MARBLEHEAD — What began as an even matchup between the Marblehead Magicians and the Peabody Tanners boys basketball teams quickly turned into a star-studded performance by the Tanners, taking control in the second and third quarters. The rally in the second and third quarters was enough for Peabody to pick up a 56-43 win.
Upon tip-off, the match-up appeared to be fairly even between the two with back-and-forth scoring throughout the first quarter.
At the end of \ the first quarter, the Tanners led the Magicians by three points. For Marblehead, senior forward Sam Thompson contributed greatly to the Magician’s first-quarter success with numerous rebounds on both ends of the court.
The Tanners didn’t hold back entering the second quarter as senior guard, Jariel Tolentino, took control of the court. Torentino in the second quarter alone grabbed five rebounds and scored nine points extending the Tanners lead to seven, with a score of 26-19 entering the half.
Despite Marblehead starting the third quarter with great energy, the Tanners had control of the game and didn’t let the Magicians get back in it. Peabody started the quarter on an 11-6 run through the opening four minutes.
Peabody locked down Marblehead on defense allowing just six points to take a commanding 46-26 lead into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Freshman Thad Broughton scored seven of his 12 points in the third quarter to keep the momentum with the Tanners.
Unfortunately for Marblehead, Peabody’s Torentino was too much to handle finishing with a game-high 21 points.
The Magicians didn’t give up, outscoring Peabody 18-10 in the fourth quarter, but there wasn’t enough time for the comeback. In the fourth quarter, amid their comeback, Marblehead picked up a costly foul, much to the displeasure of the Marblehead faithful. Junior guard Anthony Muse made a layup but was quickly handed a charging call by the referee.
Regardless of out-scoring the Tanners in the fourth and getting a strong push from senior forward Cameron Quigley and junior forward Declan Gibson, each with six points, the Magician’s third-quarter deficit was too much. Finn Gallup and Thompson led Marblehead in scoring with nine points each.
It was an overall team effort from Peabody who got 21 points from Tolentino, 12 from Broughton, and 10 points from Stephen Brown and Mark Mendonca.
Marblehead will look to bounce back on Thursday when the Magicians host traditional rivals Swampscott at 7 p.m. Peabody will host Winthrop on the same day and time.
