Novans upended by Purple
Offense never gets on track in 50-47 loss in D-I prelims
WOONSOCKET — T.J. Ciolfi never used the word “crushed,” but he didn't have to.
The Woonsocket High head coach tried to make sense of a truly sad 50-47 loss to Classical in a R.I. Division I Tournament preliminary-round tilt at the
Saraiva Memorial Gym on Friday night.
The Villa Novans had secured a 45-37 cushion with under seven minutes left in regulation, but allowed the Purple to manufacture a 13-2 run down the stretch to improve to 1113 overall. And, with it, the ninth-seeded squad earned a bid to trek to top-ranked Hendricken for a D-I quarterfinal at 7 p.m., Tuesday.
Ciolfi's bunch is all done, so some of his players will begin prepping for baseball, outdoor track or other activities instead of trying to upset the Hawks. He indicated his heart went out to three “family members,” among them senior Tyheem Gray, Jaelin Jackson and Ke'Vaughn Davis.
“My last 75 games as coach – the last three years – I've had those guys start for me, and we've been through tons of good and bad times together,” stated Ciolfi, who you could tell at wiped tears from his eyes while exiting the locker room. “Immediately after the game, that's where my head went immediately.
“It's so hard saying 'Goodbye' to them,” he added. “They didn't just play for me, they were a part of my life. It's ending for them, and it's so hard to see.”
Senior Patrick Welch, who will attend the University of Oklahoma later this summer on a full golf scholarship, led Classical with a game-high 25 points, though no one else reached double figures. Juniors Kenny Hill and Amidou Kaba both notched six, while classmate Ed Denson had five.
For the hosts, junior Dwayne RobinsonO'Hagan registered 17, Jackson and Gray six each and Davis five.
Ciolfi had noted before the contest that this would be the first WHS home hoop playoff game since 2010, and all seemed more than poised for the challenge.
The Novans jumped out to scant leads of 10-6 and 14-11 before the Purple tied it for the first time at 14-all with 9:42 remaining in the initial half. After a third deadlock at 18-18, however, WHS managed a 10-4 flurry, the last bucket on O'Hagan's stunningly-athletic, driving one-hander, to make it 28-22 with 3:11 left.
Classical nevertheless assembled a 12-2 run over the final 2:30 to enter the break with a 34-30 advantage.
After an emotional chat with his group in the locker room at the break, one that dealt with stopping Welch (22 first-half points), the Novans came out firing. Jackson hit a reverse layup from underneath, then a trey, to ignite a 15-3 flurry in the opening 7:28 of the final stanza. When senior Roger Bissonnette landed a three-bomb at the 8:32 mark, the hosts led, 45-37, and seemed in complete control.
“We stopped Welch – finally,” Ciolfi said. “The objective in the second half was to make it tough on him, and Roger did an outstanding job of taking him away; he took away half the whole floor for us. That took their offense away for a while; they had to adjust.”
The Novans still led, 45-39, with 6:28 remaining on the clock, but Denson hit a short jumper, then a layup, and – when Kaba landed a pair of free throws with 3:45 remaining, the Purple had knotted it for the fifth time at 45-45.
A Denson foul shot gave CHS the 46-45 lead at 2:58, but the Novans retied it, then went ahead, 47-46, on O'Hagan's tosses from the charity stripe 18 ticks later.
Unfortunately for the hosts, the Purple managed four points in the inal 36.1 ticks, two on Hill's “freebies.
“We were working so hard to get rebounds, and then we'd come down the floor and take a quick shot instead of making them defend,” Ciolfi said. “We had three or four opportunities to shrink the game – that is, win each minute – but we turned the ball over too much.” CLASSICAL (50) – Patrick Welch 9 2-4 25, Ed Denson 2 1-2 5, Kenny Hill 2 2-2 6, Anthony Mendez 0 0-2 0, Amidou Kaba 2 2-5 6, Aniekan Okon 2 0-0 4, Khalil Screen 0 0-0 0; totals 17 9-17 50. WOONSOCKET (47) – Dwayne Robinson-O'Hagan 6 3-6 17, Jaelin Jackson 6 2-2 16, Jake Bissonnette 0 0-0 0, Roger Bissonnette 1 0-0 3, Ke'Vaughn Davis 2 1-1 5, Tyheem Gray 3 0-3 6, Sidi Gueye 0 0-0 0, Justo Colon 0 0-0 0, Kevin Frogoso 0 0-0 0; totals 18 612 47. Three-point field goals: Welch 5, O'Hagan 2, Jackson 2, R. Bissonnette. Halftime: Classical, 34-30.