LYNN — The St. Mary’s boys and girls basketball teams dominated throughout the season, and they continued their domination over the Catholic Central League on Tuesday as one girl and two boys from the programs took home MVP honors in the CCL Large Division.
After earning co-MVP honors alongside St. Mary’s teammate Miya Bergdorf last season, junior guard Yirsy Queliz was the lone recipient of the award this year.
One of the best on-ball defenders in the entire state with 93 steals, Queliz averaged 15.3 points per game on 44 percent shooting en route to helping the Spartans to a 20-3 record and the No. 2 seed in the Division 3 state tournament. She’s also pulled down 109 rebounds and dished out 118 assists over the course of the year.
Queliz also saw a couple of her teammates earn CCL All-Star honors on Tuesday, as Niya Morgen and Kellyn Preira were both named to the team.
On the boys side, it was the senior duo of David Brown Jr. and Ali Barry who shared co-MVP honors in the CCL Large.
Barry has been the team’s leading scorer to this point in the season, putting up per-game averages of 16 points, five rebounds and five assists while also contributing on the defensive end.
But Brown wasn’t far behind, as the Spartans’ do-it-all point guard averaged 14 points, six rebounds and five assists per game during the regular season.
Joining Barry and Brown as CCL All-Stars from St. Mary’s were Omri Merryman and Derick Coulanges.
Elsewhere in the CCL, Bishop Fenwick had three girls and two boys honored as all-stars on Tuesday. Sophomore Cecilia Kay — who burst onto the scene and averaged a double-double for the entire regular season — was named as an all-star, as were senior captains Olivia Found and Nasha Arnold.
For the boys, Jason Romans and Mike Yentin earned CCL All-Star honors for Fenwick.
The remainder of the Catholic Central League girls all-stars were Angie Coletti and Elise Carter (Archbishop Williams); Ali O’Keefe (Arlington Catholic); Morginn Kotchian (Austin Prep); Camryn Fauria and Lydia Mordarski (Bishop Feehan); Bridget Markey and Kate Carreau (Bishop Stang); Mairead Gallagher (Cardinal Spellman); Tayla Barrows and Yedidya Lubunga (Cathedral).
The remainder of the Catholic Central League boys all-stars were Josh Campbell and Kevin Hamilton (Archbishop Williams); Ryan Svendsen and Jimmy Ball (Arlington Catholic); Tom Skeffington and Antonio Pemberton (Austin Prep); Cooper Snead (Bishop Feehan); Frank Vollaro (Bishop Stang); Jaydin Exalus (Cardinal Spellman); Anthony Coke and Wesley Odiase (Cathedral).
