MARBLEHEAD — In the final seconds of a tie game with Northeastern Conference rival Swampscott, the Marblehead boys basketball needed someone to step up and seal a victory. Senior forward Adam Zamansky did just that.
The Magicians had struggled at the foul line recently, but Tuesday Zamansky sunk a pair of late free throws to lift Marblehead to a 43-40 win at home.
“We were 10-for-35 from the line in the last two games,” Marblehead coach Mike Giardi said. “It comes down to the end and we run a play and we get it in to Adam, who has been struggling at times from the line. To hit two big free throws, he really beared down. He’s an emotional type kid so worry about somebody like that going to the line. But he calmed himself down, did a great job and sank two right at the end.”
It wasn’t just Zamansky (four points, four rebounds) who stepped up either. The Magicians needed their whole roster in this one with nine different scorers, many of whom came off the bench to contribute.
“We were looking for energy,” Giardi said. “Julian Stux (five points) did a great job, Brady Lavender (four), Will Twadell came off the bench.”
Swampscott spent most of the night with the lead. Jacob Cooke came off the bench to lead the Big Blue with six 3-pointers and 20 total points, but Swampscott couldn’t hang on when it mattered.
“Cooke came up very big,” Swampscott coach Jason Knowles said. “He made a lot of shots. In one respect it was nice to see a bench player contribute the way that he did. But this one stings. We let this one slip away. I think (Marblehead) is obviously a very good defensive team. Mike Giardi does a great job with them. But we had our looks and the shots just didn’t fall. This one is on us.”
The Big Blue got off to a big start on both sides of the court. Cooke and Justin Ratner (nine points) led the way on offense combining for 10 points and center Oscar Hale had five blocks to help the Big Blue build a 16-9 lead in the first quarter.
After the slow start, Marblehead spent the rest of the game chipping away at the Swampscott lead, getting within three points before the half and again before the start of the fourth quarter.
“I think sometimes we get down six or eight points and we think we have to come up with a six-point or eight-point play,” Giardi said. “That doesn’t happen. You have to go out there and realize you have to crawl your way back. Singles instead of home runs, that’s what we needed. Our guys chipped away and all of a sudden I looked up and realized, ‘we have the lead.'”
That first lead of the night for Marblehead came on a basket from Stux midway in the fourth. Lavender scored next to give the Magicians a 38-35 lead.
But Swampscott wasn’t ready to go quietly. Liam Hamilton and Noah Mann traded jumpers before Cooke hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 with just over two minutes to play.
And that’s where the score stayed until the final seconds. Both teams had their chances, but it wasn’t until Zamansky was fouled that anybody took advantage.
After Zamansky’s free throws, Devin Romain (eight points, six rebounds) hit another to put the Magicians up 43-40 and Cooke’s last-ditch 3-pointer missed the mark at the buzzer.
“There’s a lot of pride in both towns, nobody wants to lose this game,” Knowles said. “It’s always going to be a back-and-forth game with high energy regardless of wins and losses. I respect the rivalry, it’s great for sports but this one here hurts tonight. But we have a strong-willed bunch. We’ll be back at practice (Wednesday) ready to go.”
Both teams are back on the court Friday (7). Swampscott (4-5) is at North Andover while the Magicians (4-6) host English.
