LYNN — Bella Owumi may be only a sophomore, but she towered everyone else on the court Thursday night, both physically and emotionally.
Owumi got off to a lightning-fast start, and so did her teammates, as the top-ranked St. Mary’s girls basketball team cruised by No. 8 East Bridgewater, 59-37, to advance to the Division 3 state Final Four.
The Spartans must wait until the dust settles elsewhere before they know who they play next, or where. But Thursday, they wasted little time in establishing themselves against the Vikings. And Owumi was the big reason why, with 19 points – 11 of them in the first quarter.
“Thanks to her, we got off to a fast start and that’s just what we needed,” said St. Mary’s Coach Jeff Newhall. “We controlled the game from start to end, and in every facet. It was a great performance by Bella, as it most always is.”
Owumi showed off practically her entire arsenal in the first eight minutes, with mid-range jumpers, layups, reverse layups, and long-distance shooting. She also ran the offense, and the offense ran through her. On defense, Owumi (14 rebounds) stole the ball several times in that first quarter too.
As a result, the Spartans led by 11 (25-14) after one quarter.
East Bridgewater took that shot, and didn’t allow the game to get too far out of hand until late in the game. Until then, the Vikings, thanks to Bella Abrams’ 14 points, stayed within the 11-13 point deficit range for most of the second and third quarters. St. Mary’s led, 36-23 at the half, and 43-32 after a low-scoring third period.
But a 3-pointer by Juliana Conte – her first bucket of the game – gave indication as to how the game would conclude. A 9-2 spurt opened the period and before anyone knew it, it was 52-33 and lights out.
“The way our defense plays,” Newhall said, “we figure if we can keep teams under 40, we’ll be able to score enough points to win. We almost didn’t do that tonight, but we finally did.”
Newhall, whose Spartans are now 23-3, emptied his bench in the last four minutes.
Charleigh Green and SySy Mcausland Emmanuel (an eighth-grader) had nine each for the Spartans. Juliana Conte (6), Lily Norton (5), and Reese Matela (5) also joined the cause.
