Early in the 1978-79 season, Andover High's basketball team showed promise, although Coach Wil Hixon, future national High School Basketball Hall of Fame member, thought they were playing below their potential, although they were 6-0. In the seventh game, against Chelmsford, Hixon was finally pleased, as they beat a very good Chelmsford team, 76-56.
The team had balance and size, as scoring was spread out and none of the players was listed on the Merrimack Valley Conference top 10 scoring list; however, the front line players were 6' 2", 6' 3", and 6' 8". The team was paced by Todd Orlando (6' 8"), and they had an excellent outside shooter in Mark Maher and a fine all-around forward in Jim Arnold. When the team's record was 14 -0, Coach Hixon said that when you're unbeaten it gets tougher with each passing game, because everybody is looking to knock you off.
A Boston newspaper dated Feb. 13, 1979, ranked Andover No. 5 in Division 1, and it was one of three undefeated teams. They remained undefeated going into the last game of the season against Central Catholic. Earlier, they'd beaten Central easily and did so again, 74-48, to become the second regular-season undefeated high school basketball team in Andover's history. However, like the undefeated 1950-51 team, they lost in the playoffs.
Jim Arnold contacted me about this team and filled in some details. One of those details is that he didn't feel that the season was a great accomplishment because they lost in the playoffs. However, having never played on any undefeated sports team, I beg to differ with Jim. Being undefeated in a regular season is a huge accomplishment. Coach Hixon wrapped up the undefeated season by saying, "I didn't really think we'd have as easy a time in the league as we did." [The team was 18-0 in the Division 1 Merrimack Valley Conference] Hixon continued, "It's really a great feeling to go undefeated because the kids worked awfully hard for it." The closest game was against Billerica, which lost by six points.
The starters were Todd Orlando, Mark Maher, Tom Curtin, Rip Williams, and Jim Arnold. Three other outstanding athletes on Andover's undefeated team were Dave Nardone, who later played football on scholarship at Florida, Melvin Berger, who received a scholarship to play football at Boston University, and Kip Jones - the son of NBA Hall of Famer, K.C. Jones - who was a sophomore. Two years later, Jones would be one of the leaders of a team that played in the Division 1 North Finals, but the other team was Cambridge Rindge and Latin, led by Patrick Ewing, who became one of the NBA's greatest players. Ewing's team won their third straight state title, but Andover gave them a close game.
Mr. Arnold, who was named to the all-conference team, believes that Melvin Berger, a three-sport player, was one of the very best athletes in the town's history, and Arnold makes a compelling argument. Mr. Berger broke the high school's 100 yard dash record in 1979, running a 9.8. Berger's record will stand forever, as the hundred yard dash was changed to meters not long after he set the record. Berger captained the track team and was named to the state's All-Scholastic team. In his senior year, he made the All-Merrimack Valley Conference team as a tailback, and in basketball Berger was a star point guard on a team with an 18-2 record. He teaches at Lawrence High School and runs the Hoops for Hope summer basketball league, which includes 40 to 70 high school teams each summer.
Mark Maher was a sharp-shooting star guard for Andover High from 1976-79. He continued to play basketball at Colby College, and received a law degree from B.C. Maher was one of the founders of Hoops for Hope in 1993 and was a guiding light for the charity until his death in 2009. The most valuable player in the league receives the "Mark Maher Award," which will be presented as long as the charity exists. Mr. Arnold asked that I mention his great admiration for Mark Maher and his profound sense of loss at his passing.
Todd Orlando accepted a four-year scholarship to play basketball at Bentley and grew two more inches, landing at 6' 10". In his last year at Bentley, Basketball Weekly named him a second team All-American. In 1984, the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics selected Orlando in the fifth round, the 116th pick overall. In a 2007 Townsman story, Orlando said, "I was very fortunate to have Coach Hixon. He was a key part of my success. He was a great coach who had a major impact." Orlando accepted a two-year contract to play basketball in Germany, and when he returned to the United States, he eventually moved to Jacksonville, Fla. and was hired to teach and be the girl's basketball coach at Bishop Kenny High School. His girl's basketball team won three consecutive state titles from 1990-92. In 2000, Orlando became the principal of the school.
Jim Arnold is a Townie who founded Hoops for Hope and started his business, Sport Court of New England, in 1995. He builds custom residential, multi-purpose courts. He and his wife, Beth (Moynihan), live in the house she grew up in on the shore of Haggetts Pond. They have two sons: Rory, who graduated from NYU and works for Warner Brothers, and Conner, who was sole captain of Andover High's 2009 -10 basketball team and is now at Brandeis, where he plays basketball, in spite of three knee surgeries.
I would like to hear about other undefeated or champion boys or girl's basketball teams.
Bill Dalton writes a weekly column for the Andover Townsman. His email address is billdalton@andovertownie.com.
