LYNN — St. Mary’s boys basketball coach Dave Brown feels any of the top six players in his rotation can take command on any given night.
Friday in the opening round of the Boverini Tournament, it was Sammy Batista’s turn to shine. The junior guard led all scorers with 25 points in a 68-56 win over Classical.
“Sammy had a great night,” Brown said. “He hadn’t been shooting well since the first game of the year. He knocked down his first one and got it going so that was nice to see. He had a very good game. He got after it defensively as well.”
To Classical’s credit, the Rams were resilient. St. Mary’s built an early lead and mounted it into the 20s before Classical cut it to single-digits in the closing stretch.
Simply put, it was too little too late.
“We didn’t quit,” Classical coach Jasper Grassa said. “I was happy with that. We just have to keep looking for each other on offense. We took too many contested shots in the middle. They took away the paint and we were just forcing up shots half the time. We have to find open shots. I thought we did a better job in the fourth quarter.”
Joey Abate-Walsh added 10 points for the Spartans, while David Brown and Lee Pacheco scored nine apiece.
Reaching double-figures for Classical were Jeff Barbosa (12 points), Jeff Hill (11) and Angel Garcia (10).
Batista had the hot hand from the start. He swished a 3-pointer to start the game and helped the Spartans to an early 11-9 edge. A 7-0 Spartans run, capped by Ali Barry’s lay-up, stretched the lead to 18-9. St. Mary’s led 20-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams lost their rhythm in the second quarter, but the Spartans did just enough to lead 31-19 at recess.
Back-and-forth they went in the third quarter. St. Mary’s held on to its double-digit lead but Classical did its part to stay within reaching distance. Batista hit a 3-pointer with 2:27 left in the period, giving the Spartans a 44-29 lead. They remained in front, 51-33, at the end of three.
Not so fast, said the Rams.
Consecutive baskets from Garcia cut St. Mary’s lead to 12 at 60-48 with 2:30 remaining. The Rams proceeded to whittle their gap down to eight points but St. Mary’s didn’t allow them to get any closer.
“We knew Classical has some good offensive players,” Brown said. “Jeffrey Hill, Jeff Barbosa, Jayden Thornton. We knew they could knock down shots and they’re city kids too. They’re not going to back down. They’re not going to give up. We knew they’d keep on fighting. I didn’t call any timeouts at the end of the game because I wanted our kids to learn under pressure.”
Classical (3-1) will play Tech Sunday (2:30) in the consolation game.
“We’re going to have a good practice Saturday and hopefully we’ll be ready for Sunday,” Grassa said.
St. Mary’s (5-0) will play KIPP Academy for the tournament title Sunday (5:45).
“KIPP played us tough last year,” Brown said. “Coach (David White) does a tremendous job on the defensive side. They went to the Division 4 North final last year. Their football team just had a great year. They’re used to winning there. We’re expecting a battle.”
