LOWELL — St. Mary’s guard Bella Owumi, at 13 years old, is one of the youngest players to not only start in an MIAA state title game, but win it — and she’s only in seventh grade.
Throughout the St. Mary’s girls basketball team’s impressive season and playoff run, Owumi carved her way into the starting lineup. With six points and six rebounds Friday night, Owumi contributed considerably to the Spartans defending their state title with a 46-44 victory.
“At the beginning I was very nervous, I’ve never played in a stadium or game this big before,” said Owumi about starting in one of the biggest games of her incredibly young career. “I just knew I had to help my team out. Get those points.”
Outside of her athletic ability and potential, Owumi brings more to the team than what she can contribute on the court. For Owumi, the sky’s the limit. Being so young and making such an impact on a team full of kids older than her is something special
“I love Bella,” said Kellyn Preira, who had the game-winning blocked shot Friday night. “She’s hilarious off the court, on the court. She’s a very funny kid; she’s smart too. We don’t treat her like a seventh-grader. She’s on a team full of older kids, and she plays up. She’s going to be great.”
With a coach like Jeff Newhall at the helm for the Spartans, Owumi and her future is in good hands. Newhall achieved his 350th win as head coach with the Owumi and the Spartans defending the title, and he continues to prove how good of an influence he is on these girls.
“I told her, ‘Bella, you’re 13, there is no guarantee that you’re going to be in this game again,'” said Newhall. “‘So, you’ve got to go out and play like it’s your last game.'”
The future is extremely bright for Owumi, as she’ll continue to grow into an even more amazing player than she already is, and could potentially have a lot more titles under her belt by the time she graduates high school — in six years.
