St. Mary’s boys hoop rolls over Austin Prep

LYNN – About the only thing that didn’t go the St. Mary’s boys basketball team’s way last night was the opening tip. The Spartans routed Austin Prep, 61-16, in an easy-as-you-please win, Friday, at Conigliaro Gym.Click here for a photo gallery of last night’s game.Devin Thompson led the Spartans with 10 points, while Nick Gagliano added nine and Scott Betts scored eight off the bench. Nick Mulchay paced the Cougars with five points.The game was as lopsided as the score indicates. The Spartans opened the game with a 17-0 run before Kevin Randolph put the Cougars on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws with 51.7 seconds left in the first quarter.Austin scored two points in the first half and didn’t hit a field goal until Ritchie Gilbride nailed a jumper from the left elbow with 4:19 left in the third quarter.”They have a young team with some kids hurt, and we have a senior-laden team,” St. Mary’s coach Kevin Moran said. “So part of it in playing them was to keep executing. Those kids over there (Cougars) are playing hard like everybody else. The goal for us is to play with some class and dignity.”The Spartans certainly didn’t do anything to dishonor themselves or the sport. The starters played less than half the game, and not at all after the 3-minute mark of the third quarter. Moran called off the Spartans’ trap in the first quarter and played a zone the rest of the way.Gagliolo and Matt Manning (7 points) dominated early. Gagliolo scored six points in the first five minutes, including two off a nifty steal and feed from Randolph Thurman, who sat out the rest of the game after the first shift.”Randolph and Jonathan Capano both have some injuries, so we didn’t want to push them,” Moran said. “We’ve got a huge game on Monday against Cardinal Spellman, who has one of the best players in the state (Joe Glynn). He scored 41 points the last time he was here.”St. Mary’s stretched the lead to 25-2 at halftime, and it ballooned to 38-6 before the starters left the game for good. J.J. Cavanaugh’s 3-pointer from the left wing just before the third quarter buzzer made it 45-7.Tom Deveau converted a couple of nice takes to the basket and then found Betts for a layup late in the fourth quarter as the Spartans continued to pull away.”We’ll give them a day off (Saturday), and then re-energize for Monday night,” said Moran.