MANHASSET, NY- St. Mary's is as young of a team as you will see in New York with 4 freshmen getting key minutes, while 2 sophomores are also big parts of the equation for the Gaels. When you have youth like that it means a lot of inexperience, but it also means a lot of potential.

A lot of the good was on display on Saturday for St. Mary's as they took on Staten Island Academy at their St. Mary's Showcase as Laura Bogota '21 had 15 points, while Sirviva Legion '22 had 14 points in what was a solid win for one of Long Island's best as the Gaels held off a late Tigers run to take the 52-44 victory.

Coming into Saturday's game with a 12-3 record overall, St. Mary's head coach Kevin White says he is starting to see the growth in what can only be categorized as an extremely young and still growing team. There are times he wants to see more still from his group, but as we hit February he admits he likes the direction this season's Gaels seem to be trending in.

"They are starting to develop a consistency of knowing what needs to be done, but again they are freshmen and they are sophomores and as I told them they have to exhibit patience at times which is apart of the maturity process," White explained.

Saturday would be an excellent test because while Staten Island Academy is also quite a young team, they are far more battle tested this season meaning a strong result against the Tigers could give St. Mary's just the momentum they need to carry over into the final few weeks of the regular season.

Bogota got the Gaels out to a good start from the outside as she connected on her first two three's of the game as St. Mary's jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead, though the offense didn't keep up as Allie McGinn '21 would score five late in the first for Staten Island Academy to give them their first lead as the opening quarter came to a close.

One half of the St. Mary's freshman twins in Taryn Barbot '23 was able to attack going down the left side for the bucket and foul to open the second quarter, and soon after it was Taylor Barbot '23 getting in on the act with a steal off of the Gaels pressure defense and an easy lay in. The Gaels took control early in the second and led for most of the way, though a couple of Nyema Lindsay '21 buckets in the final minute drew the Tigers close as the lead for St. Mary's was 26-23 heading into halftime.

It was the third quarter though that really showed the kind of offensive team St. Mary's can have when things are going there way. Bogota and Alisa Blalock '22 each drained a pair of three's in the stanza, while Legions was consistently able to get by her defender and finish in the paint off the dribble as there was little Staten Island Academy could do to contain the Gaels firepower.

Outscoring SIA 22-8 in the third quarter allowed St. Mary's to take a 48-31 lead into the fourth, and while White was happy with his team leading by 17 he wanted to see them really put a team away and not allow any sort of run to give the Tigers hope in the final quarter.

"What we have to learn is when we have a team down to build on that deficit that the other team has," White said.

That would be easier said than done though White thought as he knew the talent that the Tigers had. He proved to be right as well as too many times St. Mary's were settling for three's that fell in the third quarter, but not in the fourth. Because of that it was slowly but surely Staten Island Academy chipping away as McGinn was strong from the outside, as was Abbie Lindsey '23 who along with Saran Moschella '23 have become big contributors for the Togers.

A once 17 point lead entering the fourth was trimmed down to 6 as SIA held St. Mary's scoreless until finally it was Legions attacking the rim and getting a big bucket to fall on a drive with 45.9 seconds left in the game. It was a critical basket at a critical time with White praising his star sophomore in that spot for making the right decision and finishing when her team needed her most.

"Sirviva made a good basketball decision," White stated. "She let the court open, she didn't force it, she let it extend instead of making it happen, took what was there and made the shot."

Finally getting a bucket to fall seemed to be all St. Mary's needed as while it wasn't the prettiest final 8 minutes of action for the young Gaels they were able to get the job done as St. Mary's moved to 13-3 on the season with a 52-44 win over Staten Island Academy who were by Lindsay's game high 18 points, but fell to 11-6 on the year.

Bogota with 15 and Legions with 14 were the leading scorers for the Gaels, though with 9 players in total getting on the scoreboard for St. Mary's it was a strong team effort for a team that has St. John the Baptist coming to them on Tuesday with the NSCHSAA regular season title on the line.

Msgr. Scanlan 49- West Orange (NJ) 35

Deja Leonard '22 (S)- 15 points

Kiley Capstraw '22 (WO)- 18 points

Xaverian 57- St. Anthony's 39

Grace Sundback '23 (X)- 20 points

Gianna Santacroce '21 (A)- 11 points