RallyNorth.net

Isaiah Nelsen smashed his career high with 29 points to lead North Andover past Manchester-Essex 76-68. The big man was 4 of 5 on 3-pointers. Colby Smith had two late lay-ups after Manchester made it interesting. Derek Collins came off the bench for his first significant minutes of the season.

Isaiah Nelsen scored 15 points and Mike Maroney added 14 as North Andover punched its ticket to the state tourney for the 48th straight year with a 65-30 drubbing of Rockport.  Zach Karalis added 12 for the 10-1 Knights.

C.J. Ingraham came off the bench in the third quarter and sank back-to-back 3-pointers and made a hustling steal. His play led Georgetown back from a 10-point deficit to a 53-42 win over Rockport. Cesar Miranda-Black owned the boards with 12 rebounds.

Trailing by 15 in the third quarter, North Reading's boys basketball team rallied for a 57-55 victory, handing Manchester Essex its first loss of the season. Tom Hogan had 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half including two free thriows with 10 seconds left. Chris Capozzollo had 13 of his 15 points in the second half for the Hornets (4-4) and had a huge 3-pointer in the final minute.

Georgetown's free throw shooting has been poor all season and very weak the last three games, converting only 33 of 86 and winning just once. Last night against Rockport, the charity stripe was charitable for the Royals as an 18 for 19 effort led to a 64-51 victory and a state tourney berth. Sophomore Angel Sanquintin had eight second-half points to spark a game-changing run and senior Neph Carmona rule the boards with 13 rebounds.

Georgetown boys basketball came storming back against Manchester Essex after being down by 20 points in the third quarter. The Royals were within two points with 6 seconds remaining but failed to convert the first free throw of a 1-and-1 free-throw situation after making a steal. From there, Georgetown lost 74-72. 

Pentucket held close to the end to a strong Manchester Essex team before falling 64-69. Corey McNamara scored 20 points for the Sachems (8-5), Will Angellini added 16 and John Modlish held Manchester star Joe Mussachia to 12 points, but it was not enough.

Corey McNamara sunk six 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 20 points to lead Pentucket to a 63-39 win over Rockport.

North Reading and Rockport were tied at 52 after a Kyle Lentini jumper, but Rockport won the game on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer 55-52. Lentini scored a team high 14 points for the Hornets.

Jaymie Spears scored 21 of his 26 points in the first half and helped Georgetown beat Manchester Essex 56-53. Spears also had seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals.

A three-second call with 12 seconds left and Pentucket trailing by a pair took the ball out of the Sachems' hands and proved to be the difference in a 57-54 loss to Rockport. Corey McNamara led all scorers with 25, knocking down seven more threes in the loss.

Continuing a run of strong rebounding, 6-5 senior Alex Blane pulled down 12 boards in North Andover's 55-45 victory over Manchester Essex. Three Scarlet Knights hit double figures led by Tommy O'Connell's 18 points.

A nine-point third-quarter lead and a four-point edge with 18 seconds left in regulation slithered through North Reading's fingers, ultimately ending with Rockport prevailing, 62-61 in overtime. Ben Makowski led the Hornets with 18 points.

North Reading sliced a 22-point halftime deficit to 12 but could get no closer in a 71-52 loss to Manchester Essex. P.J. Dionne led North Reading with 15 points.

North Andover's lone freshman, Derek Collins, is off to a fine start this year  scoring 10 in each of the Knights' first two games. In last night's win over Rockport, Collins knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.