Ponaganset girls defeat Juanita Sanchez for first girls hoop title since 2001

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Before any of the current members of the Ponaganset High School team were born, Foster/Glocester was the capital of girls basketball in Rhode Island.

The return to the mountaintop wasn’t easy.

Ponaganset moved up to Division I, earned a top-four seed and then suffered an early exit in the D-I tournament. The Chieftains used that loss as motivation and attacked the competition at the RIIL State Tournament with the same type of ferocity they played with all season. No egos. No superstars. Just good basketball.

Down five in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s state final against Juanita Sanchez, Ponaganset wasn’t fazed. They were trailed by more in the semifinals, and went on to win. The Chieftains kept their heads and closed the final 3:37 on a 12-0 run to lock up the 58-51 win and the program’s first state title since 2001.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Ponaganset sophomore Ella Pierre-Louis, who scored 10 points and had 22 rebounds in the win. “I didn’t want to lose our seniors' last game, so it’s a great feeling to be state champs.”

“Getting knocked out early on [in the D-I tournament] was hard,” Ponaganset sophomore Jaina Yekelchik said after her 14-point performance. “We just took that as motivation and took it with us in the Open Tournament.”

The game was what a state championship game should be. Juanita Sanchez, the first Division II team to reach the state final, dictated the pace and controlled Ponaganset’s free-wheeling, run-and-gun offense.

Ponaganset’s biggest lead — before the game’s final minute — was six, coming in the first quarter. Juanita led, 22-21, at the half, but the Chieftains took it back and were up, 36-33, after three quarters.

Then the fun started.

Led by All-Stater Genesis McNeill, Juanita Sanchez opened the fourth quarter on a 15-4 run and was up, 48-40, after Nysia Ortiz hit her second 3-pointer of the quarter. Ponaganset called a timeout and figured things out.

The Chieftains weren’t nervous. They were down 10 in the fourth against undefeated North Kingstown the day before, so eight was a walk in the park.

Who did the damage? The whole team. That’s how Ponaganset’s worked all season. Yekelchik did some scoring, as did Tournament MVP Samantha McFee. Pierre-Louis was a monster on the glass while Campbell Boyden came up with some big defensive plays.

McFee started the rally with a huge 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 51-49 with 3:37 left. Yekelchik made a free throw and, after another empty possession by the Cavaliers, Boyden took a pass from McFee to put Ponaganset up, 51-51, with 2:28 left. It was their first lead since the start of the fourth quarter.

“We all know who’s good at what,” Yekelchik said. “We all know our strengths and we play to our strengths.”

Ponaganset led, 54-51, with under a minute left when Yekelchik showed off her biggest strength — her fearlessness. The sophomore had the ball up top, drove hard to her right and cut to the basket, going in for a layup and a five-point lead with 47 seconds left.

“Sometimes I just go in and I don’t even know [what I’m doing]. I’m just playing for something,” Yekelchik said. “I always focus on finishing and I know my teammates are there to help me, whether or not I get fouled. I know I’m going to have the support whenever I do it.”

The Chieftains got a stop on the next play and made enough free throws down the stretch to close things out comfortably before celebrating on midcourt of the Ryan Center.

“It’s a great feeling,” Pierre-Louis said. “After all the work we put in, from winning [the regular-season] D-I thing to now state champs.”

Juanita Sanchez walked off the court upset with the result, but not with its season.

The Cavaliers were one of the best stories of the season. They finished second in the D-II standings, then rolled through the tournament to win the D-II crown last month.

A Division II team had never made the final four of the state tourney, never mind the final. The Cavaliers didn’t think of themselves as a D-II though; they were just a team on a mission.

“It was very special to us,” said Juanita’s Sabanna Berrios, who was named the team’s postseason MVP. “It was our first time making it here and it’s so crazy because we worked so hard since Day 1 of the season.

“Although we lost, we fought, and even when there was one second on the clock, we were still fighting.”

The hardest part of the loss? Saying goodbye to the seniors who helped get the Cavaliers here. Nysia Ortiz was a beast, hitting clutch 3s in the second half and being a force on the glass despite her size. Sa’Myra Pina was a leader and made plays for Juanita all season long. Jayviona Smith-Littlejohn filled whatever role the team asked.

“We definitely left it all out on this court and we’re going to get back here,” said Berrios, a junior. “We wouldn’t have been able to do this, any of this, without our seniors. It’s definitely a thank you to them, but we’ll try to get back here next season.”

Ponaganset will too.

From 1992 to 1998, the Chieftains won six straight state titles, missed the next two and then won another. Their next title didn’t come until Sunday and they don’t want to have that type of stretch again.

“We’re trying to get it back in the program,” Yekelchik said. “It’s been over 20 years and it really means a lot to have it back.”

PONAGANSET (58): Julia Castelli 3-9 1-2 8, Campbell Boyden 4-6 2-4 11, Jaina Yekelchick 4-11 6-7 14, Samantha McFee 4-7 4-9 15, Ella Pierre-Louis 5-12 0-1 10, Brooke Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Grace Dandeneau 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Hassell 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 20-48 13-23 58.

JUANITA SANCHEZ (51): Nysia Ortiz 4-16 0-2 11, Sabanna Berrios 4-10 1-6 10, Jayviona Smith-Littlejohn 2-4 0-2 4, Genesis McNeill 5-21 6-9 16, Sa’Myra Pina 0-6 4-4 4, Damaris Antigua 1-5 0-0 2, Charlize Romero 2-2 0-0 4, Tiara Baez 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18-64 11-23 51.

Halftime – Juanita Sanchez 22-21. 3-pointers – Ponaganset 5-21 (McFee 3-6, Castelli 1-6, Boyden 1-2, Yekelchik 0-4, Hassell 0-2, Dandeneau 0-1), Juanita Sanchez 4-21 (Ortiz 3-12, Berrios 1-1, Pina 0-5, McNeill 0-2, Antigua 0-1). Rebounds – Ponaganset 46 (Pierre-Louis 22), Juanita Sanchez 39 (Berrios 16). Assists – Ponaganset 13 (Castelli 5), Juanita Sanchez 6 (McNeill 4). Turnovers – Ponaganset 23 (Yekelchik 6), Juanita Sanchez 8 (Pina 3). Steals – Ponaganset 4 (Boyden 2), Juanita Sanchez 14 (Ortiz, McNeill 4). Blocks – Ponaganset 3 (Pierre-Louis 2), Juanita Sanchez 0. Fouled out – Ortiz, McNeill, Pina.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Ponaganset girls defeat Juanita Sanchez for first hoop title since '01