LOWELL — St. Mary’s Spartans’ captain and senior Ali Barry, in his final game, took home the MIAA Division 3 state title, with his team winning 71-40 over the Watertown Raiders. And it wasn’t easy.
Barry put up 21 points and six rebounds, with more than half of his points coming from beyond the arc.
But what’s even more impressive about Barry’s stat line is the fact that at the beginning of the third quarter, he broke one of the fingers on his shooting hand and still led the team in points.
“This feels good,” said Barry. “Coming into this game, we just had to play hard as a team and lock down, play defense. That really helped us, because we came out in the first really slow, and that’s not how we play as a team.”
While the next chapter for Barry is unknown, one thing for certain is the fact that he etched his name into the history books for this St. Mary’s Spartans team. Earlier in the tournament, he recorded his 1,000th career point for the Spartans — just the 12th player in program history to do so.
Barry is also no stranger to receiving high levels of praise, one such example: he and teammate David Brown Jr. were named co-MVPs of the Catholic Central League, and Spartans head coach Dave Brown had a lot to say
“Statewide, I think Ali flies under the radar,” said Brown. “If you ask me, him and David (Brown Jr.) are the best backcourt in the state of Massachusetts. “Any college coach is going to do very well when they sign Ali.”
Not only is winning the state title in your final game as a senior an accomplishment, Barry took it a step further and won this title with the boys he’s been playing basketball with since he was at least 5 or 6 years old. These were the guys that helped kickstart his basketball career, according to Barry.
“Just leaving high school with a ring, and playing with people I started my basketball career with, it’s crazy,” said Barry about winning the championship with his friends. “I’m just at a loss for words, and I’m so happy for everyone.”
Barry is definitely a special player, and the future, regardless of what he decides to do will be a bright one for sure, but Barry will definitely be known as a hometown hero as a St. Mary’s Spartan.
