MARBLEHEAD — No matter who the opponent, it’s always tough to beat the same team twice in one season.
Marblehead boys hoop coach Mike Giardi — whose team trounced NEC rival Gloucester by nearly 40 points last week — knew that all too well as he geared his squad up for a rematch Monday night in the Larry McIntire IAABO Board 130 Classic championship clash.
This time around the young Fishermen came to play for four full quarters, setting the stage for a down-to-the-wire finish. Facing an uphill battle for the majority of the evening, the visitors stayed the course and were able to knot things up midway through the final frame.
But the Magicians threw a full court press at GHS late in action, forced three quick turnovers and generated easy buckets on the other end to go back in front. Junior standout Finn Baron then drilled a dagger three in the final minutes as Marblehead hung on for a 62-51 win.
“I was looking at the stats (from last week’s matchup against GHS) and they didn’t shoot well and we shot exceptionally well,” said Giardi, his team now 13-6. “I was telling my assistants, ‘This is gonna be a game; Gloucester’s tough, they know what we can do and I don’t know if we’ll shoot that well again.’
“But late in the fourth quarter we said if we score let’s go right into a press and we did and it caused some havoc,” Giardi added.
Trailing by seven (38-31) heading into the fourth, Gloucester quickly drew back to even thanks to a big 3-pointer from Cam Olsen and a transition layup from Cole Mosley-Wynn. The teams then traded baskets before Marblehead implemented the full court trap, and Baron swiftly swiped a steal and scored at the rim on the other end to spark a run.
Two more consecutive turnovers by the Fishermen and an acrobatic up-and-under and-1 layup from Cam Weaver allowed the Magicians to seize a 50-42 lead, and Gloucester was simply never able to recover in crunch time.
“We see a little bit of a trap and we panic; I mean, that comes with a young team, but I do think that was the difference down the stretch,” said GHS assistant coach Austin Davis. “Coach (Giardi) did a good job on their end mixing in that 2-2-1, sped us up a little bit and we had like three or four turnovers in a row that led to easy baskets.”
Baron not only hit the clutch shot late, but once again controlled the pace as the primary ball handler for Marblehead. He scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, had some aggressive rebounds, nice dimes and solid on-ball defense throughout. After dropping 21 points in Game 1 against Bedford on Sunday, Baron was named tournament MVP.
“Finn’s been phenomenal the last four or five games and has really played with some strong basketball IQ,” said Giardi. “Today he let the game come to him and didn’t force too many things, made some nice passes, had some adjustments on the inbounds and just played high IQ basketball.”
Big man Tommy McGovern also turned in a strong performance, scoring a team-high 13 points on primarily layups while crashing the glass hard en route to double-digit rebounds. He was named to the All-Tournament team.
It was a balanced attack overall for the Magicians, with Finn Gallup also reaching double figures with 12, and a total of eight players finding the scoresheet. Weaver (7 points) played excellent defense and provided a spark on the glass while Yamil Gil-Duran (7 points) hit some big shots in the first half to help keep his team in the driver’s seat.
On the other end, Gloucester stayed in it with a committed zone defense, with freshman guard Kyle Ewans (11 points) patrolling the top of the key with a purpose. The first-year standout — who was also named to the All-Tourney team — helped ignite the offense numerous times as well. He penetrated the lane effectively off the dribble, found his way into the paint and either attacked the rim or dumped passes down to teammates in the dunker spot.
He and junior Cole Mosley-Wynn (21 points including four made threes) were the catalysts for GHS, which trailed 13-9 after one quarter and 26-22 at the half. The Fishermen never let the lead balloon to double digits until the final minutes.
“I’m excited, I’m very excited because we’re such a young group and we got so much more to give, but we’ve shown that we can play with anyone,” said Davis. “It can be Cole (Mosley-Wynn) one night, it can be Kyle (Ewans) another night, it can be Carlos (Velazquez) when he’s healthy … so we got a lot of playmakers and guys that can knock down shots and I’m excited for the future.”
Velazquez was forced to sit out once again due to an ankle sprain, while GHS big man Jack Silveria continued to be sidelined as well. Thomas Cribbs was another bright spot for the Fishermen in the loss, playing sound defense and chipping in on the glass against a bigger, more physical Marblehead squad.
Gloucester will wrap up its season at Needham on Wednesday night (5 p.m.) while Marblehead will look to head into the Division 2 state tournament with some momentum after taking on rival Swampscott on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Looking ahead to next year, Giardi didn’t hesitate when asked if he’d compete in this tournament again.
“(IAABO Board 130 Official’s Assigner) Paul (Halloran) said to me, ‘Are you coming back next year?’ I said, ‘Coming back? We’re hosting it again as long as you want us here’, and he said yes, so we’re gonna keep this thing going,” said Giardi.
Marblehead 62, Gloucester 51
Larry McIntire IAABO Board 130 Classic Championship game
at Marblehead High School
Gloucester;9;13;9;20;51
Marblehead;13;13;12;24;62
Individual statistics
Gloucester — Elijah Brooks 2-2-6, Cam Olsen 2-1-7, Cole Mosley-Wynn 8-1-21, Kyle Ewans 2-7-11, Joe Gauvain 1-0-3, Thomas Cribbs 1-1-3, Eddie Rodriguez 0-0-0. Totals: 18-12-51.
Marblehead — Blake Hammond 1-0-3, Yamil Gil-Duran 2-2-7, Will Fitzgerald 1-0-3, Cameron Weaver 3-1-7, Finn Gallup 5-0-12, Rylan Golden 1-2-4, Tommy McGovern 3-7-13, Finn Baron 5-1-12, Declan Gibson 0-0-0. Totals: 21-13-62.
Halftime: 26-22, Marblehead
3-Pointers: G, Mosley-Wynn 4, Olsen 2, Gauvain; M, Gallup 2, Hammond, Gil-Duran, Fitzgerald, Baron.
Records: G, 4-15; M, 13-6.