ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Temi Falayi (left) of the Spartans and Olivia Valente of the Sachems battle for a rebound.
By STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — Two teams … two different perspectives. But at the end of the night, both, perhaps, had a better sense of where they were and where they needed to go.
That’s what the two coaches got out of Wednesday night’s 61-37 win by the St. Mary’s girls basketball team over Saugus at Conigliaro Gym.
Two years ago, the Saugus girls won one game. Last year, they finished .500. This year, they were off to a 5-0 start heading into Wednesday’s game, and the idea of competing against the perennial Division 3 powerhouse Spartans seemed like being in rarified air.
“These are the games we want to play,” said Saugus coach Mark Schruender.
Since both teams are in Division 3, it was mentioned that perhaps Saugus could see St. Mary’s again come February or March in the state tournament.
“We can’t worry about what happens in February,” Schruender said. “We just have to worry about tomorrow. Just get better tomorrow. We got better just by having played tonight. Now, we have to keep on getting better.”
St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall’s team has finally reached .500 for the season (4-4), and he’s happy about the way things have gone since his team opened at 0-3 and 1-4.
“I’m grateful that we’ve won three in a row (over Classical and Swampscott in the Boverini Tournament) and now against Saugus. Now we have to keep winning to get over the .500 mark.
“We got off to a rough start,” he said, “but Iike the way we responded.”
The book on St. Mary’s coming into the game was that the Spartans didn’t have any consistent outside shooting. Newhall can be thankful that his players didn’t read the book. St. Mary’s had nine three-pointers Wednesday night as it seized the early lead (15-5 after a quarter) and never let go. The Spartans increased that lead to 33-19 at the half, and 48-30 after three.
“Despite what you saw,” said Newhall, “(Schruender) has done a very good job over there. They have a system, and they’re sticking to it, and they’re going to be fine.
“I think it’s fantastic that they want to play us,” said Newhall.
Senior Mia Nowicki hit a three for the Spartans’ second basket of the night and from there, it was bombs away. She finished up with three treys for nine points, Gabriella Torres had two trifectas on her way to 10 points, Ashley Sullivan had two three-pointers, and Mashayla Johnson and Christina Nowicki one each.
The high scorer for St. Mary’s was Temi Falayi with 11 as the Spartans spread it around. Also scoring nine points was Olivia Nazaire.
The Sachems (5-1) didn’t have anyone in double figures. Sophomore Alessia Salzillo had nine points, and freshman Taylor Bogdanski eight.
Schruender was happy with the way his team played.
“No one quit,” he said. “The effort was fantastic, all night long. I’m proud of my kids. St. Mary’s is a very good team. Good players, and good coaches. We just have to get better. That’s all.”
Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].