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Modest numbers don't tell Marblehead's story

Tuesday, January, 01 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

The Marblehead High boys basketball team doesn't have a single player averaging 10 points this season and it had one game when it scored just 40 points.

With numbers like that, you'd assume the Magicians could be winless, but you'd be wrong. Instead, coach Wayne Hanscom's team is 3-1 with a major challenge coming up Friday night against 5-1 Swampscott.

The Magicians have been winning with defense and terrific, if not mind-blowing, offensive balance. Junior point guard Pat Song, who's been starting since his freshman year, leads the scoring with a modest 9.5 average. Meanwhile, Damola Abu, Brandon Lee and Tom Powers, who came back unexpectedly early from an arm injury, are all scoring at a 9.2 clip.

"It's still so early for us," said Hanscom, who isn't a big fan of the layoff his team has had since Dec. 21. "We've had three (blowout) games, so the minutes have been spread out. "We seem to have better balance and more depth at this particular stage of the season. We teach our kids to share the ball and make the extra pass. Our one loss was to Winthrop (45-40) and they definitely outplayed us that night."

At some point, the scoring will have to pick up for the Magicians, who are known for their gritty defense and good decision making. Swampscott is the kind of team that will try to force the tempo Friday night. The Big Blue have two big-time scorers in Craig Rodenstein (21.1 ppg.) and John Beaulieu (19.8) and Marblehead will have to respond.

So who is the potential breakout scorer for Marblehead? It has to be Abu, who averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds last season. A tough inside player, Abu could still end up as one of the top scorers in the Northeastern Conference.

"We're in a guard-oriented league, but our best player is our big guy," Hanscom said, referring to Abu. "He'll have his good nights. We also know that a lot of teams will key on him, so it's good to know we have some balance. But overall, Damola does need to score for us like he did last year."

Hanscom had a good idea of what he'd get from his veteran players this season and they haven't disappointed. The pleasant surprises, he said, have been junior guard Eric Steen and sophomore Taariq Allen, who starts at small forward.

"Steen has been really steady. He plays good defense and he's a smart player," said Hanscom, "and Allen runs the floor very well and plays hard all the time."