The Varsity Insider from MassLive

Thursday, December 18, 2025

Jeff Lajoie

Hello, subscriber. Welcome to the Varsity Insider newsletter, an in-depth look at high school sports across Massachusetts from Jeff Lajoie and MassLive's high school sports team delivered exclusively to MassLive subscribers.

Happy Holidays!

It's officially winter sports season here on the high school desk, as we're now a full week into the madness. With that comes a sizable heaping of preview content, highlighted by our preseason rankings and fan favorite Super 7 selections.

I wanted to give subscribers a look into how we select student-athletes for our preseason Super 7 features, which highlight seven players that we expect to lead the way in their respective sports.

It's arguably our most popular and well-read features each season, and the lists are discussed (for better or worse) for the next several months. I am in charge of the boys basketball beat in Western Mass., and after my list went live last week, I covered two games a few days later that involved two of the seven players on my list. Without fail, there were 'Super 7' chants at both games, showcasing the interest and reach that these articles have — particularly with the student fan sections.

Having said that, there's plenty of conversation surrounding these lists. People agree and disagree, as one would expect with any subjective list or ranking. There's no exact science, but these Super 7 selections don't just appear out of thin air. In the weeks leading up to the start of the season, conversations are had with coaches across the region, as we take our knowledge of past years and combine it with what we're seeing and hearing from our sources in the field.

I went to multiple boys basketball scrimmages in the preseason and talked to at least 15 coaches in WMass in order to whittle a list that started at around 20 players down to just seven. It's not perfect, but it's a process that each and every one of our reporters take seriously to provide a little insight into their respective sport.

Circle These Dates

Springfield Central's Travis Best grabs a rebound against Amherst during a Dec. 21, 1990 basketball game at the Curry Hicks Cage in Amherst. FILE PHOTO

In this section, we'll highlight the games and events we're watching each week. Consider this your heads up so you can clear that busy schedule and hit some of these games in person.

Boys basketball: Putnam at Holyoke (Thursday, Dec. 18): This should be a good one inside the friendly confines of John "Jinx" O'Connor Gymnasium (I can say that as a Holyoke alum). Putnam hasn't played a game yet, so we don't know a ton about what to expect from the Beavers this winter, but Holyoke is 1-0 after a 73-70 win over Northampton last week in its opener.

Girls basketball: South Hadley at Pittsfield (Friday, Dec. 19): Two of the top programs in Western Mass. will tangle in the Berkshires on Friday night in a rematch of last year's WMass Class B title game (won by the Generals). It's the season opener for Pittsfield, which was No. 2 in our preseason Top 20 rankings, while the Tigers (No. 5) took down Belchertown, 64-30, in their opener last week.

Girls hockey: Natick at Newton North (Saturday, Dec. 20): Two state tournament teams from a year ago meet at Ryan Arena in Watertown on Saturday afternoon. Natick swept the season series last year.

Boys basketball: Agawam at Springfield Central (Monday, Dec. 22): It's Travis Best Night in Springfield, as Central will dedicate the basketball court to the former Golden Eagles star and NBA player prior to the 7:30 p.m. tip against Agawam (get there early, it's going to be packed). White Lion Brewing in Springfield will also hold a Community Celebration and Dedication for Travis Best this Friday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. 

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

Each week in this space, we'll highlight a piece of local high school sports history from yesteryear.

DEC. 21, 1990: This week 35 years ago, Springfield Central's Travis Best put on a show in front of a television audience. The All-American senior guard scored 32 points in a 100-63 victory over Amherst at the Curry Hicks Cage on the campus of UMass. The game was broadcast by SportsChannel America — a pay cable channel that showcased 13 big high school games across the country that season. They were there to see Best, who went on to star at Georgia Tech and then the NBA.

All-Western Mass. selections underway

The West Springfield boys soccer team after beating Duxbury 3-0 in the MIAA Division II state championship on November 22, 2025 at Foley Field in Leominster. KENNETH MANOJ

As the Fall 2025 season has come to an end, MassLive has begun to roll out its All-Western Mass. selections from the first set of sports. These honors are bestowed upon players for their achievements during the fall; picked by the MassLive staff, with nominations from high school coaches.

Boys soccer (released 12/16): This year’s selection features several players from Division II state championship winners West Springfield, as well as WMass Class A champion Longmeadow and Class A finalist Northampton.

Class B champions Chicopee led its class with eight selections, with Pope Francis, Belchertown and Monument Mountain also receiving several selections.

Class C champions Mount Greylock led its class with seven selections, while Class D champions Turners Falls shared the top spot with Monson.

Girls soccer (released 12/15): Here's the complete list for girls soccer selections, across Classes A, B, C and D.

Stay tuned for the rest of the fall sports, which will continue to roll out over the next few weeks.

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