Broncos, CF downed in Division III
EAST PROVIDENCE — Immediately after Burrillville High had sustained a difficult-to-accept 56-44 loss to top-seeded Wheeler in a R.I. Division III Tournament semifinal on Friday night, head coach Kevin Randall accepted condolences from Broncos’ varsity football chief Gennaro Ferraro and his defensive coordinator.
They had shuffled down from the stands at Luis S. Carvalho Court at the East Providence High gym to offer an attempt at a “pick-me-up” to their fellow grid assistant.
The gestures worked – and didn’t.
“We certainly picked a bad time to play our worst game of the year,” Randall sighed after his squad (16-8 overall) was eliminated from a chance at the title tilt. “I think we’re so much better than we just showed; that’s what’s so disappointing.
“We just didn’t shoot the ball well,” he added. “We literally started out as cold as we possibly could, and you can’t do that against a team like Wheeler, a team this good. You can’t dig yourself that deep a hole and expect to climb out of it.”
With the triumph, the Warriors – who remained unbeaten in D-III action at an impressive 19-0 (21-4 overall) – earned a bid to play No. 2 Tiverton in the championship game. That’s slated for 3:15 p.m., Sunday at CCRI-Warwick.
Junior forward D.J. Smith led Wheeler with a double-double, including 12 points and 17 boards, though senior guard Elijah Ramos posted a game-high 20 points; junior mate Albert Watkins 13 (with five boards); and freshman Miles Fiore eight points.
For the fourth-seeded Broncos, senior forward/center Quentin Dearden registered a team-leading 19 points and the same amount of rebounds, while senior guard
Dom Esposito chipped in 12 and junior “big man” Ryan Lockwood six.
No one scored more than six.
When Randall says his team started cold, that’s an understatement. It was igloo icy. BHS went 0-for-9 from the field in the first fiveplus minutes, but still only trailed 9-0. At precisely the 10-minute mark, Esposito canned a 12-footer, but Wheeler continued to roll, building a 14-4 lead after Ramos’ trey with 9:18 remaining before the break. d And, with 7:35 left, Fiore hit a free throw to lift the Warriors to an 18-8 advantage, but that’s when Burrillville began to fix their shooting woes. Sam Clifford hit a layup (at 6:21), Lockwood a hook and junior Jake Gelinas a three to cut it to 18-15.
The Broncos actually shaved the deficit to A20-19 following Dearden’s spinning baseline jumper with 3:59 on the scoreboard clock.
Incredibly, and much to Randall’s dismay, Ramos drained an acrobatic lay-in, Smith a putback, Watkins a bunny and Fiore a trifecta to spark a 9-0 flurry in just 1:25; that left BHS t behind, 29-19. r The half ended at 33-20 after Dan Baruch’s bucket and Watkins’ flying putback with 4.1 left. d Burrillville responded well at the start of
the final session, with Lockwood backing in d for a turnaround jumper and Dearden posting t a conventional three-point play with only 1:21 elapsed.
At that point, Wheeler held a mere eight- point cushion at 33-25.
The “hosts,” however, mustered an 11-4 run over the next 4:38 to gain their largest lead of the contest at 44-29.
With 5:01 left, following treys by Fiore and Watkins, the Warriors had pretty much iced it at 50-31. Esposito did nail a pair of treys down the stretch, but the time had run out.
“I know our kids didn’t underestimate Burrillville,” WHS coach Sean Kelly said. “We had a really tough time against them up at their place (during the regular campaign). They’re very well-coached and as good as any team in the division defensively. As you know, defense wins championships.
“Our goal coming in was to not back down to their ‘D’ and not be afraid to take it to the rim,” he continued. “We wanted to make them work on the defensive end as hard as they possible could.”
Stated Randall: “You know what makes it the most frustrating? They missed a ton of shots, too. I mean, we didn’t have many turnovers (11 in all, same as Wheeler), but we just couldn’t hit. God, so cold.
“I will say I give my senior group a ton of credit,” he added. “This is the winningest (hoop) class in Burrillville High School history. We’ve made three straight Final Fours, we won the Blackstone-Milleville Regional Holiday Tournament, which has never been done before, and we’ve won three out of the last six III-North titles.
“I can’t say enough about them, except I love ‘em and I’m so proud of ‘em.”
WARRIORS BOUNCED BY TIGERS
EAST PROVIDENCE – There’s no other way to say it, but Tiverton High leveled a beating on Central Falls in a R.I. Division III Tournament semifinal on Friday night.
CF mentor Jeff Doucette had hoped prior to the start that his club could be semi-successful at taking away at least one of the Tigers’ top two threats, among them senior forward Mike Hrycin or junior guard Carson Hart.
Doucette laughed – sadly – after Tiverton’s 67-41 pasting before at least 200 fans at East Providence High’s Luis S. Carvalho Court.
“I think that pair may have outscored our entire team,” he sighed, and a reporter told him he was right. Hart nailed four treys en route to a game-high 24 points and Hrycin “only” hit a pair to record 21 during the blowout. “45-41, Coach.”
Ouch!
With it, the Tigers qualified to face top-ranked Wheeler, who defeated Burrillville, 56-44, in the other semifinal, for the D-III state crown. They will do so at 3:15 p.m., Sunday at CCRI-Warwick’s Vin Cullen Fieldhouse.
“They just shot the lights out,” Doucette stated after his team fell to 16-8 overall. “They’re a really good team, and they play great defense. They extended the zone on us, and they’re so strong in all phases.
“We wanted to try to hold either Hart or Hrycin to 12-15, maybe one of them would have a bad night and we’d get lucky; maybe one of them would get cold,” he added. “It never happened. We tried to contest everything, but they hit a ton of shots. It seemed like whenever we’d get something going, they’d come down and hit a bomb.”
Besides the “H” brothers, junior Will Brigham and sophomore Matt Gacioch helped out with nine and seven, respectively, while senior Dylan Clark hit a trey.
As for the third-rated Warriors, junior forward Starlyn Mercado managed 11 points, senior Emmanuel Division 10, junior Marcos Negron seven and classmate Dutchie Arroyo just six.
The Tigers needed less than 12 minutes to jump out to a 20-8 lead in the opening session, but Mercado drained a three, Arroyo dropped a fast-break layup and senior center Dominick DaGraca a bucket to shave the deficit to 20-15 with 2:51 left.
Unfortunately for CF, Tiverton manufactured a 10-4 run over the final 2:35 to enter the break ahead 30-19.
It started with a Gacioch short jumper and ended with the same’s one-handed pump with 2.2 ticks remaining.
As for the second half, following CF’s second turnover in the first 41 seconds, Hart collected an unconventional four-point play, Hrycin and Hrycin a three to lift the No. 2 seed to a 37-19 advantage with only 1:02 elapsed.
By the 12:48 mark, the Tigers had built a 47-24 lead on another Hrycin bomb, earning for them a 17-5 surge in a scant 2:31.
Tiverton later built a lead as large as 54-28.