High school notebook: Duane Sigsbury steps down as Billerica football coach after 11 seasons
Sigsbury has coached basketball at Manchester Essex and Austin Prep, and coached softball at Woburn for eight seasons, retiring from that post in 2023 along with his wife,
Courtney
, who was the head coach of the Tanners for 24 seasons.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Before he was hired at Billerica in 2014, Sigsbury led Cathedral to a 31-6 record with a Division 4A Super Bowl title in 2012. The Reading native served as offensive coordinator for the Rockets and for Woburn over the previous decade, with a one-year stint as an assistant at Merrimack College
Advertisement
▪
David Clay
is stepping down after three seasons as the basketball coach at St. John's Prep.
A 2003 Newburyport graduate, Clay led his alma mater to a 74-26 record over five seasons before becoming Prep's fourth basketball coach of the 21st century when he was hired in 2022. The Eagles struggled this past season with a 2-18 record after going 13-30 over the previous two seasons.
'Coach Clay was a great representation of St. John's Prep, leading our basketball program with the utmost respect and humility,' said Prep athletic director Jameson Pelkey.
'His impact was felt beyond the court, as game officials, opposing coaches, and players alike consistently praised his professionalism and character. He has been a respected leader.'
Harrell nets Gatorade honor, again
CATS Academy senior
Jaylen Harrell
has repeated as the state's Gatorade Boys' Basketball Player of Year.
The 6-foot-6-inch, 200-pound wing led the Griffins to a 28-7 record and a runner-up finish in the NEPSAC Class AA tournament. Committed to Providence College, Harrell averaged 22.1 points. 8.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. He was a two-time first team Class AA selection and a first team All-New England Basketball League selection this winter.
Advertisement
Harrell has volunteered locally at the Tobin Community Center in Roxbury. 'He had them playing at a high level,' said Brewster Academy coach
Jeff Gore
. 'He reminds me of (former Celtics player)
Antoine Walker
. He can go inside, outside, has a good body and plays a physical style. He has performed well against the best teams, and that's what I look at.'
Harrell has maintained a B average in the classroom.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Buccaneers' Mike Evans Credits Baker Mayfield For His Return
Buccaneers' Mike Evans Credits Baker Mayfield For His Return originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Baker Mayfield era in Tampa Bay has been a successful one so far for the Buccaneers. When Tom Brady retired after the 2022 season, most thought the Bucs would suffer a period of adjustment and would be cellar dwellers in the NFC and the NFC South. Advertisement But a funny thing happened on the way to the cellar. General manager Jason Licht signed Mayfield to fill the shoes of Brady, and he did. Mayfield signed on a one-year "prove-it" deal with Tampa Bay, and proceeded to post career numbers. Licht then inked the former Texas Tech Red Raider and Oklahoma Sooner to a three-year, $100 million contract. Mayfield posted another career season in Year 2 with the Bucs. And star wideout Mike Evans couldn't be happier about it. "Huge impact (on Evans' career). He's a big reason to why I came back," Evans said. "The energy that he's brought to Tampa after Tom (Brady) -- that's some huge shoes to fill, huge act to follow -- and I think he's done an unbelievable job, winning two division championships, making it to the postseason. Advertisement "But Tampa's in great hands with Baker. I'm sure he'll play much longer than I will. I'm looking forward to a great season this year and competing for a Super Bowl." Evans was to enter into free agency last offseason and was in high demand. But he eventually stayed with the Bucs and signed a two-year, $41 million deal. As he enters the final season of that deal in 2025, the relationship with Mayfield and the trending upward of the team could convince Evans to stay a couple of more years. Related: Mike Florio Hints at a 'Bill Belichick to Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Scenario Related: 'Things Will Get Ugly...' If Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield Regresses in 2025 This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Commanders Aim to Stay Competitive After Luck-Filled 2024
