LOWELL — The St. Mary’s girls basketball team is at the top of Division 3 North once again.
The Spartans shook off some early mistakes and saved their best for the second half in a 59-45 win over Amesbury in the Division 3 North final Saturday morning at Lowell’s Tsongas Center.
“Solid play at some points would be a good way to put it,” Spartans coach Jeff Newhall said. “But there’s eight teams left in the state, you know it’s not going to be easy. The further you go, you have to develop new ways to win.”
Things didn’t always go according to the game plan but St. Mary’s still got solid performances from several players, with three Spartans breaking double digits in scoring. Olivia Matela (team-high 14 points, five rebounds), Maiya Bergdorf (12 points, five rebounds) and Gabby Torres (11 points, four rebounds) led the way. Jannise Avelino scored eight points off the bench while Nicolette D’Itria (team-high nine rebounds) and Alyssa Grossi each scored six points.
“(Saturday) we got into some foul trouble, Yirsy Queliz (two points) struggled a little bit, Nicollette fouled out,” Newhall said. “I just said to Gabby, ‘If I told you you were going to be a point guard with two minutes left at Tsongas…’ But she was quick to tell me how great she was at doing it. It wasn’t really the way it was drawn up.”
Both teams exchanged runs at the start. The Spartans got out to a quick start with three straight baskets, but Amesbury answered right back with seven straight points to take a slim 7-6 lead.
That was the last lead Amesbury would have, while St. Mary’s quickly looked like it may run away with this one over the next several minutes.
Torres and Matela both hit 3-pointers to put St. Mary’s back out front and the points kept coming in the second quarter. The Spartans led 24-13 before forcing an Amesbury timeout.
Things couldn’t have gone much worse after the break for St. Mary’s. A shooting and technical foul sent Amesury’s Avery Hallinan (game-high 22 points) to the line and the sophomore hit all four free throws before adding another basket on Amesbury’s next possession to cut the Spartans’ lead to 24-19.
“It’s 24-13 late in the first half and we’re in a timeout talking about how if we can win the first four minutes we’re in good shape here,” Newhall said. “And they did exactly what I told them not to do, giving them a six-point possession. So my hair is more gray than it probably should be at this point.”
St. Mary’s took a 26-21 lead into the half.
Amesbury cut the Spartans’ lead down to four in the third quarter and that’s where things stayed for most of the frame.
A pair of baskets to end the third from Grossi and Bergdorf stretched St. Mary’s lead to 40-32 before the fourth.
The final eight minutes belonged to the Spartans. Grossi started things off with a rebound and basket and the Spartans never looked back eventually stretching their lead to 46-32.
Amesbury made a small run to cut the lead to nine, but Bergdorf pulled up from beyond the arc and knocked down a 3-pointer to put St. Mary’s ahead 49-37, enough cushion to close out the game comfortably.
“You can’t really put a number on having great leadership and a strong will to win,” Newhall said. “I just think they saw a little bit of an opening. We executed a few things. We had an inbounds play, a screen and roll and we shot free throws pretty well. At this point, there’s no pictures on the scorecard and one team moves on and one goes home. We’re going on and we’re happy about that.”
St. Mary’s now moves on to the Division 3 state semifinals where they will take on South champion Rockland Wednesday (2) at TD Garden.
