Salem, MA Youth Basketball

7th Grade Boys Advance to Finals in Holiday Tournament!

In Salem’s first game of a Doubleheader kicking off the 2007 Hoop Gains Christmas Tournament they faced off against Danvers. Salem played tight with Danvers for most of the first half but emerged with a lead after they put a little pressure on the opponents winning 66-50. Salem got most of it’s scoring from Greg Speliotis, Connor Reardon and Marvin Baez, With great defensive play by Danny Moya Brendan Broderick and Billy Muse.
Salem’s second contest was against a stout Tewksbury team that pounded Salem for the first 12 minutes of the game, forcing the lead at one point to, 35-12. Salem ignited in the final 2 minutes of the first half and the rest of the game behind a Magical performance from Marvin Baez. Baez who carried the 7th graders offensively scoring from all over including 3 straight 3-pointers during the second half. Jefferson Akers and Greg Speliotis rebounded effectively inside with help from Danny Moya. Kelly Abreu Ben Kapnis and Connor Reardon were fierce on defense. Salem won 71-65 in a highly competitive ball game.
The next day Salem had to go back up to Haverhill and earn the chance to play in the championship by Beating Lynnfield. Salem gave perhaps their most sincere effort defensively and stifled Lynnfield’s attack. Offensively the Witch spread it around with every player scoring at least one bucket. Kelly Abreu, Brendan Broderick, Taylor Norris and Greg Speliotis were a force defensively shutting down Lynnfield in the first half to gain Salem a 45-20 half time edge. The second half saw much of the same with “Hurricane” Ben Kapnis and Marvelous Marvin Baez penetrating the defense with ease to get lay-ups. Billy Muse, Nick Salamida, Connor Reardon and Christian Almonte all slashed their way to easy hoops as well propelling Salem to the 67-54 win.
The Salem 7th grade boys team extended it’s win streak to 7 with a big win over Swampscott, 51-11. Salem played tremendous defense in both the back and front courts to gain the win.
With these four wins this week the boy’s 7th grade team has pushed it’s mark to 7-1. They also gained entry to the Championship Game of the Hoop Gains Christmas Tournament on Sunday December 30 against Team IQ.

The Salem 7th Grade team jumped out to a huge first half lead over Saugus on the strength of their press and led at the half 27-9. The second half which saw Saugus creep back into the contest, was marred by turnovers and bad defense for Salem. However down the stretch the Witches stepped up their game and eeked out a victory, 45-42.

Syracuse 35 - Boston College 20

Jefferson Akers scored 16pts in the Orange win with Chris Matton, 9pts, and Nathan Montero, 4pts. Jonathon Swasey scored 14pts for the Eagles with Adam Maggiacamo picking up the rest of the slack with 4pts. Matt MacNichol and Justin Canada also scored for the ‘Cuse.

Georgetown 34 - Duke 29

The Hoyas fended off the shorthanded Blue Devils to gain their 3rd win of the season. FJ Murphy had 16pts to go along with Gabriel’s 16pts which pretty much assured them of victory. Cael Schaejbe, 12pts. and Brian Lora , 17pts, provided every bit of scoring for Duke.

UCLA 26 - Oregon 19

The Bruins kept their undefeated record intact with an impressive win versus Oregon. Shakir White and Alex Smith each scored 7pts to power the Bruins, and Melvin Guzman chipped in with 6pts. Meanwhile the three big guns for Oregon only managed 19pts combined with Matt Marquez and Stephen Moutsoulas scoring 6pts each and John Crimble leading the way, 7pts. Matt Barbrick, 4pts, played well for UCLA.

Michigan 34 - Indiana 27

Tremendous defense ensured the win for the Wolverines, with Kelly Abreu doing the most work, 16pts, 4assts, 4rebs, 2stls and 1blk. Stephen Harris was the beneficiary of those assists with 13pts. Anthony Hariis was the best man on the court for Indiana with 12pts, followed by Brandon Dziadyk with 9pts and Aidan Scrimgeour who had 6pts.

North Carolina 34 - Providence 20

The combination of Isaiah Hodges, 11pts, 5rebs, 3blks,1stl, and Austin Shea, 14pts, proved to be too much for the Friars. Billy Muse led Providence in scoring with 15pts, 3rebs. Jt Kapnis, 4pts, was a force inside with Tyler Woodbury, 4pts, 2stls, putting in work on the perimeter.

