BOSTON — Who says Mondays are the worst day of the week?
Not for St. Mary’s basketball fans, who saw their girls and boys teams advance to Division 2 state championships Monday. The No. 3 girls defeated No. 2 Whitman-Hanson 41-40, while the top-ranked boys escaped with a 38-35 win against No. 4 Plymouth South. Games were held back-to-back at UMass Boston.
For the girls, a game full of grit and determination, it was decided by two unsung heroes who don’t always show up on the statsheet in Jaylin Frye and Lina Owumi.
Charleigh Green was in foul trouble nearly the entire game, which meant coach Jeff Newhall had to rely on freshman Frye (10 points).
“I thought Jaylin gave us some huge minutes. She came up with huge rebounds and she had 10 points,” said Newhall, also the school’s athletic director. “It was huge to have someone come off the bench . … In this environment, with this much at stake, to do what she did, little things create big opportunities.”
St. Mary’s led 21-17 at halftime and 36-31 going into the fourth quarter.
Despite the girls going 1-for-8 down the stretch at the free-throw line, when it was time to make winning plays, Owumi stepped up.
Newhall said Owumi has the “best motor” he’s ever seen, and it was critical down the stretch.
With St. Mary’s leading by one point and the Panthers maintaining possession with 31.1 seconds left, Owumi jumped the inbound pass and stole the ball before Newhall called a timeout.
“Basketball is her third sport. She’s not an offensively-gifted player. She made a hoop, she attacks the hoop, she does enough things because she plays at such a speed,” Newhall said. “To take pride in wanting to do what she just did in those last 30 seconds, knowing that it’s going to be the difference in the game, those kids are hard to find.”
After a pair of missed free throws, Owumi was there to battle for an offensive board and the ball went off a Whitman-Hanson foot, giving the ball back to St. Mary’s with 10.7 seconds remaining.
The extra possession sent Sysy Emmanuel to the line, where she made 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead to two.
It ended up being the game-winning point.
“They put me in the game for my energy. My mentality at that moment was to just get the ball. I don’t care what else happens,” Owmui said. “I don’t score a ton. I’m out there to be a defensive weapon and give the team energy and hype them up.”
St. Mary’s, up two points, was called for a foul when a Whitman-Hanson player drove to the basket. The first free throw was pure, but the second missed. Emmanuel skied for the rebound and ended the game.
“Defense has been our calling card all year,” Newhall said. “As frightening as the free-throw situation was down the stretch, I thought we made some plays on defense and turned them over.”
On the boys side, the Spartans prevailed in a low-scoring game. Sophomore point guard Jake Fortier described it as a “dog fight” and it came down to the final possession.
Plymouth South held all the momentum going into halftime after Zade Garron-Ciberay drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 19-18 lead.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Spartans trailed by two, but took a 31-29 lead with 6:22 left in the game after a Fortier layup.
“It’s just mental toughness and playing one possession at a time. Every possession has a life of its own,” said boys coach Josh Keilty. “Tough calls, missed layups, missed free throws, we couldn’t hit a three. It was just the next play or the next stop — whatever we needed. I’m so proud of them.”
Rolky Brea-Arias went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line to give St. Mary’s a three-point lead with 10.3 seconds to go. Plymouth South got a shot off in time, but missed to end the game.
St. Mary’s had two players reach double-figures. Brea-Arias and Fortier each scored 13 points.
“I know we score a lot of points, but we’re a defensive team,” Keilty said. “That’s what we hang our hats on first. It gets lost sometimes, but these last two games, we’ve had to really guard. If we didn’t guard, we would not be here because our offense has been terrible.”
Last year, the Spartans were eliminated in the Final 4, something Fortier didn’t want to experience again.
“Coming from last year, where we lost in the Final 4, it was the most heartbreaking feeling I ever felt. It just feels so good to get to the finals this year,” he said. “This is just everyone’s dream.”
When asked what it means to have both the girls and boys teams move up a division and reach state championships, Keilty said he’s proud to be a Spartan.
“It feels unbelievable. If we could play defense like the girls team, I think we’d be in better shape than we are right now,” Keilty said. “St. Mary’s is an unbelievable community. The kids all support each other and they’re about hard work and everything that goes into winning. These kids are so committed, so tough, so together.
“For me, personally, I couldn’t be happier to be here.”