Commanders Aim to Stay Competitive After Luck-Filled 2024 originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Washington Commanders enjoyed one of the best turn-around seasons in major sports history in 2024. Following a 4-13 record in 2023 and no winning season since 2016, Washington finished 12-5 in the regular season and marched to the NFC title game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champs. Advertisement There was a lot of change entering last season in the nation's capital, but it still made for one of the best seasons in recent memory. As phenomenal a turnaround as it was, it's worth mentioning how extremely lucky the Commanders were throughout last season. And no, not just with the Hail Mary to beat Chicago. For one, the Commanders finished the 2024 season with an astounding 87% conversion rate on fourth downs. They went 20-23 when deciding to go for it! Washington had things working in those situations, but it takes some degree of luck to reach an average that inflated. Moving forward, it is far too staggering a number to build an expectation out of. It's simply not sustainable year after year. Advertisement In 2024, 23.7% of the Commanders' points were scored on drives that included at least one successful fourth-down conversion. That is the fifth-highest percentage this century. Even cutting this percentage in half, that's a lot of scoring lost. The Commanders also saw the ball bounce their way a lot in crunch time. Washington had an 9-4 record in one-score games. They enjoyed a five-game streak winning games decided by eight or less near the end of the season. There were multiple factors that played into this, with many of them being out of the Commanders' control but simply working out in their favor. Washington was the fifth-healthiest team in the league based on "adjusted games lost" metric which accounts for the impact of each injury a team sustained. Advertisement Also, the Commanders benefitted from mishaps by their opponents. This can be seen in data analyst Tom Bliss' chart called the "luck dashboard" on Bliss highlighted four scenarios where 'teams benefit from actions in a game that are almost entirely derived from opponent performance or lucky bounces'. Those include opponent dropped passes, dropped interceptions, missed kicks, and fumble recoveries. In total, the Commanders were almost 60 points ahead of the next luckiest team in the NFL based on their opposition's mistakes. It's unfathomable for this luck to happen again, and it's definitely not something to be relied on. Advertisement 'We have found no correlation for this luck metric from season to season,' Bliss wrote in an email via The Washington Post. 'Thus, every team individually (including the Commanders) should expect to have a net win probability via luck of 0' going into next season. The Commanders may have recognized some of this luck, but as competitive athletes, they believe more in putting in the work in the offseason and reaping the rewards during the season. Karma, if you will. 'We made a lot of lucky (expletive) happen last year,' offensive lineman Andrew Wylie said. 'I'm not going to just discredit that. But a lot of winning-time moments went our way because we practiced them every day.' Washington may not get as lucky as they did last year, but another double-digit win season could prove that luck wasn't as strong a factor in their turnaround as we thought. Advertisement Related: Commanders Tipped To Be 'Most Improved' In 2025 Thanks To 2 Additions Related: Commanders Running Back Ready 'To Prove Who I Am' In 2025 This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Tom Brady ‘spits' on Jets jersey, rips up Eli Manning one in Fanatics Fest WWE heel entrance
Tom Brady just embraced his inner villain. The legendary quarterback had the chance Friday to do a WWE entrance at Fanatics Fest at the Javits Center — and he decided to go full-blown heel. With WWE star Cody Rhodes' entrance music blaring, Brady began his entry by spitting on (or at least appearing to), discarding and stomping on a Sauce Gardner Jets jersey. Advertisement 5 Tom Brady with a Sauce Gardner Jets jersey. Jimmy Traina/X 5 Tom Brady 'spits' on a Sauce Gardner jersey. Jimmy Traina/X 5 Brady with the Eli Manning jersey. Jimmy Traina/X Advertisement He then received an Eli Manning Giants jersey and tore it clean in half, which prompted Manning to show up out of nowhere and jump on his back, piggyback-riding him all the way back up the entrance ramp and making a humorous exit. For an event taking place in New York City, Brady certainly had some fun with the local football teams. 5 Tom Brady rips an Eli Manning jersey in half at Fanatics Fest NYC. Aurora / Brian Prahl / Advertisement 5 Eli Manning humorously attacked Tom Brady after the latter's heel-style WWE entrance. X/WWE While Jets fans were reminded of their disdain for the former division rival after Brady showed up in their city and discarded a Gardner jersey, Manning and the Giants fans can likely laugh the moment off, knowing that Manning is responsible for two of Brady's three Super Bowl losses. The moment playfully reignited the NFL rivalry that saw the two legendary Super Bowl matchups, where Manning famously took down Brady both times — including once to halt Brady's Patriots from completing a perfect 19-0 season. Advertisement Widely considered as the greatest quarterback of all time, Brady went 7-3 in Super Bowls. Manning also made a WWE entrance of his own at Fanatics Fest, electing to walk out to Roman Reigns' signature — but he elected not to destroy any jerseys as Brady did. Brady's former teammate, Rob Gronkowski, has made an actual WWE appearance in the past, and with how Brady's villainous entrance looked, perhaps it could be his turn next.
