Clark University High School Tournament
Fast Facts
The 1939 tournament was set up in 2 divisions, one eight team invitational division (small schools) and one Inter-League Division (large schools). Between the afternoon and evening sessions there was a fellowship dinner for all players, coaches, and principals sponsored by Clark University. The Small School Champion was also crowned the Third District Small School Champion.
In 1944 the tournament was called the Worcester County Interscholastic Championship Basketball Tournament and some games were played at the Norton Field House.
In 1949, Millbury was asked to replace Westboro High on the Monday before the tournament due to a scarlet fever outbreak in Westboro. Millbury lost to Uxbridge 52 – 26 on 2/22/1949. It was the teams’ first game of the season because the school cancelled the season the previous December because they did not have a place to play their games.
In 1950, Warren High was selected to replace David Prouty High of Spencer to play in the tournament. David Prouty was selected to play in the Western Massachusetts Invitational Tournament after they were selected to play in the Clark Tournament. They were the only Central Massachusetts team selected to participate.
In 1950, Millbury was selected to play in the tournament even though they had not played a game the entire season because they had no home court. Given little chance and only 3 weeks practice, the Woolies defeated favorite Uxbridge in their first round game 25 – 22. They then defeated Holden High, a team they scrimmaged and lost to by 35 points, 30 – 27. They were defeated in the championship game by Grafton.
In 1952, West Boylston High achieved a notable statistic. They played in three games that year and scored 42 points in each of their games.
The 1962 tournament saw two oddities. In the opening round, Oakmont defeated Douglas 55 – 54 in the first game on 2/19/1962. The second game was supposed to be Lunenburg versus Bromfield. Both teams confirmed that they would be there but Bromfield never made it because of a major snowstorm. Due to the scheduling problem, Lunenburg was awarded a 2 – 0 forfeit. The second oddity was that the two night games were added to the next day for a six game schedule making this the first time a Clark Tournament game was postponed due to weather.
The 1967 Tournament had only one division because only 12 teams applied for the tournament. Instead of having multiple teams with byes, the eight teams with the lowest records had opening round games to gain a spot in the semifinal round.
In 1973 Clark University also sponsored a girl’s tournament during March 5-10, 1973. There were 7 teams in the large school division and 10 schools in the small school division. In 1975, Millbury High defeated Algonquin Regional in the opening round. The Woolies forfeited the game when it was discovered that they used an ineligible player.
The Clark Tournament moved from Alumni Gymnasium to the Kneller Athletic Center for their first game on 2/20/1978. In that first game, Sutton defeated Hopedale 52 - 47. Northbridge won the first championship in the old Alumni gym in 1939 and the first championship in the Kneller Athletic Center (formally the Student Activity Center) in 1978.
In 1979, the tournament went to 2 divisions by size with larger schools 220 boys and larger in grades 10 – 12 and small schools fewer than 220 boys in grades 10-12.
In 1980, the Clark Tournament went to its current selection process. The 16 teams with the best records were selected then placed in divisions by size with eight teams in each division.
In 1988, the 3-point shot line was begun. The first 3-point shot was made by Mike Fahy of Groton Dunstable in the first half of the opening round game versus Sutton. In the second game, Chris Dion of David Prouty hit 8 3-point shots against Blackstone-Millville. Chris Dion also had the first 4-point play when he was fouled on one of his 3-pointers.
In 2006, Bob Paranto and his son Tony Paranto became the first father/son coaches to lead their Bartlett High School of Webster teams to Clark Tournament Championships. Bob won 3 consecutive small school championships from 1979 to 1981 and Tony won the small school championship in 2006.
In 2011, Paul Baker of Northbridge completed an unusual championship sweep. He played on the Northbridge Championship Team in 1978 and was the tournament single game high scorer with 37 points and the tournament high scorer with 91 points scored, then led the 2011 Northbridge Rams to their next championship as their head coach.
In 2019 and in the 80th tournament, Rich Zalneraitis won his first Clark High Touramet title with Narragansett and the school's second title overall. Brian Willar led Westboro to its 10th title and his first title as head coach of the Rangers. Westboro won their first title in 1939, which was the first year of the tournament.
In 2021 and 2022, the tournament was paused due to the COVID pandemic.
