The St. Mary’s boys basketball team clinched a share of the Catholic Central League small title with a 55-52 win over Cardinal Spellman on Friday night at Conigliaro Gymnasium.
“Spellman’s one of the top teams in Division 3 South,” St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown said. “This was a tournament-type atmosphere tonight, knowing a league championship was on the line.”
Jalen Echevarria scored 24 points, seven in the fourth quarter. Joey Abate-Walsh logged a double-double at 13 points and 10 rebounds. Stephen Fama scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds.
St. Mary’s trailed by six points in the fourth quarter before mounting a comeback effort.
“These are the types of games we’ll see come tournament time,” Brown said. “For us to comeback after we were down heading into the fourth quarter, that was nice for us coaches to see.”
The Spartans (12-2) visit Lowell Catholic next Friday night (6:30).
English 72, Danvers 52
English (13-1) was led by 18 points from Alonzo Linton. The Bulldogs received a boost from a pair of freshmen as Louis Rivera Jr. scored 10 points and DJ Brathwaite added eight points. The Bulldogs visit Salem Tuesday.
Medford 53, Classical 48
The Rams were led by 14 points from Edwin Solis and 13 points from Jaylen Johnson. Classical aims for a win Tuesday night when the Rams host Danvers.
Tech 69, Northeast 58
The Tigers extended their win streak to four games. Belmin Berilo led Tech with 29 points, Jama Aroni scored 10 points and Qasim Albellard added 10 points with 10 rebounds.
Tech (11-5) hosts Mystic Valley Tuesday (5:30).
“We’re trying to close out strong,” Tech coach Stevie Patrick said. “We want to finish the season at 15-5 and grab a home game at the state tournament.”
St. John’s Prep 60, BC High 48
With the win, St. John’s Prep improved to 11-4 and qualified for the state tournament. Leading the way for St. John’s were Matt Relihan and Tommy O’Neil with 12 points each. Nate Hobbs added 10 points and Jarnel Snow-Guzman finished with nine.
“We had a nice defensive effort and made plays down the stretch,” Prep coach John Dullea said. “That’s the type of effort of defense that we need going forward. It’s nice to officially qualify for the tournament.”
St. John’s visits Xaverian Wednesday (4:30) to finish a game that
Lynnfield 77, North Reading 65
The Pioneers put the game out of reach 30 seconds into the fourth on a 3-pointer by Jay Ndansi (11 points), following an offensive board by Clayton Marengi (9 points) and layup by Matt Mortellite (11 points) after a Marengi steal to take its largest lead of the game, 64-44. Billy Arseneault led all scorers with 25 points. Zach Shone (10 points) also hit double figures, while Dan Jameson finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Winthrop 68, Swampscott 46
The Vikings (6-9) shook off a slow start to finish strong for the win. Chrono Washington scored 16 points, Devin Pulsifer tallied 15 and Tayjuan McKenzie finished with 13.
Swampscott led at the end of the first quarter. The Big Blue were paced by 17 points from Max Pegnato and strong defense from Jake Goldman.
“Winthrop’s a very well coached team,” Big Blue coach Justin Fucile said. “They’re senior laden. We won that first quarter and we’ll try to build off that.”
Swampscott (4-8) hosts Somerville Tuesday (7).
Somerville 63, Saugus 33
Vinnie Cirami scored seven points The Sachems will aim for a bounce back win when they host Northeast Tech Monday night (7).
Salem 66 Revere 54
For Revere, Marcus Brunson-Perez scored 17 points and EJ Leone added 13 points and eight rebounds.
For Salem, Nate Lebron scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Ethan Espinal scored 18 points and dished eight assists, Johan Vargo scored 13 points and Galvin Gonzalez tallied 10 points off the bench.
The Witches (8-7) host English Tuesday.
“English is an excellent team,” Salem coach Tom Doyle said. “It’s a huge game for us and they’re playing well this season.