Mix-and-match North squad wins girls All-Star game

SWAMPSCOTT ? It was tough to tell the players apart, even with a scorecard.View Photo GalleryAs a show of team unity, the girls on the Northeastern Conference’s North squad switched jerseys for the first half of last night’s annual All-Star game, at Swampscott High.English’s Catherine Stinson wore Revere blue, Revere’s Gena Restiano donned English maroon, and Peabody’s Carolyn Scacchi wore Salem’s red-and-black. And, almost sacrilegiously, English’s Diondre Woumn wore a Classical uni, while Classical’s Monta Connolly sported an English shirt.The North girls then proceeded to win the game, 77-62, behind a team-high 12 points from Connolly, while Restiano added 11. Stinson had 10, while Scacchi and Beverly’s Andrea Zelano chipped in with eight each.Kasey Sherry of Danvers led all scorers with 14 points for the South, while Swampscott’s Ara Talkov added 13, and Kristen Siscamanis of Winthrop contributed 10.While the annual all-star games are mostly for fun before the heavy lifting starts in the tournament, the will to win is still a factor.”A little bit of both,” Stinson said. “It’s fun to play with the girls you play against during the season, but you still want to win the game.”The North took command right away when Restiano and English’s Deidra Newson sank 3-pointers to open the game, and a couple of baskets by Revere’s Caitlyn Caramello helped the North open a 20-11 lead halfway through the opening half.The South answered with 14-4 run backed by two 3-pointers each from Sherry and Swampscott’s Alexa Goldman to take its first lead, and went ahead by five (31-26) when Norma Waggett of Saugus scored four straight points.The South continued to hold a slim lead until Woumn scored six straight points for her team early in the second half, and then Connolly and Stinson sank threes around a couple of free throws by Zelano to put the North on top, 58-50, with 6:30 left in the game.A 3-pointer by Talkov closed the South’s gap to six with 1:21 to play, but the North finished off the game by scoring the last nine points – three baskets by Scacchi (the last after a nifty behind-the-back feed from Restiano) and a 3-pointer by Connolly.uStinson won the halftime 3-point contest, making 7-for-10 in an extra shoot-off, after five players tied at five in the first round. Danvers’ Sherry made four, Marblehead’s Emily Freedland ans Scacchi sank three, while English’s Newson made two.