PITTSFIELD — While the nine-member class of the Berkshire County Girls Basketball Hall of Fame represents different eras in the sport, the Class of 2024 does honor three eras of Lee High School basketball.

 

Former players Lisa Salinetti Ross and Katie Eckert were inducted along with longtime Wildcat assistant coach and former head coach Gary "Gig" Wellington. 

 

"We represented well today," Eckert said. "It's been good because we won the 2010 state championship together with Coach Wellington, so it's been an honor to be inducted. When I grew up and I was going into high school, it was just an expectation that you're going to win Western Mass., you're going to go on to states. My senior year, we got to cap it off by winning states.

 

"The people that came before me, like Lisa and everyone else, they set an expectation that was high and you didn't want to let anyone down, and exceed the expectations."

 

The induction ceremonies were held Saturday afternoon at Proprietor's Lodge in Pittsfield. It is the 11th induction by the group. The new class of inductees span Berkshire County.

 

In addition to the Lee trio, Bella Aitken of Pittsfield, Jenna Benzinger of Mount Greylock, Fallon Field of Hoosac Valley, the late Katie Keator of St. Joseph and Joyce Miller of Wahconah were the players inducted. Robert "Fitzy" Fitzsimmons, who spent a half-century involved with boys and girls basketball programs at the Pittsfield Catholic Youth Center, was inducted as a contributor.

 

"It's unbelievable," said Miller, who played point guard for Hall of Famer Boog Powell, and graduated from Wahconah in 1990. "It's so special to me, to grow up in Berkshire County and play sports. It's very humbling."

After a stellar high school basketball career, Miller went to the University of Massachusetts, where she switched sports and played on the women's club hockey team.

 

Since then, Miller has turned her attention to running. The Princeton, Mass., resident has finished three Boston Marathons, and is a Six-Star Finisher, meaning she has competed in all six World Marathon major races. That means she has raced in Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin, London and Tokyo. Miller ran Boston and New York in 2015, and ran the Tokyo Marathon in 2023.

 

Lenox High School basketball player Charlie Keator represented her aunt Katie, who passed away back in 2011.

 

Katie Keator was a multi-sport athlete at the former St. Joseph Central High School. She was a four-year starter for the Crusaders in basketball and soccer.

 

"In the 13 years since her passing, we try to fill the void with the fond memories we share of her and her tremendous spirit. We are humbled to be able to share just a small piece of Katie with you," Charlie Keator said in her written remarks, "and we are proud as we know she would have been proud to have been included in this talented group of present and former recipients."

 

Three of this year's inductees played against each other in high school, and with each other on playgrounds, AAU teams and elsewhere.

 

"I was super surprised. It was out of left field," said Benzinger. "I had just finished a fellowship at the National Theatre Institute [in Waterford, Conn.] and starting my acting classes up again. It was like, oh basketball, I forgot about all the great stuff that Berkshire County basketball gave to me in the community. It was really special."

 

What was also really special was the run the Lee girls made from 1989 through 2013. Wellington was part of that run, spending seven years as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Tom Cinella. Those Wildcat teams won seven Western Massachusetts Division III titles and a state title in 2003. As head coach, Wellington led the Wildcats to four straight Western Mass. crowns and the state title with Eckert as his point guard.

 

"I didn't think it would ever happen," Wellington said of his induction. "I was shocked. I was honored. It's pretty special to make a small contribution to Berkshire County. We always thought that when we played in the tournament and we went all the way to Boston, once we got there, we were playing for Berkshire County. We weren't just playing for our hometown."

 

Lisa Salinetti Ross is another former Wildcat, who made the crowd laugh when she referred to the old-fashioned uniforms she and her teammates wore in the late 1980s.

 

She and Sally Gangell are former Wildcats in the Hall of Fame who predate the run of Western Mass. and state titles in Lee. But for Salinetti Ross, she and her teammates began to set the foundation for what was to come.

"It's awesome, because it's Berkshire County," Salinetti Ross said, "and I love Berkshire County. That's what I'm going to say in my speech. Berkshire County basketball and Berkshire County sports are awesome."

 

Benzinger at Mount Greylock, Aitken at Pittsfield and Field at Hoosac Valley were all involved in pitched battles in games against each other. All also entered the 1,000-point scorers club between 2017 and 2018.

 

"It's fun seeing familiar faces and reliving the high school dream," Field said. "I actually found out on a Facebook message, so it was very casual. I was surprised. It's kind of been brought up the last couple of years, like 'oh maybe next year, you'll be in it.'"

 

For Field and the rest of the inductees, next year is this year.

 

Berkshire County Girls Basketball Hall of Fame

Class of 2024

Katie Eckert — A point guard for Cinella and Wellington at Lee, Eckert was the Western Mass. D-III tournament MVP in 2010, helping guide the Wildcats to the state championship that year. She was the All-Berkshire Eagle MVP, and finished her career with 960 points. Eckert was a three-year starter for Western New England, graduating in 2014.

Katie Keator — Keator was a top-20 scoring leader in her four years at St. Joe (1985-88), and was named All-Western Mass. for four consecutive seasons. Keator, who passed away in 2011, helped lead St. Joseph to the Western Mass. Division III title in 1985, beating Lenox 44-39 in overtime. She also played soccer at St. Joe, and later played four years of college soccer at LeMoyne, graduating in 1991

Bella Aitken — Scored 1,029 points at Pittsfield and was a three-time, All-Western Mass. selection. She played four years at Westfield State, and played for the 2019 MASCAC tournament champion Owls. In college, her best season statistically was in 2019-20, when she averaged 10.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Lisa Salinetti Ross — Played for Sally Maish in the developing days of the Lee dynasty. A multi-sport athlete at Lee, she went on to play collegiately at Division III Amherst College. Salinetti Ross had 278 career assists at Amherst College, where she graduated in 1990. That number is two ahead of the total of another former Wildcat, Hall of Famer Kate Cinella.

Joyce Miller — Played for Hall of Famer Boog Powell at Wahconah, Miller was a teammate of Hall of Famer Mary Langendorf. Miller played the point for Wahconah and was among the county leaders in scoring, assists and 3-point baskets. She was a two-time All-Berkshire selection.

Fallon Field — A 2017 Hoosac Valley graduate, Field was a four-time Western Mass. champion and four-time state finalist. She was a three-time Western Mass. tournament MVP who scored 1,303 career points. She also played at Division III Bowdoin, and played for the 2018 Division III national runner-up.

Jenna Benzinger — A four-year starter at Mount Greylock, Benzinger scored 1,004 points and pulled down 902 rebounds. She was also a volleyball standout at Greylock, helping lead the Mounties to the Berkshire County championship in the 2016-17 school year. After graduation, Benzinger played two years at Brown, and graduated with a degree in Theater and Performing Arts in 2022.

Gary Wellington — "Gig" Wellington spent seven years as an assistant to Tom Cinella as Lee won 5 Western Mass. D-III titles, reached two D-III finals and won a title in 2003. As head coach, he won four straight Berkshire North and Western Mass. titles, reached three state finals and won the 2010 D-III state title.

Robert Fitzsimmons — Named as a contributor, Fitzsimmons had a half-century of service to the Pittsfield Catholic Youth Center, including as clock operator, devising schedules for the youth basketball programs, and fundraising.

 

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