Spartans shoot their way to opening-round win over Winthrop

LYNN – It was not the start that the St. Mary’s girls basketball team and coach Jeff Newhall were hoping for, trailing 12th-seeded Winthrop 7-0 less than three minutes in.But the Spartans settled down, or rather, began knocking down jumper after jumper.By the end of the first quarter, St. Mary’s had the lead and pulled away from there as Bria Tiro’s 27 points led three players in double figures en route to a 78-46 win at the Conigliaro Gym in a Division 3 North first-round game Monday.Click here for a photo gallery from the game.The Spartans (17-6) will play either Ipswich or Bedford in the quarterfinals.”I really think that the first three minutes was a nightmare of how things could go for us to be in trouble,” Newhall said. “Thankfully, it lasted only three of 32 minutes ? Once we settled in, we played a tremendous game.”Newhall’s analysis of the Spartans night wasn’t far off.After spotting the Vikings the 7-0 lead, St. Mary’s outscored them 33-11 the rest of the first half while holding Winthrop seniors Courtney Finn and Katarina Mallios to one and nine points, respectively, in the first half.One of the big reasons for the Spartans’ success in the first half was the shooting of junior guard Bria Tiro. The Saugus native put St. Mary’s in front for good with the second of her four first-half 3-pointers, finishing with 20 of her game-high 27 points in the opening 16 minutes.Cassi Amenta added eight first-half points and Amy Bozarjian chipped in a critical three that gave St. Mary’s a 29-17 lead late in the first half.The Vikings (10-11) still had a pulse in the final seconds of the half and had the ball. But Amenta blocked Finn’s chance at a layup. Tiro hit a layup at the buzzer following the block to give St. Mary’s a 33-18 lead at the half.”We moved the ball well in the first half, and the big thing was that we hit some shots. That opened up the game for us,” Newhall said.The 15-point lead was even more impressive considering the fact that the Spartans had to use their bench plenty as Tori Faieta was in early foul trouble.The momentum kept on going for St. Mary’s at the start of the third quarter as Bozarjian hit her second three of the game to extend the lead to 40-18.Mallios and Finn, however, showed the packed house why their talents have been so highly thought of in the Northeastern Conference. Mallios rattled off nine straight points for the Vikings to cut the lead to 42-27.But Tiro restored order for the Spartans when she swished yet another long-range bomb. And when Kirsten Ferrari hit a jumper with 1:45 left in the third, St. Mary’s had a 20-point lead once again.”I think on offense, we got the best shot for the majority of the night,” Newhall said. “I think we proved (Monday) that we have the guards that can beat people from the outside when they suffocate on Tori.”Finn and Mallios proved to be valiant warriors on Monday, finishing with 22 and 14 points, respectively, in their final game on the high school stage, but when Amenta scored on a putback with a little over five minutes left, St. Mary’s led 61-39 and had its ticket to the next round.”We’ve been playing good basketball since the beginning of January,” Newhall said. “At this time of the year, you want to be playing well. The goal is to win and move on.”