Spartans rally to defeat AC

LYNN ? Down by nine points after the first quarter against an undefeated opponent with a pedigree, the St. Mary’s girls basketball team could have packed it in for the night, but the Spartans rallied to pull off a 47-42 victory over Arlington Catholic, Friday night, at Conigliaro Gym.Click here for a photo gallery.The Spartans (4-0) got their usual stellar offensive performances from Jennie Mucciarone (19 points) and Brianna Rudolph (10), but they also got a standout defensive outing from freshman Kayla Carter, who helped limit Arlington Catholic (3-1) center Maura Buckley to nine points in the last three quarters, after she rung up 11 in the first.”I thought Kayla Carter did an excellent job on Buckley,” St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall said. “She’s so dynamic, we had to give her a lot of different looks on defense, but (Carter) was the one who really played outstanding defense tonight.”Buckley’s 3-pointer from the top of the key gave the Cougars a 15-6 lead at the end of what was a miserable first quarter for St. Mary’s. The Spartans missed their first 11 shots and didn’t make a field goal until Rudolph hit a runner through the lane with 1:01 left in the period.”We had some good shots in the first quarter, but they just didn’t fall,” Newhall said. “We felt like if we got it to within five at halftime, we would be in pretty good shape.”Mucciarone hit a 3-pointer from the right elbow to help the Spartans close the Cougars’ lead to three (15-12), but Rudolph picked up her third foul with 4:09 left in the half.It was Arlington Catholic’s turn to go cold in the second quarter, especially after Buckley had to go to the bench when she picked up her second and third fouls (both on screens) just 12 seconds apart. Jen Cook scored four straight points for St. Mary’s to trim Arlington Catholic’s lead to 17-16 with 2:49 left, and Sharell Sanders finally put the Spartans on top when she made a floater in the lane with 42 seconds remaining in the half.Jenny Corso finally hit Arlington Catholic’s first field goal of the second period with 32 seconds left, before Sanders made one-of-two free throws to give the Spartans a 21-20 lead at the break.The teams swapped the lead four times early in the third quarter before Mucciarone and Rudolph accounted for an 8-0 run that gave the Spartans the lead for good. Melissa Rogers hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key for Arlington Catholic to cut St. Mary’s lead to 33-29, at the end of the third.Mucciarone opened the fourth quarter with a jumper from the top of the key and a layup after a steal to give the Spartans a 37-29 lead with 7:04 to play, but the Cougars cut their deficit to four when Allie Whitney scored on a rebound. Carter answered with a couple of hoops and Mucciarone made a free throw to peak the lead at 46-37, but the Cougars made one last run, with Buckley’s 3-pointer from the top of the key cutting the Spartans’ lead to 46-42 with 12.3 seconds to play. Mucciarone made another free throw with 5.8 seconds left to account for the final score.