Cumberland, Burrillville looking for revenge tonight
East Greenwich handed Clippers their only defeat this season
CUMBERLAND – Operation “Revenge against the Avengers” is the order of the day as the Cumberland High boys basketball team plays the only team to beat them this season with a spot in the Division II finals at stake.
To remind his CHS players of East Greenwich’s surprising 63-61 overtime win at the Wellness Center on Jan. 3, head coach Gary Reedy turned on both Wellness Center scoreboards prior to Thursday’s final tune-up practice before Friday’s 5:30 p.m. D-II semifinal clash at North Kingstown High School. No matter where the players turned, they would see reminders of an outcome that should provide plenty of motivation with another crack at the Avengers on deck.
“I think the kids are really ready to go. I really do,” said Reedy.
It’s fitting that the top-seeded Clippers must go through the No. 4 seed Avengers, a team that in the season’s first meeting rallied back from a double-digit deficit in the second half to stun Cumberland, which went 8-for-17 at the foul line.
“We were up 13 points and they kept mixing up their defenses,” said Reedy. “We missed four foul shots in the last minute where we could have wrapped it up in regulation time.” The Clippers have rattled off 17 straight wins since losing to the Avengers, a lunch-pail type of squad that takes pride in taking away what opposing teams like to do best. East Greenwich likes to mix it up defensively to the point where the game is slowed to a virtual crawl, hence why it will be important for Tyler Kolek, Jackson Zancan and the rest of the Cumberland players to play their usual brand of fast-break basketball. “We want to play up-tempo and they don’t,” said Reedy. “They’re just going to keep switching the whole time, but that’s why it’s going to be key for us to push the ball after getting the defensive rebound. That way, they are backpedaling rather than setting up their defense.” East Greenwich owns wins over Cumberland in each of the past two seasons. The court at North Kingstown High School is a little bit bigger than the one at the Clippers’ Wellness Center, which could be a factor for a CHS team that will be looking to get out and run at every available opportunity. “They’ve been a thorn in our side, no question about it,” said Reedy. “Eventually, we’ve got to be able to get them.” Friday’s winner will face the survivor of the other semifinal – Narragansett versus Westerly, also at NKHS – on Sunday afternoon at CCRI-Warwick.