St. Mary’s boys hoop ousts Pope John

EVERETT – St. Mary’s needed more than Tommy Deveau and Matt Manning to escape with a victory over Pope John in Everett. Dennis Bailer and John Teehan hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions with 2:48 left in the game to extend a 1-point lead to seven.”We were going back and forth,” said St. Mary’s head coach Kevin Moran. “We needed something to get us over the hump and those two shots were unbelievable.”The Spartans defeated Pope John, 65-51, in the quarterfinals of the Division 4 North bracket. St. Mary’s will play Snowden on Monday night in the semifinals (at Chelsea, 7).Deveau (24 points) and Manning (22 points) led St. Mary’s. After the big shots from Bailer and Teehan, St. Mary’s knocked down 13 of 14 free throws to clinch the win. Deveau and Manning combined to make all 16 of their free throws. St. Mary’s was 19-of-22 from the line.”I could only take them out of the game for a second,” said Moran. “They’re our leaders. Manning is our emotional leader and Tommy is so active with his size.”Pope John (14-7) received a couple of baskets from Khaneil Bruce inside the paint to take a 4-0 advantage. After the Spartans used a timeout, the Tigers’ Manny Wilkerson nailed a corner trey.The Tigers’ size with Giovanni Ferraris and athleticism of Bruce gave the Spartans fits in the first few minutes. Ferraris and Bruce blocked or altered several shots. Then Manning and Deveau spearheaded a 10-3 run to even the score. Ferraris completed an and-one to give Pope John a 16-12 lead after the first quarter.The teams battled evenly in the second frame before Wilkerson banked a trey from the top of the arc just before the final buzzer to give the Tigers a 28-25 advantage going into the locker rooms.In the second half, the teams played the same way with neither team able to hold a lead. Pope John scored eight straight points in the third quarter to take a 36-29 lead capped by a Wilkerson three-pointer, but St. Mary’s came back and regained the upper hand on two free throws from Deveau.The game was tied at 38 entering the final eight minutes. Manning put St. Mary’s on top with a jumper from the elbow at 42-41 and the Spartans were able to maintain that lead. Bailer’s three-pointer came with eight seconds left on the shot clock, and the Spartans ahead, 46-45. St. Mary’s outscored the Tigers 27-13 as Bruce tried to keep Pope John in the game. Pope John got into foul trouble as it landed in the penalty with a little over four minutes left.”This was a total team effort and I couldn’t be prouder of these guys,” said Moran.