Saints’ seniors have worked way to top of state
PAWTUCKET – On Sunday night, March 6, St. Raphael Academy dropped a heartbreaking 63-54 decision to Hendricken High in the R.I. Division I Tournament championship final at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse, and the squad’s four seniors – three of them full-time starters – all knew why.
“We just didn’t play up to our capabilities,” offered senior co-captain and guard Peter Wilson stated after practice on Thursday afternoon. “We had embarrassed them, 71-46, earlier in the (regular) season, and we thought it would be a cakewalk. I think we took them too lightly. We know if we play our best, we can beat anybody. That wasn’t the case.
“I can’t describe how I felt after (that defeat),” he added. “It was more anger than sadness because we knew we didn’t play to our full potential.”
Noted fellow senior co-captain/forward Trevante Jones: “I always think about it – I mean, every day. They keyed on Peter for most of the game, and we failed to play to our own level. They were just hungrier than we were.”
Senior Xavian Johnson mentioned he was devastated.
“Hendricken is our archrival, and we just don’t like losing to them,” he said. “It would’ve been great for us to be able to say we beat the Hawks, but – basically – we beat ourselves. We have plenty of room for improvement, including on the boards.”
Those soon-to-be graduates, including center/forward Willie Washington, will have a second opportunity to claim this Class of 2017’s first-ever state crown in any sport when it faces crosstown foe Shea in a state Open tourney semifinal at 6 p.m., Saturday at the University of Rhode Island’s Ryan Center.
Should the Saints win that, they could gain another shot at Hendricken, which will take on North Kingstown in the other semifinal at 4 p.m. at URI.
It’s no great surprise that failure can bring out the best in just about anyone, regardless of athletic level.
“Winning the division would’ve been nice, but we want this state championship even more,” Washington said. “We need some jewelry; we don’t have any. We want a ring for each of us, and we’ll buy them if we have to, but first we have to concentrate on (the task at hand).
“That loss crushed us, especially by the fact it was our last chance at (a divisional title),” he continued. “As a team, we need to come back together, execute and fight for what we want. We let that one slip away. We’d come close to tying it, but then we’d turn the ball over. That killed us, and we don’t want to go through the same thing again.”
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It’s been a long and winding road for this senior quartet, which went through some rough times before this campaign came to be.
As freshmen, Wilson and Jones already had served in the SRA hoop program, but they found out prior to their sophomore season that Washington – a tall, lanky wing – had transferred in from Paul Cuffee High in Providence.
Washington and Jones just happened to be cousins, and the former knew Wilson from competing in various recreation leagues.
“We weren’t very good at all our sophomore year,” Jones recalled. “The season before, we had lost guys like Chris Luciano, Alex Holloway, Graham Lynch and Brian McParlin, and they were great leaders. Chris, Alex and Brian graduated, and Graham, who was supposed to have one more year with us, transferred to Wheeler.
“We were really young and inexperienced, so we looked up to those guys. They were really good, and we learned a lot from them. Chris taught us some post moves, Alex gave us tips on handling the ball and Graham how to hit the outside shot. Brian was a great defender, so he taught us how to play defense the right way.
“When they graduated, we had to step up and do the job,” he added. “We didn’t have many seniors, if any, so it was our time.”
Wilson acknowledged he felt Washington would be “a good addition because we had lost some key pieces, and I knew he could fill in nicely down low. I had seen him play in rec leagues and the high school summer league, so I knew he could shoot, and that he was really athletic. He also was taller than anybody else we had, so we could use him.”
According to Washington, “I knew our sophomore season we weren’t going to do much because we weren’t very honed in; we weren’t in synch. We all used to talk that season about how, when we were seniors, we were going to go out and win a state championship. It was a dream of ours.”
That campaign ended with a not-so-auspicious 6-10 record, which didn’t earn a playoff bid. Veteran mentor Tom Sorrentine nevertheless felt things would fall into place when the crew became juniors.
“Last year, we had a pretty good team, but we didn’t have any seniors, so we were young,” he said. “Then we lost Willie to an ACL tear early on, and that was a huge loss. We still had a pretty good year in D-I (11-5), but not as good as I had hoped.
“Some of our kids have worked really hard both on their own and in practice this year; the team in general did a lot of running and lifting in the pre-season, so they were all in pretty good shape from Day One. Tre played football in the fall, so I wasn’t worried about him. Peter didn’t, but put in extra time during the fall, running and lifting. He’s been doing that since the beginning of school, so it’s paid off for him.”
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Johnson had spent the previous two campaigns representing the JV team, but was promoted to varsity in December. He now is playing an instrumental role off the bench.
“It felt good to finally be up with the guys, playing in D-I,” he mentioned. “I knew the (varsity) guys were good, and it took some time for me to adjust to the speed of the game. The movement is so fast. When I first started playing with Tre, Willie and Peter, it took me a while to get used to it; in fact, I still am, but I’m a lot more comfortable with it than I was.”
Said Wilson: “Xavian comes to practice every day, and when other people slack off, Coach Sorrentine will move him up to a starting role. It’s because he’s always busting his butt to get better, and all of the guys look up to him for that.”
The Saints closed the regular season with a 15-3 mark, and earned the No. 2 seed in the state D-I event behind the Hawks, who landed the top spot with a 16-2 record. Sorrentine’s bunch edged Classical, 60-57, in the quarterfinal, then mustered a 53-43 verdict over North Kingstown in the semis.
Then came the loss to Hendricken. So close, yet so far.
“We’re so much better this year because we worked so hard during the off-season and playing in the summer league,” Jones said. “We all worked on our own crafts. We’ve had a goal since our sophomore year to win a state championship, but we failed in the D-I final. That’s made us hungrier.”
Added Sorrentine: “Those guys are really hard workers. When you have guys like that, and the others seeing them work, everyone else has to fol- low suit. It’s called leading by example. Plus they’re all good kids, good students. They’re mature, and they understand everything that’s going on. They know the right things to do at the right time, and I’m really proud of all of them.
“Tre has played varsity basketball for all four years, and he’s a great kid,” he continued. “There isn’t anybody in our (athletic) system who will be more difficult to replace than him. He goes full speed all the time; there’s no let up in that kid, and Peter’s the same way.”
When asked what may lay ahead for the four seniors, all of whom plan on furthering their academic ad athletic educations in college, each claimed they’re keeping their options open. Still, Jones wants to attend one of three prep schools, among them Worcester Academy, St. Thomas More or Milford (N.Y.) Academy, and Washington – right now – plans on enrolling at CCRI- Warwick.
Yet all said they have only one thing on their minds at this point: Moving on to the state Open title tilt on Sunday night.
“No, we never have won a state championship; that is correct,” Wilson offered. “We’ve got to get this one. This is it. We know if we work our hardest, and we don’t take anything for granted, we can beat anybody. We’ve shown that.”
Noted Jones: “I’ve got a ton of faith in all of our guys; I know what they can bring to the table. Everyone on this team is a piece, like in chess, and we need all the pieces to come together to solve this one big puzzle. Everyone has their own position in our offense and defense, and everyone has to contribute in some way.
“These guys have contributed night-in and nightout, and they have it. Now we have two more puzzles to solve. If we do that, we’ll get that championship.”