MARBLEHEAD — You can’t teach size.
Wednesday night, size prevailed as the Marblehead boys basketball team (3-0) defeated Saugus (2-4), 68-44, in a highly-anticipated Northeastern Conference matchup.
The game started like a ping-pong match with both teams answering each other’s runs.
Marblehead used its size and length to work the ball inside the paint, while the Sachems stayed in the game thanks to the three-ball.
The host Magicians took a 36-26 lead into halftime with opposing Saugus coach Joe Bertrand adding, “I thought we had some good runs.”
“We made a few threes that kind of went in and out, which swayed things against us,” he said. “I’m happy with our effort. As long as the effort is there and consistent, the wins and losses will happen as they come.”
But in the third quarter, Marblehead cranked up its defense and, again, continued to assert its dominance down low. Between Ryan Commoss (20 points) and Scott Campbell (13), Marblehead controlled the offensive and defensive glass, leading to easy points.
“Having Ryan and Scotty is big – and being able to back them up with Sam Thompson and Cam Comstock,” said Marblehead coach Mike Giardi. “We also have Nick Lemmond (20 points), who’s a big shooting forward. Having them and Carson Brooks off the bench, we have a lot of big guys. It’s just trying to find the right rotation with them.”
The Magicians held Saugus to just five third-quarter points, giving them a 52-31 advantage heading to the final frame.
“We said to ourselves that we were so concerned about us getting beat, that we weren’t playing hard and not getting up on them defensively,” Giardi said. “We gave them five to six feet of space and that allowed them to get a lot of momentum. We had to start playing them harder, which we did in the third.”
Giardi pointed to Christian Weston as a player who sparked the team on the defensive end.
“I thought Christian Weston did a good job defensively. He was one of the sparks for us,” Giardi said. “He got into Dan’s (Shea) face a bit. We needed him to get after him, especially in the third quarter. We’re happy that he did that because we’ve been trying to find ways to get him on the court.”
The Sachems were led by Shea, who scored a team-high 13 points, including three from downtown.
“He has been waiting for his big breakout performance and coming after the Christmas break – and straight into NEC play – he really stepped up, and we’re looking to build off it,” Bertrand said.
The Magicians continued to roll in the fourth quarter for win number three. Bertrand, despite the loss, was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We definitely didn’t quit. We threw our best punch at them. They counter-punched back and we didn’t have the best response, but our effort was there,” he said.
Giardi showed respect, too.
“They play scrappy. I thought we got into too much helter-skelter and we didn’t control the game how we wanted to,” he said. “Credit to Saugus though. It plays hard.”
Never satisfied, Giardi is still seeking his team’s go-to rotations.
“We’re still trying to figure it out right now. We’re trying to figure out our rotation. We have a lot of good players and we probably overlooked a few tonight,” Giardi said.
The Sachems are back in action Friday when they host Pioneer Charter at 5:30 p.m. Marblehead’s next game is Monday when it hosts Peabody with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
