Northeastern Conference All-Stars shine in Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD ?If you didn’t expect Lynn English’s Ryan Woumn to grab the spotlight on this stage, then you haven’t seen him play much the past three seasons.Woumn, a junior, scored a game-high 31 points and sank a pair of 3-pointers in the last two minutes to lift his North squad to a 126-123 win over the South, in the Northeastern Conference All-Star game, Friday night, at Marblehead High.Classical’s Jarell Byrd added 22 points, at least half of which came on dunks during a game that mostly had the defensive intensity of an English high tea.Marblehead’s Taariq Allen led the South with 25 points, while fellow Magician Brandon Lee added 24.Swampscott’s Allie Beaulieu led all scorers with 11 points in the girls game, which was won by the South, 67-46. Tara Nimkar, also of Swampscott, added 10 points, while English’s Jeanette Anderson paced the North squad with 10 points.In the boys game, the South led by 11 points with about seven minutes left. Woumn, Byrd, Classical’s Jasper Grassa and Peabody’s Ryan English sparked a late rally and a 3-pointer by Woumn, the North division’s MVP, hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to close the gap to two points with 1:19 left.After a thundering dunk by Byrd tied the score, Winthrop’s Dino Mallios, the South MVP, hit a runner with 27 seconds left to put his team back up by two. Woumn then canned a 3-pointer from the left corner to make the score 124-123. The South couldn’t answer, and Byrd finished the game with another rim-rattling dunk on a feed from Grassa.The North led by as many as nine points very early in the game, but Swampscott’s Mike Nimkar and Lee combined for 12 points in a 16-0 run that gave the South its largest lead of the game at 42-31, with 9:15 left in the first half. A couple of 3-pointers by Gloucester’s Brian Chianciola put the South on top, 72-64, at halftime.In the girls game, the South took a 32-26 halftime lead despite eight points from Anderson, the North division’s MVP. A 3-pointer by Beverly’s Jennifer Ashton got the North as close as two early in the second half, but Beaulieu and Swampscott’s Kara Gilberg helped spark an 18-4 run that closed out the third quarter.Another run that ended with a pretty up-and-under layup by Gloucester’s Hannah Cain made the score 61-40, with 4:33 left in the game.Classical’s Hannah Byrne and Saugus’ Brian Boyajian won the respective 3-point shooting contests.