After being named the most valuable player in her conference for the second straight season and helping lead her team to a Division 3 state championship this past winter, St. Mary’s junior guard Yirsy Queliz has been named the 2021-22 Item Player of the Year for girls basketball.
Queliz was named Catholic Central League MVP for the second year in a row after he shared the honor with teammate Maiya Bergdorf in 2020-21, scoring the third-highest amount of points in program history (457) and averaging 15.8 points per game. She also averaged 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, and she continued to bolster her reputation as one of the best defenders in the state by snagging 107 steals. Queliz scored her 1,000th career point this winter and has 1,039 total points heading into her senior season.
Joining Queliz as Item All-Stars for the 2021-22 girls basketball season are Kellyn Preira (St. Mary’s junior), Niya Morgen (St. Mary’s junior), Cecilia Kay (Bishop Fenwick sophomore), Nasha Arnold (Bishop Fenwick senior), Olivia Found (Bishop Fenwick senior), Logan Lomasney (Peabody sophomore), Abby Bettencourt (Peabody sophomore), Taylor Bettencourt (Peabody junior), Emma Bloom (Peabody senior), Yamilette Guerrero (Salem freshman), Annika Haley (Marblehead senior), Ava Thurman (Lynn Classical junior), Akiyah Brown (Lynn Classical junior), Reese Brinkler (Lynn Classical senior), Jaeleigh Perry (Lynn English sophomore), Rosie Chheang (Lynn English senior), Makenzie Acevedo (Lynn English senior), Dayana Hios-Edwards (Lynn Tech eighth-grader), Jayleen Novas (Lynn Tech eighth-grader), Fallon Millerick (Saugus senior), Peyton DiBiasio (Saugus eighth-grader), Carolina Bettero (Revere senior), Belma Velic (Revere freshman), Grace Fleuriel (Winthrop sophomore) and Maddie Stiglets (Winthrop junior).
Preira, who her coach Jeff Newhall calls “a guard who just so happens to be six feet tall,” finished second on the team in scoring with 14.5 points per game and led the team in rebounding with six per game. She was just as effective on the defensive end, grabbing 55 steals and recording 89 blocks — including one to secure the state title victory. Morgen, a CCL All-Star, shot 45 percent from the field and averaged 14.3 points per game. Her 5.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game also aided the offense, while her 65 steals were second on the team.
Kay was a double-double machine for the Crusaders this winter, bursting onto the scene as a sophomore by averaging 18.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. She finished the year with 16 double-doubles, and her 93 total blocks were the most in The Item’s coverage area. Arnold, a senior captain, rarely left the court all season and had the play to back it up. Arnold averaged 11 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Found wrapped up her Fenwick career with more than 1,100 points (1,142), and in her senior year she averaged 13.6 points, 4.8 assists and 5.0 steals per game.
Lomasney was a key cog in the Tanners’ incredible season this winter, averaging 10 points and 12 rebounds per game — leading the team in both categories. Named the Northeastern Conference Player of the Year, Lomasney’s top performance this year was a 19-point, 20-rebound showing against Masconomet. Abby Bettencourt averaged 8.7 points per game, led the team in 3-pointers with 22 and locked things down defensively all year long with 69 steals. Taylor Bettencourt was an All-Conference pick in the NEC, averaging eight points, five assists and three steals per game while running the show from the point guard spot. Bloom, a three-sport athlete for the Tanners, averaged 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this winter.
Guerrero was one of the top scorers in the entire North Shore this winter, averaging 19 points per game to go along with 3.7 assists. An NEC All-Conference selection, Guerrero had a 30-point game and a 26-point game this season.
Haley, a four-year varsity player and three-year starter for the Magicians, led the team in assists with six per game. Marblehead coach Paul Moran called her, “one of the best athletes I’ve ever coached.”
Thurman was Classical’s top scorer this year with 12.2 points per game, and she added two assists per game on top of that to earn Greater Boston League All-Star status. Brown, a junior forward, was also a GBL All-Star after averaging 6.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Brinkler, a senior captain, averaged 5.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game to earn GBL All-Star honors.
Perry was a force for the Bulldogs in her sophomore season, notching four 20-point games and four double-doubles. A GBL All-Star, she led her team in scoring at 9.8 points per game and was second on the squad in rebounding at 8.3 per game. Chheang was a two-year starter, captain and GBL All-Star for English, capping her career by averaging 9.1 points, 3.1 assists and 5.1 steals per game. Acevedo was also a GBL All-Star after averaging 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. She was also a lockdown defender, averaging 3.3 steals per game.
The fact that Tech has a pair of eighth-graders being named as Item All-Stars this year speaks volumes to the bright future the team has. Hios-Edwards was the team’s leader all year long, averaging 14 points, 7.3 rebounds and two assists per game to earn Commonwealth Athletic Conference All-Star honors. Also a CAC All-Star, Novas averaged 9.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Millerick was an NEC All-Conference pick this winter, leading the Sachems in points, rebounds, steals and blocks. She was an all-around defender as well, covering every position on the floor. DiBiasio averaged 10.5 points per game and was one of the better free-throw shooters in the area, displaying much more maturity than one would think for an eighth-grader.
Bettero capped her Patriots career as a GBL All-Star, averaging 14.5 points per game to go along with six rebounds and three steals per game. Velic was a force in the paint this winter, nearly averaging a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Fleuriel was an NEC All-Conference pick in her sophomore season, averaging a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds per game. Stiglets also earned All-Conference honors, filling her stat sheet with averages of 12 points, five rebounds and four steals per game.
Other local basketball players who earned all-star honorable mention status are Bella Owumi and Olivia Abbott (St. Mary’s); Molly Mannion, Lauren Hennessey and Lauren Wilson (Lynn Classical); Alisha Jean (Lynn English); Nyari Lane-Benjamin (Lynn Tech); Tatiana Megie-Maddrey (KIPP); Isabel Bettencourt and Lauryn Mendonca(Peabody); Isabella George, Abby Adamo and Lucy Cleary (Lynnfield); Maria Orfanos and Ella Andrews (Bishop Fenwick); Ella Kramer (Marblehead); Haley Belloise (Revere); Cassadi O’Leary (Salem); Ashleen Escobar (Saugus); Maddie Hudson, Sophie DiGrande and Chloe Rakauskas (Swampscott); and Kaylee Farrell and Reese Brodin (Winthrop).
