BOSTON — Coach Dave Brown and his St. Mary’s boys basketball team have developed an intense rivalry with CCL foe Cathedral over recent years. A close battle can be expected any time the two teams play each other.
Monday night’s game at Cathedral wasn’t close, however, as the Spartans were stingy on defense and fluid on offense for a 70-51 league win.
“We expect a war when we play against Cathedral,” Brown said. “Whether it’s at our place, their place, or in the state tournament. I’ve known (Cathedral coach) Larry (Merritt) since we played each other in high school. He played for Cathedral, I played for St. Mary’s. We haven’t won here in two or three years so I told the team to expect a dog fight.”
With the win, the Spartans improved to 5-1.
Junior guard Jalen Echevarria led all scorers with 25 points. Echevarria netted three of St. Mary’s six 3-pointers.
“I’ve been telling Jalen ‘you put the ball in the hoop with a layup or two and a free throw, and before you know it your 3-point shot feels better’,” Brown said. “He knocked his threes down tonight.”
Junior forward Joseph Abate-Walsh scored 15 points, senior guard Stephen Fama added 11 points and sophomore guard Josh Perez finished with seven points.
St. Mary’s got off to an ideal start in the first quarter. The Spartans applied a high-pressure defense to force Cathedral into a flurry of turnovers. St. Mary’s scored the first 12 points of the game before the Panthers found the scoreboard. Echevarria had the hot hand early, scoring 16 points, including a three at the buzzer, to pace St. Mary’s to a 29-16 lead after one.
“It was good that we were able to get a few steals early in the game,” Brown said. “We opened up a lead and that got us comfortable. We were able to score tonight and that’s good. We’re averaging 45-46 points a game. To score 70 points, that’s good for the kids.
“We hang our hats on our defense,” Brown added. “We’re allowing 43 points a game right now. At the varsity level, that’s very good considering that we’re playing a tough schedule. BC High, Lynn English, Lynn Classical, Brighton, Cathedral. We’ve been holding those teams in the 40’s.”
The Panthers slimmed the deficit down to 10 points to begin the second quarter. Perez netted a lay-in to put the Spartans up 37-23 with 2:30 remaining in the quarter. From there, Abate-Walsh added a lay-in and a pair of free throws. At the half, the Spartans led 41-29.
Chibuikem Onwuogu joined the scoring with a bucket in third quarter to give the Spartans a 20-point lead at 52-32. It seemed as though St. Mary’s was ready to put the game away but Cathedral closed the period on an 8-3 run. The Panthers trailed 55-40 after three.
With Cathedral clinging within 14 points, Perez provided the dagger. Perez knocked home a 3-pointer with 3:50 to play in the fourth quarter, giving the Spartans a 63-46 lead. The sophomore’s 3-pointer essentially sealed the win as the Spartans closed out the 70-51 victory.
“We tell the kids that on any given night we have five different kids that can lead us in scoring, which has happened this season,” Brown said. “Going into tonight we’ve had five different players lead us in scoring. Tonight, we finally got a bunch of guys scoring the ball and that was good to see.”
The Spartans are back in action on Thursday night when they visit Cardinal Spellman.
“We knew this was going to be a big game, with Spellman coming up on Thursday at their place,” Brown said. “That’s going to be a tough one as well. A road win in this league is always tough. The gyms are tough to play at, the atmospheres are always tough. It’s good for our young guys to get a win here.”
