogan and others);7 p.m., Thunder versus Bulls;Some Herb Brenner Gym history highlights:The New England Patriots won a game here without Tom Brady. (It was basketball, not football, with the Pats’ winter touring squad, featuring NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti and other 1960s stars.)Bill Russell played here with his Boston Celtics teammates Tom Heinsohn and Bob Cousy beating a Lynn all-star squad.Two other NBA players from Lynn romped here: Antonio Anderson (Memphis and Lynn Tech ace) was Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma Thunder teammate. And Lou Tsioropoulos of Classical and later English was a forward with two world champion Celtics teams.Dr. Eddie Robinson, a 1953 graduate of Classical, netted 64 points here in a win over Beverly, still a North Shore record.Helen Ridley of the Lady Rams scored 52 points, the gym’s female record, in the last game ever played here in the winter of 2000.The best Classical team to play here? Many say it was the fabulous 1980 Rams led by Stu Primus, Pancho Bingham, Tony Thurman, Sandy McGee, and Meryl Brown, winners of a state crown under Coach Lou Falkoff. Others point to the 1993 and 1994 Rams, who won back-to-back state titles when Calvin Johnson and Marcos Echevarria were a backcourt tandem under strong coaching by Tom Grassa.Harry Agganis, as a Red Sox first baseman, held winter baseball workouts here with Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky and a helpful student, Ed Johns.Lynn’s former St. Jean’s High School used the gym in the 1950s and early 1960s featuring Ed Gagnon, Larry Lessard and Coach Larry Fagan. Tony Conigliaro averaged 24 points here for the St. Mary’s basketball team, which had no home gym then. Meadowlark Lemon and Marquis Haynes made fans laugh during Harlem Globetrotters style games here. Charlie Campbell was sought by the Globetrotters soon after he starred here with the Lynn Lions, a combine of Tech, English and Classical players (including West Lynner Dick Sakowich) in 1962.Herb Brenner coached 258 victories here.Among Brenner’s greatest players was Pete Mazareas, who graduated from Harvard. Mazareas was league MVP and the heart of the 1969 league champion Rams, and the city’s first 1,000 career point scorer. Ed Thurman (Wake Forest and Holy Cross) was another standout. And all-star Classical guard Dennis Keaney averaged 20 points in the 1960s.

  • Bob Keaney
    Bob Keaney

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