Movie star Mark Wahlberg made a surprise visit at the BSA Pep Rally on Thursday night( Pavel Dzemianok/ For The Boston Globe))

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

Whether it was a legendary mayor of 20 years or a movie star holding a memorable teddy bear, hundreds came out to support the Boston Scholar Athletes program in its second annual fundraising gala Tuesday night at the Agganis Arena.

“After Mayor [Thomas Menino] and after [Suffolk Construction CEO and Chairman] John [Fish], it doesn’t make sense for me to speak much more anyway," “Ted” star Mark Wahlberg said to the crowd at center court. "I just want to thank you guys for inspiring me and instilling that Boston pride in me. I want to thank everybody who’s been a supporter of the BSA for such a long time.”

Wahlberg is currently pursuing his high school diploma from Snowden International through online classes. However, the Boston native – who will turn 42-years-old this June – didn’t have the resources in high school that BPS schools have now.

This is in large part a credit to the BSA, which raised more than $1.7 million to help city athletic teams and student-athletes on Tuesday night. The program, created by Menino and Fish, has provided uniforms for more than 157 teams and skill clinics, all-star games and banquets for 13 sports.

However, according to BSA Executive Director Rebekah Splaine, the real improvement is being shown in the classroom.

“We really know it’s about achieving in the classroom so these young people, they all also get tutored by local college students, they receive free SAT training and their SAT test scores have risen by close to 200 points,” Splaine said during the event. “They’re also graduating from high school at a 20 percent higher rate than other students in their school.”

Madison Park senior Amber Edwards exemplifies those results. The scholar-athlete, who currently holds a 3.9 GPA, was at a loss for words when trying to tell the audience how the BSA has affected her life.

“I’m like speechless right now, I don’t know what to say. It’s just so amazing," she said. "I definitely want to say that with the BSA on my side, I have a full scholarship. I’m going to the [Community College of Rhode Island]."

Witnessing the large crowd of positively effected students, like Edwards, ecstatically sporting the BSA colors, left a wheel-chair bound Menino a proud man.

“Kids are fighting to get in, to improve their education standards." Menino said. "That’s something different in Boston that we haven’t had in the past because of the excitement this program brings, the opportunity it brings for these young people and the future it brings for them also."

Fish, who addressed the crowd on multiple occasions, also took the opportunity to commend the community on staying connected even through the tragic marathon bombings the city endured.

“We are a community that helps each other and gives back to those who need it most even during the most difficult times and that spirit of compassion and positive energy permeates through this arena tonight,” Fish said.

It was clear that through all the festivities, the main goal of the night was spreading awareness of how hard the scholar-athletes have worked and how much they’ve academically improved as a result of the BSA.

“Many of us have had the opportunity to fulfill our dreams,” Fish said. “Let us give these future leaders their opportunities to win on the fields, to win in the classroom and to win in life because every individual is entitled to their dream.”
Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at kannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.

Brian Jones goes up for a shot against Melrose on Saturday night. New Mission lost to Melrose, 69-65, in the Division 2 North quarterfinals. (Billy Owens / For the Boston Globe)

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

Cory McCarthy said at the start of the season that if his team didn’t win the state tournament, he would resign as the head coach for New Mission. After a 69-65 loss on the road to Melrose in the Division 2 North quarterfinals, the coach will finally have to face that decision.

“That’s something I have to think about because I was assuming we’d have all of our guys,” McCarthy said referring to injured players Isshiah Coleman, Fred Rivers and Chima Ebele. “That’s something I have to consider because it’s in New Mission, it’s not like any other city school. My opinion is just you got to win every year. That’s just it.”

This will not be one of those years. Melrose ended the hopes of a potential rematch between New Mission and Brighton behind a huge game from senior forward Samual Jean-Gilles.

After leaving the game early in the first quarter with a wrist injury, Jean-Gilles hit back-to-back baskets upon returning later in the period to spark what would be a 26-0 run for Melrose. New Mission ended the run with 1:53 left in the second quarter on a basket by senior center Sam Freeman.

