LYNN — The more, the merrier.
St. Mary’s boys and girls basketball teams can bring a pair of Div. 2 state championships to Tremont Street Friday night. Inside Lowell’s Tsongas Center, the No. 3 St. Mary’s girls kick off the doubleheader against No. 1 Medfield at 6:15 p.m., followed by the top-ranked boys against No. 3 Masconomet at 8 p.m.
Both teams are coming off grind-it-out semifinal matchups. For the girls, when offense is hard to find, defense is their calling card.
“If you look at the scores across the state for boys and girls, when you get to that Final 4, final-round points are hard to come by and we’re no different,” said girls coach and Athletic Director Jeff Newhall. “I do think it has taken us a little bit to settle in, especially against (Archbishop) Williams, it took us a half, and then against Walpole, it took about a quarter. Then, the other night, we may have never settled in, but that was the type of game it was. That’s why defense is important because if it takes you a quarter or three quarters to settle in offensively, you better be settled in defensively or else it’s going to get ugly.”
Boys coach Josh Keilty is happy his Spartans had to fight for tournament wins.
“We have a ton to clean up on the offensive end and have been working on that. On a positive note, I’m kind of glad that we’ve had to win that way because, all year, I don’t think we have really been tested in one of those grind-it-out type of games,” said Keilty, in his first year with St. Mary’s after leading Georgetown to a state title last winter. “Instead of trading baskets, we had to get stops and I think, for us, it’s been great and it’s helped us mentally and helped us be tougher.”
Both coaches respect their opponents. Keilty and his team faced Masconomet this season and won 75-61, while Newhall referred to Medfield as the “best team in New England.”
“That game is kind of relevant, just in terms of where the two teams are now and how both teams are playing,” Keilty said. “We’re familiar, but definitely, in my opinion, they’re a stronger and more together team (since the first meeting).”
“They’ve won the last two state championships and are going for a three-peat. I saw them play live on Tuesday. I’ve seen them play live a few times and we have some film,” said Newhall, coming off a Div. 3 title before the program jumped to Div. 2. “I think, similarly to us, they just have a winning tradition. They believe in themselves; they believe in their teammates. This year’s current crop, they don’t have a ton of older kids, but a lot of them have played in state championship games. They just don’t have any weaknesses, which is very uncommon for any high school team in any sport.”
Both teams are said to be locked in mentally. For the girls, what provides confidence is their big-game experience. According to Newhall, since the statewide tournament came into place, his squad is 23-1.
“This time of the year, it’s somewhere between excited [and] a bit of fatigue sets in, but, thankfully, a lot of them were here a year ago, three years ago, or four years ago, so they’re kind of used to the grind and are used to playing until the last game, which is great experience for them. I hope it’s something they lean on as we move into tomorrow.”
For the boys, although it was an offensive struggle against Plymouth South in the Final 4, Keilty said he liked the shot quality.
“I’m feeling really good about where we are heading into this game. I think the whole team is locked in and totally understands the task at hand. I think we got good shots against Plymouth South and those are the shots we’re going to live with whether they go in or not,” Keilty said. “The mood has been really good. The guys are excited and certainly are humbled knowing that we have a really tough opponent in front of us and they’re going to need to bring their best game.”
Newhall, too, knows his team’s A-game is needed.
“They’re a high-powered offense. … They’ve beaten Wachusett, which is the defending Division 1 champion, they’re No.1 in most polls, and they beat the three best teams in New Hampshire,” he said. “Our defense creates a lot of things for us. It creates our energy; it creates offense for us. We’re going to need it on Friday. We can’t think we’re going to win a game 75-70 against a team like this. We’ve got to be like how we’ve been defensively all year.”
The boys are led by Catholic Central League Defensive Player of the Year Rolky Brea-Arias, as well as All-Stars Jake Fortier, John Chareas, and Rowan Merryman.
The girls have leaned on the freshmen duo of Sysy Emmanuel and McKenna O’Connell, both CCL All-Stars, as well as Defensive Player of the Year Jillian Roberts.
