PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Each year, the Berkshire County High School Girls Basketball Hall of Fame adds more chapters to the history of the game.

 

Sometimes, that history can be traced through a single family.

 

“I can go back to the days that show how far we've progressed in women's basketball,” Deborah Donovan told the crowd at Saturday’s induction ceremony at Proprietor’s Lodge. “Because when I started at St. Joe, we had pinnies -- do you know what pinnies are? They were things you threw over your head, and it was either red or yellow, and you had to tape on a number.

 

“We didn't have a league, per se. We didn't have anyone go out and follow us.”

 

Donovan and her sisters, Patricia Donovan and Laura Donovan-Najimy, all graduates of St. Joseph Central High School, joined the county Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon, along with Donovan-Najimy’s daughter, Alice Najimy, a graduate of Lenox Memorial, Hoosac Valley’s Alie Mendel, Wahconah’s Maria Gamberoni, Lee’s Karli Retzel, Drury’s Bonnie Eichorn and Mount Everett’s Gwendolyn Carpenter.

 

Coach Ron Wojcik, who led Hoosac Valley to six state finals and two state titles, and Peter Arment, the long-time president of the Lenox Youth Basketball Association, rounded out the 11-member Class of 2026.

 

Patricia Donovan, in her remarks, noted that her sister Deborah played high school basketball in the days when teams played six on a side and players were not allowed to cross half court.