Agganis South girls team prevails

Basketball season has been over for several months, but the South shook off the cobwebs in a hurry to defeat the North, 74-51, Monday in the 10th Agganis All-Star Girls Basketball Game at St. Mary?s Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.Once the South got rolling, the North found itself in chase mode. The South opened up a 10-point lead a couple of times in the first half (each half was 25 minutes running time). The North cut the deficit to seven by the break and got to within four with about 20 minutes left in the game before the South took off for good.Arlington Catholic?s Maura Buckley, who took home the South MVP Award, was the driving force in the first half where she scored 10 of her 14 points while the game was still very much up for grabs. When Buckley cooled down, Somerville?s Melissa Baptista heated up. She scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half.As if those two weren?t enough to contend with, the North also had to find a way to slow down the St. Mary?s dynamic duo of Brianna Rudolph and Sharell Sanders. Rudolph, who will be playing Division 1 basketball for the University of Massachusetts Lowell next winter, was a force the entire game. She finished with 15 points as well. Sanders, who is heading to Caldwell College in the fall, finished with 11 points, giving the South four players in double figures.?Both sides had a lot of talent on the floor,” South coach Jeff Newhall said. “We definitely had some prolific scorers on our side.”Buckley?s MVP performance marked the culmination of an interesting year. Buckley missed a big chunk of her high school season (14 games) because of a knee injury, but when she returned she had a huge impact on her team. Newhall said when his St. Mary?s team played Arlington Catholic the first time (without Buckley in the lineup) the Spartans won by 36. When they met the second time, and Buckley was back, it was a four-point St. Mary?s win.North coach Bob Romeo (Masconomet) said it was good that the players got one more chance to play as high schoolers before they all head off in different directions.?This is the last real high school game they play,” he said.Romeo got to coach three of his players, Hannah Kiernan, Nicole Femino and Lexie Nason, for the final time. Kiernan made it a memorable one by leading all scorers with 16 points. She took home the North Most Valuable Player Award for her efforts. She and Femino were the Cape Ann League Large co-Players of the Year.Romeo?s assistant coach at Masco, Mike Waggett, was his Agganis assistant, which was kind of special because it gave him a chance to coach his daughter, Norma Waggett. Waggett played for Saugus High the last three years and was a 1,000-career point scorer for the Sachems.The North team featured quite a few local players, including English High?s Diondra Woumn (Franklin Pierce), who had 10 points, and English?s Catherine Stinson (4 points). Stinson is heading to Southern New Hampshire University. Classical?s Franki Galeazzi (4 points) and Kristin Lauria also played for Romeo, as did Marblehead?s McKenna Barrett and Emily Freedland.