The St. Mary’s girls basketball team qualified for the state tournament with a 54-33 win on the road at Newburyport Monday night.
“I think qualifying for the state tournament is a goal each team in the state has when the season begins so get that out of the way in January is a great accomplishment,” St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall said. “Qualifying with the type of win we had tonight was very gratifying as we really competed well for quite a while against a quality opponent on the road.”
After falling behind 20-12 in the second quarter, the Spartans found their footing on both ends. St. Mary’s scored 42 of the game’s final 55 points, holding the Clippers to just three baskets in the final 19 minutes.
The Spartans had a balanced offensive attack led by Pamela Gonzalez (15 points), Olivia Matela (14 points), Nicolette D’Itria (11) and Ashley Sullivan (six).
Yirsy Queliz scored just two points but had seven assists and six steals.
St. Mary’s (11-4) bounces back into Catholic Central League play Friday night (6:30) when the Spartans visit Arlington Catholic.
GIRLS HOCKEY
Belmont 5, Winthrop 3
The Vikings dropped their second game in a row Monday night in a non-conference tilt at Lawrence Larsen Rink. Emma Carleton, Bella Perotti and Olivia Driscoll each scored one goal. Brooke Costin, Mia Norris and Abby Stafford each logged one assist.
“We pretty much carried play the whole game but we couldn’t score when we needed to,” Winthrop coach Anthony Martucci said. “We outshot them 16-5 in the first period and were down 2-0.”
Vikings goalie Summer Tallent made 12 saves.
The Vikings (9-5) travel to Marblehead Saturday afternoon (4:30).