“We couldn’t hit a damn thing and we didn’t take bad shots; we missed lay-ups, we missed free throws, we were 0-14 in that stretch,” McCarthy said.

Despite the taped wrist, Jean-Gilles propelled his team to a 30-13 lead at the half. The senior ended the game with a team-high 21 points.

“Because of the foul trouble in [Jean-Gilles'] last game, I didn’t think he was that good,” McCarthy said. “He’s actually a pretty good player. I’d never seen him shoot the ball in all the games I seen but he shot the ball well.”

However, McCarthy’s resilient Titans would not go away that easily. With the adjustments of inserting sophomore guard Juwan Gooding and senior guard Brian Jones into the starting line up, New Mission was able to rally in the third period.

The Titans went on a 12-2 run in the opening minutes of the quarter – all of New Mission’s points scored by Gooding and Jones.

“Stop giving [Gooding] easy looks,” Melrose coach Mike Kasprzak said to his team during a timeout after the run. “That’s his shot from the top of the key.”

Melrose wouldn’t have to worry about the sophomore guard after he fouled out with 5:46 left in the fourth, just as New Mission cut the lead to single digits again, 52-43.

“That team has so much character,” Kasprzak said. “They have so much heart.”

McCarthy focused on that heart and character when reflecting on his graduating seniors.

“I’m happy with those guys, they’re all going to college,” McCarthy said naming the seven seniors in Coleman, Ebele, Jones, Nathaniel Anderson, Zachary Badohu, Tayon Watson, and Percio Gomez. “I’d take a career choice over winning a basketball game any day. I’m more disappointed then I am hurt.”

Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at kannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.

By Brandy Cruthird, Globe Correspondent

What does it mean to be a champion?

I first experienced what it meant to be a champion 25 years ago by playing for Burke in the the Boston Public Schools basketball championships. A title meant your team was the best in the city. When I was younger, the girls of English High reigned supreme. Tonya Cardoza and Michelle Pelezer, along with many other great players on English, made it hard for others to win. Ernie Green was truly one of the most respected coaches in BPS girls' basketball. Most of his players went on to Division 1 or 2 college basketball. Going to college on a scholarship was the ultimate. However, walking through the neighborhood with your City Champion jacket seemed even sweeter.

I can recall in 1988 beating West Roxbury, 62-47, in the city semifinals. We came ready to win although the game started off close. Coach Lee Nieves would tell us every practice that, “we could win the city championship if we worked hard.” Although Nieves felt this way, the team needed to believe it. During the semifinals my teammates, Linda Parker (off guard) and Tarsha Baker (point guard) internalized these words. Parker, with her great defense, made a few steals during the game and helped me contribute 22 points in the win. However Baker, with her electrifying 3-point shot, hit a couple of three’s that got the crowd excited and on their feet. Not to minimize West Roxbury’s tenacious defense, but in the beginning of the 4th quarter it fell to those long practices and suicides that I hated to run.

We already knew who we would face in the finals if we won -- English High School and coach Erie Green. That game went to the wire. I got into foul trouble early and spent most of the time on the bench. I contributed 16 points and 18 rebounds but it was definitely a team effort that day. With just 12 seconds left, Marie Washington got fouled on the way to the basket. Her two free throws won the game and we beat English and made history with a 58-56 win.

Wow! We won! I couldn’t believe it. All our hard work paid off, but we learned together what it meant to be a champion and together we wore our jackets as a proud TEAM.

Brandy Cruthird can be reached by email at brandy@bodybybrandy4kidz.com.

By Sarah Moomaw, Globe Correspondent

Latin Academy coach Brian Leussler’s pre-track meet rituals include number crunching to figure out what exactly he needs from the boys' and girls' indoor track teams to grab a win.

“I don’t know if other coaches do this, I create spreadsheets with every single [result] I can predict,” he said.

Heading into Day 2 of the Boston City indoor city championships, the girls were tied with O’Bryant at 52 points apiece. Leussler’s spreadsheet calculated he could expect 60 points from the final five events.

“So I have projections and I’m telling the kids all the time, ‘I need at least a fourth place from you or better, you need to do at least your best time,’” Leussler said. “I show the kids these spreadsheets ahead of time.”

