LYNN — The St. Mary’s boys basketball team opened up its quest for a state title Friday night at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium, and the No. 1 Spartans made sure to let everyone know that they’ll be a tough team to beat by notching a 94-60 win over No. 32 Chelsea in the Division 3 tournament Round of 32.
David Brown Jr. led the offensive attack for the Spartans, scoring a career-high 40 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Ali Barry added 23 points and five rebounds in the win, while Omri Merryman added 12 points and five rebounds. Derick Coulanges (eight points, three rebounds) and Henri Miraka (seven points, five rebounds) also had solid games for the Spartans.
“The guys came out, played fast and knocked down some shots early, and we were able to ride it from there,” said St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown. “David got hot and before we knew it he had 20 points in the second quarter. It was a great team win, which was nice to see.”
But one of the keys to the win for St. Mary’s, as has been the case for most of the season, was its play on the defensive end. The Spartans played the full-court press to perfection, forcing Chelsea into a number of hurried passes that led to turnovers and fastbreak points on the other end.
“When we watched (Chelsea) the other night (in their win over East Boston), we didn’t think they’d faced the kind of speed that we bring to the table as a team,” said Brown. “We wanted to try to press them and speed them up as much as possible, and that turned into turnovers for us and we were able to shoot the ball well on the other end.”
The defensive intensity was there from the start, and so was the hot shooting. Brown scored 10 points in the first quarter and the Spartans forced a number of turnovers en route to taking a 24-13 lead into the second quarter.
St. Mary’s was able to start stretching things out even more in the second, as big slam dunks from Brown and Merryman got the sellout crowd rocking and the momentum fully on the Spartans’ side. By halftime, St. Mary’s held a 53-30 lead.
After the Spartans came out and started the third quarter with three straight successful alley oops — one to Brown and two to Merryman — there was no coming back for Chelsea. The Spartans pushed their lead to as many as 37 points before coasting to victory in the fourth quarter.
St. Mary’s (24-1) moves on to the Round of 16, where it will take on No. 16 Norwell back at home on Tuesday (TBD).
“The guys who have been on this team have had some tough losses at the end of the season the past couple years, and they know that we have to take things one game at a time and not overlook anybody,” said Brown. “We had some older guys come in before the game and give them some words of motivation, and they know we have to come out every night and give it 110 percent.”
