BRIDGEWATER — It came down to the final seconds, but the St. Mary’s boys basketball team was able to get a basket from David Brown Jr. with 1.9 seconds left to push the Spartans to a 63-62 win over Bridgewater-Raynham in a non-conference bout between two of the top teams in the state. Brown Jr. finished with eight points and two rebounds.
“It was a great, hard-fought win against a tough Division 1 team,” said St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown. “We had to work for everything we got tonight.”
Sammy Batista had a huge game in the win for the Spartans, notching 27 points.
“Sammy really came out and played well after a tough weekend,” said Brown. “He was dealing with a wrist injury that threw him off a bit, but in practice (Tuesday) I told him that he needs to go out there and play with confidence because he’s one of the better players out there. He really came out in control (Wednesday) and he was able to create a lot of opportunities for himself and his teammates.”
Omri Merryman (eight points, five rebounds), Anthony D’Itria (eight points), Ali Barry (four points, four rebounds) and Derick Coulanges (four points, two rebounds) also played well in the victory.
It wasn’t a great start to the game for the Spartans, who fell behind 12-0 in the opening minutes of the game after Bridgewater-Raynham came out on fire. But St. Mary’s slowly crawled back in it behind defensive tenacity and a 13-point quarter from Batista. By the end of the first quarter, the Spartans led 17-14.
The second quarter saw four ties and four lead changes between the two teams, with both sides trading punches back and forth. Bridgewater-Raynham finished the quarter with a flurry, and the Trojans took a 33-28 lead into the halftime break.
It was much of the same in the third quarter, but the Spartans were able to slip ahead and take a 49-48 lead into the final frame.
In the fourth, there were nine total lead changes before it was all over. After the two teams went back and forth the whole way, Bridgewater-Raynham took a 62-61 lead with 8.6 seconds to play after an acrobatic basket from guard JaSaun Jean-Pierre.
But the Trojans left too much time on the clock, and Brown Jr. was able to take the inbound pass and race up the floor past the defense to put in the go-ahead layup with 1.9 seconds to go. Bridgewater-Raynham took one final shot to try and win it, but the ball fell short and the Spartans took home the win.
“We really weren’t sure what kind of defense Bridgewater-Raynham would come out in because they did a good job of disguising it,” said Brown. “But we knew if they came with man-to-man we were going to try to push it, and once David got the ball the help never came and he was able to take it all the way up the floor.”
St. Mary’s (4-1) hosts rival Bishop Fenwick Friday night (6) at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.
“It’s always great to get back in the win column after a tough loss, but we know Fenwick will be another tough challenge on Friday,” said Brown. “Fenwick is playing some good basketball and we know they’re going to want to come into our gym and steal a win, so we’re going to be back on the practice floor (Thursday) and we’re going to keep working.”
