St. Mary’s boys hoop finishes strong against Swampscott

LYNN – The St. Mary’s basketball team saved its best for the fourth quarter on Monday at Conigliaro Gymnasium. And when the Spartans unleashed said play, Swampscott didn’t stand much of a chance.Devin Thompson scored 14 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth period as the Spartans turned a two-point game into a convincing 80-66 win over the Big Blue.Click here for a photo gallery.”I couldn’t be happier with the way we played,” St. Mary’s coach Kevin Moran said. “Everyone who played contributed in a positive way and as a coach, that’s what you look for.”St. Mary’s (11-3) seemed to have things very much in control early in the third quarter when it led 52-40 after a Thompson basket. The Big Blue (5-7) then ratcheted up the pressure on defense and it paid off as Mike Walsh’s bucket sent Swampscott on a run.A.J. Baker scored six straight and when Walsh scored on a run-out in the final three seconds of the quarter, the Big Blue had suddenly and swiftly cut the lead to 53-51.”Their zone slowed us down a bit and that makes it hard to come back,” Swampscott coach Justin Fucile said. “But we did a good job in getting back into the game.”The Spartans used the quick break between quarters to calm things down and got back into their offensive flow in a hurry.Thompson hit a pair of free throws before Brendan Moran knocked down a three and Randolf Thurman added two freebies to push the lead to nine.Val Temin’s basket momentarily stemmed the tide but Thompson would score the next five points in a row to extend the lead to 12, the biggest of the night for the Spartans.”Devin is very capable of what he did,” Moran said. “He’s got one of the best jump shots around.”Swampscott inched back within 10 before Thompson knocked down a trifecta from the left wing to make it 70-57 with four minutes to go. The Big Blue would close the gap back to seven with 2:01 left but the Spartans scored the final seven points of the game.The pace was quick from the very beginning as the teams combined to drill eight 3-pointers in the first quarter, with St. Mary’s leading 21-18 after one.Neither team slowed down in the second period as they traded baskets much of the way. St. Mary’s led 37-32 late in the half before the Big Blue cut the lead to two.It was a 39-35 game at halftime and the Spartans extended the gap to seven early in the third before Swampscott would make its push to get back close.