PROVINCETOWN — If sports were all about numbers, the Provincetown boys basketball season would not have been much fun.
Right from the start, their numbers did not look good. With only six players on the middle school team, the kids were competing against teams with 15 to 20 players, said Chelsea Roderick, the Provincetown Schools athletic director.
In their first game, the Fishermen went up against a Cape Cod Academy team of 21 players.
“I was scared,” said Sacha Hunter, a seventh-grader.
“I was so nervous because it was my first time playing basketball ever,” said Ragime Patterson, also in seventh grade.
Scores are also numbers, and these did not paint a rosy picture for the Fishermen. They lost every game, the worst being a humbling 61-17 defeat to Nauset Regional Middle School.
“I felt the sadness coming off of them after that game,” Roderick said. “No one wants to feel what we felt.”
The team never complained though, said Roderick, not even during the disastrous Nauset matchup.
Fortunately, middle-school basketball is not a numbers game — not to these kids, their coaches, or their fans.
Daniel Bryant, an eighth-grader, did not score a single point until the third game. But when he did, the girls basketball team, which has 15 players, screamed with joy. That was not ideal because they were at Wendy’s watching it on FaceTime and the other diners looked at them like they were crazy, Roderick said.
Even at the worst of times, the boys were able to laugh.
Andrew Prada, a seventh-grader, said he was angry when Trinity Christian Academy canceled the last game on Feb. 10 because he wanted the chance to make his first point. He finished the season with zero points scored. Actually, it was less than zero. During the first quarter of the first game, he put one in the basket for the other team.
“It was my first game, and I freaked out,” Prada said. “I was pretty sure there was more than one person on me, and I just threw it up, just by instinct, and it went in.”
He paused, then added pensively, “It was actually a pretty good shot.”
Patterson said the worst moment of the season for him was when he was “subbed out for no reason.”
While other teams could leisurely make substitutions during the game to keep their boys fresh, getting a substitute on the Provincetown side was a rare treat. Only one kid at a time had the luxury of warming the bench. So, every team member had to show up for every game, said Christopher Millan, a seventh-grader who is the team’s top scorer. He said every game was exciting.
“I have been playing basketball for four years, and it’s a sport that I really love,” he said. “For six players, I’d say we did pretty good.”
Roderick described the boys as determined and hungry.
The fans responded. The turnout of parents, students, and school staff was truly heartwarming, said Carrie Hover-Herbert (Hunter’s mom, who served as assistant coach).
Coach Marie Herbert (Hunter’s stepmother), who played high school and college ball, opened each game with an inspirational quote. “Every halftime, we would regroup,” Herbert said. “By the third quarter, they were tired. But in the fourth, they rallied every time.”
As the season progressed, the team building and practices paid off. The scores began to improve. Roderick said the second bout with the Nauset Warriors was different. The game ended in a more respectable 54-28 win for Nauset.
“They played so hard and worked as a team,” said Roderick. “They kept up with Nauset basically the whole game. What a huge difference from the first time we played them. They stayed strong, their shots were on point, and their defense was amazing. Our fans were screaming for them the whole game. Seeing them smile while playing and giving it their all was truly amazing.”
The boys revealed some of their mental strategies for persisting against all odds.
Patterson said he would do his best to reverse the scores in his head, telling himself Provincetown had the higher one. Hunter said he would focus on getting just one more point.
“They pull my heart strings because they are so strong and never give up,” Roderick said. “They just go out there to play and have fun. I can’t wait for next year.”
