LYNN – Coming down the stretch, St. Mary’s of Lynn relied on protection and the same old offensive stars in a Catholic Central matchup in opposition to rival Bishop Feehan at Tony C. Gymnasium on Friday evening.
A well timed steal and free throws put away the Shamrocks 55-50 because the Spartans got here away with a win after trailing within the second quarter by double digits.
“(Bishop Feehan) is an excellent team and an excellent program,” stated St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall. “So, I expected nothing less than this. We were both unbeaten in the league, so I figured it would be a one or two possession game.”
With the sport knotted 47-47 with 2:20 to go, senior Niya Morgen scored on a deep two-point shot to place St. Mary’s (14-1) up 49-47. Morgen completed with a game-high 21 factors and now sits simply 24 factors shy of 1,000 for her profession.
“(Morgen) just made some big baskets,” Newhall stated. “With a tie game, that little runner at the baseline (was huge).”
Bishop Feehan (11-3) rallied after a Yirsy Queliz (11 factors) bucket as Madelyn Steel knocked down a triple to make it a 51-50 contest with below a minute to go. Queliz adopted that up a pair possessions later with a key steal. Eighth-grader Bella Owumi (13 factors, 10 rebounds) nailed down three of 4 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
“(Queliz) was trying to get steals all night, so it was only a matter of time before she finally got one,” Newhall stated concerning the senior. “We have seniors that have been in these (close) games before. I think we are ready to play the game.”
In the primary half, the Spartans fell down 21-11 early within the second quarter, however got here away with a 27-24 benefit on the half due to a 16-3 run.
“We made some big shots during that run, but the most important thing is we got stops,” stated Newhall.
As a group, St. Mary’s allowed simply 2-of-12 from the sector within the second quarter after permitting 8-of-12 within the first.
For the Shamrocks, senior Sammy Reale led with 15 factors, together with a clutch three-pointer to tie the sport 47-47 within the fourth. Every starter scored at the very least one discipline objective within the first quarter for them as effectively to construct an 18-11 lead after one.
The groups will meet once more Tuesday, Feb. 14 at Bishop Feehan.
Source: www.bostonherald.com