PHS Basketball Team Recognized at City CouncilBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
10:10AM / Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | |
 The PHS basketball team gets a standing ovation at City Council on Tuesday night. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Peter Marchetti recognized the Pittsfield High School basketball team for its class and perseverance after a player was spit on during the state semi-finals.
"I stand before you hoping I wouldn't have to make some remarks like this but feel the need to do so," he said in council chambers on Tuesday.
PHS player Malachi Perry was spat on by Old Rochester Regional School District player Rob Spenard during the Division 3 State Semi-Final game earlier this month. Perry scored 21 points with 10 rebounds for Pittsfield in the game — an 82-72 win for Old Rochester — nine points after the spitting incident, including seven points in a fourth-quarter comeback bid by the Generals.
The eastern Massachusetts player has been removed from the ORR boys varsity team and Perry has called for accountability.
Marchetti congratulated the PHS team for its behavior on and off the field, explaining that is what made them "who they are in my view."
"As many of you are aware, one of our students was spit on by a member of the Old Rochester basketball team. In addition, several players, school staff, students, and fans from Pittsfield have experienced derogatory and racial comments. This behavior is unacceptable and we as a community should stand up and not allow this behavior on or off the court,"
"Even with all of this happening, Malachi and his team and coach [Jerome] Edgerton persevered to finish the game with class and integrity."
The team was presented with a certificate of recognition, coining the basketball team as "talented, dedicated and hardworking young athletes" and recognizing that this was the first Western Mass title earned by the team since 1973.
Superintendent Joseph Curtis and Principal Maggie Harrington-Esko stood by to applaud the athletes.
Edgerton was thanked for "leading the team to do the right thing." He commended the players for holding their composure during the incident and putting work in every single day to succeed.
"How those young men on the court but off the court held their composure not just in that despicable act that happened but just throughout the season," Edgerton said. "I’m just so proud of PHS basketball right down to our JV team."
Perry issued a statement following the incident explaining how that while the act was devastating to himself, the fact that it impacted the team was equally devastating and "ultimately robbed of us a legitimate chance to advance in the state tournament."
He asked "How would they feel if they were in my shoes? How would you react? What would you like to see done?"
"I would like this experience to be a chance for everyone to see and feel the injustices we felt as minority players in a predominantly white environment. I feel confident that if I was the one that spit at a white player, I would have been removed from the game and likely put in handcuffs. All I wanted to do was show up, play hard and try to win a basketball game, and now it has become so much more than that. That being said, I feel it is my duty to stand up for those without a voice and be the mouthpiece for those that don't have one. I want to be heard, I want my feelings and my anger to be validated, and I want to help ensure that those that follow in my footsteps don't have to experience anything close to this vile. I want accountability!"
PHS skier Eliza Mullen was also recognized for earning two state titles at the Alpine skiing championship. It has been noted that she has since won additional titles.
At Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Mullen won the state title and in the giant slalom and slalom, winning the former discipline by 1.6 seconds and the latter by nearly 2.7 seconds.
This led her team to the ninth-place finish and was the first time in 17 years that a girl has won both events at the state meet.
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