St. Mary's, the resident MIAA Division 3 dynasty, entered a transition year last season with one of its youngest rosters.
The Spartans, winners (or shareholders in 2020) of the last three Div. 3 championships, had graduated three 1,000-point scorers in Yirsy Queliz (now at Northeastern), Niya Morgen (Bentley) and Kellyn Preira (Monmouth). They weren't a title favorite, but coach Jeff Newhall watched the Spartans quickly stack up statement wins anyway and ultimately reach the semifinals before losing to powerhouse Foxboro.
"I knew there was one team that was going to be a problem, so in the back of my mind, I was kind of like: Anything less than the final four or the state final would be kind of a disappointment. And if we lost to, really, anyone but Foxboro, I thought that that would be a disappointment as well," Newhall said. "So I would say, overall, it was a really, really good year — probably better than I anticipated. We got back on course a lot quicker than I would've (thought)."
This year, Division 3 has a trio of top-tier teams on paper in St. Mary's, Foxboro and Norwell. Here's why the Spartans believe they can reclaim the title.
