St. Mary’s girls basketball win Div. 3 title
By Cary Shuman
The St. Mary’s High School girls basketball team captured the Division 3 state championship with a 46-38 victory over Norwell March 14 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
Super sophomore Bella Owumi led the Spartans with 19 points. Senior forward Reese Matela scored nine points. Senior guard Juliane Conte scored eight points while junior forward Jillian Roberts (five points), sophomore guard Lily Norton (three points), and freshman forward Charleigh Green (two points) also contributed to the Spartans’ potent offense.
Head coach Jeff Newhall’s No. 1-seeded Spartans took control early, building a 16-6 lead after one period over the No. 2-seeded Clippers. Senior forward Reese Matela was a major contributor to the Spartans’ fast start, establishing her low-post presence that opened up the court for her teammates.
Playing excellent defense against a high-scoring Norwell team, St. Mary’s led 26-18 at the half and 32-25 after three periods.
With the Clippers hoping to mount a fourth-quarter comeback, Owumi, Conte, and Norton each nailed key three-pointers to maintain the Spartans’ advantage. Matela hit some key free throws late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory and bring home the state title to Lynn.
St. Mary’s completed a superb 24-3 season in which the team was ranked No. 2 overall in the state rankings among all divisions. It was the program’s third state title in fourth years, adding another crown to the dynasty that has been built during the Jeff Newhall Era.
“I could tell early on that we had a pretty good chance [to win the title],” said Newhall. “We’re comfortable here. All the state titles are a different, and this is a special group. We set out at the beginning of the year to win everything we can and we did, starting with the Christmas Tournament, our league [Catholic Central], our Spartan Tournament, and now this. It’s tough to put into words how proud I am of this team.”
Individually, Bella Owumi made a statement in the tournament that she is clearly one of the premier two-way players in Massachusetts. She displayed all her skills against Norwood, who, like other opponents, gave the 5-foot-10-inch star extra attention on defense.
“Bella has been playing like this all season,” said Newhall. “She had some big hoops. Nothing she does surprises me. She’s the key to everything we do, but we have a great team around her.”
Newhall also credited Matela for her excellent performance.
“You saw the confidence we have in her,” said Norwell. “She’s our center, and we’re running full-court, out-of-bounds plays to get her the ball or put her on the line. She’s comfortable in this situation. She has had a knack for hitting some big shots in the big games. Reese is certainly a big part of us being one of the top 1-2 teams in the entire state.”
Owumi, who has received several offers from Division 1 colleges, talked to reporters after the game.
“It feels amazing to win the state championship,” said Owumi. “It was rough going out early [state semifinals] last year and we didn’t get the job done. It’s really good coming back this year and being even stronger.”
Asked about Norwell’s zone defense and the extra focus on her, Owumi said, “I realize that a lot of teams are going to focus on me, and I take that as a compliment. I know that I’m a great player, and people are going to try to stop me from scoring, but I just have to stay calm, and I can’t get crazy, because I can’t let my team down. I just stay composed and keep my team all together, and we had a great game.”
And a great season.