By Cary Shuman
Ghared Boyce averaged 28 points a game this season for the Everett High School basketball team. He has 901 career points in two seasons and when all is said and done, the 6-foot sophomore guard could be the leading scorer in school history.
Many people, from Division 1 college recruiters to the state’s basketball coaches, are taking notice that Boyce can drain the three, dribble, and dish off with the best players in the New England.
Boyce just earned some major hardware in recognition of his magnificent 2015-16 campaign: All-Scholastic honors from the Boston Herald.
Longtime Everett fans are comparing Boyce’s long-range shooting accuracy and backcourt excellence to that of former Crimson Tide hoopmen John Sagarino, Pat Bradley, and Shannon Crooks, three of the greatest players in school history.
Everett coach John DiBiaso said comparisons to the trio of EHS hoop stars are well deserved.
“Ghared had a tremendous season, especially for a sophomore, and he’s closing in on 1,000 points after just two years,” said DiBiaso. “We’ve been to the North semifinals two years in a row and we hope he can lead us further next year and put himself up there with John Sagarino, Pat Bradley, and Shannon Crooks. Those three players, along with scoring 1,000 points, also got their teams to the Garden so that’s a challenge for Ghared to do that now.”
Boyce said he’s honored to be an All-Scholastic and that he’s heard good things about the three players that preceded him in the program in the 1990s.
“It feels good to be an All-Scholastic and to be compared to players of that stature,” said Boyce, who began playing basketball in Brockton in the fourth grade and now competes for the Metro Boston Elite AAU team in the offseason.
Boyce is excited about the future prospects of the EHS basketball team and its chances to advance to the TD Garden. The Tide won their second consecutive GBL title this winter and defeated Charlestown in the State Tournament before losing to Lowell in the Division 1 North semifinal.
“I think we can be a Garden team potentially next year but we just have to work hard in the off season,” said Boyce. “Helping this team get to the Garden is definitely one of my goals. Just about everybody is back next year.”
Boyce said he would like to contribute more rebounds and assists next season.
“My goal for next year is to have more rebounds and more assists so I can help the team more,” said Boyce.
The son of Gerard Boyce and LaLita Davis, Ghared said he learned a lot about basketball from his father, a former 6-foot-3-inch forward, who starred at East Boston High School when the Jets won a state title.
“My dad really helped me develop my game,” said Boyce. “He’s a mentor and motivator on and off the court. And my mom is a really good person. She’s at all my games. She’s very caring and she’s helping me focus on going on to college.”
Boyce attends Everett High football games where he roots for hoop teammates Jordan McAfee, Chris Zidor, and Gerrell Boyce (Ghared’s brother) and other friends on the team. He is well aware of John DiBiaso’s legacy as the state’s most successful football coach.
“I’m so glad I’m at Everett High,” said Boyce, an honor roll student. “Coach DiBiaso is a great coach and mentor who helps me in and out of basketball.”
Boston University is one of several Division 1 schools that has Boyce on their radar. Despite the attention, Boyce, whose favorite NBA player is John Wall, isn’t resting on his laurels.
“Quite frankly I don’t think I’m that good yet,” he said humbly. “I just have to keep working on my game.”
And Ghared’s big-time game may earn the Tide a date at the Garden next March.
Everett sophomore guard Ghared Boyce gets some drives to the basket in a State Tournament victory over Charlestown..