LYNN — When the subject comes to supremacy in Lynn high school basketball, the matter is crystal clear.
There’s St. Mary’s and then everyone else.
St. Mary’s extended its undefeated record by winning the Boverini Tournament, cruising past Lynn Tech, 73-38, to capture the title on Sunday at Lynn English. There was an extra importance to this game ever since Tech snapped St. Mary’s undefeated streak last February.
“We took the loss personally last year, and we came in to this game with a way different mindset,” said St. Mary’s sophomore guard Jake Fortier, who drained seven threes, finishing with a game-high 26 points, and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “We wanted this one.”
St. Mary’s led 16-8 after a competitive first quarter. The Spartans then sunk their opponent in the second quarter, holding Tech to only three points – and 0-10 shooting from the field – with a stifling defensive effort.
Compounding matters for Tech (2-2) was St. Mary’s patient approach on offense, continually finding gaps in the zone. On top of that, St. Mary’s dominated the glass, out-rebounding Tech, 17-6, in the first half, with Rolky Brea-Arias – a senior transfer from Lynn Classical – grabbing five boards in the second. The end result was a 20-point halftime lead with St. Mary’s ahead 31-11.
“Practice or game doesn’t matter, we like to defend,” said Brea-Arias (2 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks). “Our coaches have us play hard every practice. I want every stop and every rebound. On defense, that’s my yard.”
Tech was able to generate offense in the third, but St. Mary’s (6-0) drained eight three-pointers in that frame, all of which were the result of ball movement. That put St. Mary’s ahead 62-25 after three, with Fortier pouring in a dozen points in those eight minutes.
“My teammates and coaches give me confidence to shoot,” said Fortier. “So every shot I take, I feel like it’s going in. But the reason we won was our defense. Our practices are all about defensive effort and intensity. We played together on defense.”
Both teams went to their benches in the fourth quarter, with Lynn Tech coach Corey Bingham looking for a spark on offense.
“Our problem the past couple games has been scoring,” said Bingham. “We haven’t been hitting shots, so we’ve got to go to work and figure that out. But hats off to St. Mary’s. They were the better team.”
St. Mary’s has been perfect under new head coach Josh Keilty, who led Georgetown to a state title last season. New challenges will present themselves – St. Mary’s moved up to Division 2 – but the early results are encouraging.
“Our guys have really been fighting for each other,” said Keilty. “They’re unselfish, team-first committed guys. We like to keep our offense simple. When we get doubled, move the ball. The kids have bought into that, and we’re getting good shots.
“It all starts on defense. That’s the identity we’re trying to shape. We have a lot of respect for Lynn Tech, but for us, our discipline on defense was the difference. Our guys played every single possession.”
