On Friday night in a packed St. Mary’s gym, it was a battle between two powerhouse boys basketball programs in St. Mary’s and Archbishop Williams. The St. Mary’s faithful gathered for a fantastic game, but also to see star guard David Brown Jr. score his 1,000 point.
Brown needed seven points to achieve the milestone, and wasted no time in doing so. Brown started with a mid-range jump shot, followed by a transition three that hit nothing but net.
Then, with just over 1:30 remaining in the first – and two points away from what everyone was waiting for – Brown scored a layup plus the foul. The gym roared with a standing ovation.
“It feels great. My dad’s [number] is up too,” Brown said. “Every time I walked into this gym since I was nine or 10, I always saw his name on the banner. I always wanted to be there with him.”
Brown’s father and St. Mary’s head coach Dave Brown said his son will “go down as one of the best two-sport athletes (basketball and football) in the city of Lynn.”
“Only two people have ever rushed for 3,000 yards and scored 1,000 points in basketball,” Coach Brown said.
Although Brown (27 points) and the St. Mary’s supporters celebrated an amazing achievement, Archbishop Williams spoiled the party.
After a Derick Coulanges (eight points) layup with 49 seconds remaining gave St. Mary’s a 77-76 lead, Williams’ Josh Campbell scored with 1.2 seconds left in regulation to win it.
St. Mary’s came out on fire in the second half and went on a 12-2 run, but no matter how big of a run the Spartans went on, Williams always responded.
“We bailed them out and committed fouls,” Coach Brown said. “We’ll see them again.”
Williams’ Tristan Rodriguez came to play with 29 points, much to the credit of Coach Brown.
“He had a good shooting night. We didn’t do a great job of finding him,” Coach Brown said.
When asked if he wants a rematch in the state playoffs, Brown Jr. answered “yes” without hesitation. St. Mary’s next game is Tuesday when the Spartans visit Worcester North with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
