LYNN — After transferring from Lynn Classical to St. Mary’s, there were big expectations for basketball standout Rolky Brea-Arias. Playing in Div. 2 with the Spartans, the two-way player lived up to expectations — and then some — to help deliver a state title to Tremont Street.
Brea-Arias averaged 19 points and 17 rebounds this season for St. Mary’s, which defeated Masconomet inside of Lowell’s Tsongas Center last Friday.
When first-year coach Josh Keilty took over the program, it was Brea-Arias’ work ethic that stuck out to him.
“He’s an extremely hard worker. He’s a bit of a throwback player who wants to be coached hard and is constantly in the gym trying to get better,” Keilty said. “He has such a huge impact because of his size and athleticism and ability to handle the ball and make plays on offense.”
Not only did Brea-Arias impact the game offensively, but he was named Catholic Central League Defensive Player of the Year.
“As a coach, you feel so fortunate to have a player like him. To have a high-character kid who can bring the ball up for us and also be one of the leaders in the state in rebounding is rare,” Keilty said. “He can lead the break, but can post up or take you off the dribble. On defense, you can have him cover bigs or guards. He’s super active with his length and he dominated every facet of the game all year long. His presence was felt every game. He didn’t have one bad game all year.”
After a tournament victory against Chicopee, Brea-Arias reflected on the team’s success.
“We worked very hard for this moment. We’re excited.”
And when the lights were brightest during the state championship game, Brea-Arias shined throughout the fourth quarter. With 3:43 remaining in regulation, he drove down the lane and dunked on Masconomet’s center to put the Spartans ahead by five points.
“That play just speaks to Rolky’s mentality. If you’re a coach, that’s just the type of mentality you want your team to have — being aggressive and fearless,” Keilty said. “To make that play in that point of the game — in that game — is special. You need to have a special amount of confidence and belief in yourself to make that play. He played the whole game and it was midway through the fourth quarter. To have the conditioning to be able to dunk on their big man was special. That play gave us a spark and lifted the whole building.”
Then, down one point with 20 seconds to go, Keilty went to his big man once again. The Spartans got the ball to Brea-Arias deep in the post. He took one dribble and finished at the rim to give St. Mary’s the lead for good.
“In that scenario, you’re always going to go with the highest percentage shot. For our team, that’s something at the rim for Rolky. I think the whole team wanted Rolky to have the ball in that situation and they did a great job of executing and getting him in the position to receive the ball and score,” Keilty said. “We put that play in before the Plymouth South game. We just put it in and we felt pretty good about it.”
Brea-Arias’ basket not only gave the Spartans a championship, but extended St. Mary’s streak to 19 consecutive school years of winning a title.
