North gets the better of South in Agganis All-Star girls hoop

Jun. 28—LYNN — The 17th annual Agganis All-Star Girls Basketball Game went to the North squad coached by Hamilton-Wenham's Mark Cole. He had only nine girls on his team, but every one contributed on offense, defense, or both in their 56-33 victory over the South at Lynn Classical.

Oliva Found of Bishop Fenwick gave the South a brief 2-0 lead, but Olivia Abbott from St. Mary's quickly tied it up and North MVP Jackie Malley from Reading made two foul shots to give North the lead — which they never relinquished.

After the first of two 25-minute halves, the North was comfortably on top, 26-12.

Both teams started out hitting mostly layups, but late in the first half Malley (who is headed to St. Lawrence) drained two treys and hit another in the second half. She finished with 11 points, one of three players on the North to hit double digits. Kylie Schrock from Rockport chipped in with 10, and Camerson Watkins from Dracut had 11.

"I'm impressed with the good shooters and athletic girls we had on our roster," said Cole. "They seemed to mesh well together, and everyone played strong defense — which you don't always see in an all star game like this.

"I wanted the girls to push the ball up the court and set a quick tempo," added Cole, "because it's hard to run an offense in a game where they aren't familiar with each other. The only set play we had was for inbounding."

The South came out on fire in the second half, and Fenwick's Maria Orfanos made a layup. They cut the deficit to 10, but North roared back on an Abbott foul shot and three-pointers by the Generals' Christa Coffey and Jane Maguire.

Gina Terrazzano, who captained Peabody, saw a lot of time at guard, and made some good defensive plays. Maguire and Coffey both had five points.

Ernidia Goncalves from Northeast Regional, who is going to Salem State, used her height down low to dominate. She led South with 10 points, eight of those coming in the second half.

"This was a fun game, but they were a little better than us," said South coach Adam DeBaggis of Bishop Fenwick. "Every time we tried to make a comeback, they'd answer at the other end. We'd hit a three and they'd come right back with a three.

"For me, it was nice to coach three of my seniors one last time."

Emma Burke, Found, and Orfanos all played well for the South along with Marblehead's Annika Haley and Ella Kramer. Burke and Orfanos will be together at Curry College in a couple of months.

"For me it's nice to get back on the court," said Orfanos. "I had surgery right after our season ended, and the doctor just cleared me to play last week."

"This is a fun way to end our high school sports," added Found, who is headed for Assumption College. "It's tough to get back in rhythm because our basketball season ended so long ago, but we all got to enjoy the moment."

Afterward, the Fenwick girls posed for a picture with their coach in the stands while Crusader teammates clicked away on their phones.

"I game like this is always fun, and you try to get everybody in as much as you can because they're all stars," said DeBaggis. "North may have only had nine while we had 11, but their nine did the job.

"I'm competitive and I hate to lose any time, but enjoyed coaching these girls. It's hard to do with no practices and having kids from so many schools, but they all played hard."

Contact Jean DePlacido @JeanDePlacidoSN