In reality, away from little boxes and guessed numbers, the girls picked up 68 points in Day 2 for a total of 120 to leave second-place O’Bryant (83) in the dust. The win – after an undefeated (6-0) league schedule – was the Dragons third consecutive meet title.

“All season long we’re looking forward to this. I tell the kids, ‘This has got to be the best race you’ve had, best time all season long,’” Leussler said. “They did great.”

The afternoon started with a showdown between the dead-locked schools in the 1-mile run, but Latin Academy eighth grader Catherine Van Evan bested the Tiger’s Aislinn Donovan (6:43.89) by four seconds to grab first place in 6:39.77.

“We have a lot of really good younger talent in the seventh, eighth, ninth grade, which is really good,” Leussler said.

In the next event – the 600-meter run ­– youth prevailed again as Latin Academy grabbed the top three spots for 24 points to begin to pull away, led by freshman Britney Firmin’s 1:45.38. Seventh-grader Lila Musoil Clark (1:51.08) and Kara Atkinson (1:54.96) took second and third respectively.

“I feel pretty good about my race. I wanted to have even splits,” Frimin said. “I thought we all did our best today, so it was nice that we went out there and did what we had to do today.”

The Dragons added another 12 points in the 1,000-meter run with a 3, 4, 5 finished by the trio of Lucy Donovan, Ashley Dixin, and Paola Villatoro.

In the relays, the quartet of Ashley Lewis, Atkinson, Frimin, and Liegha Mills grabbed top prize in the 4 by 400 with a 37 seconds lead to West Roxbury (4:59.13), crossing at 4:22.56. The 4 by 200 came in second to West Roxbury (1:51.15) with a time of 1:54.91.

“We graduated 10 [seniors] last year, so the girls team is really coming up and doing great,” Leussle said.

West Roxbury finished in third place in team scores with 67 points.

Latin Academy's boys' team also extended its city meet win streak to three with 58 points. Again, it was O’Bryant which challenged the Dragons for first-place by adding 27 points to their Day 1 title to grab second with 51 points.

Coming into the first event, Latin Academy had 47 points and only placed in the 600-meter run and both relays. Tayo Stuppard earned one point with a sixth place time of 1:37.01 in the 600. The relay teams combined for 10 points with third and fourth place finishes in the 4x400-meter relay and 4x200-meter relay respectfully.

Dorchester grabbed third with 48 points.

Sarah Moomaw can be reached at sarah.moomaw@globe.com.

The Coleman family poses in their home. (Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

The 2:40 dismissal bell just rang at Burke, meaning crowds of students flock to school buses while teachers remain for about a half-an-hour making sure the school day ends accordingly.

As the teachers casually begin to exit the school and continue on with their day, one dashes out in front of the pack.

Hugh Coleman doesn’t have much time, he’s got to pick up his 10-year-old daughter, Jordyn, and his 6-year-old son, Jaylen, from their schools and he only has thirty minutes to do it.

At Latin Academy another teacher is rushing out of the gym, Hugh’s wife, Emily. Coach Emily Coleman just ended her 2-4 p.m. practice and now must meet her husband at their home in Mattapan so that Hugh can make it to his 5-7 practice at Brighton High School.

That’s just an average day in the life of the Colemans. Oh, and they just had their third child, a 9-week-old boy, Juliyen.

“Our mentality is that [our children are] our responsibility and if we’re teaching, we’re coaching and we got the children it’s our responsibility to figure that out and not someone elses,” said Hugh.

The Colemans have mastered time management. They have successfully maintained their careers as teachers and are each head coaches for stable basketball programs in the BPS system. Hugh, the Globe's Division 2 Coach of the Year last winter, has guided the defending EMass champion Brighton boys to a 6-3 record thus far and Emily has the LA girls in third place in the North division with a 4-2 record.

“We try really hard to have that team concept, we work together as a team,” Hugh said.

This team concept has been essential since the new member of their family arrived. While Emily’s mother-in-law has watched Juliyen during the school day (after her daily bingo of course), the child has always been with one of them in the afternoon.

