A Nice Ceremony: Raising of Hoop Championship Banner

The Winthrop High School boys basketball team hung up its 2011 state championship banner at the Holland Gymnasium Tuesday night in a well-orchestrated ceremony

Athletic Director Peter Gobiel and WHS Principal Gail Conlon, who served as the mistress of ceremonies, deserve credit for conducting the brief and appropriate program in such dignified fashion. Each member of the championship team was introduced to the appreciative crowd and then the captains, J.P. Doherty, Anthony Hatzisavas, and Michael Griffin, led the raising of the banner.

Head coach David Brown and assistant coaches Pancho Bingham, Richie Bianchino, and Nick Leonard provided this town with a season to remember for a long time. The excitement and wonderful memories of the team’s great win over Cohasset at the TD Garden and the celebration that ensued when the team returned home to Winthrop will remain with everybody for a lifetime.

Two things that caught our attention during the ceremony were the classy manner in which the Swampscott High players and coaches stood attentively and watched the banner-raising ceremony unfold and the visible presence of our superintendent of schools, John Macero, who understood the significance of Winthrop’s state championship commemoration and made sure that he was in attendance to congratulate the team and helped make the ceremony the special event it was.