LYNN — The Harry Agganis boys and girls basketball games tipped off Monday evening at Lynn Classical, with both contests featuring plenty of 3-pointers and highlight-worthy plays.
The boys opened the night, with Lynn Classical head coach Marvin Avery leading the South team and Lynnfield’s John Bakopolus coaching the North. In the girls game that followed, Classical’s Tom Sawyer led the South, while Hamilton-Wenham’s Mark Cole coached the North.
The game started off strong with St. Mary’s seniors Luke Phelan and Devell Pamplin both knocking down threes to give the South an early 6-0 lead in the opening minute.
The North had some highlights early with Revere’s Ethan Day scooping in an acrobatic layup while being fouled. Day made the free throw to complete the three point play.
Danvers’ Kevin Ahearn added a spark just before halftime, converting a reverse layup and then immediately stealing the inbound pass for a quick four points to cut the deficit to 36-33 with two minutes left in the half.
In the second half, it was the Denzell Guillen show. The Lynn English graduate erupted for 28 points — 20 after halftime — to lead the South to a 94-77 win. Guillen hit six 3-pointers on his way to earning South MVP honors.
Excel Academy’s Angel Figueroa, who scored 27 points and made five 3s, was named MVP for the North.
For Avery, accepting the opportunity to coach was a no-brainer.
“When Jeff Newhall and Paul Halloran asked me to do this, I said, ‘Absolutely.’ This is my second time doing it, and the fun part is I know the majority of the kids on the North Shore,” Avery said. “Most of these guys aren’t playing college basketball, so it’s good for them to get one more game and to have fun. It’s a great event.”
Bakopolus also enjoyed being back on the sideline, especially with two familiar faces on the court.
“It was cool and awesome to see the guys go out there one more time,” he said. “Selfishly, for me, being able to coach Iain McCarthy and Alex Fleming one more time. All of these kids are talented — I don’t need to coach them. They’re all-stars, and I thought they did a really good job.”
The girls game was a back-and-forth classic, with 3-pointers flying from all over the court.
Wilmington’s Eva Boudreau was lights out in the first half, hitting five 3s and finishing with 17 points. She made three in a row to stretch the North’s early lead to 21-11 and consistently halted South’s momentum with timely buckets.
Lynn Classical’s Keisha Perez led the South in the first half, scoring from deep and making flashy passes to teammates.
The North led 38-36 at the half.
Bishop Fenwick’s Kiley Bloom sparked the South after halftime, hitting back-to-back threes to take a 41-40 lead. She added strong passing and dished a key assist to Fenwick teammate Caroline Perry, who knocked down a midrange jumper. Bloom scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the second half and hit four 3-pointers overall.
With 38 seconds left, Lynn English’s Amara Flores was fouled and hit both free throws to make it a two-possession game, sealing the North’s 54-48 win.
Bloom and Boudreau were named MVPs.
“What a fun night for all these seniors to play one more time,” Sawyer said. “To be able to coach Savannah (Tang), Nevaeh (Eth), and Keisha (Perez) one more time on our home floor was really special. It was a really good basketball game. The kids played hard, and given this hot environment for a great foundation, they did extremely well. It was a really good night.”
Cole praised both teams for their effort, especially with limited rosters.
“It was tough with only one sub, but both teams played really hard. It was a fun game to coach,” Cole said. “The timing kind of hurts since kids are visiting colleges and stuff, but this was a lot of fun to participate in. It’s also always nice to get a win, too.”
The Agganis football game is up next, set for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Manning Field.
