Last year, it was Milford boys volleyball - who don't have a league to play in since there are only two Hockomock schools with the sport - that won a sectional title and went to the state championship.
This year, it was Attleboro boys gymnastics, who followed up an impressive fourth place finish in 2012-2013 with a State Championship this season.
Although they didn't get the most attention, the Bombardiers might have had the closest win in any competition among any team all season.
Greg Joyce narrated the close finish for The Boston Globe:
One more pointed toe. One straighter leg. One softer landing.
Those were the differences between state champions and runners-up in Wednesday night’s MIAA boys’ gymnastics state final, and Attleboro had just enough of them.
The Bombardiers edged Newton North by 0.35 points, finishing with 176.25 to the Tigers’ 175.90 to take home the state championship.
“This is just unbelievable,” said Attleboro coach Dick Seibert, who also won eight state titles in his 20 years as the Braintree coach. “I figured this meet was going to come down to tenths. I thought we always had an outside chance, but I didn’t think we were going to pull it off.
“When they read Newton North off as second place, I was just totally blown away.”
Boasting the largest roster in the state with 32 gymnasts, Attleboro capitalized on its depth to earn every last one-100th of a point that it ultimately needed to take home the title.
Junior Matt DePippo led the Bombardiers with an all-around score of 45.60. Also placing in events were Justin Adams, Joe Curti, Tyler Fuller, and the team’s lone senior, Avi Nerenberg.
Attleboro finished fourth last year in what it thought would be the last MIAA boys gymnastics championships meet.
Fast forward a year, and not only were seven boys teams back at Braintree High competing in another fully sanctioned title meet, but Attleboro was on top.
With no club gymnasts and only one senior, the Bombardiers edged regular season champion Newton North by a mere three-tenths of a point last night to earn the 2014 title with a score of 176.25.
The Bombardiers only graduated one senior from this year's State Championship squad.
#12: Triple Overtime Thriller
#13: The Brick Wall
#14: Making A Big Splash
#15: The Buzzer Beater
Honorable Mention: The Finalists
2012-2013: The Complete Countdown