LYNN — The St. Mary’s boys basketball team are the 2024 Spartan Classic champions after a 64-46 win over Lincoln-Sudbury.
Despite the double-digit win, the Spartans had to battle as the Warriors didn’t go down easy.
In the second quarter, St. Mary’s were leading 26-18 with just 10 seconds left in the half. The Warriors stole the ball and had an open fast break. Eighth-grader Jake Fortier hustled back and stole the ball back with four seconds left. Fortier raced to halfcourt, pulled up and drained the halfcourt shot to give the Spartans a 29-18 lead at halftime.
“I told him the biggest thing was his effort on defense. Getting back on defense and preventing them from getting two points, all of a sudden it’s an 11-point game instead of a six-point game,” St. Mary’s coach David Brown said. “It was a huge play. Then to hit the shot down was great.”
Fortier ended the game with 14 points and three steals.
In the third quarter, both teams exchanged blows with neither team able to stop the other. The Warriors went on a run to close the quarter and the gap to five (40-35).
“I said to my coaches that we were letting them [Lincoln-Sudbury] hang around a little too much. We missed a few free throws, we missed a few layups, but the kids buckled down,” Brown said.
Then it was the JJ Martinez show. Martinez showed why he was the best player on the court as he showed his strength in isolation getting to the rim but also showing his range from deep. Martinez finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-18 shooting. The sophomore grabbed three rebounds and provided an assist.
“JJ made some big one-on-one baskets that opened it up for us, then Jake knocked down a big three. Josiah [Quintana] was a monster on the backboards (10 rebounds). Donel [Kabongo Mutombo] had one of his more productive games, and Devell Pamplin off the bench was productive.”
The Spartans outscored the Warriors 24-11.
“It was a good win against a quality Division I opponent. It was an important game for us in regards to our power ranking,” Brown said. “We’re a young team that has had a lot of ups and downs, but we’ve been playing well in the last few games so hopefully that momentum continues into the state tournament.”
When asked about the upcoming state tournament, Brown is positive his side can produce. Why? Because they’ve hit all of their goals so far this season.
“We had goals this year. The first one was to win the City Championship, we checked that off. Then it was winning the CCL, we checked that off. The next one was the Spartan Classic and we can now check that off,” Brown said. “Now the next goal is to get to the Final Four. Hopefully, we can put some wins together and we’ll see what happens.”
The Spartans are a young team led by a sophomore and an eighth-grader, which is good news for the future of the team. Fortier was named to the All-Tournament team, while Martinez was named Spartan Classic MVP.
“I think we can make a run this year. If everyone stays together we’re going to be very talented over the next few years,” Brown said. “I’m very excited about what we have in the locker room going forward as well as this year.”
Now the Spartans will wait and see who they get in the postseason. The brackets are set to be released on Saturday.
