NEC boys, girls all-stars come out in Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD ? They tried to play a little defense this year. Really, they did.The Northeastern Conference Large school division made it a sweep of the all-star games, with the girls winning 90-64, and the boys prevailing, 122-95, Friday night, at Marblehead High.Classical’s Jasper Grassa, the Large division MVP, led all scorers in the boys game with 26 points, while Salem’s Antonio Reyes added 18. For the Small division, Saugus’ Omar Benabicha led the way with 16 points, while Marblehead’s Matt Temme had 15.In the girls game, English’s Jenicia Duggins, also a division MVP, had 23 points, while Salem’s Jasmine Bryant added 10. Tara Gallagher of Swampscott paced the Small division with nine points.The boys game featured some actual strategy. Early in the first half, Small division coach Paul Moran of Saugus called a timeout and went to a full-court zone press. And it worked for awhile. The Small team carved a 15-point lead to four (72-68) before the Large division went on a 16-0 run that lasted a little over two minutes.”There’s not a lot of coaching I had to do, not with this much talent on the floor,” said Large division coach Tom Doyle, of Salem.The lead ballooned to as many as 30 with about four minutes left. The only drama after that was whether Danvers’ Dan Skinner – whose shirtless cheering section kept the crowd entertained – would score a field goal. Skinner canned a 3-pointer from the right wing with 2:41 remaining.After a close first half, the Large division girls took control with a 16-7 run to open the final period. Duggins and her English teammates meshed well with their rivals from Peabody, who finished just one game behind the Bulldogs in the standings this season.”On the court, they’re opponents, but off the court all these girls are friends,” said Large division coach Jane Heil. “They all know each other from AAU, and as soon as the games end they’re chatting with each other on Facebook.”Hannah Cain of Gloucester and Sean Linehan of Salem won the respective 3-point shooting contests.