This still doesn’t stop them from supporting each other at their games.

“He’s so young we don’t want him with anyone else right now. If [Hugh’s] at a game, the babies with me, I’m at a game, he’s holding the baby with one arm and helping me coach across the gym,” Emily said.

Hugh is used to carrying his child in basketball gyms. He even managed to run one of his early try-outs while carrying Juliyen in a sling. Similarly to Emily, Hugh also has a large influence from his partner when it comes to coaching.

“When I got the job at Brighton like literally she is the fifth, sixth coach. Every year when we’re talking about strategy, when we’re talking about coaching the young men, I always have to get her perspective because she knows what she’s talking about,” Hugh said.

No challenge has been hard enough to keep Emily away from coaching, not even pregnancy. She described how before the season, her LA team was going through multiple changes, including the hiring of new assistant coaches. Emily wouldn’t allow herself to take a long maternal leave because of the team’s vulnerable state.

“For me, to just change what they started, it would be pretty devastating to them. That can affect a high school career so I decided to suck it up and say ‘hey, we are together we can work this out,” Emily said. “Just give me two weeks of rest and I’ll be good.”

The coaches continue to mentor their players as if they were their own children. At the end of every season, they invite both teams to their home for a “Dragon vs. Tigers” end of the year banquet. They added that coaching even prepped them for being parents.

“Even before we were real parents, we were parents, raising these kids,” Hugh said.
That means that their children are held to the same high standards their players are held to.

“I tell my girls never settle for Cs because it means you’re average. It’s an average grade and you’re not an average person so that coaching philosophy has carried over in to my personal philosophy,” Emily said.

For the Colemans, the roles of being parents and coaches have complimented each other. Hugh touched on how his parenting skills have allowed him to connect to the young men on his team in ways that other coaches may not be able to.

“How do you get to a kid? How do you psychologically do things? Everything is not just do what I say or X, Y and Z. You have to employ the things you do psychologically for your kids with the students you work with,” Hugh said.

The couple agreed that in order to maintain that connection with their players and be their role models, they must avoid hypocrisy. That means never being late to any of their practices, games, or classes.

“If you’re early, you’re on time and if you’re on time, you’re late,” Hugh said, referring to the mentality he embraced while an assistant coach under former Charlestown head coach Jack O’Brien. “I can’t say something and not follow through because it’s going to be a contradiction."

This is what has continued to motivate the couple in their commitment-filled lifestyles, the dozens of children counting on them and looking up to them. While others may feel overwhelmed by the various challenges in their life, Hugh and Emily Coleman are showing that with teamwork, any challenge can me managed.

However to them, they’re just doing their job.

“[Someone] called me super-woman,” Emily said. “I’m just a mother and a coach. You play the hand you’re dealt.”

Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at kannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

Two wrestlers compete in the second annual junior wrestling tournament (Boston Youth Wrestling)

The second annual Junior City Wrestling Tournament was a huge success as flocks of people came to TechBoston Academy to show their support for wrestling within the city.

The attendance compared to last year’s tournament was nearly doubled and it has Boston Youth Wrestling’s founder optimistic about city wrestling.

“It was outstanding. Even more kids came than we were expecting. There were more parents. There was a lot of great wrestling,” Jose Valenzuela said.

The tournament was set up in a round-robin style so that each wrestler would face everyone in their weight class. Coaches then voted among the wrestlers with the best records for the Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Three city wrestlers stood out among the group, including two with undefeated records. Clayton Rodrigues from the Frederick School and Oliver Xu of Roxbury Latin each went 4-0 in the tournament. Jimmy Lynce of TechBoston Academy also wrestled well, going 3-1.

“Wrestling is viable, strong and on the rise in the city,” Valenzuela said.

The coaches voted Jack Socialoia, a Catholic Memorial wrestler registered at 96.5 pounds, as the most outstanding wrestler for the lightweight class. Dan Williamson, a 150-pounder from BC High, took home the honor for the heavy weights.

Williamson was able to pin every wrestler he faced.

