LYNN– The St. Mary’s boys and girls basketball teams will have a chance to win their third and fourth consecutive Boverini Tournament championships, respectively, on Friday at the Classical Gymnasium. However, it’s a task that’s much easier said than done for both teams.
In order to do so, both Spartan squads will have to defeat Classical on its home floor and neither Rams team has lost a game yet this season. In the opening round on Wednesday, the Classical boys cruised past Tech and the girls defeated Swampscott. Edwin Solis paced the Classical boys with a dominant performance, while Paris Wilkey provided game-changing highlights for the girls team.
“Classical’s a senior-laden team with a great point guard in Jeylly Medrano and everybody knows about Paris Wilkey,” St. Mary’s girls coach Jeff Newhall said. “Paris is a great scorer.”
Swampscott struggled to find its offense throughout the game but put together a 9-0 run in the third quarter. Wilkey swished a 3-pointer from the wing to get her Rams back on the scoreboard and Classical sealed its victory from there.
“We’re looking to win our fourth Boverini Tournament championship in a row and no other girls team has done that,” Newhall said. “We’re playing an undefeated team ranked in the Top 25 in most polls I’ve seen. These are the types of games we want to play in because that only makes us better.
“We’re not changing a lot but if we can play at our pace and execute how we want, we can play with anybody,” Newhall added. “Our priority is to do what we do well.”
The St. Mary’s girls had no trouble defeating English in their opening game to cement a bid in Friday’s final. Pamela Gonzalez and Olivia Nazaire led a balanced St. Mary’s offense.
Classical girls coach Tom Sawyer noted that St. Mary’s balanced offense is one of its main strengths.
“Offensively they’re very balanced,” Sawyer said. “They have a good inside game and a good outside game. That makes it a challenge for our defense to defend them.”
The Rams will aim to limit their turnovers and make the most of their possessions.
“We have to limit turnovers to get as many possessions as we can,” Sawyer said. “We have to take care of the basketball and play defensively sound to our fundamentals. If we make a mistake, they’ll score.”
The St. Mary’s boys defeated English in their opening game, a defensive battle. The Spartans held a slim lead, 17-16, at halftime but the Bulldogs couldn’t get much going offensively in the second half. Jalen Echevarria, last year’s tournament MVP, paced the Spartans alongside Joseph Abate-Walsh.
Spartans coach Dave Brown said his team will need a similar performance on defense to limit Classical’s looks in transition.
“Classical’s very good in transition,” Brown said. “They have tremendous athletes. We’re hoping to slow the game down. If we can keep the game in the 60’s it’ll be easier for us to win as opposed to a game in the 70’s or the 80’s, which Classical wants to do.
“Basketball’s a miss or make game,” Brown added. “If you can defend the 3-point line and prevent as many transition baskets as possible, that keeps you in the game. We’re not a team that scores a ton of points so we focus on defense. Classical has speed so we have to pay attention to transition big time.”
Discipline and rebounding will be the main focuses for the Rams as they try to avenge last winter’s first-round loss to Classical.
“We have to play as disciplined as possible,” Rams coach Jasper Grassa said. “They take advantage of every mistake the other team makes. We have to watch for mistakes and make sure we’re not hurting ourselves.
“Rebounding is something we have to focus on,” Grassa added. “They have the size advantage. We have to focus on rebounding and playing together if we’re going to have a chance to win this game.”
The English girls will battle Swampscott in the first consolation game at 1:30. The English boys will take on Tech in their consolation game at 3. Following that will be the boys (4:30) and girls (6) championship games.
