MILLTOWN — Saint Mark’s fell into an early hole against Conrad, and despite closing the gap early in the fourth quarter, the Spartans fell to the Red Wolves in their boys basketball, 71-62, at home on Dec. 9.
Conrad started with a 4-0 lead on free throws while the Spartans were cold from the field, but the teams were off and running once Dylan Wright got Saint Mark’s going with a three-pointer. No shot clock was necessary in this contest, as the teams sprinted from end to end with some crisp passing and skilled shooting.
The Spartans went inside with success much of the night, with Max Batten (St. John the Beloved Parish) and Dylan Bromwell (St. John the Beloved Parish) picking up early points. A Bromwell layup, with an assist to Batten, put Saint Mark’s on top, 8-7, with 4:11 to go, and quick hoops by Nate Meyer and Bromwell pushed the advantage to five points. The Red Wolves responded, however, scoring the final 10 points of the first quarter. A steal and hoop by Justin Webb put Conrad in front for good at 13-12.
Anton James scored after a Saint Mark’s turnover to open the second quarter, the Red Wolves’ second field goal of the quarter, extending their run to 14 points before Batten scored inside to end the run. Conrad got hot, getting triples from Marcel Ramirez, Webb and Jordan Kennedy as they opened up a 34-22 halftime lead.
It was Saint Mark’s turn to go on a run at the beginning of the second half, igniting the sizeable student section that came out on Pajama Night. The first six of those came on threes by Bromwell. With the lead cut to four, the Red Wolves turned to Vincent Starr to jump start the offense. He had 10 points in the quarter, making three field goals and adding three free throws. Kennedy and Ramirez contributed three-pointers during the quarter, but the Spartans’ Nate Meyer nearly offset those six points with five of his own.
The Red Wolves took a seven-point advantage into the final quarter, but the Spartans capitalized on a Conrad turnover led to a bucket by Wright. That cut Conrad’s lead to 52-49. Starr and Ramirez took some of the wind out of the Spartans’ fans sails, hitting consecutive three-pointers a bit later to get the lead back to nine.
Again, Saint Mark’s rallied. This time, they were within four after a three-pointer from Griffin Davis, but Starr finished a fine outing with a floater and two free throws in the final minute.
Starr finished with 23 points, all but two in coming in the second half. Webb (17) and Ramirez (15) also finished in double figures. The Red Wolves (2-0) wrap up a season-opening road trip at Concord on Dec. 16 at 3:30 p.m.
For the Spartans, Bromwell led the way with 15, and Wright added 13. Nine players scored for Saint Mark’s, who are back in action on Saturday against West Philadelphia at 6 p.m. at Mount Pleasant High School.
Photos by Mike Lang.
