LYNN — It was a close game after the first quarter, but the St. Mary’s boys basketball team quickly took control and never looked back in an 82-61 win over Lincoln-Sudbury Monday night to take home the title at the Spartan Classic.
The Spartans, who also won the title the last time the Classic was played in 2020, set a program record for wins in a season and went 22-0 against teams from Massachusetts.
“Coming into this year with the kind of schedule we had, you’d be happy to win 17 or 18 games,” said St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown. “But these kids really came together and played some unbelievable team basketball this year. It just speaks to the kinds of players we have here and the type of leadership that guys like Ali Barry, David Brown and Henri Miraka bring for us.”
Ali Barry was named the Tournament MVP, and it’s not hard to see why. After dropping a career-high 40 points in the opening round win over Lowell Catholic, Barry turned right around Monday night and dropped another 30.
“That’s just another example of the types of kids we have — Ali has been closing in on 1,000 career points and the guys want to see him get there,” said Brown. “After these past two games, he’s 38 points away now.”
Monday’s game was a close one to start, with the two sides battling to an early tie before David Brown Jr. hit a buzzer-beater to give the Spartans a slim lead after one quarter.
But that momentum seemed to propel St. Mary’s forward, as the Spartans jumped out to a 20-point lead by halftime and never looked back.
St. Mary’s closes out the regular season at 23-1 and now looks ahead to the upcoming state tournament, where the Spartans will surely be one of the favorites to take home the Division 3 state title.
“We’ll have a day off (Tuesday) and then get right back to work,” said Brown. “Obviously the goal from the start has been to give ourselves a chance to win a state title, and we’re getting closer to that point. At the same time, we know we can’t look past anyone and we need to take things one game at a time.”
