Masconomet's Jamie White and Swampscott's Marissa Gambale may have different styles on the defensive end of a basketball court, but they strike a similar type of fear in opposing guards.

It's not unusual for point guards to pick up their dribble just over halfcourt to locate either White or Gambale's position on the court - or even to get rid of the ball before facing the heavy pressure that both players can bring.

It also should come as no surprise that the two teams that feed off the defensive pressure White and Gambale provide are currently rolling along with only one loss to date.

Gambale is very good, but White is the rare type of player who is a game-changer on the defensive end.

White, the daughter of one-time Celtic great Jo Jo White, is quick, explosive on the leap and anticipates plays better than anyone around. Her defensive skill set makes her an even more dangerous defender when she's off the ball.

"I wouldn't want her covering me," Masconomet coach Bob Romeo said. "But in some of our defensive schemes, I like to have her off the ball so she can flow and find the ball. That's where she's so disruptive - in the passing lanes that look wide open.

"Jamie is what I call 'cartoon-character' fast. She's like a cornerback that baits the quarterback into throwing the ball. I think she baits passes, too. It's not how high she gets up, but how quick she gets up. Girls think they can throw the ball over her because she gets so low (in her defensive stance). The next thing you know, she catches it."

If there are noticeable flaws in White's game, it's on the offensive end. A reliable slasher, White is often left open on the perimeter. She remains almost a guaranteed 10 points a night, however, mainly because she turns her defense into offense so quickly.

Whether it's off a steal that she turns into an individual fast break or a deflection that results in an open shot for Masco at the other end, White takes points away from the opposition and puts them up for her own team.

"Her teammates are in tune with her now. They're almost watching her and anticipating her steal or deflection, and in their mind they're switching to transition," Romeo said. "We can turn a defensive play into two points in a hurry. It's a great luxury to have."

Swampscott coach Jack Hughes considers Gambale's selflessness to be a similar luxury.

Gambale is a point guard who only takes three or four shots a game, according to Hughes. She knows her role is to handle the ball on offense and shut down the opposing team's best guard on defense.

"Her feet are extremely quick," Hughes said. "She makes it very difficult to penetrate against her."

You often hear about offensive players who make their teammates better through sharp passing and drawing so much attention from the defense. It's rare when that type of praise is heaped on a defensive player, but both White and Gambale fit in that category.

Gambale plays with a couple of other solid defensive players in sophomore guard Kara Gilberg and junior forward Allie Beaulieu. Gambale's ability to lock up the best guard allows Gilberg and Beaulieu to play better help defense.

"Kara is the other guard and is a terrific defensive player. She anticipates things better than anybody and if you put everything together with Allie, she might be the best," said Hughes. "Her help defense and what she understands is the best I've ever seen.

"We don't have much in the height department, that's for sure. But what we do have is a solid five (defensively), especially with those three. And it all starts with Marissa."

It's a similar situation in Topsfield, where the chaos White creates opens things up for the Chieftains' other strong defensive players - senior guard Annie Burns and senior center Caroline Stewart. She also raises the level of play of everyone else.

"Jamie makes the whole defense good, no question," Romeo said. "If you asked other coaches, the first thing they would say is how they try to run the offense away from Jamie.

"I remember in the North Shore Tournament last year she was so disruptive to the two offenses (Bishop Fenwick and Beverly) that the point guards were stopping one step over halfcourt to make the first pass. It was great to watch from my side."

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Life has been rough for the North Shore Tech girls hoop squad recently. As if battling for their first win hasn't been difficult enough, the Bulldogs have been doing it recently with a depleted crew. North Shore has played the last week without three starters and three bench players who have been out due to either sickness or injury.

"We're the walking wounded," North Shore Tech coach Maureen Robinson said. "I call our bench 'The Infirmary'."

Freshman point guard Heather Hicks hasn't found a way to cure her teammates, but she has made their absence more bearable. Hicks has hit double figures in each of the last three games, beginning with 10 points, increasing to 13, and hitting for 11 in North Shore's last game.

"She's a coach's dream," Robinson said of Hicks. "She's absolutely got some ability and has motivation and competitiveness. But more importantly she's a great sport, teammate and a super kid."

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Hicks is only one of many freshmen making strong contributions around the North Shore this winter. Bishop Fenwick's Amy Pelletier has been highlighted recently for emerging as one of the Crusaders' top scorers, while both Salem and Danvers are now starting promising ninth-graders of their own.

Salem's Jasmine Bryant and Amanda Wilkins have moved into the starting lineup. With only two seniors (Karly Henderson and Natasha Nieves) playing regularly for the Witches, the experience these freshmen will get down the stretch will help them heading into next season. Both are solid forwards with great potential.

Danvers, meanwhile, clearly isn't looking beyond this year, which makes the movement of Kellie Macdonald into the starting lineup even more impressive. The Falcons want to become a dangerous tournament team right now, and their best chance to do that is with Macdonald in the lineup.

The 5-foot-10 Macdonald provides Danvers with some much needed size under the hoop. She already proved that she is an excellent athlete while playing a prominent role on the Falcons' soccer team that advanced to the Division 2 Eastern Mass. final this fall.

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Beverly's Matt Smith quietly became the Panthers' all-time winningest girls basketball coach when his team defeated Marblehead last week. It may have only been the team's second win of the season, but the victory was Smith's 64th in his career.

He moved ahead of current Salem coach John Fortunato, who won 63 games with the Panthers between 1996-2000.

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A quick look at the Gann Academy girls varsity basketball records reveals Marblehead native Nancy Epstein is one of the school's best all-time players.

So what makes that so interesting?

Epstein is only 16 games deep in her sophomore year.

She ranks in the top 10 career lists for scoring (6th with 494), points per game (1st, 11.0), field goal percentage (7th, 36.4), rebounds per game (6th, 5.0), assists (8th, 87), assists per game (4th, 1.9), blocks (7th, 38), steals (6th, 203), and steals per game (1st, 4.5).

Statistics only became official in 2000 at Gann Academy, but Epstein's two-year performance has been nothing short of phenomenal.

When she scored 24 points earlier this season in a win over Winsor, it was the highest single-game total in Gann history.

For the year, Epstein is first on the team with 12.6 points per game and she leads the team in 3-pointers made with seven for a Gann team that is off to a 13-3 start.

Bounce Passes, a column on North Shore girls' basketball, runs every Friday during the winter sports season in The Salem News. Contact staff writer Matt Jenkins at 978-338-2648 or by e-mail at mjenkins@ecnnews.com.