PEABODY — Despite fighting hard and taking a first-quarter lead, the Bishop Fenwick boys basketball team simply couldn’t last against the size and speed of Cardinal Spellman, falling to the Cardinals by a score of 69-39 on Tuesday night.
“This might be one of the better teams in the state that we went up against tonight, and it’s tough when you go against a team with that kind of size and athleticism,” said Fenwick coach Kevin Moran. “I think we battled hard and did a good job staying in it, but it’s tough when you’re outsized by that much.”
Fenwick was led by junior JaySean Stuart, who tallied 13 points and six rebounds in the loss. Junior Nik Pignone contributed seven points and two rebounds, while freshmen Christian Loescher and Alex Gonzalez each scored four points.
On the other side, Spellman got a 20-point performance from Robbie McAlpine to lead the way. Mike Spencer added 13 points and four rebounds, Tyrone Smith-McCray finished with 12 points and six rebounds and Dakari Weston tallied 11 points and three rebounds off the bench. Admar Jaramillo added 10 points in the winning effort.
The game got to off to probably as good of a start as Fenwick could ask for. The Crusaders played well against the full-court press at first, making the right passes and finding holes in the defense. By the end of the first quarter, Fenwick held a tight 15-13 lead. The scoring was done mainly by Stuart, who had nine points in the quarter.
The second quarter saw Spellman take the lead behind a nine-point quarter from McAlpine, giving him 14 points for the half. The Cardinal’s press defense was beginning to take its toll on Fenwick, but the Crusaders still only found themselves down 29-20, and within striking distance, at the end of the first half.
“I think it was really a tale of two halves, because we played really well in the first half,” Moran said. “We were able to make the right pass and get out of trouble early, which helped us stay in it.”
Unfortunately for Fenwick, the third quarter is where things fell apart. The Crusaders were outscored 27-8 in the quarter, with Jaramillo dropping all 10 of his points in the quarter and Spencer scoring seven of his 13 in the quarter. The Crusaders simply couldn’t find any passing lanes, and Spellman was able to grab steal after steal and stretch the lead out to as many as 31 points.
“I think in the second half, and the third quarter especially, their press just wore us down,” Moran said.
The fourth quarter saw mostly reserves playing as Spellman coasted to a big win.
Despite the tough loss, Moran and the Crusaders saw a lot of positive signs and will continue to work on making improvements as the young season progresses.
“We still saw a lot of good things tonight, like JaySean had a big game and our guys hit some big shots and played good defense,” said Moran. “We’ve still got work to do getting some young guys acclimated and coming together, but we’ll put it together soon.”
Fenwick (0-3) will travel to Lowell Catholic on Friday night in search of its first win of the season.
