ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Paris Wilkey tries to block the shot, but St. Mary’s Olivia Nazaire gets up over the defense for a layup.
By KATIE MORRISON
LYNN — The early part of the season hasn’t been easy for the St. Mary’s girls basketball team. Coach Jeff Newhall was waiting for all of the pieces to come together and for his team to start clicking.
That’s exactly what happened Tuesday afternoon in the Walter J. Boverini tournament opener, as the Spartans topped Classical, 57-39, to advance to the championship game against Swampscott, Wednesday at 5.
From the first quarter, the Spartans looked to have all of the answers, limiting a potent Classical offense to just six points in each of the first two quarters. St. Mary’s also dominated on the boards, with both Olivia Nazaire (17 points, 17 rebounds) and Temi Falayi (16 points, 12 rebounds) logging double-doubles. Amanda Idusuyi was also a force inside with six points and five rebounds.
“We finally got a good game under our belts,” said Newhall. “The kids have been working hard, and they faced adversity early in the year. I think we’re battle-tested. And tonight, I think we moved the ball, hit some shots.”
In the first quarter, the Spartans weren’t finding many open lanes to the hoop, but they still took a 16-6 into the second quarter, thanks to three 3-pointers from Gabby Torres and another six points from Nazaire.
One of the keys to the St. Mary’s win was shutting down Classical star Paris Wilkey. Guarding the Rams’ leading scorer was Falayi’s duty, and after Wilkey scored Classical’s first two points of the game, the Spartans took her out of the game, limiting her to just four more points, all coming on free throws.
“Temi was the difference in the game, covering their best player,” Newhall said.
Classical’s Soneta Srey came alive in the second quarter and was the driving force for the Rams, giving a gritty performance, scoring 18 points and shooting 5-for-8 from the line. She scored five points in the second quarter, but the Rams fell behind 35-12 at the half.
The final two Classical possessions of the first half resulted in turnovers, with Nazaire earning the steal on each. The Rams responded in the third quarter, as Jeylly Medrano forced two straight turnovers on Spartans possessions.
That helped the momentum swing in Classical’s favor for a bit, but the gap was too much to overcome.
“We just didn’t come out with any focus. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively. They were disruptive in their defense and made it really tough on us,” Classical coach Tom Sawyer said. “The second half was much better, the kids played hard, Soneta Srey never quit, Priscill Alouidor and Jeylly Medrano, they gave 100 percent effort.”
The Rams will take on English in the consolation game today at 2.
Katie Morrison can be reached at [email protected].