Spartans ride into postseason with dominant win over Spellman

LYNN – Three buzzer-beaters?holding a team to 14 of 38 shooting?having five players with eight or more points. Total it all up and it spelled a very good night for the St. Mary’s girls basketball team at Conigliaro Gymnasium on Monday.St. Mary’s put the clamps on Cardinal Spellman and its Maryland-bound star Alexis Udoji, holding the Cardinals to just 36 points as the Spartans clinched a state tournament berth with a 56-36 victory.”To be playing in a game for first place at home at this time of year, you’d expect to come out ready to play and we did,” St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall said. “When you hold a team to 38 shots and 14 makes, you’re going to be in a good spot most times. We just played excellent defense.”Another thing the Spartans (11-1) did well was take care of the basketball against Spellman’s aggressive 2-3 zone defense. St. Mary’s trailed twice in the early going but took the lead for good at 8-7 on freshman Jennie Mucciarone’s 3-pointer.Another small facet of St. Mary’s well executed plan came at the end of the first quarter when it had the ball and was holding for the last shot?an 18-footer drained by Tori Faieta from the left corner as time expired.”That’s basketball IQ,” Newhall said. “It’s nice that the shots went in at the buzzer but it comes down to having the ball last and getting that last shot. At worst you’re going to finish with the lead you have.”The Spartans continued to eat away at the Spellman zone in the second quarter as they pushed the lead to nine thanks to solid play off the bench from Erin Fahey when Faieta was saddled with three fouls.Fahey’s three-pointer with 4:20 left in the half gave St. Mary’s its biggest lead at 27-18. Spellman cut the lead back to five before Cassi Amenta hit a layup and Ann Marie Idusuyi hit another buzzer beater to end the half with the Spartans up 31-22.”Erin gave us some great minutes,” Newhall said. “But without the 16 players we had at practice (Sunday) going as hard as they did, we aren’t in position to win this game. That got us ready for (Monday).”Both teams cooled off offensively in the third quarter as the Cardinals cut the lead to seven late before Fahey hit St. Mary’s third buzzer beater of the night, a three from the top of the key to make it 40-30 heading to the fourth.The final eight minutes would be all Spartans as their pressure defense finally broke Spellman. An 11-2 run in a little over four minutes turned it into a 51-34 lead and St. Mary’s was on its way.