Athlete of the Week: Chicopee Basketball’s Darrick Boyd Chicopee, MA (WGGB)—Switching schools is never an easy transition, certainly not your senior year of high school. For former Cathedral star Darrick Boyd, he decided after his junior year that he needed a change. “It’s not everything I wanted but I wasn’t transferring schools for basketball reasons,” admitted Boyd. “It’s been really hard actually as I’ve had to make new friends. We’re still getting used to each other on the court, we just need to talk more on defense and all that.” The decision wasn’t easy but good friend and Pacer’s teammate Tony Slaughter made the choice and transition to Chicopee High School that much easier. “We always talk on defense.,” said Boyd. “If there’s one guard that’s the best on their team, he’ll stick ‘em for the first four minutes of the first quarter in the corner and then I’ll stick them in the second half. Me and him just communicate well.” “All of them are so close,” says head coach Steve Menard. “They play with each other all the time in the summer, whether it’s AAU or just at the park. It’s that way with a lot of kids in Western Mass. A lot of kids know each other from different teams and it’s fun to compete against players that you know.” The Pacers are currently ranked second in Western Mass right behind two-time defending state champs Putnam, who the Pacers nearly upset earlier this season. The team doesn’t compare themselves to others or make much of their underdog status. It is perhaps that selflessness from Darrick and fellow transfer Genesis Arias that will only help this Pacers squad improve as the season goes on. “Every day we’ve been getting better and better and it’s so nice to have them because they’re both unselfish kids,” said Menard. “The whole team is very unselfish and they’re always looking to make the correct basketball play.” “I honestly don’t know why other teams think of us differently,” said Boyd. “But I guess we’ll just prove them wrong. I think every team will make our team better. We just got to stay humble and shut ‘em down I guess.”
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:44:01 +0000
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