Basketball camp brings out past and future local stars

DANVERS – Paul Moran, John Walsh, Dave Brown and Tom Doyle have coached against each other for years, but this summer the Saugus High, Danvers High, St. Mary?s High and Salem High boys basketball coaches will all be on the same team as coaches at the Elite Basketball Camp.The camp will run Monday through Thursday, July 14-17, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Danvers High Field House, which is air-conditioned. It?s open to boys and girls entering grades nine, 10, 11 and 12.Moran said he and Walsh had talked about doing a camp together last year and they decided to ask Brown and Doyle to get involved as well. The camp was a big success, drawing about 60 players.The girls camp also has an impressive coaching staff with Allison Flynn, a former star player at Salem High who is now the Beverly High coach, and Ignacio Oyola, who took his Winthrop High team to the Division 3 North final, where the Vikings lost to eventual state champ St. Mary?s by two points. Winthrop finished 21-4.?We want this camp to be the best high school camp in the state,” Moran said.This year, some referees will visit the camp to talk to players about their behavior on the court. There will also be college coaches every night and on Wednesday night, one of the coaches will talk about what a student-athlete needs to be eligible to get into college. The final night of the camp, a collection of former local players will play in an all-star game of sorts.Among the high school players Moran said have committed to the camp are Peter Merry and Daniel Harris (the Northeastern Conference Player of the Year) from Danvers High; Steve Collins and Eric Rosario, English High; Phil Rogers and Kyle Doucette, Classical High; Anthony Silfa, Curtis Lockett and Dennis Bailer, St. Mary?s; Marcos Echevarria, St. Mark?s, and Dan Bertrand and Lamar Jones, Saugus High.Among the former local players who will be in the all-star game are Dino Mallios, a former Winthrop High player who is now attending St. Anselm College. He is currently the top assist leader in the nation in Division 2; Ryan Woumn, English High and Merrimack College; Curtis Cassella, Saugus High and Suffolk University; Omar Benebicha, Saugus High and the University of Massachusetts Boston; Joe Bertrand of Saugus High, the 2014 Item Player of the Year and a Boston Herald All-Scholastic who will play at Norwich University; Nick McKenna, Danvers High and Springfield College; Nick Bates, Danvers High and now attending Salve Regina; George Merry, Danvers High and now attending WPI.Former Lynn Tech star Antonio Anderson, who played in the NCAA championship game as a member of the University of Memphis team, will be a guest speaker at the camp. He also played professional basketball overseas.For information call Paul Moran at 978-273-0306 or John Walsh at 781-307-8231.