ProJo Hoops Wrap: Results and recaps from the opening night of the RIIL State Tournament
GAME OF THE NIGHT
As it turns out, Cinderella lives on Mineral Spring Ave.
North Providence, the No. 10 seed, pulled off the biggest upset in Friday’s opening round of the RIIL Boys Basketball State Tournament. The Division III champions did it with defense, a balanced offense and some clutch second-half performances to pull out the 53-47 win over No. 7 St. Raphael.
The Cougars – who didn’t qualify for last year’s State Tournament despite winning the D-III title – knew what they were in for up against the Saints and put the focus of their gameplan on the defense.
Using their length across the court, North Providence played a tough man-to-man defense and mixed in some zone that had St. Raphael flummoxed. The Saints’ defense was giving the Cougars plenty of problems as well, but NP led 13-10 after the first quarter and 26-21 at the half.
The low-scoring battle continued in the third, but North Providence got a boost with the return of Ronnie Vincent, who was plagued by foul trouble in the first half. He scored all nine of his points in the final 16 minutes and made three clutch free throws in the fourth quarter that helped hold off a St. Raphael comeback.
Jeremiah Lenus led North Providence with 15 points to go with eight rebounds and six assists. Kyle Prete joined Lenus in double figures with 14. Vincent had his nine and Andrew Karageorgos scored six points while pulling down 10 rebounds.
North Providence is the first Division III team since Toll Gate in 2019 to win a State Tournament game. The Cougars move on to the quarterfinals and will play No. 2 Barrington on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Rhode Island College.
St. Raphael got big performances from Zerek Johnson and Rafael Rios, who both scored 17 points in the loss.
RIIL Boys Basketball State Tournament Results
No. 8 East Providence 58, No. 9 Johnston 54
The Townies’ defense shut out the Panthers over the final 4:30 of the game and Levi Jacobs came up as the hero with a go-ahead layup with 29 seconds in a 58-54 win.
East Providence trailed most of the night and was down 49-43 before starting a slow and steady comeback. Down 54-49 with 4:30 left, Derrell Liggins hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two and after a free throw later in the quarter, the Townies trailed by 1.
With both defenses taking turns getting stops, Jacobs stepped up when it mattered most. With the shot clock winding down and EP down 54-53, Jacobs went strong to the hoop for a layup and a foul with 29.1 second left. He missed the free throw, but Franklin Lopez came up with a steal on Johnston’s next possession and the Townies were able to ice out the game.
Jacobs was a beast all night. He scored 26 points, with 16 comings in the second half. Kenaz Ochgwu was the only other Townie in double figures, scoring 10. Liggins finished with nine points and Christian Torres scored seven.
NeAri Vasquez left it all on the court for Johnston, scoring 17 points – which included burying three 3-pointers in the third quarter. Jayden Testa came up with 13 points and Michael Carlino and Cam Walker both scored eight in the loss.
East Providence moves on to the quarterfinal round and will play top-seeded Classical Monday at Rhode Island College at 6 p.m.
RIIL Girls Basketball State Tournament Results
No. 4 Ponaganset 60, No. 13 Toll Gate 31
Tied at 11 midway through the first quarter, the Chieftains went on an 8-0 run to create some separation that grew as the game went on in a 60-31 win over the Titans.
Toll Gate came out of the gates firing, thanks to seven points from Dulce Garcia, and had Ponaganset looking for answers. The Chieftains found it with defense, creating turnovers with a press that led to layups and an 8-0 run that heped turned an 11-11 game into a 21-13 first-quarter lead.
The Chieftains defense didn’t slow down. Ponaganset gave up only two points in the second quarter and five in the third, allowing it to coast in the fourth to finish things off.
All-Stater Jaina Yekelchik led 12 Chieftain scorers with 14 points. Marron Nerney came up with nine and Kylee Field and Caroline Rhodes both contributed big with the defense and work on the glass in the paint.
Garcia led the Division III champs with 16 points and senior Adeline Areson scored nine in her final high school game.
Ponaganset moves on to the quarterfinals and will play No. 5 Bay View Monday at CCRI at 7:30 p.m.
