LYNN — The South Boys Basketball team defeated the North Boys 99-85 as the 2022 Agganis All-Star schedule rolled on last night.
Team MVP Ali Barry from St. Mary’s High School led the South to the victory on the back of his 28 points.
Barry is on a roll as this is his second MVP in the last few days after winning the Big Tyme Baller Showcase MVP in Lynn.
“It feels good, just adding more things to the trophy case,” he said. “I won MVP a couple of days ago: it just feels good. Just working hard, I think my hard work is starting to pay off.”
Now Barry says he is setting his sights on another goal — a scholarship.
“So I feel like my next goal is to get a scholarship. So I feel like once I get that, I will have reached most of my goals,” said Barry.
While Barry was spectacular, he had help. Somerville High School’s Fidendi Francois dropped 17 points, 11 in the second half, which helped his team pull away from the North. Additionally, Swampscott High School’s Cam O’Brien made his best Steph Curry impression launching threes and putting up 14 of his own.
Although the North All-Stars fell short, they did not go quietly. Their MVP, Quinten Pienaar from Winchester High School, had 17 of his own.
Salem High School’s Darlin Santiago Reyes also notched 15, and the game never got out of hand until halfway through the second half, when the South caught fire.
For South coach Jay Knowles, the game was an excellent opportunity to coach kids he has gone up against in the past.
“It is a blast; you know you get to see a lot of these kids and coach against them to finally put them on the court and see how they mesh was a lot of fun,” said Knowles.
This year’s game was marked by unbelievable effort on both sides that did not go unnoticed by players and coaches. Multiple players tried to save balls, ran back on defense, and even dove for loose balls. Each team competed as if the All-Star game was a playoff game.
“We tell them it is their last time playing high school ball: leave it all on the floor. I felt like they all did that on both sides. In All-Star games, the hotter team wins, and we were the hotter team,” said Knowles.
While Knowles acknowledged that strategy in matchups like an All-Star game is pretty fundamental, he heaped praise upon his players for making his job more manageable.
“When you are coaching a kid like Ali Barry and Cam O’Brien, just to name a couple, it is easy,” said Knowles.
Both Barry and Knowles highlighted the enjoyment of those who participated in and watched this year’s rendition of the All-Star game.
“Just like playing with the city and in front of everyone just feels good. I just played my game; that is how I feel,” said Barry.
“This was a lot of fun to get out and coach some kids, where basketball is their passion, and put them all on the court together,” said Knowles.
