LOWELL — After the first quarter of Friday night’s Division 3 state championship game between No. 1 St. Mary’s and No. 2 Watertown, things weren’t looking good for the Spartans.
But behind a massive run that saw the Spartans outscore the Raiders 59-20 over the final three quarters, St. Mary’s knocked off Watertown by a score of 71-40 to win the Division 3 state title.
“We knew coming into the game that Watertown is a great team with a great coach and they’d be ready to play,” said St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown. “We were able to withstand that early run, keep our cool and settle in the rest of the way.”
Senior captain Ali Barry was the top scorer on the night for the Spartans, finishing with 21 points and six rebounds. Junior Omri Merryman was close behind with 19 points and five rebounds, while Nick Sacco came off the bench to notch a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. David Brown Jr. added nine points, six rebounds and six assists, while Derick Coulanges had eight points and one rebound.
“Coming into this year, we knew we had seven guys who were capable of starting,” said Brown. “No one on this team is worried about points or stats; all they want to do is win. They’ve sacrificed a lot this year just for winning, and I’m so proud of them for getting to this point and winning it all. We weren’t going to work this hard and come this far just to lose this game.”
It was a tough start to the game for the Spartans, who were knocked back on their heels a bit by the blistering pace Watertown came out with. The Raiders were flying around on both ends of the floor, jumping out to an early 5-0 lead before stretching that to as many as eight points. Watertown knocked down four 3-pointers in the first quarter alone, and the Raiders took a 20-12 lead into the second.
The Spartans settled down a bit from there, but it was still tough going for the most part. Barry came alive and knocked down a few threes and the press defense began doing its job as well, but Watertown was still making plays on its end. After a big block to end the half, Watertown went into the break with a 31-27 lead.
But the second half was an entirely different story. After the Spartans came out and knocked down a few quick baskets to jump ahead 33-31, they never looked back. Behind some stellar play from Barry, Sacco and Merryman over that stretch, St. Mary’s stretched its lead out to as many as 18 points before taking a 54-36 lead into the final quarter.
“I told the guys at halftime that we were playing some good defense, but Watertown was just hitting some big shots and sometimes that happens,” said Brown. “We just wanted to stay within our game plan, force them into tough plays and try to take advantage on the other end.”
The fourth quarter was much of the same, as the Spartans only allowed four points on the defensive end in the final frame and coasted to the state championship victory.
St. Mary’s finishes the season at 28-1 and closes the year on a 26-game winning streak, both state records.
“This is an incredible group,” said Brown. “In my opinion, we have the best backcourt in the state (with Brown Jr. and Barry) and we have a group of guys that any college coach would be proud to have playing for them. They came in every day wanting to work hard and get better, and they did that.”