No. 3 Moses Brown 63, No. 14 Hope 36
The Quakers came in and took care of business early, jumping out with offense in the first quarter and a dominant defensive performance to put the game away at halftime before throwing the finishing touches up on their 63-36 win over the Blue Wave.
Lauren Bousquet scored seven points and Vivian Stone scored five in the first quarter that saw Moses Brown take a 22-10 lead on Hope. The Quakers locked things down in the second and allowed only three points to take a 42-13 lead into the half. Moses Brown stepped off the gas in the second half – the neighboring schools have scrimmaged each other this season – and Hope’s young roster picked up scoring late.
Bousquet scored 17 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. Hannah West helped Moses Brown out with 12 points, Marielle Nassiff came up with 11 and Stone finished with 10. The Quakers move on to the quarterfinals and will play Pawtucket in a rematch of the Division II championship game at CCRI on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
No. 5 Bay View 53, No. 12 West Warwick 29
The Bengals dominated with defense, allowing single-digit points in each of the final three quarters to run away with a 53-29 win over the Wizards.
After Ava Wasylow carried the offense with nine points to give Bay View a 16-10 lead after the first quarter, the defense took over. The Bengals surrendered four points in the second quarter to go up 26-14, then allowed only eight and seven in the third and fourth to put the game away.
Amelia Polichetti led Bay View’s offense with 14 points, getting seven of those in the third quarter. Wasylow finished with 13 – all in the first half – and Qiana Sumner and Sofia Moreno both scored six. The Bengals move on to the quarterfinals and will play Ponaganset Monday at CCRI at 7:30 p.m.
Lexie Herceg led West Warwick with eight points and Brea Lima scored six in the loss.
No. 6 Pawtucket 49, No. 11 Cranston West 38
It was a gritty battle between the two teams, but the Bucket offense came alive in the second half as their defense continued to dominate before pulling out the 49-38 win over the Falcons.
Points were tough to come by and at halftime Pawtucket led 17-15. Things changed in the second half as Armani Rivera – who was held scoreless in the first half – starting to find a groove on offense. With the Bucket defense still in control, Rivera and the offense got going and took a 28-18 lead after the third quarter before the game finally opened up for both teams in the fourth. Pawtucket’s lead proved to be too much and it held on for the program’s first State Tournament victory.
Trinity Burk led Pawtucket with 12 points and Rivera scored 10, all in the second half. Tiyara Gonzalez added seven in the win. The Bucket will take on No. 3 Moses Brown in the quarterfinals rematch of the Division II Championship game on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at CCRI.
No. 8 Chariho 47, No. 9 Mount St. Charles 44
Megan Ballard answered a Mounties’ 3-pointer with one of her own with 44 seconds left and the Chargers’ defense finished the job in a 47-44 win.
The third matchup between the two teams went about as expected. It was a back-and-forth game that saw the teams tied after the first quarter, Mount ahead 22-20 at halftime and Chariho ahead 35-31 after the third.
With just over one minute left in the fourth, the Chargers led 44-41 when Lexi Robillard stepped up huge for the Mounties, knocking down a game-tying 3-pointer. Chariho was slow to respond, forcing coach Dan LaBelle to use a timeout, and the rest worked as Megan Ballard hit a step-back three with two defenders on her to take the lead.
Chariho came up with a stop, but the offense handed it right back to Mount. The Chargers’ defense stepped up again and forced an off-balanced, last-second 3-point heave that missed the mark and sealed Chariho’s win.
Ballard led the Chargers with 14 points and Keira Frias joined her in double figures with 11. Jules White chipped in with seven in the win for Chariho, which will play top-seeded Barrington Monday at CCRI at 5:30 p.m.
Mount’s Addie Johnson led all scorers with 17 points and Emma Roberts joined her in double-digits with 10.
Other RIIL Results
RIIL Boys Basketball State Tournament
No. 6 Tolman 76, No. 11 Portsmouth 69
RIIL Girls Basketball State Tournament
No. 7 La Salle 50, No. 10 Portsmouth 40
Information from the above games were not sent in by representatives from the two home teams, Tolman and La Salle.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Results from the RIIL Boys and Girls Basketball State Tournament Friday
