This year, Doherty has led the varsity boys’ basketball team to the Division III North finals to face Danvers High School. Between playing Arlington Catholic, the school Doherty used to work at, and making the team the best they can be, all hands are on deck for this years playoff season.

Playing against Arlington Catholic was especially interesting for Doherty because of his ties to the town. Doherty was a guidance counselor at Arlington Catholic for 11 years and also runs a basketball camp in Arlington every summer.

“I’ve known some of those [Arlington Catholic] guys for a long time, so it was a little bit heart-wrenching, but I knew it was going to be a great game,” Doherty said. “I think it was more difficult for my assistant coach, Coach Sarmiento, who still teaches at Arlington Catholic.”

The boys ended up beating Arlington Catholic 72-49, although Arlington Catholic was ahead of Wayland for some of the game.

During the Warriors’ last five games, they were losing at halftime but ended up winning the game.

“It’s almost like we’re three quarters of the way there. Wednesday night we played well first quarter, third quarter and fourth quarter. We just have to put that four-quarter game together, and there’s no better time than Saturday to do that,” Doherty said.

Doherty also commented on some of the strongest aspects of the Warrior team.

“I think the guys are physically in really good shape right now, so I think we’re tiring some other teams out,” Doherty said. “We also have depth. We use our players off the bench and that keeps our starters fresh.”

Despite winning the past few games, Doherty still believes that Wayland is the underdog in Saturday’s game against Danvers.

“I think the Warriors tend to embrace [being the underdog], so I feel like we’ll be in a good place. I think the energy will be high, and the guys are hungry for this one. Danvers has beaten us two years in a row,” Doherty said. “Danvers is really good, but we’re hoping the third time is the charm.”