SWAMPSCOTT — Swampscott blue and Marblehead red filled the stands for a Northeastern Conference showdown between the Big Blue and Magicians Tuesday night. Although it was a close game in the first half, timely baskets and excellent guard play catapulted Swampscott (9-0) to a 69-55 victory as Marblehead dipped to 5-3.
The first quarter saw both sides come out swinging as Marblehead jumped ahead 20-17. In the second, however, the momentum started to swing in Swampscott’s favor and it all started with Teddy O’Neill (24 points). He went on an 8-2 run by himself, sinking back-to-back threes and a layup to give Swampscott a 32-26 cushion.
“We let them get comfortable and get in a rhythm. We lost their best player, Teddy O’Neill, in big transition sets and he ran off three or four straight threes in the middle of that second quarter,” said Marblehead coach Mike Giardi. “We tried to claw and fight our way back, and we kind of pressed a little bit and you can’t do that in a game like this. It’s an emotional game and you have to understand it’s going to be like that the whole way. Unfortunately, we let it get away from us.”
Swampscott entered halftime with a 37-32 advantage. The Big Blue were getting steals out of their zone, leading to breakaway layups for Connor Chiarello (19 points) and O’Neill. Giardi liked the shots his offense was getting early, but then things got stagnant.
“We had some bad turnovers in the second quarter that went from us having a lead to them getting a big lead and having to fight uphill,” Giardi said.
Marblehead stayed in the game, but seemingly every time the Magicians tried to make a run, it was answered by a big shot from Swampscott’s Michael Lutko, who finished the game with 13 points.
“Michael is a big-time player. He’s been playing with Teddy for a while now, so he knows Teddy well. When Teddy makes his drives and gets to his spots, Michael knows how to get to his spot and Teddy knows where to find him,” said Swampscott coach Jason Knowles. “They work really well together.”
Finn Baron led Marblehead with 14 points, while Tommy McGovern added 11 and Blake Golden another 10.
Giardi credited Swampscott’s backcourt for setting the tone.
“Teddy can shoot and Connor did a great job with his pull-up jumper tonight,” he said. “That’s really tough to deal with when both guys are playing well.”
Coming into the game, Knowles knew his team would be successful if it got to the free-throw line.
“They’re a very, very aggressive team, so our gameplan was to attack. We said we’ll get to the line if we keep attacking,” he said. “That was a big part of our game and then we had to knock them down. We had practice on Sunday . . . we took 200 free throws.”
Marblehead left points at the line as the Magicians went 6-of-17, while Swampscott benefited at the charity stripe, shooting 90.4 percent (19-of-21).
When asked if the kids take pride in being undefeated, Knowles said they take pride in playing for Swampscott.
“They take a lot of pride in that. Bigger than that is the ‘S’ in the middle of the gym — that’s what they take pride in,” Knowles said. “They want to play for Swampscott, they want to represent this town well, and you saw it tonight.”
Both teams are back in action Friday at 7 p.m. Marblehead hosts Salem Academy, while Swampscott travels to face Salem.
Photo: Spenser Hasak | Purchase this photo
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Photo: Spenser Hasak | Purchase this photo
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Photo: Spenser Hasak | Purchase this photo
Photo: Spenser Hasak | Purchase this photo