Celtics 39 - Magic 27

Three different players led the Celts in scoring to power them past the Magic, Greg Speliotis, Ariel Almonte and Cody Farese all had 8pts. Jesse williams was the high man for the Magic with 8pts, followed by Ben Kapnis with 6pts. Nick Dullea also played well in defeat with 4pts. Connor Reardon, 6pts, Anthony Harris, 3, and Kam Lynch, 4pts were key pieces in the Celtics vistory.

Knicks 51 - Lakers 30

The Knicks started fast and never looked back blasting the Lakers. Nick Salamida took the first half scoring 15pts, and Marvin Baez the second half with 18pts to combine for 33pts in the game. Troy Gilbert and Nick Walsh were the lone bright spots for the Lake show each scoring 8pts. Brendan Broderick also played well with 6pts and good defense.

Jazz 30 - Spurs 28

During this hard fought contest Steven “Figie” Cruz emerged as the main contributing force to his teams victory with 10pts and 3stls. While Cruz making sweet music from the perimeter Jefferson Akers, 5pts, 6rebs, and Eduardo Beato, 6pts, 5rebs and 4blks dominated the paint for the Jazz. Randy Valero kept the Spurs in contention all game scoring 11pts, with Kelly Abreu adding 6pts. Kyle Higgins had 4pts for the Jazz.

Seventh Grade Teams Highlight The Day!

In a high scoring affair, 75-66, with little defense against Peabody, the seventh grade boys managed to outlast the Tanners. Every one of the ten players who got on the court scored for the Witches. Greg Speliotis had a monster game with 23pts, 13rebs and 5stls. Nick Salamida was second leading scorer with 10pts, Marvin Baez and Brendan Broderick each had 9pts.
The seventh grade girls played a tremendous game and had all but one player score in their, 42-21 win over Swampscott. Courtney Shearstone led all scorers with 10pts followed by Ivalise Arroyo and Jonalis Morel who had 6pts apiece. Shannon Tucker, Taylor Cullinane and Courtney Maurice all had 4pts each in the win.
On the other side of the ledger the sixth grade boys lost to Peabody, 41-16. John Crimble led the boys with 5pts. Chris Matton chipped in with an impressive 3-pointer, and Matt Muse Shakir White and Brandon Dziadyk all scored 2.
The eight grade boys stuck in their for the first 3 quarters of the game but were drown out in the end, 57-37. Randy Valero put up 10pts to lead his team, with Jeff Peras helping out inside with 8pts. JohnathonMorel got 2 easy buckets late to give him 4pts and Adrian Beato scrapped inside for 4pts.
The sixth grade girls lost their first contest of this young season in hard fought overtime game against Nashua, NH, 28-27. Hannah Wilkins and Alix Bryant provided much of the scoring output for Salem in the loss with Hannah Malarkey and Jasmine Leclerc each scoring 2pts.

Due to the accumulating snow and Snow emergency status in the area, Thursday nights games for the Pro Girls division will be cancelled. sorry for the inconvenience.

Providence 43 - Indiana 31

Billy Muse came out firing and ended up with 20pts for Providence. Aidan Scrimgeour was equally on fire scoring 18pts for the Hoosiers. Nick Bottichelli was the second leading scorer for Indiana with 5pts, followed by Brandon Dziadyk with 4pts. Matt Muse dropped 10pts and Jeff White, 7pts as the Friars picked up the win with a strong closing.

Michigan 31 - Syracuse 9

The whole Wolverine squad chipped in to beat the Orangemen, Kelly Abreu led his team in scoring with 13pts. Stephen Harris added 8pts to the Michigan total with Desmond and Bruno Caetano each scored 4pts. Joey Barbeau was the man for Syracuse nailing a long 3-pointer and ending up with 5pts. Chris Matton and Andrew MacNichol each had 2pts in the loss.

Georgetown 17 - Oregon 15

FJ Murphy, 7pts, had his hands full with Oregon’s big men but he managed to equal the output of both Matt Marquez, 5pts, and Stephen Moutsoulas, 2pts. John Crimble, 8pts, was the offensive machine for the Ducks but couldn’t get his team over the hump. Twins Gabriel and Xavier combined for 6pts and 4stls, to help the Hoyas on their way to the win. Sean Alman also hit a shot for 2pts.

