LYNN — It was all the little things that hurt the St. Mary’s boys basketball team Monday night — poor rebounding, lack of ball security and subpar shooting. In the end, it all added up to the Spartans first loss of the season as they fell to Lowell Catholic, 65-63, at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.
“I told the guys coming into the game that we were shorthanded and we needed guys to step up,” said St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown, whose Spartans were missing guards David Brown and Henri Miraka. “But the energy level wasn’t where it needed to be and we made too many mistakes out there.”
Joey Abate-Walsh had a big game, nearly notching a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. Josh Perez added 14 points and four rebounds, while Lee Pacheco and Sammy Batista each scored 12 points. Ali Barry scored six points.
The Spartans had trouble containing Lowell Catholic’s 3-headed scoring monster of Isaiah Taylor (24 points), Keenan Rudy-Phol (19 points) and Caleb Scott (12 points), who combined to score 55 of the Crusaders’ 65 points.
“(Taylor) had a great night, he got into the paint whenever he wanted and he made some big shots,” Brown said. “You’ve got to tip your hat to Lowell Catholic, they outworked us for sure.”
It was a slow start to the game for the Spartans, who couldn’t find the bottom of the net early on and fell behind 7-0 in the opening minutes. St. Mary’s trailed 12-3 with just over two minutes left, but rallied to tie the game up at 12-12 behind some big plays from Abate-Walsh, Batista and Perez. A late basket by Lowell Catholic gave the Crusaders a 14-12 lead after one.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair. The Spartans quickly tied the game up on the opening possession, then the two squads traded shots the rest of the way. After four ties and six lead changes, Lowell Catholic held a 1-point lead with 30 seconds to play in the half. The Spartans stole back momentum right before the buzzer when Batista knocked down a 3-pointer to give St. Mary’s a 27-26 lead at the break.
Although the Crusaders tied the game at 29-29 early in the third, most of the quarter belonged to the Spartans. St. Mary’s took its largest lead of the game in the period, going on a 6-0 run to make it 35-29. But Lowell Catholic continued to hang around, cutting St. Mary’s lead to 46-43 going into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter was another back-and-forth battle, with the two teams battling through two more ties and four more lead changes. It all came down to the final minute, though, as St. Mary’s took a timeout down 61-57 with 1:11 to play. Things started looking the Spartans’ way when Abate-Walsh buried a critical 3-pointer to tie it a 63-63 with 23 seconds left, but the little things eventually came back to bite them.
Abate-Walsh came up with another big play by blocking a layup attempt from Rudy-Phol with under 10 seconds left, but the rebound found its way over to Taylor, who contorted his body to put up a ridiculous shot that found the bottom of the net with two seconds left, putting Lowell Catholic up 65-63. Batista made one last Hail Mary attempt, but it fell short and the Crusaders took home the win.
The Spartans (9-1) are back in action Friday night (7) when they travel to Malden Catholic. With two more wins needed for a state tournament berth, Brown knows the Spartans have to start tightening things up.
“That’s going to be another tough game for us,” Brown said of Friday night’s matchup. “We need to get back to working hard at practice this week, hopefully get a little healthier and come back strong later in the week. We weren’t going to go undefeated this year, so now we just have to pick ourselves up and get back to work.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
KIPP 83, Fellowship 16
Jorge Trejo guided KIPP with 15 points, while Victor Mafo and Wesley Garcia scored 13 each.
KIPP (5-2) hosts PMA Tuesday (6:30).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
St. Marys 74, Austin Prep 44
The Spartans rolled to their 12th consecutive win and qualified for MIAA postseason.
St. Marys (12-1) raced out to a 29-point halftime lead (49-20) and never looked back.
Maiya Bergdorf (26), Nicolette D’Itria (14), Gabby Torres (13) and Jannise Avelino led the Spartans’ offensive attack. D’itria also had seven assists and five steals.
St. Marys travels to Hilton Head, South Carolina on Thursday for a 5-day trip that includes games at Hilton Head High and Bluffton High.
