Tigers struggle to shut Dorr
East Providence guard hits six 3-pointers in D-II win over Tolman
PAWTUCKET – Senior co-captain Ally Larson and her Tolman High teammates knew all about the talents of East Providence senior sharpshooter Courtney Dorr before the two squads faced off in a Division II clash at the James W. Donaldson Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.
“Coach (Bunky Gonzalez) had told us beforehand that she could shoot, and that we needed to know where she was on the court at all times,” Larson stated. “He said we always had to have a hand in her face.”
After Dorr had drained a game-high 29 points, including six 3-pointers, to propel the Townies to a rather elementary 60-44 triumph, Larson responded with a shrug and this: “She surprised me.”
She then looked at Gonzalez studying the scorebook and asked him, “How many did she score?’ and when her coach told her 29, she became wide-eyed. When she inquired, “How many were threes?” and Gonzalez sighed, ‘Six.’ her response was a simple “Wow.”
Still, there was more to the EP’s victory than Dorr, as senior Shaniah Hazard just missed a “double-double” with 19 points and nine rebounds. Other key contributions came from senior Lillian Conti (10 points); and junior Tanya Cooper, a transfer from Davies Tech (two points, seven boards).
The Townies also forced the Tigers (2-8 league) into a whopping 37 turnovers, but they made 23 themselves.
“We weren’t looking before we threw it, and they’d come up with the steal,” Gonzalez said, shaking his head in dismay. “I think their pressure forced us into making quick and errant passes. Once we got past midcourt, things worked out well for us. The problem, though, was getting past that stripe.
“My pre-game speech to the girls was that Courtney was one of the better shooters in the state, and that we needed to be aware of where she was at all times,” he continued. “We didn’t do a very good job of locating her. They have quite a 1-2 punch with her and Shaniah.”
Larson paced the Tigers with 16 points (12 from 3-point range) and five boards, while junior center Victoria Percy chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds. Senior Kayla Diana managed eight points and sophomore Minelle Pagan six.
EP (10-1 Division II) jumped out to leads of 10-2 and 16-4 (after a Dorr 3-pointer in the opening 7:25, but Gonzalez’ crew battled back with nine straight points in the minute span of 1:21. Larson drained a trifecta, Pagan hit a putback and Diana another bucket to slice it to 16-13 with 7:14 left before the break.
Tolman kept it close, knifing it to 19-15 on Diagne’s lone bucket with 4:26 remaining, yet the Townies erupted for another 12-2 flurry, due in part to a pair of conventional three-point plays by Hazard. Those and EP’s highly-effective man-to-man defense kept the Tigers off-balance throughout.
The evidence: A sky-high 21 turnovers.
“They had full-court pressure on us the whole game,” Larson said. “That’s why we kind of freaked out and had bad passes. We turned the ball over way too much.”
A mere three ticks into the second session, Larson landed her second foul shot to cut it to 31-16, but – over the next 7:02 – the Townies manufactured a 16-6 run, courtesy of a Dorr 18-footer, Conti’s layup off a theft, Hazard’s baseline jumper, another Conti lay-in off a turnover and a Door three.
That pressure also kept Tolman scoreless for nearly four minutes.
Percy’s putback with 3:10 remaining in regulation gave the Tigers miniscule hope at 51-35, but Conti’s lone trey 19 ticks later perished that prayer.
“It was definitely a game of runs, but I thought the main difference was Courtney’s outside shooting and our pressure defense,” noted EP head coach Russ Ferri. “The man-to-man was very effective, but I had to switch to a zone when Shaniah got her fourth foul early in the second half.
“I knew I couldn’t take off the fullcourt pressure because, if I did, I knew Ally Larson would light it up and Tolman would come back. Ally’s too good.”
Stated Gonzalez: “If there’s one thing I can say about these guys, they never quit. We were down big at Westerly the other night, but came back and only lost by 10. If we cut our turnovers in half, we’d be a totally different ball club.”