St. Mary’s Mucciarone scores 1,000th

LYNN – When you have more fouls than points in the third quarter of a basketball game things often don’t end well, but that wasn’t the case for St. Mary’s senior guard Jennie Mucciarone.View Photo GalleryMucciarone needed 14 points heading into the Spartans’ game against Arlington Catholic Friday night and she got them despite picking up her fourth foul very early in the third quarter. Her effort, along with big games from Brianna Rudolph and Sharell Sanders, propelled the Spartans to a 65-34 win over the Cougars at the Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.”She wasn’t forcing anything,” coach Jeff Newhall said. “Her third foul was an offensive one and then she picked up a quick one in the third and I’m thinking it (hitting 1,000 points) isn’t going to happen tonight.”Mucciarone’s first seven points came on free throws and after hitting three baskets, she actually scored her 1,000th at the line with 2:34 left in the game.After spotting the Cougars a 4-0 lead to start the game, the Spartans settled in and took control. Sanders was the spark plug in the early going, scoring 15 points in the first half en route to an 18-point night. Sanders also flirted with foul trouble, picking up her second less than three minutes into the game, but she went the distance.”Early on Sharell, I thought, dominated the game. She got us going. She scored some points had a little foul trouble and then Brianna and then Jennie stepped up,” Newhall said.Rudolph was impressive, scoring 18 points with 10 coming in the first half. The Spartans went on a 16-2 run with about five minutes left in the first quarter and it was Sanders and Rudolph doing the bulk of the damage. Sanders accounted for eight of the points including two, threes. Rudolph had four points and when the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, St. Mary’s had a 16-6 lead. Arlington Catholic never recovered and by the half, the Spartans led 35-17.The third quarter was a bit of an adventure, with Mucciarone picking up her fourth foul and heading to the bench for a long stretch and Arlington Catholic coach Dave Brady picking up his second technical of the game which was good enough to get him tossed.The Cougars were 3-1 heading into the game with their only loss coming against Franklin, a ranked team. They were without one of their top players, Maura Buckley, due to injury.”They’re perennially one of the best teams in our league,” Newhall said. “We’ve now beaten them three straight times for the first time ever.”Newhall said when Buckley come back, Arlington Catholic will have as good a chance as any team in Division 2.”They’re going to be a good team,” Newhall said.Although the fearsome trio of Rudolph, Sanders and Mucciarone led the way offensively, Newhall was also pleased with the play of his other two starters, Kayla Carter (4 points) and Gianna Moschella. (8 points)”They played well at both ends of the floor,” Newhall said.The Spartans are 7-1 overall, 3-0 in the Catholic Central League.Mucciarone came into the game with 986 points and although she knew she was closing in on the 1,000-point mark, she said she wasn’t sure how many she needed.”When coach Newhall kept me in with four fouls, that was a sign,” she said.Mucciarone said her focus was on winning the game and they found a way to get it done.”I was just happy about the win,” she said.Mucciarone said the foul trouble started to get in her head a bit, but then she focused on just winning the game.”I always looked up to people who score a thousand points, like (former teammate) Tori Faieta. It’s and honor,” she said. “I’m happy to get it done.”Newhall was also happy for Mucciarone.”She’s been a grat player for us for three-plus years and we’re hoping for another however many game we get to play,” he said.Joyce Erekson can be reached at [email protected]