No closing the book on Savio

SALEM -- Isaac Jenkins's 15th and 16th points made Lucia Marinai light up like the scoreboard.

Marinai told her son earlier in the week that if his team won in the semifinals, she would make the trip from Italy to see him in the Division 4 North final .

Last night she watched Jenkins and his team at their best.

Marinai saw Jenkins score 16 points and help Savio Prep stun top-seeded Ipswich, 57-52, giving the Spartans their first title in more than a decade.

After watching her son hit the final two freebies, Marinai couldn't find words to describe how proud she was as the Spartans provided a lift for a school in jeopardy of losing its building and shutting down at the end of the school year.

"That was a lot of motivation," Jenkins said. "We did it for Savio. We did it for the team. That's all that mattered."

The Spartans had to stop Ipswich sharpshooter Nick Layman, who came out shredding the nets, draining three 3-pointers and scoring 11 of the Tigers' first 16 points.

Savio Prep coach Frank Shea called a timeout with his team trailing, 16-7, and made adjustments.

"We practiced for two days on not letting Layman get clean looks, so obviously we were a little disappointed that he was able to just line up and get shots," he said. "We knew that if we're not going to get out on this kid and discourage him, he's going to go out there and light you up."

Discouragement came in the form of a box-and-one defense that limited the effectiveness of the Tigers' top scorer.

Layman came into the game with more than 1,000 career points . From that timeout till deep into the final minute, he scored just 5.

The next step was shushing Ipswich fans who taunted Prep with reminders that its school is in jeopardy of closing.

The Spartans had heard similar unsportsmanlike comments in their previous game against St. Mary's, and Shea said he knew he would hear them again.

"I don't know if it fires our guys up or not, but that's part of the tournament atmosphere," Shea said. "We played them two years ago in the semis, so we knew what this crowd was going to be like. The saying that I have is that you can't score from the stands. So I told them to just focus on what we're supposed to be doing and don't lose your concentration."

Justin McNeil was focused.

His 28 points matched the combined output of Ipswich's big two as Layman finished with 20 and Steve Paneuf scored 8.

With the Spartans in the middle of a 13-3 run, McNeil rolled off a screen and faded backward into a front row full of Ipswich fans, hitting one of his three 3-pointers to give Savio Prep a 39-35 lead.

"I felt very confident," he said. "I knew I needed to carry my team, so I hit the big shots."

Marinai hasn't seen much since she touched down Thursday night, but between now and Tuesday she'll get a chance to see the sights, including TD Banknorth Garden, where the Spartans will play Cathedral for the EMass title Tuesday .