LYNN — The St. Mary’s girls basketball team set the tone early defensively and never looked back in a 70-39 win over Catholic Central League rival Bishop Fenwick Thursday at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.
Coming off his team’s first loss since their opener in December (68-65 to Cathedral), Spartans coach Jeff Newhall was glad to see his team bounce back.
“You’re always concerned when you haven’t lost in 60 days and then when you do, how are you going to come back?,” Newhall said. “There’s some things we still need to get better at obviously, but it’s always good to bounce back in a league game against a rival. I thought we played with good defensive energy and pressure.”
The Spartans were led by Maiya Bergdorf’s (17 points, 10 rebounds, five steals) double-double and a great all-around day from senior Gabby Torres (15 points, four rebounds, two steals).
“Gabby has been great for us for four years, but particularly this year,” Newhall said. “She really sets the tone for us on defense and she’s an excellent outside shooter. We really need her to set the tone in all facets of the game. Pregame, postgame, during the game and on both ends of the floor. She’s really thrived in that role.”
The Crusaders struggled to produce offense early on, and once the Spartans took an early double-digit lead there was no coming back.
“Really for us it’s finding ways to score,” Fenwick coach Adam DeBaggis said. “And against (St. Mary’s) we have to play tougher offensively. We have to pass better. It’s crazy, so many of their points come from fast break layups after our turnovers. You sit here and you think, ‘should we switch defenses?’ The problem is we’re creating all their offense by turning it over.”
Brynn Bertucci (nine points, seven rebounds) and Liz Gonzalez (five points, eight rebounds) led the way for Fenwick.
The turnovers started to come early and St. Mary’s took full advantage. The Spartans grabbed seven steals (three from Bergdorf) and Torres led the way with six points in the first quarter to help St. Mary’s go ahead 15-3.
“We set the tone defensively for sure,” Newhall said. “I thought our on-the-ball pressure was excellent. We were able to initially stop them from penetrating to the hoop and get steals and some breakaways. I think we’re still a little groggy offensively, but Fenwick does a good job defensively.”
St. Mary’s stretched the lead all the way to 21-3 before Fenwick started to add some points at the free throw line. But Torres highlighted the second quarter with her four-point play and the Spartans took a 32-14 lead into the half.
The second half was more of the same. Yirsy Queliz led the way for the Spartans with 12 second-half points and St. Mary’s bumped its lead all the way up to 31 midway through the fourth quarter.
Freshmen Morginn Kotchian (eight points) and Erica Lendall (seven) had solid fourth quarters for the Crusaders off the bench, but St. Mary’s cruised to the victory. The win marks the Spartans’ 20th victory in 25 games against Fenwick.
Both teams are back on the court Sunday. The Spartans (19-2) hosts Fontbonne (7) while the Crusaders (12-8) will hope to bounce back at the Larry McIntire IAABO Board 130 Tournament in Beverly on Sunday (1), where they will take on Peabody in the opening round.
