Joy in Beantown! Boston sports’ fans are in hoop heaven. In June, the Celtics won the NBA championship for a record 18th time. The C’s stood tall on the duck boats as millions of fans turned out for the big parade.
The moment took me back in time. Before the Celtic’s home court was TD Garden, before the TD Bank North Garden, before the Fleet Center, and before the Shawmut Center, it was the Boston Garden.
But for any New England sports fan it was simply the “Garden.”
While some locals may have been at TD Garden for the recent Celtics win, be assured that there were more Vineyard supporters at the Garden on Sunday January 14, 1979, when our Martha’s Vineyard boys basketball team took on their arch-rival Nauset Warriors.
How did the Vineyard wind up in the Boston Garden? Did somebody know somebody? It’s not every day that a pair of small division three high schools play on the legendary parquet floor.
Nauset basketball coach Leo Miller was the contact. He offered Vineyard coach Jay Schofield the chance to play at the Garden. Jay told me he took about two seconds for him to agree to the game. The Vineyard/Nauset affair was to be followed by a regular season game between the Celtics and the New Jersey Nets.
There was a tremendous Island buzz once the game became public news.
The opening tip was just the beginning of an eerie experience as I watched 10 players run up and down a court in front of almost 13,909 empty seats. Both schools had their fans, but it was a cavernous place for a game with so few spectators. Not to worry, the Vineyard made more than enough noise that afternoon. Martha’s Vineyard and Nauset were very strong in 1979. Both teams were a perfect 4-0 when they met on that January afternoon.
Players from that game still remember it.
Alan Fortes, the smooth shooting guard recalled, “I almost wasn’t going to play. My grandpa passed away a few days before the game, but my mother and father insisted that I play,”.
He remembers running out on to the court, warming up and looking for those legendary “dead spots” on the floor, and even finding a few.
The long-haired Fortes may have been nervous but he was key to the Vineyard victory that day. Skying above the Nauset defenders for an easy layup, Fortes told me he couldn’t dunk because he had too much resistance with his hair.
A player who could dunk was 6’6” junior, Ralph Harding.
“I was awed by just being in the Garden,” Ralph told me recently. “Unbelievable, just looking up at the rafters and seeing all the Celtics’ banners, the history of this place.”
He remarked about the square 24 second clocks that in those days were in the corners on the playing floor. Ralph also looked to dribble on the “dead spots.”
“Just like on TV,”Ralph told me. “Nauset was our archrival and it was exciting to play them in the Garden.”
Todd Rebello remembered tiny locker rooms and the awesome experience just warming up on the legendary Garden’s parquet floor.
“The Garden was such a wide-open space, a lot bigger than the old Oak Bluffs school gym,” Todd said. “We started the game with basically just our local fans, but the crowd grew each quarter. By the end of our game, there were over 13,000 fans cheering for both teams.”
Todd reminded me that he scored two points, a perfect two for two from the free throw line.
“It was my only chance to score. I wasn’t going to miss,” he said.
“Butterflies, my first shot was a raging brick”, exclaimed the rugged forward Eddie BenDavid. “But I loved to rebound. I was nasty under the boards.”
The Vineyard had its floor general in senior Pat Mercier.
“I was so intimidated by the size of the place, miles and miles of seats,” he said.
Pat said he celebrated his 18th birthday on game day.
“There was no love lost between our teams,” he added. “No soft fouls. My job was to set everyone up and get them the ball.”
The game was a physical battle. Nauset featured a big front line, but the Vineyard shot well and led 32-28 at the half. The Warriors came on strong and took the lead after three quarters.
The fourth quarter started when the Vineyard five came alive. Trailing 48-46, they ran off seven straight points to go ahead 53-48, and never looked back. The final score, Martha’s Vineyard 66 Nauset 63.
Fortes and Peter Clements each scored 18 points, and Mr. “Chairman of the Boards” Ralph Harding hauled down a game high 17 rebounds.
Eddie BenDavid more than held his own with 11 points and a host of rebounds. Pat Mercier had plenty of assists.
With the victory, the Vineyard improved to 5-0 and won the Cape & Islands League title in 1979.
Coach Schofield recalled the season and gave out kudos: “This was 45 years ago. It was an exciting game. I really remember the outstanding play of Eddie BenDavid, who was key to breaking the Nauset press.”
The victory was just one of the 300+ career wins garnered by Coach Schofield, deservedly elected to the Massachusetts High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
We all stayed and watched the Celtics-Nets game. Close to all the action from court side, I was awed by the size of the players. They were very big, very fast and very, very tall.
However, for me, they couldn’t match the hustle and enthusiasm of our Martha’s Vineyard Basketball team. And I had a great seat.
Ken Goldberg lives in Edgartown. He covered Vineyard sports in newspaper, radio and TV for over 40 years.
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