Cumberland out to atone for defeat No. 4 Clippers focused on Division III finalists
CUMBERLAND — The Cumberland boys basketball team has had a full week to chew on what happened in its Division II semifinal defeat to East Greenwich.
Riding a 17-game winning streak, the Clippers never seemed to find their rhythm offensively against a stubborn EG team that played a box-and-one on All-State guard Tyler Kolek, while taking advantage of the Clippers’ mistakes on the defensive end of the court.
Needless to say, Cumberland is ready to atone for its sins against the Avengers when the No. 4 Clippers begin Open tournament play tonight against Division III runner-up Tiverton, the No. 13 seed, at Coventry High at 5:30.
“The message over the last week has just been about working hard,” junior all-division forward Jackson Zancan said prior to practice Wednesday night at the Wellness Center. “We’ve been much more aggressive with each other in practice. We’re working hard because we know we can make a run in this if we work hard. The season is not over yet.”
“We came out flat [against EG], so it’s all about energy right now,” Kolek said. “We just want to get after each other and make each other better. We just need it from everybody. We’re always confident going into every game, it’s just a matter of if we play good or not.”
Even though the Clippers haven’t seen the Tigers in two seasons, Cumberland coach Gary Reedy knows what the Tigers are going to try to do to slow down the Division II regular-season champions. The Tigers, who dropped the D-III final to Wheeler on Sunday, are likely going to play a box-and-one on Kolek and make someone other than the lefty junior and Zancan beat them.
Kolek was the top scorer in the state during the regular season, but he only made three shots in last week’s loss. Zancan scored more than half (game-high 25 of 46) of his team’s points, while no other Clipper scored more than seven points in the 12-point defeat.
“That game was a learning lesson, so sometimes you have to lose some battles to win the war,” Reedy said. “Besides Tyler and Jax we’re a very young team – we start two sophomores, two juniors and a senior. [Tonight] will be different because last week was a learning experience and that means a lot. The kids will be a lot looser.”
Cumberland (22-2) will need players like Mitchell Lydon, Dante Aviles-Santos, Brendan Raftery and Jeff Ferreira to supplement the scoring of the team’s two junior stars.
The teams share a pair of common opponents, as the Tigers stepped up a division and defeated Middletown and lost to Portsmouth in December. Cumberland beat the Patriots twice and the Islanders once.
Tiverton (19-6) is built a little like the Clippers, with two premium scorers and a bunch of talented role players. The Tigers, who defeated all seven of their Blackstone Valley foes in Division III play, are led by the dynamic duo of junior Carson Hart and senior Michael Hrycin. The duo combined to average over 40 points a game and they combined to make over 100 3-pointers this season. Hart is closing in on the 1,000-point milestone.
“They have a couple of kids who can score,” Reedy said. “They have some good role players and [Tiverton coach] Dave [Landoch] does a good job with them. They’re going to be physical and we’re going to be prepared for their physicalness because East Greenwich was physical. It all should come together because they’re almost like East Greenwich.”
Reedy, who said the Tigers won’t be in awe of a Division II team because they’ve played a tough schedule this season, is looking to guide the Clippers back to Sunday’s Elite Eight for the second straight season, while the Tigers haven’t won an Open game since Gunner Bjornson shot the Tigers to the state final in 2011. Charles Correa and St. Raphael won the title that season, 58-47.
If the Clippers prevail they will head to CCRI-Warwick Sunday night at 7 to face either No. 5 North Kingstown or No. 12 Middletown in quarterfinals. The Skippers and the Islanders meet at Coventry tonight at 7:30.
“This is a big point for us,” Zancan said. “The loss to EG gives us motivation because we feel like we should’ve won. We didn’t play our best game, so now we’re looking forward to facing Tiverton. We know it’s going to be a difficult game, so we’re working hard.”