Valenzuela added that the tournament was very successful in terms of fundraising for Boston Youth Wrestling, which can only mean great things for the future of city wrestling.

“We can build on this for years to come,” Jose Valenzuela said. “I’ve tried to highlight wrestling around the city and this showed city wrestling is proving itself.”

Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at kannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

With a month to go before tournament time, these three may be worth checking out.

Brighton at South Boston, Wednesday:
After getting walloped against Fenway in a game for first place in the North division, South Boston will be looking to get back on track.

Brighton will have its work cut out with junior guard Elaina Wright-McCarthy back and healthy. However, the Tigers offense has been improving, putting up a season-high in points scored their last time out.

O’Bryant at Brighton, 3, Friday:
A rematch from Brighton’s season opener. Brighton will look to avenge the 59-8 loss and this time it’s in their territory.

The Tigers two wins this season have both come on their home court. If they hope to keep winning, they’ll have to find someway to score against O’Bryant’s league best defense.

Fenway at East Boston, 5 p.m., Friday:
East Boston continues its pursuit of its first win. What better way to get it than beating a first place Fenway team that happens to be on a 5-game win streak?

East Boston will need all the support they can get on their home floor in this one.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at kannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

Looking for a great game too check out this week. How about one of these three:

Madison Park (3-5) at Boston English (7-5), 6 p.m., Tuesday:
This could be the type of win coach Dennis Wilson’s team needs to jumpstart their season.

All three of Madison Park’s wins have come on the road and that could increase as they head to Boston English to face coach Barry Robinson’s potent offense.

It’s going to come down to defense versus offense, Boston English scoring the second most points in the city league against Madison Park with the second-best defense in the city league.

Dorchester at No. 15 East Boston, 5:30 p.m., Wednesday:
This will be a test for East Boston’s city league best defense.

Dorchester’s offense, led by senior guard Jeduan Langston, was able to put up big numbers against Madison Park’s great defense so it will be interesting to see how East Boston handles the dangerous backcourt.

Charlestown at No. 8 New Mission, 6 p.m., Friday:
The Townies simply need a win.

Coach Edson Cardoso’s team hasn’t been able to put it together since a tough loss at West Roxbury. They’re also coming off their fourth straight loss against a Burke team that they clearly had the talent to beat.

Beating the top-ranked team in the city league will be tough but it would give them just enough momentum to finish the season strong.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at kannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

No. 8 New Mission continues to assert its position as the front runners in the city league with two huge wins against Madison Park (69-64) and East Boston (68-44) last week.

While coach Dennis Wilson’s team played their best game of the season against New Mission, the Titans still managed to put up 69 points in the win and their 68 against East Boston earned them a 24-point win. New Mission continues to have the best offense in the city-league, averaging 71.7 ppg.

The loss for East Boston drops them to No. 15 in the rankings however, the Jets responded well with a 21-point win over a South Boston team that had been on a roll, winning three straight.

Central Catholic remained in the top-spot in the rankings, followed by St. John’s Prep and Mansfield.

To follow the rankings all season long, click here.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at zolankannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

Boston English (4-2) at South Boston (5-1), 4 p.m., Monday:

English, coming off its biggest win of the year against Burke (75-41), will look to break South Boston’s five-game win-streak.

South Boston has only lost to the undefeated Fenway Panthers, and will look to break an English defense that hasn’t been easy on any team, allowing only 33.2 points-a-game.

CASH (0-3) at O’Bryant (6-0), 4 p.m., Wednesday:

Two teams on the opposite ends of the standings meet with the common goal of getting a win.

Even though CASH is still looking for their first win of the season and its second game to hit double-digit scoring, it will be worth seeing how the Tigers respond to their closest contest of the season against Boston English (44-38). They’ll need to be able to do so if they hope to compete with Fenway.

Latin Academy (2-1) at East Boston (0-3), 4:30 p.m., Friday:

East Boston will need to find a way to get their offense rolling against the Dragons given that they currently have the second worst offense in the city league.

It’s still early in the season but a win against a Latin Academy team carrying momentum after a 3-point win against Madison Park would be a good way to start.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at zolankannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.