RallyNorth.net

Marblehead's D too much for Swampscott

The Marblehead boys basketball coach, Wayne Hanscom, was naturally worried. His Magicians hadn't played in two weeks. He was concerned about the "rust" factor.

"It's hard to get into a groove when you're idle that long. Our defense got after it and that was the big factor," Hanscom said last night after his virtual Kiddie Korps (one senior, Damalo Abu, who had six points and 15 rebounds) made a stunning stand in prime time to post a 53-50 victory over host Swampscott before a crowd of about 1200.

In what was a barnburner, Marblehead looked dead in the water, trailing 50-45, with 2:55 left.

Amazingly enough, Swampscott never scored again. Freshman Matt Temme, making his varsity debut, had a major hoop with 1:50 left, driving to the basket. Ian McKinley had a huge trifecta for a 51-50 Marblehead lead and 13 seconds showed when Tom Powers (10 points, Marblehead's top scorer) converted two free throws for a 53-50 final. Beaulieu had the last shot for Swampscott (4-2). Marblehead is now 4-1.

John Beaulieu scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Swampscott.

"Both teams had solid games. Marblehead made a few more plays," Swampscott coach Paul Moran said.

"Holding them like we did was something else. They made a few turnovers and missed some shots, but we did play great defense at the end. Beaulieu and Craig Rodenstein had a combined average in the 40s and we held them to 23. I think the rivalry brought out the true spirit in the two teams. It often does," Hanscom said.

"I was very proud of our team tonight," he said.