St. Mary’s runs the table in league, on to the playoffs

Kevin McCarthy
 

St. Mary’s High ran the table in league play, a feat some said wouldn’t happen. The only tarnish to the Panthers record is a January 12 66-61 loss to powerful Sacramento High, a sqaud that has lost but twice this season, both games being two-point defeats.

But bigger hurdles await -- do-or-die, win-or-else contests if you will. Can the Panthers continue the march to Sacramento? Aalim Moor isn’t saying so but he is offering that he and his teammates have done what was necessary -- probably more (no pun intended) -- in preparation of achieving their ultimate goal this season.

The first step is complete. After a hard and challenging training camp, solid pre-season games and a tough Bay Shore Athletic League (BSAL) regular season, we got it done. We finished league play with a 14-0 record and an overall regular season record of 25-1. From the beginning of this season, we knew that we had a chance to do something special. We knew we had a lot of talented players, a style of play that was very aggressive and one that would cause other teams a lot of problems. We are very proud of what we have done so far as a team, but we are definitely not satisfied!

Aalim Moor reflects on a spectacular season

We are getting ourselves mentally and physically ready for the BSAL playoffs now. We know that everybody is going to be coming at us hard. We respect every team we face and know that they have also worked very hard to get to this point of their season. Having said that, we know how hard we’ve worked, how much time we’ve spent in the weight room, on the track, studying film and in the gym. We are on a mission and are prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve our ultimate goal this season...that being winning our last game of the season! Personally, I am pleased with my play at this point in the season. My goal was and is to do whatever it takes for our team to be successful. I still feel that I am the waiter and my job is to serve and feed my teammates. I let them eat first -- I’ll eat later when I’m relaxed and hungry. However, our last regular season home game against Salesian was a situation when I ate. I finished that game with 16 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 turnovers and 1 block. It was our Senior Night, we won the game and took the regular season title. Step One is done...now it gets real!