NBSA, Saboteurs Win Fall League Titles

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Northern Berkshire Sports Academy and the Saboteurs Sunday took home the A and B Division titles in the NBSA Fall Basketball League.
 
Chris Brown scored the final four points of the game at the foul line to give NBSA a 71-68 win over Giardina and Bressett PC in the A Division final at Drury High School.
 
Brown, who went 12-for-13 at the line in the game, finished with a team-high 28 points in the win.
 
Scott McGuire scored 15 points, including 11 in the first half, when NBSA built a 41-37 lead.
 
It then opened the second half on a 12-4 run that ended in a Khalil Paul 3-pointer to push the lead to 53-41.
 
But Hayden Bird scored in the post to stop that run and hit back-to-back 3s in a 10-0 run that got Giardina and Bressett within two at 53-51.
 
Neither team led by more than 5 points the rest of the way.
 
Giardina and Bresett took a 67-65 lead with 1:20 left on a 3-pointer from Bird (game-high 31 points).
 
But Brown got to the line on NBSA’s next possession and tied the game. 
 
Bird hit a free throw with 50.9 seconds on the clock to give Giardina and Bressett its last lead at 68-67.
 
Brown was fouled in transition with 44 ticks remaining and sank a pair at the line and made two more with 15 seconds on the clock to make it a three-point margin.
 
Giardina and Bresset’s 3-point try with 2 seconds left hit the front of the rim, and NBSA came away with the “W.”
 
Russell Beauchamp scored 14 for NBSA. Reece Racette had 11 for Giardina and Bressett.
 
In the B Final, the Sabs took control with a 19-0 run to open the second half en route to a 66-46 win over Adelson and Company.
 
Austin Mendel got things started with a putback to give his team a 34-27 lead, and Nick Waterman scored six straight in the run, which ended with the Saboteurs ahead, 51-27.
 
Dave Wellington hit a 3-pointer at about the 10-minute mark to give the Saboteurs their biggest lead at 61-33.
 
Wellington finished with 13 points. Waterman scored a team-high 14 and grabbed four rebounds. Casey Mecywor hit three 3-pointers for nine points.
 
Adelson got 12 points apiece from Colin Rousseau and Jon Gregory. Nick Lewis scored 10. Nine of Adelson’s 15 field goals came from behind the 3-point arc.
 
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North Adams Schools Talk Final Budget Numbers for Public Hearing

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The elementary schools will be phasing in a new math curriculum over the next two years. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Committee received the presentation given last week to the Finance & Facilities committee for the fiscal 2025 spending plan.
 
The subcommittee is recommending the budget of $20,357,096, up $302,744 or 1.51 percent over this year. This was expected to be funded by $16,418,826 in state Chapter 70 education funds, local funding of $3,938,270 (up $100,000 over this year) and a drawdown of school funds of $575,237. This will also include the closure of Greylock School at the end of this year and the reduction of 26 full-time positions. 
 
A hybrid public hearing on the budget will be held on Thursday, May 23, at 5:30 at Brayton School, with a vote by the School Committee to immediately follow. 
 
The extra $100,000 from the city will likely not be part of this funding package, warned Mayor Jennifer Macksey, chair of the School Committee. 
 
"Going through all my process on the city side, so to say, with the rest of my departments, it's going to be really hard for me to squeak out the additional $100,000," said the mayor, alluding to a budget gap of $600,000 to $800,000 for fiscal 2025 she's trying to close. 
 
"I just want to be fully transparent with everyone sitting here, and as your School Committee chair, I don't know if the city budget is going to be able to squeak out that $100,000. That number will most likely change."
 
Director of School Finance and Operations Nancy Rauscher said the $100,000 had been a placeholder with administration understanding that it could change.  
 
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