Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boy’s Basketball Goes Toe-To-Toe With Undefeated Winchester 

By |

Not every sporting event is created equal. Some games have all the makings of something special and then turn out to be duds. Others seem like a mismatch on paper, but turn out to be great games. Some even surprise and disappoint all before the final buzzer sounds. Tuesday night, Watertown hosted Winchester and one did not know what to expect. 

Winchester came in 10-0 and ranked 11th in the Boston Globe Top 20. Watertown’s season has been a struggle, full of growing pains as the roster goes through change. But, after starting 0-4, the Raiders had won two of their last three. So, two schools with traditionally strong basketball programs squared off in a year when seemingly they were headed in opposite directions. From the start though, it was clear that both teams were ready to bring it, and what ensued was three great quarters of high school basketball, and high sporting drama. Unfortunately, only Winchester showed up in the fourth quarter, to the tune of a 25-8 shellacking, and a 55-51 Raiders lead after three — and dreams of giving Winchester their first loss — turned into nightmare as Winchester beat Watertown, 76-63. A taut, competitive, intense, spirited first quarter saw both teams competing at a high level. Junior Michael Nshanian was the man for the Raiders in the first quarter, with two of his game-high six 3-pointers on the way to a 10-point effort (and 22 on the night). Winchester is blessed with a deep roster and nine saw the floor in the first quarter. They employed a full-court press that caused the Raiders problems, and they were clearly a well-coached team drilled on the basics and equipped with strong basketball I.Q.’s. But the Raiders were equally effective employing a zone to combat the 6’8″ Senior, Carson Sarpong, who had 4 to 6 inches on the tallest Raider.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boys Hockey Battles Stoneham to the End

By |

Watertown/Wayland gave up two goals 39 seconds apart early in the first period Saturday afternoon against the visiting Stoneham Spartans, and that early deficit turned out to be too hard a mountain to climb as Watertown/Wayland fell to 1-8 on the season (0-6 in the league) in a 5-2 loss at the JAR. Both teams came into the game wanting and needing a Middlesex League win, as Stoneham entered the game 1-5 in league play. Two shifts in, it looked like both teams came ready to play, as skating was fast and determination strong. But, in a blink of an eye Watertown broke down in their own end, forcing Watertown/Wayland goalie Findlay MacDonald to face unstoppable challenges at 2:01 and 2:40 to give Stoneham a 2-0 lead. Watertown/Wayland was given two power play opportunities down 2-zip, but they couldn’t cash in. Three minutes after the second power play, Watertown gave Stoneham their first of the afternoon and they did cash in 43 seconds into the power play to make it 3-0 after one period of play.  

Team sports provides such wonderful opportunities to young athletes to experience so many great things.  Every experience is made better by winning, of course, but not everyone is meant to — win, that is. Watertown/Wayland has a record that says they are a bad team at 1-8. From my vantage point, that’s not the case. But, the truth in sports is not always fair. Watertown/Wayland has good players, they play hard, and they never give up. The problem is they are young, somewhat undersized and still developing their skills. 

All that is a way of saying there is very little room for error, and quite often it requires extraordinary feats to compete. Saturday, for example, MacDonald in net had an excellent game by any standards. He made any number of saves where he had to stand on his head, and if he hadn’t the game would not have been close.

Sports

Watertown Wrestling Coach Kevin Russo Notches His 500th Win

By |

Watertown High School Wrestling Coach Kevin Russo reached 500 wins with a win over Lincoln-Sudbury. Watertown’s Kevin Russo added to his long list of accomplishments as a wrestling coach by reaching a milestone in wins on Jan. 4, 2026. See details in the announcement from the Watertown Public Schools. Longtime Watertown High School wrestling coach Kevin Russo has recorded his 500th career win, the latest accolade in a coaching career that spans more than three decades.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Girls Basketball Moves to 4-1 in the League With Wire-To-Wire Win Over Reading

