LYNN — The idea behind Thursday night’s first annual Big Baller Showcase at the Marshall Middle School gym was simple.
Lynn native Simmie Anderson, who organized the event alongside Fred Hogan, thought it was only right to bring the best players from the Northeastern and Merrimack Valley Conferences and have them battle it out on the court.
“There’s just always so much talent in both conferences,” Anderson said. “We never get to see all the guys coming together from different conferences. I thought it would be a great idea to put together a platform for these guys to compete. I think it’s high quality basketball.”
From there, Anderson faced the challenging part of the process in putting the showcase together. He was limited to picking eight players from each conference, dubbing the game as the “Sweet 16” of area high school basketball.
Anderson did his research. He contacted local coaches, gathered their opinions, and put together the two rosters that duked it out Thursday night.
“It was very tough,” Anderson said. “You can probably pick 10-12 players from each conference. The fact that I couldn’t go out to see everybody, I had to call coaches and rely on them. I’d call 5-6 coaches and I really depended on them. They saw all the kids and coached against them. It was tough, very tough. We chose eight players for each team because we wanted to go for a ‘March Madness: Sweet 16’ theme.”
One of Anderson’s goals with the showcase was to highlight the opportunities that local student athletes have available to them. He also aimed to stress the key role that academics plays in that process.
“I hope to inspire guys to say ‘hey this is a small step toward playing against good competition,'” Anderson said. “Kids should be focused on their grades. I’m just trying to make a difference in our community. Wednesday night, all the kids went out to eat together and they got to know one another. I hope these kids know they have an opportunity to play. We have players from different areas, it’s insane. I felt the game should be here in Lynn if we were going to do this.
Anderson added, “Lynn’s a basketball town. I hope kids come out of this understanding how serious education is. We all can come together and make it big in Lynn.”
The showcase tipped off with a boys elementary school game, followed by the main event. The MVC all-stars defeated the NEC all-stars, 125-116.
The NEC all-stars claimed an early lead in the first quarter behind big starts from Alonzo Linton and Javaris Hill. The MVC team stole the lead in the second quarter and led 50-47 at halftime. That lead bumped to 83-76 in MVC’s favor after three quarters, thanks in part to Alex Rivera heating up. The MVC all-stars closed the win in the fourth quarter. Rivera was named the MVP of the game.
Lynn English alum Craig High coached the NEC team, while Haverhill graduate Kwam Rocker coached the MVC squad. Sponsors included Lynn City Councilors Brian LaPierre, Jay Walsh and Peter Capano, School Committee member John Ford, Advance Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab, the Lynn Teachers’ Union, Congress Insurance Agency, Perkins Properties, John’s Ol, Meet & Beef Enterprise, Lynn Auditorium, Wilks Skills and Drills, G&J Towing, Chatham World Winners Circle, Hood Ink, Ram Electrical Consulting and Contracting. The event was presented by Lavar Ball 2.0.
Anderson hopes the showcase becomes an annual event.
“This thing has taken off,” Anderson said. “Kids were promoting it and talking about it on social media. There’s just too much talent in the showcase for it not to be an annual event. I’m just here to make a difference.”
