LOWELL — Long ago, Jerry Reed explained Saturday’s St. Mary’s boys basketball loss to Watertown rather succinctly.
“When you’re hot you’re hot,” the song said. “When you’re not, you’re not.”
And St. Mary’s definitely was not. For that matter, Watertown didn’t exactly light the Tsongas Center on fire either. So, the final score of 44-36 was an accurate reflection of what went down in the Division 3 North final.
Watertown, which also defeated Lynnfield en route to the title, now has a date at the TD Garden Tuesday — weather permitting, of course — against Jeremiah Burke in the state semifinal.
“We came out not making our shots,” said Spartans coach Dave Brown. “And sometimes, when that happens, you start thinking about it. It gets into your head, and it just makes things worse.
But it wasn’t a case of simply not hitting on good looks. Watertown’s defense had something to do with that too.
“Oh, they played great defense,” Brown said. We didn’t get many good looks either.
“That’s a tough team we played tonight. They’re very well coached, and they do everything right.”
“The kids are laser-focused and they can recognize things on defense very quickly,” said Watertown coach Stephen Harrington.
As soon as the game started, one got the feeling the teams were in for a bumpy ride. After eight minutes of play, it was only 7-6, Watertown.
“We were missing layups, free throws,” said Brown. “We just started thinking about it, and it got worse.”
The brick-laying convention continued in the second quarter, unabated. Shots clanged off the rim and backboards like BBs in a shooting gallery. Still, St Mary’s (21-4) managed to grab the lead after 16 minutes — 11-10.
Watertown had the game’s first real run in the early part of the third quarter, going on an 11-1 spurt to take a 10-point lead (21-11). Guard Julio Fulcar (19 points) and 6-6 John Korte (9) powered the surge with three buckets and two free throws between them.
But St. Mary’s didn’t allow the Raiders to make the game a blowout. Lee Pacheco hit two foul shots, and then Chib Onwuogu hit a conventional 3-pointer and the Spartans whittled that lead back down to five (21-16).
Watertown got the lead back up to nine on back-to-back hoops by Wenston Rodriguez and Fulcar, but a 3-pointer by Joseph Abate-Walsh brought Raiders’ lead back down to single-digits. And that’s where it stayed until the end of the quarter, with Watertown holding a 29-23 edge. It could have been worse for St. Mary’s, but Jalen Echevarria (15 points) got fouled attempting to hit a 3-pointer and sank all three free throws
St. Mary’s had its only real successful sustained run to begin the fourth quarter. Josuha Perez and Stephen Fama scored five straight points to make it a 1-point game, and Watertown’s lead teetered after that, with each team trading volleys. But St. Mary’s could never get the lead.
With 3:50 to go, Fulcar’s 3-point play (bucket, free throw) gave Watertown a 7-point lead (36-29) and the way things were going for the Spartans offensively that might as well have been a 27-point advantage.
“I feel bad for the seniors on the team,” said Brown. “They won a state championship, and were state finalists, and then sectional finalists in a new division.
“I think all told, these kids won something like 85 games,” Brown said. “I don’t think that’s bad at all.”
Still, said Fama, “I don’t think we playe to our potential.
“If we’d played today the way we played some nights this season could could have won today,” he said.
