SPRINGFIELD -- It was an exciting afternoon yesterday at Springfield College's Blake Arena, as several local players participated in the first-annual New England High School All-Star Challenge.

In the Public School game, the South squad beat the North squad, 111-99, thanks to 19 points each from Windsor (Conn.) High teammates Adrian Satchell (seven rebounds) and Steven Samuels (six assists). The North team, which featured Watertown coach Steve Harrington as an assistant, was led by several locals -- most notably O'Bryant's Ike Azotam (14 points, six rebounds), Brockton's Louis Montes (12 points), Lexington's Danny O'Keefe (11) and Watertown's Kyle Stockmal (11).

In the Private School game, Worcester Academy's Yale-bound Sam Martin led the West team to a 107-100 victory with 21 points and five assists. Worcester's Austin Carroll had four 3-pointers for 12 points. Two West forwards just missed out on double-doubles -- Worcester's Vermont-bound Ben Crenca (12 points, nine rebounds) and Harvard-bound Brimmer & May forward Kyle Casey (11, nine).

UConn-bound Tilton forward Jamaal Coombs-McDaniel led the East squad with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while St. Sebastian's Greg Jacques also added 16.

After a three-point contest won by Tilton's Scott Tavares-Taylor (13 three's), Casey put on a show to win the dunk contest. In the first round, he jumped over 6-foot-9 Thomas Knight, a Dirigo (Maine) High senior bound for Notre Dame.

In the finals, though, he jumped over a group of eight kids to beat out Stamford (Conn.)'s Chris Evans, scoring a perfect 50 on the dunk to win.

We were there to witness the thunderous dunk, and you can check it out in the video at the top of this entry.