PEABODY, Mass. -- Peabody's Kevin Bettencourt falls in a long line of Bettencourts that have played for the Tanners over the past three decades. And he may be the best of them all.

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He is arguably the best all-around basketball player in the area with the entire package: defense, speed and athleticism. Bettencourt scored 31 points Thursday night to lead his team into the Division I North final Saturday.

" I can go by a lot of kids, and I can jump and shoot over them too," Bettencourt said. "I'm pretty versatile."

"He hates to lose," Coach Chris Mastrangelo said. "He's the type of kid if he went out and scored 4 points, and we won, he's just as happy as if he scored 40. And I think that's one thing that really separates him. He just loves to compete."

Bettencourt averages 28 points a game. He was the unanimous league MVP. He scored 46 points in one game earlier in the season, a school record and one of many records he now owns.

Bettencourt is a member of the National Honor Society and a peer leader. He also works for a disaster relief fund. How does he balance his commitments?

"I have good parents at home to help me with everything," he said. "My brothers and sisters have been good role models. I just kind of follow after them. I just work hard. It's all time management."

Growing up, most basketball players want to be like Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal or Kobe Bryant. But not Bettencourt.

"I actually try to model myself after my brother," he said. "I watched him more than pro athletes growing up. He played here, played for Holy Cross. I take after him just because I watched him every day. He was my role model growing up."

High 5, a weekly look at a Massachusetts high school athlete, is in its 17th year of providing Channel 5 viewers an in-depth look at one of the Bay State's finest. Check here every week to see who Mike Lynch picks to win this week's award.