Top seeds punch Division II girls basketball title game tickets: Here's how they did it
EAST PROVIDENCE — Moses Brown entered the playoffs as the Division II girls basketball title favorites. And they opened at that same spot last year.
But last winter didn’t end the way the top-seeded Quakers envisioned and the first half of the semifinals against Mount St. Charles on Friday didn’t either. Moses Brown learned from its mistakes, though, and declared its championship intentions.
Pawtucket plays fast and its ascension in the league is just as rapid. After falling in the quarterfinals last year, the second-seeded Shea/Tolman co-op booked its title game matchup after dispatching Chariho with a blazing transition offense.
The championship is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Here are the takeaways from Division II girls basketball semifinals:
Moses Brown dominates second half
Experience can only be gained. And sometimes the hard way.
Perfect into the championship, Moses Brown girls basketball’s growth seemed exponential last year. But they didn’t have the familiarity of a playoff run and fumbled championship spoils to West Warwick in a stunning upset.
The Quakers (20-0) are again perfect leading into the D-II girls basketball title game. And they relied on that gained experience to hold Mount St. Charles to 13 points in the second half for a 50-30 final in East Providence.
“We were losing ourselves in the moment a little bit,” Moses Brown coach Tamara Tardy said. “We got a little excited and played a little nervous. But we really had to go to the defense and that’s what got us here.”
The Quakers, on a 36-0 stretch against in-state opponents in the regular-season, opened the second half with full-court pressure and went on an 8-0 run to break open a 17-all game. The lead swelled to 31-17 on a step-back jumper by Lauren Bousquet as Moses Brown held Mount St. Charles scoreless for nearly the entire frame.
Bousquet, who only managed four points in the first half, finished with a game-high 20 points and Jaelynn Perez added 17.
“Stay true to us and what got us here,” Tardy said of how the Quakers would expel their championship woes. “Our defense and our tenacity and playing together as a team. Our mantra this year is, all-in and belief. That's it. We have the same roster [as last year], same girls, but it's just that experience.”
Related: Resilient Johnston boys basketball books Division II Final Four trip
It’s hard to take anything away from the team’s lone meeting – a 52-35 finish – in the season-opener. But Bousquet finished with a game-high 25 points as the Quakers led 29-7 at the break.
A triumph on Tuesday would mark Moses Brown’s second divisional title win all-time.
“I think it's just our effort,” Moses Brown’s Marielle Nassiff said of their championship plan. “I think it’s just effort this year, we believe we can do this. And we know we're the best team, so we can do this.”
Pawtucket too much
Pawtucket, in a game of runs, sealed the contest late for a 58-40 final vs. the Chargers.
Leading by seven in a wire-to-wire win, Armani Rivera cut through the lane and finished on the left side. With the shot clock fading, Tiyara Gonzalez drew a blocking foul in the lane and knocked down a pair at the line.
Pawtucket put away Chariho with the quick 4-0 spurt with its stars, who have led the scoring all season and again in the semifinals. Gonzalez finished with 26 points and Rivera added 22.
“You have to play consistently [in the playoffs] and make sure that we eliminate our mistakes,” Gonzalez said. “When it’s time to be ready, you lock in mentally.”
Gonzalez scored 10 in the second quarter and finished with five steals, five rebounds and five assists as Pawtucket build a 31-19 halftime advantage.
But Chariho inched to within five with under a minute to play in the third with a 6-0 run on a trio of baseline jumpers, including two from Erin O'Leary. Jules White tallied 19 points in the loss as Chariho hung tough through three frames.
“We executed the game plan a lot better than we did the first time against them,” Chariho coach Dan Labelle said. “We really wanted to try to keep them out of the middle as much as possible, but when you have two great players [Rivera and Gonzalez], sometimes great players just make great plays.
“I think they have a pretty good shot [against Moses Brown] because they have two good guards that can really handle the Moses Brown pressure.”
Rivera led the Raiders with 17 points and Gonzalez managed seven in the loss against Moses Brown earlier in the year. But it’ll take more than just the backcourt duo to upset the Quakers.
“We have to get in the gym and consistently just work on getting better and work on trying to be better than them as a team, not individually,” Gonzalez said.
A win for Pawtucket would be their second championship as a co-op (2022 Division III title).
“This is what we want,” Pawtucket coach Walter Gonzalez said. “You want 1 vs. 2. They got the better of us in the first game of the year. So hopefully we give them a better performance in the championship game.”
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
On X: @ByJacobRousseau
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Moses Brown and Pawtucket reach D-II girls basketball RIIL title game