By |

The Girls Varsity Basketball Team is young, starting two freshman and a sophomore, and the first off the bench is a freshman. The season is young, as the Raiders have only five games under their belt, yet they are already 3-1 in Middlesex League play and in first place in the Freedom Division, heading into Tuesday night’s game versus Reading. And the year is young, as Tuesday night’s game was the first of nine games in January that will tell a lot about how this team manages growth and development in the competitive Middlesex League. The game was the girls’ first in seven days, but rust was not an issue as the Raiders came out humming to the tune of a 16-2 first quarter on the way to a 43-32 win, getting January off to a great start. Freshman guard Natalia Keuchkarian got off to her own great start, with 8 points in the first quarter, including two 3-pointers. The team created havoc on defense, and Reading’s lack of execution on offense contributed to the Raiders dominant quarter. Senior Sophia Setouhi had steals, sophomore Brook Lambo rebounds, freshman Natalie Haley deflected a number of passes and freshman Diana Martin came off the bench and provided energy and rebounding at both ends. By the half, Watertown had built an 18-point lead at 28-10, and it wasn’t until late in the half that Reading even made it to double figures. The third quarter saw two teams struggle to create offense. Watertown missed a series of lay-ups that would have grown the lead to close to 30, and perhaps that was a harbinger of things to come. Or perhaps it was just the game of basketball behaving like the game of basketball — which is to say that a comeback was sprouting as the final quarter began. 

The fourth started well enough as a pretty Keuchkarian drive for a lay-up gave the Raiders a 37-17 lead, and a false sense perhaps that the game was over. But then …

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boy’s Basketball Gets in the Win Column Just Before The New Year

By |

Every team, no matter the sport, wants to get the new season off to a good start. That’s as close to a universal truth as there is in team sports. The Boys Basketball program, perennially tournament-bound and most often among the upper-echelon in D3, has been less than that to start the season, with four losses to Middlesex foes. Tusesday was the last chance in 2025 to record a win, and the Raiders did just that by beating non-league opponent Fenway, 59- 40, at the Victor J. Palladino Gymnasium. Watertown ran off 7 points to start the game, and was up 14-4 late in the quarter, largely thanks to the Michaels — sophomore Caterino and Junior Nshanian — who both came out aggressively at both ends of the floor and contributed 4 and 7 points respectively. Two late hoops off Raiders turnovers pulled Fenway within 6 at 14-8 after one quarter. In the second quarter the Fenway Panthers couldn’t buy a bucket even though they’ve averaged 64 points a game during a 1-3 start to their season.

Sports

Watertown Wrestlers Off to Strong Start in Early Season Dual Meets

By |

Senior Jimmy Shrestha is Watertown’s highest point scorer so far. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Watertown High School’s wrestlers got off to a strong start, beating all but one team in recent head-to-head competitions. The Raiders beat Josiah Quincy Upper School 60-23, Triton 58-10, and Oliver Ames 54-23, while dropping the match to Cambridge Rindge & Latin, 47-30. Leading point scorer so far is Senior Jimmy Shrestha, said Watertown Wrestling Coach Kevin Russo. “He is 4-0 on the season in dual meets,” Russo said.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Friday Night Lights Not Kind to the Raiders Boys Hoops in a Lopsided Loss

By |

The Boys Basketball Team came into Friday Night’s game versus Wilmington winless in two games and desperate for a win and looking for some Friday Night magic on their home floor. Wilmington had the same goal after starting its’ season 0-2 as well. But, as the rules state, only one team can win a basketball game — there are no ties — and that team would be the Wildcats, who put a lickin’ on the Raiders by the score of 55-30. 

The game started tight and clean and efficient as both teams executed with purpose, and even though the game was only a few minutes old, the 5-5 game had the makings of a good one. Scrap that keen observation. Wilmington played out the rest of the quarter on an 11-0 run, led by senior guard Ryan Gray’s 9 points. By the half it was 27-9 Wilmington, and all nine Raider points were scored by junior Michael Nshanian. Gray, in the meantime, already had 21 points. The Raiders early season woes are many.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Girls Basketball Pulls Out to an Early Lead and Never Looks Back

By |

Week two of the early season found Watertown Girls Basketball at 1-1 after a win at home versus Belmont and a road loss to Woburn by 20. Into the Victor J.Palladino Gymnasium at the Watertown Middle School came the Wilmington Wildcats and a 1-1 record of their own. So who went home with a 2-1 record at the end of the night? The Watertown Raiders to the tune of a 45-26 win that was never close. Wilmington averaged 49 points in their first two games, but tonight they couldn’t put the ball in the hoop if the ball was the size of an award-winning pumpkin at the Topsfield Fair and the basket was the size of 10 little red riding hood baskets for granny stitched together into one. And the irony is they ran their half court offense pretty well, and in some ways more smoothly than Watertown, but they could not finish. The ball and the the rim were worst of friends. They missed a lot. Are we clear? Watertown led 13-0 before Wilmington finally scored with a minute and a half left in the first quarter. At quarters’ end it was 17-4 Raiders. The second quarter was no friendlier to the Wildcats — they mustered one basket and trailed 25-6 at the half. Watertown was led by Brook Lambo with 8 and Natalie Haley with 7.