For the past two seasons now, there hasn’t been a question: Carson Gretz has been the best player in the CAL Kinney.
And was justly rewarded for it.
Recently, the 6-foot-5 senior forward was named the CAL Kinney MVP for the second straight year, after averaging an area-high 18.0 ppg to go along with 35 3s. Gretz helped Newburyport (19-3) win their seventh straight league championship and earn the No. 3 seed in the Division 3 state tournament, before the Clippers suffered a tough loss in the Round of 16. In just three years with the varsity team he scored 989 career points, and will next do a post-graduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy to help raise his college basketball prospects.
Not surprisingly, Gretz and Newburyport cleaned up on the league awards.
The Clippers had no issue going undefeated in the CAL, winning their league games by an averaged of 31.7 points — with their “closest” contest being an 11-point win over Lynnfield. Besides Gretz being named MVP once again, the Clippers saw the rest of their “Big-4,” Cal Atherton, Sam Craig and Zayd Leanna, all make the 12-person All-CAL First Team. Plus their coach, Mark Elmendorf, took home the Kinney Coach of the Year honor.
The team’s senior point guard, Craig averaged 9.4 ppg for Newburyport this winter, and will continue his basketball career at Westfield State University. But even with Gretz and Craig moving on, the Clippers will still be strong next year with juniors Atherton and Leanna slated to return. The sharpshooting Atherton (17.8 ppg, 47 3s) finished second in the area in scoring, while Leanna (14.3 ppg, 29 3s) is more than proficient from beyond the arc, but also has a killer midrange game.
Moving on, Georgetown earned two All-CAL First Team selections.
Both are juniors, too, who each played a pivotal role in the Royals (19-6) going on to win their first ever Division 4 State Championship this past weekend at the Tsongas Center. Gritty point guard Brendan Loewen picked up an All-CAL nod for the second straight year, after averaging 9.0 ppg with 20 3s while also dropping 19 points in the title game victory over Monument Mountain (61-54). Then Irvin Zapata was undoubtedly the best shooter in the area, as the fellow junior averaged a team-high 12.7 ppg with a ridiculous 79 3s on the year. In the state championship game win, he dropped a game-high 22 points on seven triples.
And Georgetown wasn’t done.
Senior guard Brady Kent (5.8 ppg, 41 3s) also picked up a league honor, being named to the 17-person CAL All-Star Second Team. Finally, senior forward Marcos Yones (7.3 ppg) — who scored 12 points in the title game victory — was recognized with the league’s Courage Award.
To wrap up, Amesbury, Pentucket and Triton each had two CAL All-Star nods.
The Redhawks nearly broke their postseason drought this winter, with the junior guard duo of Parker Delong and Justin Dube leading the way. Delong finished scoring a team-high 13.9 ppg with 23 3s, while Dube averaged 10.6 ppg and connected on 17 triples. Meanwhile, the Panthers were paced by the senior tandem of Matt Pipan and Dylan Scott. It was a dominant year for Pipan all over the court averaging 15.1 ppg with 46 3s, while the point guard Scott poured in 11.9 ppg with 32 triples.
Finally, Triton (10-11) absolutely never gave up on the season, winning its last two games and three of its last four to qualify for the Division 3 tournament by finishing .500. Senior forward Liam Friis led that effort averaging 14.2 ppg with 53 3s, while junior guard Harrison Huynh also was named a CAL All-Star after averaging 9.9 ppg with 29 treys.
Here are the complete CAL boys basketball All-Star teams.
All-CAL
Georgetown: Brendan Loewen, Jr., guard; Irvin Zapata, Jr., guard/forward; Hamilton-Wenham: AB Labell, Sr., guard; Lynnfield: Alex Fleming, Sr., forward; Madux Iovinelli, Sr., center; Manchester Essex: John Chareas, Jr., forward; Newburyport: Carson Gretz, Sr., forward; Sam Craig, Sr., guard; Cal Atherton, Jr., guard; Zayd Leanna, Jr., guard; North Reading: Jason Berry, Jr., guard; Rockport: Josiah Whitley, Sr., guard
CAL All-Stars
Amesbury: Justin Dube, Jr., guard; Parker Delong, Jr., guard; Essex Tech: P.J. Leontakianakos, Sr., guard; Jack Hanchett, Soph., forward; Georgetown: Brady Kent, Sr., guard; Hamilton-Wenham: Caden Schrock, Jr., forward; Alex Menegoni, Jr., guard; Ipswich: James Norris, Sr., forward; Vin Winter, Jr., guard; Manchester Essex: Graham Lewis, Soph., guard; Alex Ste Marie, Soph., center; North Reading: Parker Griffin, Sr., forward; Pentucket: Matt Pipan, Sr., forward; Dylan Scott, Sr., guard; Rockport: Chase Wheat, Sr., guard; Triton: Liam Friis, Sr., forward; Harrison Huynh, Jr., guard
Miscellaneous Awards
MVP (Kinney): Carson Gretz, Newburyport.
MVP (Baker): Josiah Whitley, Rockport.
Coach of the Year (Kinney): Mark Elmendorf, Newburyport.
Coach of the Year (Baker): Tim St. Laurent, Manchester Essex.
Sportsmanship (Kinney): Essex Tech.
Sportsmanship (Baker): Ipswich, Manchester Essex.
Courage Award (Kinney): Iain McCarthy, Lynnfield.
Courage Award (Baker): Marcos Yones, Georgetown.