LYNN— The St. Mary’s boys basketball team began Wednesday’s Spartan Classic championship game with a pregame ceremony to celebrate its senior night at Conigliaro Gymnasium.
The night was cut short with under a minute to play in the third quarter because of condensation on the court.
At the time of the stoppage, the Spartans led, 43-28, gaining momentum. The game resumes Thursday (6) at Conigliaro Gymnasium.
Junior guard Jalen Echevarria, who tallied 20 points, led the Spartans. Echevarria, closing in on 1,000 points for his career, knocked in three 3-pointers.
“Jalen’s been shooting very well the last few games,” Spartans coach Dave Brown said. “I know he’s putting a lot of time in on game days, getting a lot of shots up. That’s been beneficial to him. He knocks down his shots and that opens it up for others guys to penetrate in the lanes.”
Senior forward Stephen Fama also swished three 3-pointers and scored 9 points. Junior forward Chip Onwuogu added 4 points. The Spartans featured eight scorers.
Echevarria and Fama knocked home back-to-back 3-pointers in the first quarter to push the Spartans to an 8-7 lead out of the gate. Echevarria scored 10 points in the quarter, fending off 7 from Matignon senior forward Jarrett Byrne, including a layup at the buzzer. St. Mary’s led,17-11, after one quarter.
Echevarria and Fama teamed up to hit two 3-pointers, again, in the early going of the second quarter. The Warriors sliced their deficit to 4 points before jump shots from Eni Falayi and Josh Perez brought it back to 8 at 27-19. Fama swished another 3-pointer in the closing seconds to give the Spartans a 32-23 lead at halftime.
Onias Mirbel got the third quarter started with a nifty move under the basket for a lay-in. But the game was suspended in the third quarter with 28.8 seconds on the clock. At the time, the Spartans were outscoring the Warriors, 11-5, in the period.
“I don’t think we had our mindset focused on the game at hand,” Brown said. “We were thinking about senior night. Jalen’s closing in on 1,000 points, he’s within 100 now. We didn’t have our best effort in the first half. We got it going in the third quarter a little bit.”
The Spartans’ pregame ceremony celebrated the seniors on the basketball and cheerleading squads. Fama, Mirbel and Majak Wol are the three seniors on St. Mary’s roster.
“We started Majak for the first time this season,” Brown said. “He actually played as a freshman and didn’t play the next two years. He came back this year and it’s great to have him back as part of the program. Stephen’s been with the program all five of my years here, he’s been at the school since he was in the sixth grade. He’s been playing varsity since he was a freshman. Onias has been in the program for four years, he’s a three-year varsity player. To recognize those guys and all the hard work they’ve given to the program, it’s special for them.”
