LOWELL, Mass. — St. Mary's sophomore Bella Owumi sent back one of her signature monster blocks in the closing seconds of the Division 3 championship, chasing down and swatting an open Norwell layup.
During the dead ball, Spartans coach Jeff Newhall, Owumi's longtime coach, neighbor and family friend, brought her over for a final message.
"That's how you block a shot!" he yelled into her ear.
The top-seeded Spartans, led by Owumi's 19 points and countless deflections, prevailed in a physical, 46-38 battle against third-seeded Norwell Friday evening. The victory brought St. Mary's its third Div. 3 championship in the last four years; the Spartans are 3-for-3 in winning titles at Tsongas Center.
"Our program's never lost a game here. We should maybe rent it out and play our home games here," Newhall said. "But they're all different, and this is a special group."
Leading the way was Owumi, who has started on title-winning teams since she was a seventh-grader. On past championship teams, the 5-foot-11 wing was a complimentary piece alongside stars like Yirsy Queliz, Niya Morgen and Kellyn Preira. Morgen sent Owumi a pregame text telling her to step up, now that she's the focal point.
Owumi confidently drilled four 3-pointers, swarmed for rebounds, and wreaked havoc with her long arms. Following the victory, those three alumni Facetimed the Spartans to congratulate them.
"I think I just really started off strong, and I got everybody going and just kept everybody together," Owumi said.
The Spartans (25-3) looked more comfortable on the Tsongas court out of the gate, opening on a 9-2 run. They forced six turnovers in the first quarter alone and frazzled the Clippers (23-2) with their full-court press, led by Owumi and center Reese Matela. By the end of the first quarter, Owumi had started heating up behind the arc. She tallied 14 points by halftime and made three 3-pointers, helping St. Mary's to a 26-18 lead.
But Norwell was settling in. The Clippers trailed 23-12 as they began to figure out their offense against the press. They cut the gap to 28-25 early in the third quarter and continued to hang around. Late in the third quarter, Owumi took an inadvertent limb to the face. She was down for multiple minutes, but following a brief respite and a hug from her mom, Rebecca, on the sidelines, Owumi made her return.
"I realized a lot of teams are gonna really focus on me," Owumi said. "I take that as a compliment. I know I'm a great player and people are gonna try to stop me from scoring, but I just gotta stay calm, and I can't get crazy, because I can't let my team down."
The Clippers continued to hang within 5-10 points. Dynamic senior duo Reagan Dowd (10 points) and Maddie Oliver (9 points) had their moments, but couldn't generate consistent buckets against a stingy St. Mary's defense. Dowd's freshman sister, Adrienne Dowd, contributed 10 points and some critical offensive rebounds to keep her team in the game.
Matela (9 points) and fellow senior Juliana Conte (8 points) followed Owumi and also became three-time state champs to end their high school careers. Matela, an Assumption commit, helped spark the Spartans to their early lead with a forced jump-ball turnover at the top of the press and some early scores. She also knocked down the final game-clinching free throws.
"You saw the confidence we have in her," Newhall said. "She's our center and we're running full-court and out of bounds plays to get her the ball, to put her on the line."
Owumi and Newhall have known each other since she was a baby. Their relationship transcends the typical player-coach dynamic, as shown when leaped for a hug from Newhall following the final buzzer. For Owumi, cementing her rise to stardom alongside Newhall meant something special.
"Jeff's always been that mentor for me — somebody I can call, somebody I can just talk to," Owumi said. "I go to his office all the time during the day to just talk. I think this is a great relationship with my coach and I think, not everybody gets that opportunity. I'm really grateful that I have somebody like that who supports me."
