LYNN — The St. Mary’s boys basketball team has been in some uncharted territory recently, but that hasn’t changed the product on the court.
After two-straight years of early state tournament exits, the Spartans rolled through the Division 3 North tournament, winning all three of their tournament games by at least 19 points. Saturday, St. Mary’s checked off a huge milestone on its run for a state championship, winning its first North final since moving up to Division 3 in 2018 — a 63-40 rout of Weston at Lowell’s Tsongas Center.
“We opted to move up a few years ago and we had success in the regular season right away,” Spartans coach Dave Brown said. “But the past few years we’ve been upset in the state tournament, so to be able to win the North final this year was great. Especially when we’ve been hearing everyone tell us during the offseason that St. Mary’s was going to be having a down year.”
This year’s team wasn’t going to let a down year happen. The Spartans have been defined by team basketball this year. Joey Abate-Walsh has shot lights out to lead the way but in truth all five starters including Sammy Batista, Joshua Perez, Henri Miraka and Lee Pacheco can become a nightmare for opposing teams on any night.
And they’re not done yet. The Spartans will head down to the TD Garden Wednesday afternoon for a state semifinal matchup with South champion Burke (Dorchester).
“The guys really came together as a team this year,” Brown said. “They worked their butts off all offseason and it’s showing. Winning the North is a great milestone but we still have a big one (Tuesday). They’re going to get to play in the Garden too, which a lot of times is a once in a lifetime experience.”
The Spartans will have to continue to bring their A-game against a Burke team that has also been on an impressive run. Earning the No. 6 seed, Burke won four games in the South bracket, including a 64-52 victory over Norton in the South final.
Brown and the Spartans are somewhat familiar with their state semifinal opponent, having beaten a wounded Bulldogs team 81-43 last season.
“We beat them last year but they were missing one of their better players,” Brown said. “They’re a very athletic team. They’re a very good basketball team. They’ve been on their own run in the South with some real decisive victories, so we’re expecting their best for sure.”
St. Mary’s is expecting a fast-paced game from Burke, and the Spartans will have to work all game to limit the Bulldogs’ big men and explosive guards.
“We’re expecting them to put pressure on us,” Brown said. “They have some great players and two kids who are 6’3″ and 6’4.” They’re a very fast basketball team and they can score points in transition. They also have a very good point guard. So we’re looking to get in front of him right away and limit him as much as we can defensively.”
A fast start in the North final was key for the Spartans but, while they’ll be hoping that momentum carries over Wednesday, they’re expecting a back-and-forth battle against the Bulldogs.
“That would be great if we can come out like we did in the North final,” Brown said. “We were hitting our shots and when you get ahead like that the pressure is off you. I would love for that to happen but we’re expecting them to give us their best shot. Burke is a really good team and we’re expecting a dog fight.”
St. Mary’s and Burke tip off Wednesday afternoon (3:45) at the TD Garden.
