Archbishop Williams gets a measure of revenge against St. Mary’s

LYNN ? Most of the key players for the St. Mary’s girls’ basketball team are different, but Archbishop Williams still wanted revenge for last year’s loss to the Spartans in the Division 3 state semifinal at the TD Garden in Boston.
After a tight first half, the Bishops (8-3) pulled away from St. Mary’s (8-3) for a 64-38 win Friday night, at the Tony Conigliaro Gym. Alana Gilmer led Williams with 18 points, while Tayler Wornum added 13. A pair of freshmen, Olivia Nazaire (12 points) and Marnelle Garraud (11), paced the Spartans.
?We wanted payback for what happened at the Garden last year,” said Williams assistant coach Matt Mahoney, filling in for head coach Jim Bancroft, who was away from the team on business. “That was definitely motivation for us.”
The teams traded the lead nine times in the first half, which ended with the Bishops ahead, 29-25. Then Williams blitzed the Spartans with an 18-6 third quarter to take command.
?They’re so talented, they wear you down mentally and physically,” St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall said. “You have to play at such a high level to stay with them, and there aren’t many teams that can do that for 32 minutes.”
Gianna Moschella and Kayla Carter, two holdovers from last year’s Division 3 state champions, powered St. Mary’s to what would prove to be its biggest lead, 7-4, early in the game. But Gilmer answered with eight points in a first quarter that ended in a 10-10 tie.
Katryna Veasey sparked a 6-0 spurt to open the second period and give the Bishops what turned out be their biggest lead of the half. Garraud wrapped a pair of three-pointers around a hoop and a free throw from Carter to put the Spartans back in the lead with 3:55 left in the second quarter. But Williams again responded, this time with an 8-2 run that gave it the lead for good, at is turned out. A couple of free throws by Nazaire closed the Spartans’ gap to four at halftime.
?We played pretty well in the first half,” Newhall said. “Still, I thought we had an opportunity to be ahead at halftime. But instead you look at the scoreboard and we’re down by four.”
Williams’ zone defense suffocated St. Mary’s in the third quarter, holding the Spartans to just one field goal and three points in the first 4:32. Meanwhile, the Bishops’ offense got going as Wornum made three straight hoops from the low post, with three St. Mary’s players ? Nazaire, Moschella and Temi Falayi ? all playing with four fouls.
?We were giving them too many open looks in the first half, and we talked at halftime about stepping up the intensity of our defense,” Mahoney said. “As long as we play good defense, we figure our offense will take care of itself.”
Gilmer made a couple of hoops and then Jess Rega finished off a strong move to the basket to make the score 47-31 at the end of the third quarter. Williams opened the fourth quarter with four straight points to push the lead to 20 for the first time. Victoria Dean drove in the dagger with a three-pointer from the left wing with 3:13 left in the game.