LYNN — Defense was the name of the game Wednesday night, as the St. Mary’s boys basketball team held the normally high-powered Bishop Fenwick Crusaders under wraps all game long in a 64-45 victory at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium.
“We knew coming in that they really relied on their top-three guys, and we really wanted to pressure them and try to wear them out as best we could,” said St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown. “We were able to really create some turnovers and gain some momentum in the second half.”
David Brown Jr. led the offensive attack for St. Mary’s with 23 points and six rebounds, while Ali Barry added 13 points and four rebounds. Henri Miraka and Derick Coulanges each notched nine points and five rebounds, while Omri Merryman finished with six points and 10 rebounds.
For Fenwick, Mike Yentin led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds. Nick Bowers added a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Che Hanks finished the night with nine points and five rebounds. Gianni Mercurio (six points, 11 rebounds) and Jason Romans (five points, seven rebounds) also played well in the loss.
“In the end, it all came down to execution,” said Fenwick coach Kevin Moran. “We knew that if we came out and turned the ball over, we’d have a hard time winning this game. St. Mary’s did a great job of pressuring us, and we just didn’t handle it very well.”
It started off as a defensive struggle for both teams, as Fenwick had just barely clawed to a 7-5 lead six minutes into the game. But after Barry hit a 3-pointer down the stretch for the Spartans, St. Mary’s led 8-7 after one quarter.
The second quarter is where things started tilting the Spartans’ way. After not scoring a point in the first quarter, Brown exploded for 10 second-quarter points to help the Spartans race out to a double-digit lead. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, St. Mary’s held a 30-19 lead.
Things didn’t change much from there, as the Spartans began to heat up from behind the arc in the third quarter and stretched their lead even further. St. Mary’s led by 15 points at the end of the third quarter and stretched its lead to as many as 21 points before eventually settling for the 19-point victory.
In the end, depth certainly played into the Spartans’ hands. St. Mary’s played eight players for more than 10 minutes each, while Fenwick’s top-five players rarely came out of the game.
“We love the fact that we can go seven or eight guys deep every night and not have much of a drop off,” said Brown. “It’s part of what helps our defense be so effective, because we always have fresh bodies coming in.”
“The thing about St. Mary’s is that they never let up and they come at you all game long,” said Moran. “Our guys played a lot of minutes because our bench was a little thin, and St. Mary’s just keeps wearing you down.”
Fenwick (4-2) plays on the road at Arlington Catholic Friday evening (6:30).
“We know that that’s going to be another tough one, but that’s what you love about this league,” said Moran. “Every night you’re tested to your limits with the kind of talent we have in the CCL, and that’s only going to make us better.”
St. Mary’s (10-1) hosts Cathedral Friday evening (6:30).
“That’s another big league game against a tough team that we’d love to win,” said Brown. “If we can win these league games now, it makes it that much harder for all these guys to catch us at the end of the year.”