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Even before the start of Wednesday’s boys’ basketball game between St. Mary’s and Albany, it was pretty obvious that the Panthers weren’t taking their closest geographical BSAL opponent very seriously. After all, St. Mary’s head coach Jose Caraballo didn’t even bother to show up, choosing instead to scout his team’s next opponent, Salesian. 

The game went just as expected, with St. Mary’s cruising to an 85-34 win to stay undefeated in league play. Guard Tim Fanning led the Panthers with a game-high 16 points, with forward Spartacus Rodriguez putting in 14, guard John Sharper hitting for 13 and center Simon Knight 12. 

Albany (3-17, 1-6 BSAL) was led by center Brandon Hinchee, who scored 14 points on a variety of short jumpers and post moves, but no other Cougar scored more than 4 points. 

St. Mary’s (17-2, 7-0) displayed their superiority right away, jumping out to an 8-0 lead with a jumper by Sharper and 3-pointers by Sharper and Fanning. Fanning hit another 3-pointer to make the score 11-2, and after Albany scored another bucket, the Panthers put the game away with a 21-point run that lasted well into the second quarter. Although the Cougars managed to run off 8 straight points to pull back within 37-14, the Panthers answered right back with their own 8-0 run to make the score 47-16 at halftime. 

St. Mary’s assistant coach Dave ? called off the dogs in the second half, pulling his team back into a half-court defense rather than pressure the Cougars, but Albany still matched their 18 first-half turnovers in the second half. 

“We know (St. Mary’s) is the top team in the area, so we had our work cut out for us,” Albany head coach Doug Kagawo said. “But we just saw this as a chance to see how we measure up.” 

While St. Mary’s dragged through a slow third quarter, the pace picked up for the final period when ? let his reserves run wild. Rodriguez got things going with a left-handed jam and ended up with 12 points in the quarter as the Panthers outscored Albany 22-8. 

“We got to let everyone play a lot tonight, ? said. “It was good, because you never know when you’re going to need those guys down the stretch.” 

Kagawo wasn’t surprised that his team lost big, but he was a bit off-put by Caraballo’s voluntary absence. 

“That’s (Caraballo’s) choice, and he can do what he wants,” Kagawo said. “I’ve never seen that done before, but it that’s his style, that’s his style.”