North Carolina 22 - UCLA 25

With the only two undefeated teams facing off in the prime-time contest, we were in for a treat, and the game did not disappoint. North Carolina came out firing and gained a lead in the first half behind the strong play of Isiah Hodges, 7pts and Mitchell Osgood, 6pts. JT Kapnis, 4pts and Tyler Woodbury, 2pts played very well. In the second half the Bruins snapped out of hibernation and poured it on with Alex Smith and Melvin Guzman right out front with 6pts each. Charles Murrel and Matt Barbrick each played tremendously both scoring 4pts in the bruins win.

Duke 32 - Boston College 10

The interior play of the Devils proved to be way too much for the Eagles to fly over. Jared Louf-Woods, 10pts and Bryan Lora, 11pts, owned the paint all night. Ryan Madden also chipped in for the win with 6pts and Pat Doherty had 2pts. Jonathon Swasey scored 8 of his teams 10 points.

Kentucky 15 - Boston College 14

The Wildcats came out victorious thanks to the play of Merllyn Sanchez’s 8pts. Nicole Talbert 4pts, and Alexa Gilbert 3pts, combined with Sanchez to lead their team to the win. Shayla Stokes top the scoreboard for the Eagles with 6pts. Sydney Hannaford, 3pts, and Kelly McLaughlin, 2pts provided the spark for BC.

Umass 15 - Tennesse 14

All of Umass’ 15 points came from the work Ashley Espinal inside the paint. her main advesraries were Tennessee’s Alexandrea Bozarjian, 8pts, Villory Rijker, 4pts, and Micayla Dionne who sunk a shot for 2pts of her own.

Duke 23 - Villanova 12

Rachel Zipper, 9pts, and Hannah Malarkey, 6pts, proved to be a formidable duo in Dukes double digit win. Christa Leger was the main weapon for the Cats scoring 8pts and rebounded very well. Meghan Zipper, 4pts, and Olivia Comeau 2pts helped to extend their teams undefeated record with great defense.

7TH & 8TH GRADE BOYS ROLL over BROOKLINE!

After the 6th graders lost to the boys from Brookline; the 7th and 8th grades felt it was their responsibility to win the rest of the day and they did. Starting with a 71-53 victory by the 7th grade. Marvin Baez led the team in scoring, 16, and steals 5. Greg Speliotis scored 15pts, with 6reb and 4stl to help propel the team to the win. Jefferson Akers and Taylor Norris owned the glass coming down with 7reb each.
In the 8th grade game the boys won 42-31. Randy Valero led the team in scoring with 11pts, but was followed closely by Jorge 10pts, and Steven Figie who had 8pts. the 8th grade team was powered inside by the defense and rebounding of Brion Likaj 6pts, and Jeff Peras 5pts.
The 6th grade girls closed out their saturday sweep by first beating Masco away and then coming home for a hard fought Victory over Manchester 23-9. Alex Carderelli was the top scorer with 12pts. In secondary roles Alix Bryant scored 7pts to go along with Hannah Wilkins’ 4pts were just too much for the visitors.
The 7th grade girls lost their first game of the year to Masco, 23-8. Courtney Shearstone, Shannon Tucker and Taylor Cullinane all scored 2pts. April Hannable and Vanermi Figeuroa each hit one free throw to round out the scoring for Salem.
Marissa Garey scored 16pts to lead her team in their 40-27 win over Swampscott. Salem played brillianty inside on defense limiting Swampscott’s scoring. Holbrook Phelan 7pts, Ashley O’Keefe and Micaela Gaffney 4pts each, played well on the outside. Maria Rodriguez scored 5pts including an impressive three point play towards the end of the game.

Rockers 19 - Liberty 16

Ashley O’Keefe scored 8pts, to lead her team past Maria Rodriguez, 10pts, and her 10pts. Jonalis Morel got two baskets amounting to 4pts, and Shannon Tucker scored 2pts. Crystal Garcia was second fiddle for the Rockers scoring 4pts.

Sparks 22 - Sun 19

The Sparks claimed victory behind the strong interior play of Alix Bryant, 8pts, and the perimeter play of Brenna and Fallon Burke, 4 and 6 pts respectively. Ivalise Arroyo was top lady for the Sun with 6pts, followed by 2pts each for Vanermi Figueroa, April Hannable, Courtney Carrick and Taylor Cullinare. Olivia Mento managed 4pts for the Winners.

Lynx 26 - Shock 24

in a tightly contested game the Lynx pulled away with a win. Marissa Garey erupted for 18pts powering her team to a win. Courtney Shearstone played well in defeat with 10pts. Courtney Maurice and Carly Theriault each had 4pts in the win. Kayla Howland and Crystal Stepnuck combined for 12pts, 6 each for the Shock.