Jaymie Spears | McClelland Miscellanea

Eli Lubick (12 points) hits one of St Marks ten triples

2011-12 NEPSAC AA champions

(Beverly) Long-range accuracy enabled #2 seed St. Mark’s to defeat #1 seed Tilton, 59-53, and gain the NEPSAC AA championship on Sunday afternoon at Endicott College.

Game MVP Nik Stauskas (19 points) hit his first of four long ones midway through the first half, assisted by Jaymie Spears, and the Lions had the lead for good, 10-7.

St. Mark’s (27-2) would eventually connect ten times from beyond the arc and ignite three important runs in the process.

(1) The first run (9 unanswered) St. Mark’s had two three’s from Aaron Falzon and this put the Lions up, 21-11, with four minutes left in the half.
(2) The second run (6 unanswered) featured long ones from Jaymie Spears (8 points) and Eli Lubbock (12 points) and put the Lions ahead 29-16 in the last minute of the first half.
(3) The final run (11-2) included two 3’s by Nik Stauskas and one by Eli Lubick and boosted the Lion margin to 45-28 with 9 1/2 minutes left in the game.

After that the Lion triples dried up entirely and Tilton (4-time defending champs) made their run. Over the next 3 ½ minutes the Rams scored all the points (thirteen) and suddenly this was a five point game (45-40) with six minutes left.

Nerlens Noel (10 points) heads for the hoop

Caleb Unni (8 points) started the comeback with a triple and a runner in the lane. Domonique Bull (9 points) got to the rim for two, and Georges Niang (19 points) hit two free throws. Then came the highlight play of the day as Georges flipped a lob toward the basket that 6-11 Nerlens Noel (10 points) caught somewhere near the top of the backboard and slammed home. The Tilton crowd loved it. Nerlens made the accompanying free throw and the Rams were within five (45-40). St. Mark’s wisely called an immediate timeout.

Nik Stauskas added an old fashioned three after a nifty layin in the area of serious shot-blockers to get the Lions up by nine (51-42). A converted rebound by Nerlens Noel and a Georges Niang layup on a feed from Nerlens and the Rams were back within five (51-46) with two minutes to go.

The Rams next two possessions were missed three’s – they made only three in the game. The Lions countered with 3-of-4 free throws (Eli Lubick and Eric Green) to go up by eight (54-46) with forty-nine seconds left.

The Rams got three’s from Kevin Crescenzi and Caleb Unni after that and a Domonique free throw but the Lions countered with 5-of-6 freebies (Eric, Nik, and Eli) to win the championship, 59-53.

Georges Niang (19 points) and Tilton coach Marcus ONeil

Tilton (27-6) won an earlier meeting with St. Mark’s 71-55 in December. Wayne Selden had twenty points for the Rams in that one. An injury kept him out of this one.

Domonique Bull (Missouri), Kevin Crescenzi (Dartmouth), and Georges Niang (Iowa State) have made commitments for the 2012-13 season.

Eric Green (Holy Cross), Nik Stauskas (Michigan), and Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona) have done the same for the Lions.

One of the best matchups was 6-11 Nerlens Noel against 7’ Kaleb Tarczewski.

Very impressed with the improvement of 5-8 guard Jaymie Spears in a year. He handled the ball smartly, had several steals, and dropped in two triples.

Endicott was jammed for this game with folks around the playing floor as well.

Tilton came in reminding me of the Yankees – very successful and developing quite a collection of unhappy opponents as the four straight championships added up. St. Mark’s were the Red Sox. Often close but unable to get past Tilton…….until this game. And did they ever enjoy the victory.

St. Mark’s boxscore

Tilton boxscore

(The pictures above and below will enlarge significantly if you click on them.)

Nerlens Noel rejects

Georges Niang defended by Kaleb Tarczewski

Domonique Bull finishes

Nik Stauskas (19 points - game MVP)

Jaymie Spears defended by Domonique Bull

I enjoy watching athletic events all year long and I find them to be a little bit like Christmas.

A lively crowd abandons TVs and computers for an evening of high school basketball on December 16th at NHS. The Clippers defeated Triton, 63-57

Sporting events are a natural occasion for participants and family spectators to enjoy special times together. It is also an enjoyable take for those of us on the outside looking in, to be able to witness this phenomenon.

Those special times are not necessarily celebrating victories but are always opportunities to watch character-building interactions that strike me as very important in the grand scheme of things.

Visit a game and you’ll see players comforted after losses by their parents. Few words are spoken but the athletes get the message – “Win or lose, we’re here for you.”

The very fact that parents attend athletic events involving their children is special. The younger the participants the more likely it is that a child will be looking into the crowd for his/her parents. Am I the only one who has seen a participating child wave to his family while a game is going on?

It is also nice to see the bonding that goes on within a team during a game and during a season. I have no doubt that coaches promote the idea of being supportive teammates.

When a team/teammate is struggling that support is taken to a higher level. I witnessed this at Georgetown High School on December 15th. GHS was playing talented Cathedral High of Brighton in a nonleague let’s-see-how-good-we-are boys’ basketball game. I went to see celebrated GHS sophomore Jaymie Spears play and decided to chart everything he did. Not long into the game, I realized that the talented 5-10 guard was living a nightmare in front of a large audience. By halftime, he had made just one of fourteen shots. Discouraged? You bet he was but during every stoppage of play, I saw teammates and coaches encouraging him. I wish I could say that things got better in the second half but they didn’t. He could only hit one of thirteen shots in the second half and his team ended up losing by a point. However, through it all, his teammates and coaches stayed positive. I came away believing that the support system in place on Coach Mike Rowinski’s Royals team will enable the young man to move on and that all involved have learned and displayed valuable life lessons in the process.

It doesn’t always happen but two of the area teams (Newburyport girls’ soccer and Amesbury football) rewarded their towns with the gift of their dreams – state championships.

NHS girls’ soccer is the epitome of a successful program. A well-run feeder system is in place and surely had plenty to do with winning a second straight state championship this season. Cape Ann League All-Stars will graduate but this has been a team that doesn’t rebuild, it reloads.

At Amesbury High School, the football program took a turn for the better when the current seniors were freshmen and had an undefeated season. Those freshmen moved on to the varsity the next season and were the nucleus of a team that wiped out Martha’s Vineyard and won Amesbury’s first Super Bowl ever.

For me the beauty of attending officiated local sports is that I never attend knowing the outcome in advance – kind of like unwrapping a Christmas present. Predictably, interesting things will unfold.

The only “danger” in attending a local sporting event is that one game may not be enough for you. Before long, you’re turning off the TV or computer and heading out to take in some real action on a regular basis.

(To be published in The Town Common on December 24th)