Jump ball! Hoops tips off tonight

Thumbnails of Marble Valley League boys basketball teams, many of which will get their seasons under way tonight or Saturday.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20141205/SPORTS02/712059898

SPRINGFIELD The new man on the Springfield campus to coach boys basketball is Tim MacDonald, who comes to town after playing his high school ball at Mount Mansfield and college basketball at Gordon College in Boston. MacDonald is taking over a program run the last several years by Pete Peck, who had moments of triumph, but suffered from a lack of height and depth. One thing MacDonald has going for him are numbers as there are 33 out for the sport and Peck did not leave the cupboard empty as Josh Rivers, Ed Shambo, Justin Gomez and Chris Ficklin are back. While the Cosmos are not particularly tall, they have decent height in the 6-foot-2 Rivers as well as a couple of other players, Tyler Thomas and Connor Spee, who are over 6 feet. “I think the opportunity to be successful is there,” said MacDonald. Springfield opens at Arlington Dec. 9.