LYNN — Other than a narrow defeat at the hands of Bishop Feehan on the road, St. Mary’s girls basketball team has been perfect. That was no different Tuesday afternoon.
Taking advantage of home court during a New Year’s Eve matinee, the Spartans (6-1) took down Mansfield, 69-52, with three players scoring 15 or more points. Bella Owumi (18 points), Reese Matela (17), Juliana Conte (15 points, five 3-pointers), and Lily Norton (9 points, 9 assists) did the damage, despite Mansfield’s Gabriella Palanza leading all scorers with 19 points.
“She (Conte) has the capability of doing that every night,” said St. Mary’s coach and Athletic Director Jeff Newhall. “She got hot in that corner and Bella certainly drew a double team out of their 1-3-1 defense. I think, at one point, she made four in a row.”
The Spartans shot out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter (17-7), then had Mansfield doubled up by halftime (38-19). The visitors clawed their way back during the third quarter to cut the deficit to 12 points, but the threat was managed by St. Mary’s after a timeout.
“They’ve historically been one of the better programs in the state. It was a great non-league game for us,” Newhall said. “They fought back like good teams do. We had some adversity but responded to it, which is good because you learn from things like that.”
Newhall – to which the basketball court inside of the Tony C. Gymnasium was named after earlier this month – secured win No. 400.
“No one gets to this point without having really good players for a long time,” he said.
The Spartans host Cardinal Spellman at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
