The St. Mary’s Academy senior boys’ basketball team gave the home crowd lots to cheer about as they dominated the Liverpool Warriors 103-47 in their home opener on Monday night, Nov. 26.
The Warriors fell behind early 16-2 but played a more evenly matched game throughout the rest of the first quarter to take the frame 22-18.
A three pointer from Shayne Clements two minutes into the second quarter put the Stingrays out front 25-24 and the host team drove to the hoop with easy baskets from the inside part of the game to outdistance the visitors 41-10.
The Stingrays made some fantastic steals as they pressed their way to a 59-32 half time lead.
SMBA outshot Liverpool 44-15 in the second half to complete the win with Garrett Nesbitt drawing cheers from the crowd as he scored a basket to give the Stingrays 100 points.
Coach Brad Bright said he was pleased to have the home opener win and felt his team would continue to improve as the season progressed.
“The win was the result of a good effort from the whole team,” said Bright. “The only way we’ll win is with a team effort.”
Ryan Grezaud, the Warriors coach said his team gave up too many easy points and felt the Stingray press hit his squad hard.
“We did very well the first quarter but the effective SMBA press was tough for the boys to handle,” said Grezaud. “The press brought our moral down but the team played hard and we’ll work on mastering the press break for next time.”
Shayne Clements and Mackenzie Ford poured in 35 and 34 points respectively to lead the Stingray attack while Brandon Doucette chipped in 13 for the home team.
Kaleb Daurie scored 13 and Wendell Weir added 10 for the Warriors.
The Stingrays stand at 3-0 after an 80-51 win over Lockeport in an exhibition match on Nov. 20 and a 77-58 victory over the North Queens Spartans on Nov. 23.
The SMBA squad will travel to Drumlin Heights on Nov. 28 for a 6 p.m. game and then host North Queens for a return match at 6 p.m. on Nov. 30.
