Saints, Raiders play for title
Raiders ovecome Larson to earn spot in tonight’s final
PAWTUCKET – A switch in defenses paved the way for the Shea High girls’ basketball team to earn a spot in the finals of the DonaldsonLynch Tournament.
The Raiders tightened things up considerably with a man-to-man scheme that held crosstown rival Tolman to just eight second-half field goals. The spark also led to more continuity on the offensive end as the Raiders surged behind a game-changing 13-0 run that helped vault them past the Tigers, 64-57, at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket.
Shea will face defending Donaldson-Lynch Tournament champion St. Raphael, which had an easy time with Central Falls, 71-37. Saturday night’s title game is set for 7:45 with Tolman and C.F. meeting in the 4:15 consolation game.
Shea’s defense began to tighten up late in the first half after Tolman senior Ally Larson and junior Julia AlAmir combined to make five 3-pointers. The vice grip only intensified as Shea forced Tolman to scramble on the offensive end for much of the second half. Good shots that were there in the opening half were replaced by quick-trigger heaves that played exactly into Shea’s hands.
“Their man-to-man was a huge factor,” said Tolman head coach Walter Gonzalez. “We went from being a good passing team to taking poor shots.”
Shea trailed by 14 points (33-19) at the break but came out a totally different team. A 10-0 run at the start of the second half was keyed by junior Denesha Lomba (13 points) and a defensive effort that held Tolman to zero field goals for three minutes.
The Tigers regrouped a bit behind five straight points from Al-Amir to take a 43-32 lead, but that’s when the Raiders made their first in a series of serious pushes. Afollow by Yasmine Santos and a three off a Tolman turnover by Ashley Torres Moreira made it a two-possession game, but the Tigers managed to get some breathing room after senior Kayla Diana made two free throws that made it 50-43 with 7:34 left.
Then came 13 consecutive points with the last six coming from Yasmine Santos, who was a far more confident player after halftime. The sophomore registered 18 of her 21 points in the second half. Gonzalez admitted that if it had been a league game, he would have called a timeout in an effort to halt Shea’s momentum. Instead, the coach wanted to see if the Tigers could pull themselves out of their funk.
A Victoria Percy follow and an Al-Amir jumper brought the Tigers to within two (60-58), but that’s as close as Tolman would come the rest of the way. Shea freshman Kaylisse Depina hit a three-pointer with 41 seconds left that pinned Tolman in a 63-57 hole.
The game-clinching hoop by Depina was one of four threes she hit on her way to finishing with 19 points. Tolman received 20 points from AlAmir while Larson netted 15 of her 16 points in the first half. Percy added 13 points.
In the nightcap, St. Raphael jumped out to a 14-4 lead and never looked back en route to cruising into halftime with a commanding 36-20 lead. Amaya Dowdy, a freshman, enjoyed impressive debut for the Saints. Hailing from Woonsocket, the 5-10 Dowdy started and supplied a game-best 14 points with 10 coming in the opening half.
“She has good hands and is a great rebounder,” said SRA head coach Tammy Drape. “For right now, she’s accepted her role that we’re going to need her in paint, but we’re working with her on her ballhandling skills.”
Dowdy was one of five freshmen who played for SRA and one of five players to score in double figures. Tatum Forbes had 11 points while Monet Gailoux, Paige O’Brien, and Elizabeth Bruno each had 10 points.
The Warriors had three players who each finished with eight points: Courtney Burch, Dianna Jimenez, and Unique Perry.