Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Coming off a four-win season, the boys’ varsity basketball coach says the team is working together this year with one goal in mind
Coming up on the crowning moments of their 2012-13 season, Thunderbirds boys basketball varsity coach Mike Branagh says the team should be proud of what they’ve accomplished so far, and says they are ready for tournaments coming up at the end of the month. Just qualifying for the county and state tournaments this season was a big deal, Branagh said. Last year, the team won only four of its games, and was not eligible to play in either. With five games left in the regular season this year, the team is 12-9, and even beat Dwight-Englewood 51-48 in the first round of the Bergen County Jamboree tournament last week. Despite a reported loss to top-seeded Teaneck in the tournament’s Round of 16 this weekend, Branagh says the team is on track to …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
A mid-season update on the Thunderbirds' performance
For the past three Februarys, Mahwah’s ice hockey team has celebrated a major victory. 2012 marked the team’s third year in a row winning the Big Green North Cup Championship. Although the team graduated several senior members at the end of last year, Coach Kevin Sabella says the remaining and new members of the team are holding their own this year. “We are not making any excuses for who we lost,” Sabella told Patch of how the T-Birds hockey season is going so far. “We are winning the games we should, and taking steps in the right direction.” So far, the team has a 9-7-3 record, and is currently ranked “near the middle of the pack,” in its league, the coach said. And Sabella, a Ramsey teacher who is now in his sixth year coaching the team …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
After 11 years as a Cutter, Coach Alan Clements is now a T-Bird
One of the most successful basketball coaches in Fair Lawn history is bringing his expertise to Mahwah. Alan Clements, who led the Fair Lawn varsity girls basketball team to back-to-back NBIAL league championships in 2008 and 2009, started Monday as the T-Birds new coach. Last year’s head coach Michael Branagh moved to the boys program this year. Clements brings an impressive resume – he’s coached basketball and volleyball on and off since the late 1970’s at both the high school and college level. When he retired from his eleven-year stint as basketball coach at Fair Lawn High School in 2010, he was the winningest coach in the school’s history. “I’m a single dad. My two kids are 18 and 20, so [in 2010] they were starting the college search…
Sunday, November 18, 2012
The Group 2 state championship game is Monday afternoon
The Mahwah Boys Soccer Team is one game away from a state title. Last week, the team got past two viable opponents – Kittatinny, which the T-Birds beat 3-1 in the quarterfinal game, and Lakeland, which the team beat 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals last Thursday. Mahwah, seeded #2 in the Group 2 State Tournament Championship, will take on the Number 4 seed, Newton, is the finals at home Monday at 2 p.m. According to nj.com, Mahwah is going into the final game with a 17-1 record, Newton with a 20-4 record. Last week, Thunderbirds coach Vince Vespe said he felt the team was strong, and could win the whole tournament. The photos above are from the semi-final game against Lakeland last week. They were submitted by Patch reader Mark Meyers…
Friday, November 16, 2012
Cake from Ramsey deli has played a role in both the NY Giants' Super Bowl win and the Mahwah High football team's success this season. Giants' season turned around last year after boy with pulmonary disease brought cake to team practice.
A Mahwah family may have found the secret weapon behind the NY Giants’ Super Bowl victory – crumb cake made at Lotito’s Deli in Ramsey. And now, the cake might be helping to catapult the Mahwah High School Thunderbirds toward their first state championship in over 30 years. Known as the “Crumb Cake of Champions,” the sweet treat was originally handed out to the Giants players and coaches as a ‘thank you’ from the Accurso family, whose son, 9-year-old Vinny, suffers from pulmonary hypertension, a life-threatening lung disorder. After hearing about Vin’s condition, Coach Tom Coughlin invited the family to a Giants practice last season. They brought the crumb cake as a present for the team. After the Giants won their next game, the Accursos …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Mahwah beat Kittatinny 3-1 Monday
Mahwah High School’s boys varsity soccer team is two games away from clinching the Group 2 State Tournament Championship, and the team seems poised for the challenges that lie ahead. The T-Birds beat Kittatinny 3-1 in the state quarterfinal game Monday afternoon. “These kids work hard, and they play soccer year round,” Coach Vince Vespe said. Monday, “they played well, again.” According to their coach, the team has been playing well together all season. The team of 21 has 16 senior members, and a 17-1 record. Monday’s game was the second in the state tournament. Mahwah beat Glen Rock 2-1 in the first round game Saturday. The team will play a semi-final game Thursday. “We are going into the [semi-finals] confident,” Vespe said. “We feel …
Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Mahwah High School team is gearing up for a better season than last
Mahwah High School’s football team is walking into its fall season the right way. This week, 15 of the team’s skill players won first place in the 2012 Summer Shoot Out Tournament held at Dover High School. “There were 20 teams in the tournament, and we won the whole thing,” Coach Jeff Remo said. “That’s pretty impressive.” The T-Birds beat teams from nearby schools like Fair Lawn, Paramus, Indian Hills, Hasbrouck Heights, New Brunswick and DePaul Catholic. “The kids just played well,” Remo said. “It’s a great warm up going into the season. Now, they can come into camp with a positive attitude.” Training camp preparation for the fall season, he said, starts August 13. In last year’s summer tournament, the team finished in the Final Four …
Friday, July 13, 2012
This photo of a shout out to the Mahwah T-Birds was taken somewhere in Bergen County
Welcome to 'Where in the World,' a new Mahwah Patch Facebook feature where users identify where photos were taken. In coming weeks, we'll highlight photos taken at different spots throughout the township and ask readers to play detective to figure out where the pictures were taken. This photo, a tribute to the Mahwah T-Birds, was taken somewhere in Bergen County. Have you seen it before? Know where it was taken? Head to the Mahwah Patch Facebook page, like it, and leave a comment telling us where you think this photo was taken. Here's a hint: This picture was not taken in Mahwah. -- Follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your email inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Monday, June 4, 2012
11-0 no-hitter win was a team effort, coach says; Team preparing for North Jersey championships Tuesday
Mahwah’s Varsity Boys Baseball team has already achieved two major milestones this season. Earlier in the year, the boys won the Big North League Championship for the second year in a row, and with an 11-0 victory over Pequannock last Friday, they became the Group Two State Sectional Champs. The team, which has a 22-6 record this season, played “a great game,” head coach Jeff Remo said. Junior pitcher Chris Baldi pitched a no-hitter, which Remo called, “very rare, especially in the finals.” Catcher CJ Musemeci “had great hits, and did a nice job catching defensively,” he said. Remo credited a bunch of players with “really clutch hits” during the game, which allowed the T-Birds to rally such a high score. Junior Eric Kaplan, who leads the …
Monday, December 12, 2011
Vote in this week's Patch Poll
The Mahwah Board of Education needs to decide whether or not the district wants to allow homeschooled students living in its jurisdiction to play on Thunderbird teams. The board began discussing the decision at its last meeting, spurred by a change in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association guidelines. The school sports governing body changed its bylaws last month to allow homeschooled students spots on school teams. However, each district in the organization has the ability to choose whether or not it wants that. The board requested some aadditional information, and the recommendations of the high school principal, athletic director, and the district's policy committee before making its decision. The board is scheduled …
Leslie Orton
12:10 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Way to go Thunderbirds! Don't forget Zack Orton who has also been a key player on this team. more ›