PEABODY — Friday night’s game between the St. Mary’s and Bishop Fenwick girls basketball teams was a true slugfest, and in the end it was the Spartans who managed to score a couple of big baskets late in the game to take home a 48-43 win over their Catholic Central League rivals on the road.
“You know you’re always going to get a tough battle when you come to Fenwick, and that’s exactly what we got,” said St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall. “Coming in here is always tough, it’s always a close game and (Friday) they forced us to do some things we’re not used to.”
Senior Pe’jae Parent came off the bench to be the Spartans’ leading scorer with 10 points, something she’s not exactly known for.
“She came right in for us in the first quarter and really provided a spark,” Newhall said of Parent. “She’s an excellent defender and she’s not particularly known for her scoring, but she came in and gave us our first five or six points. She played great defense for us all night long and then hit two big free throws at the end, so she was huge for us.”
Also playing well in the win for St. Mary’s were Yirsy Queliz (nine points, three rebounds), Van Nguyen (seven points), Maiya Bergdorf (six points, eight rebounds) and Alyssa Grossi (six points, six rebounds).
For Fenwick, Olivia Found paced the offense with 18 points and four rebounds. Nasha Arnold had a big game on the glass with eight points and 14 rebounds, while Veronica Tache had seven points. Liz Gonzalez finished with four points and three rebounds.
“We made a lot of good plays out there, but we just couldn’t score,” said Fenwick coach Adam DeBaggis. “There was some undisciplined defense and the end there, but I loved the way that we continued to fight the entire game. The defense was really good, especially early, but we just couldn’t make any shots.”
Fenwick came out blazing hot on the defensive end, forcing St. Mary’s into a number of uncharacteristic mistakes in the opening minutes of the game. The Spartans didn’t score until more than four minutes into the game, but once they did they were able to scratch their way to a lead. By the end of the first quarter, St. Mary’s held an 8-5 lead.
The Spartans were slowly able to extend their lead in the second quarter, eventually taking an eight-point lead into halftime. But Fenwick never quit.
The Crusaders cut the deficit to just three points in the third quarter, but a late run by St. Mary’s put the Spartans back up by six going into the final frame.
Fenwick once again battled back in the fourth, making it a four-point game with just over two minutes to go. But just then, St. Mary’s got two momentum-shifting 3-pointers — one each from Queliz and Nicolette D’Itria — to give St. Mary’s a 10-point lead in the blink of an eye.
“Nicolette had a tough night, but if you’re only going to make one shot in the game, that’s the one to make,” Newhall said. “Yirsy creates so much for us on both ends of the floor, and she’s always capable of making a big shot like that.”
The Crusaders fought until the end, but eventually the buzzer sounded and St. Mary’s was able to take home the win.
Fenwick (4-2) hosts Archbishop Williams Monday afternoon (4:30).
St. Mary’s (7-1) is right back in action Saturday afternoon (4) on the road at Bishop Stang.