After rallying back from losing a coach right before a pandemic-shortened season, Saugus senior guard Myles Manalaysay has been named the 2020-2021 Item Player of the Year for boys basketball.
Despite all of the challenges, Manalaysay managed to average 18 points per game for the Sachems. He also contributed four rebounds and five assists per game, in addition to leading the way on the other end of the floor with his defensive prowess. He was the team’s on-court leader at the point guard spot, often getting his team into position before starting an offensive sequence. And despite the Sachems finishing with a 4-9 record in a shortened year, Manalaysay kept his teammates pushing the whole season.
There were also six players named to this year’s All-Item Team in St. Mary’s junior Ali Barry, Salem senior Bobby Jellison, Swampscott senior Andrew Augustin, Lynnfield senior Luke Martinho, Bishop Fenwick senior Max Grenert and St. John’s Prep senior Aidan Callahan.
Barry had a great junior season for St. Mary’s, leading the team in points (14.1) and rebounds (5.5) and finishing second on the team in assists (3.7). He also shot 38 percent from 3-point range and earned a nod as a Catholic Central League All-Star.
Jellison has the distinction of recording the single most impressive performance of the 2020-2021 season, knocking down 12 3-pointers en route to a 42-point performance in a win over Marblehead on Feb. 16. But his strong season wasn’t limited to just that game, as Jellison led the North Shore in 3-pointers made (45) throughout the year. He also averaged 15.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for a Salem team that went 12-2 in a shortened campaign.
Augustin was one of the most well-rounded players in the area in 2020-2021, as the Big Blue forward was one of only four players in the North Shore to average a double-double for the season (Hamilton-Wenham’s Ryan Monahan, Carter Coffey and Markus Nordin were the other three). Augustin led Swampscott with 15.2 points per game, but interestingly enough finished second on his own team in rebounding with 10.0 per game (Cam O’Brien averaged 10.2 per game).
Martinho was a scoring machine in Lynnfield’s shortened season, scoring 20 points or more in four of the Pioneers’ 11 games. He closed out the season averaging 17.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Grenert was a driving force for Fenwick all season, serving as a senior captain and getting the job done on both ends of the floor. Finishing second in the North Shore in 3-pointers made (43), Grenert led the Crusaders in scoring (15.4 points per game) and rebounding (7.8 rebounds per game).
Callahan wrapped up his career at the Prep on a high note, leading the North Shore in assists with 8.0 per game. He wasn’t too bad on the scoring end of things either, averaging 14.2 points per game while helping lead the Eagles to a share of the Catholic Conference regular season title.
Also getting named as Item All-Stars this season are Jason Romans, Alex Gonzalez, Che Hanks, Mike Yentin (Bishop Fenwick); David Brown Jr., Sammy Batista (St. Mary’s); Drew Lucas, Nick Vecchio, Shea Lynch, Danny Barrett (Peabody); Jack Ford (Lynnfield); Hunter Fleming, Noah Mann (Marblehead); Guillermo Pimentel, Ethan Doyle, Jorge Guerrero, Ethan Doyle, Tommy Beauregard (Salem); Tyrone Manderson, Mason Nickolas (Saugus); Rollie Castineyra, Kyle Webster (St. John’s Prep); Evan Roth, Cam O’Brien, Jason Aucone (Swampscott); Cam Conway (Winthrop).
