LYNN — The words bigger, stronger, and faster are used a lot in sports, but frankly, it was true on Friday night for host St. Mary’s (7-2).
Despite having to wipe the snow off their cars to get there, St. Mary’s fans left their home-gym happy. Their boys basketball team defeated Arlington Catholic 103-67, defending its No. 1 ranking in Division III – announced Friday morning by the MIAA.
Whether it’s running with a football, or shooting with a basketball, there’s no stopping Derick Coulanges. The senior forward from Swampscott had 21 points.
“Coulanges had a great game today – he’s been struggling a little bit offensively, but after having a long football season, I think he’s getting his basketball legs now,” St. Mary’s head coach David Brown said.
He was followed by JJ Martinez (20 points) and Omri Merryman (18) – both Lynn natives.
Coulanges scored the first points of the game off a layup just 10 seconds in – a telling first page of a dominant book. Highlighted by 11 total scorers, there was no stopping St. Mary’s around the rim.
“We played fast today, we shared the ball very well, and we defended – turned them [Cougars] over a lot to get us some easy baskets,” Brown said.
All of the fundamentals – boxing out, extra passes, off-ball movement – were utilized by the Spartans early on. St. Mary’s got out to a 12-2 start, forcing Arlington Catholic to call a timeout.
“We stressed the last few days in practice to make sure we put our bodies on people on their shots,” Brown said. “It was a great team effort by all of these guys.”
The Spartans were troublesome – in the good way – on defense. Seemingly every other possession featured a tipped pass or a Cougar running for his life with little to no breathing room.
Arlington Catholic lingered around with its sharpshooting and ability to (occasionally) beat St. Mary’s press, but not for long. The two-way play of the Spartans led to them having a 52-27 lead at halftime.
St. Mary’s Dion Okonoboh, in the midst of his first season with the program, scored six of his eight points in the first half – much to the delight of Coach Brown.
“Dion’s someone who can really help this team out drastically if he gets our concepts down on defense, as well as offensively,” Brown said. “He’s a phenomenal athlete.”
Then, there was a third quarter exclamation point. Merryman stole the ball and threw down a two-handed slam in front of his own bench – an end-result each of his teammates saw coming. He had another chance moments later, but settled for a gentleman’s layup to put St. Mary’s up 59-31.
Another highlight of the quarter – one that ended 82-51 in favor of St. Mary’s – was when senior Anthony D’Itria used a ball-fake to show the ball to his defender one way, before dishing a no-look feed the other way to a wide-open Coulanges beneath the basket.
The fourth quarter was more of the same. Two and-one’s from Martinez later – one with the left hand, the other with the right – and time ran out on the Cougars. The final score favored St. Mary’s 103-67.
As for David Brown (the player), St. Mary’s fans can rest easy as his return could be coming soon.
“David’s trying to, hopefully, get cleared for next week,” Coach Brown said.
Looking more for cushion in the rankings, the Spartans return to action Tuesday when they travel to Brockton at 7 p.m.
“One thing we do – we pride ourselves on trying to play the toughest schedule we can possibly play,” Brown said. “Our league is a very competitive league, but outside our league, I’ll play anyone that’s willing to play us.”
