MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — For the past few seasons, Newburyport has set the standard as a team to beat on the Cape Ann League boys hoop scene.
This winter, the Clippers boast a bit of a new-look roster, but the results have been the same as they’ve been utterly dominant throughout the first half of a championship hopeful campaign.
Tuesday’s opponent, Manchester Essex, hasn’t exactly been a slouch, either, winning multiple Baker Division crowns and executing a recent 40-game winning streak in conference play. But as well as the Hornets played offensively in Tuesday’s home clash with the Clippers, it wasn’t enough to pull out a marquee victory.
Newburyport came out firing early and often to build a substantial 20-plus point advantage, and while Manchester climbed back to within striking distance late in action, they ultimately came up on the short end of a 90-80 decision in their home gym.
“We had enough points in both halves to win the basketball game with ease,” said Hornets’ head coach Tim St. Laurent, his team now 5-4 on the year. “In the pregame (the discussion) was all about running the clock to limit the amount of possessions Newburyport could have, and I thought we took some quick shots and they came down and made us pay.
“They didn’t miss,” continued the coach. “They got hot, and they’re just a very good team. They’re undefeated for a reason.”
St. Laurent isn’t lying.
Newburyport was scorching over the first two quarters of play, pouring in 49 first half points to go into the locker room with a 20-point cushion. Offensively, the ball was pinballing around the court with a purpose; players were cutting, teammates were finding them, and the result was a number of quality looks from both behind the arc and in the painted area.
Zayd Leanna was particularly impressive, scoring 19 of his game-high 32 points before recess. His pick-and-roll partner, big man Ben Cormier, dominated down low while serving as an anchor defensively.
Both players finished with monster stat lines, as Leanna added eight rebounds and six dimes to his big scoring night while Cormier tore down 12 boards, dished out four assists and swatted four shots to go with his 26 points.
Manchester had its moments in the opening half, but simply couldn’t get enough stops to keep pace.
“That was the best first half we’ve played all year. In fact, the best half we’ve played all year,” said Clippers’ coach Mark Elmandorf, his team remaining perfect at 10-0. “The ball movement was great, Ben Cormier played the best half of his life … I was really impressed.”
Despite the lofty deficit, Manchester did not quit after the break.
Newburyport started hot again, ripping off seven quick unanswered points to increase their biggest lead of the game to 27 early in the third. But the Hornets weathered the storm to make things interesting.
Jake Zschau, a longtime varsity standout who has really upped his offensive game in recent weeks, was once again tremendous. After dropping a season-high 25 points against Hamilton-Wenham last week, the senior captain one-upped that production with 27 big ones in Tuesday’s setback.
Zschau was making aggressive drives to the hoop and finishing on both sides of the rim, often times drawing contact and earning a trip to the line to boot. He finished with 10 made field goals — two of which came from distance — and five freebies while grabbing seven boards as well.
He and big man Alex Ste. Marie (27 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) — who was returning from a battle with the flu — were walking buckets in the second half.
“What can you say about Alex Ste. Marie? He had a 105 degree fever the other day and for him to be able to play those types of minutes and compete like that, just really proud of him,” said St. Laurent. “And Jake is just really coming on. He’s shooting the ball well, he’s driving extremely well … he’s getting in the teeth of the defense and (opposing teams) are gonna start sending help on him which will open things up for the other guys. He’s playing really good basketball.”
As good as that duo was, Manchester simply ran out of time to complete the comeback.
The deficit still hovered around 20 points early in the fourth quarter before the Hornets really made their push to get it to 10 at the end. Graham Lewis (12 points, 6 assists) didn’t have his best shooting night but still contributed on both ends; Jack McCavanagh played great off the bench at the guard position and was rewarded with an open three — which he drilled — late in action; Zach Hurd (4 steals, 4 assists) flew around defensively all night; and both Parker Woodman and Chris Glass filled in admirably at center in the absence of starter Joe Glass, who is battling an illness.
Newburyport, meanwhile, was buoyed by 17 points from Cal Atherton as well. The Clippers played unselfish basketball at a fast pace, and it just took Manchester a tick too long to adjust.
The visitors finished with 10 made threes on 26 attempts and knocked down 13 of their 16 free throws. Manchester was 5-for-17 from deep and 8-for-14 from the charity stripe.
Still, it was encouraging for the Hornets and coach St. Laurent to fight until the very end against a worthy opponent, and that’s something that will only help the team moving forward. They’re right back at it on Wednesday against reigning Division 4 state champion Georgetown, so needless to say, the road doesn’t get any easier.
“We kept fighting in this game and learned a lot for the future, so we’ll go into Georgetown tomorrow with confidence,” said St. Laurent. “We’re playing good basketball, Newburyport’s just a really good team with a lot of weapons. You can’t cover them all and they didn’t miss tonight. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to them.”
Newburyport 90, Manchester Essex 80
at Manchester Essex Regional High School
Newburyport (10-0) 24 25 21 20 90
Manchester Essex (5-4) 14 15 19 32 80
Individual statistics
Newburyport — Zayd Leanna 12-4-32, Ben Cormier 10-2-26, Cal Atherton 6-3-17, Thomas Thoreson 3-1-7, Tyler Lisauskas 2-0-4, Greg D’Ambrosio 1-1-3, Shea Cook 0-1-1, Greg Guckenburg 0-0-0. Totals: 34-12-90.
Manchester Essex — Jake Zschau 10-5-27, Alex Ste. Marie 12-2-27, Graham Lewis 5-2-12, Chris Glass 2-0-4, Jacob Zachareas 1-0-3, Jack McCavanagh 1-0-3, Zach Hurd 1-0-2, Parker Woodman 1-0-2. Totals: 33-9-80.
Halftime: 49-29, Newburyport
3-Pointers: N, Leanna 4, Cormier 4, Atherton 2; M, Zschau 2, Ste. Marie, Zachareas, McCavanagh.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.