Novans proud of effort in loss to MH

PROVIDENCE – It seemed the Woonsocket High Unified Basketball team was doomed.

Its opponent in the R.I. Division II Tournament state championship game, Mount Hope, had manufactured a 17-point surge over the first 9:47 of the final stanza to take a commanding 20-point lead early Sunday afternoon.

With only 6:13 remaining in regulation, the Villa Novans’ chance for a comeback remained minuscule, but then something happened.

Greg Tracy drained an NBA-length trey with 2:52 left, and suddenly, anything was possible. As soon the ball went through the hoop, the crowd at La Salle Academy’s McLaughlin Athletic Center erupted; then again, so did Tracy, who immediately raised his hands in triumph and waved his fingers to entice more hoots and hollers from the crowd.

Exactly 1:26 later, Dennis Colon nailed another 3-pointer to slice the deficit to 44-29, though he was less animated than his teammate; he just did fisted the air in self-satisfaction.

Truth be told, Woonsocket did stage a massive flurry over the final 5:04, whittling a 21-point deficit to 13 points with 49 ticks remaining though failed in its quest to repeat as state champs, suffering a 47-34 verdict.

But the final score is not what the folks on hand took from it. Instead, they reveled in seeing special athletes run and pass, shoot and block, set up plays and hustle back on defense, all in the name of team sports.

What they’ll remember is Tracy’s trey and his funky reaction, or how Colon did the same, or how the smaller, quicker Huskies tried to guard 6-4 senior center Jamar Abney (barely), or how fellow athlete Liz LaBreche grinned ear-to-ear at each inbounds pass.

(That was the only action she saw in the contest, but she didn’t care. She was playing with her friends, and that’s all that matters).

All of those sites and sounds, now that’s the power of Unified. Woonsocket doomed? Who cared? When asked his reaction to the game, co-head coach Rick LaBreche smiled, “Pride, inclusion and respect. This is my first year coaching this – Coach Sam (Darling) asked me this past year if I’d assist her with this program, and I jumped at the chance. I knew I could learn from these athletes.

“Whatever disability or intellectual challenge these athletes may have, they put it aside when they’re on the court. They come to practice every day ready to play and improve; they do the same during games.

“Winning is always nice, but it doesn’t matter. Win or lose, we’re thrilled because we’re out here playing and coaching. That improvement I talked about, you could see it in the second half. We were down by a significant margin, but there wasn’t any sulking. The kids continued to play hard and fair and with respect for the other team.

“As for Mount Hope, that’s a really, really good team; they have great athletes and partners who play the game the right way, the way it’s supposed to be played.”

For the Huskies, Mylan Jackson proved to be unstoppable as he post- ed a tilt-high 27 points, while Patrick Fraime chipped in 14.

Tracy and Benny Grayson paced the Novans with nine apiece, while Alex Begin (who carried the torch into the day’s opening ceremonies) had seven and the “Big Guy” Abney six more (and multiple rebounds).

Freshman Ryan Kell, for one, didn’t seem to mind the defeat much.

“I’m happy because I played very, very well,” he said. “I like being with my friends, and I was here.”

Offered senior athlete Rena Berthelette: “I’m not sad because my teammates aren’t, and they’re my friends. (Unified) is also good exercise. I play because it’s good for me to get out of the house, but what I like best is hanging out with my friends.”

Then there was frosh Brian Benitez: “I would’ve liked to win the state championship, but I’m not mad because I know we worked hard out on the court … I’m pretty sure they practice a lot. That team (Mount Hope) is really good.

“Why do I play (Unified)? Well, it’s really interesting to me to get out there and have some fun, shooting the ball, passing it, dribbling it. I also like playing against different teams. I like to challenge myself against them.”

Woonsocket did provide its opponent a challenge throughout the initial half; in fact, it took a 5-0 lead after a Tracy 3-pointer 2:02 into the showdown and later went up 9-6. The Huskies, however, took advantage of a Jackson three and a layup off a turnover to grab their first lead at 11-9.

Fraime scored on a putback and Jackson another trey with 1:57 left, but Abney’s one-hand floater in the lane made it 18-15 at the break.

Begin canned a pretty driving layin to knife it to 20-17, but Mount Hope slowly pulled away. Fraime drained a fast-break layup and Jackson a three before Fraime added consecutive buckets, the second with 10:24 left to extend it to 29-17 in the span of 5:21.

Just 4:11 later, at the 6:13 mark, MH held a 39-19 bulge.

“I don’t think my teammates are that upset because we all know we did our best, and that’s a really good team we faced,” said freshman partner Peyton Cahill, who also runs cross-country and outdoor track while playing varsity basektball in the winter.

When asked how and why she decided to be a volunteer, she immediately stated, “They needed help, so I figured, ‘Why not?’ From the very first practice, I noticed how everybody is so positive all the time; I liked it right away. I like seeing how playing basketball makes everyone so happy. They all get so into it. Te game and competing seems to light them up.

“I’d say we’re all a little disappointed about not winning (the title), but I also think they know they played hard and tough to get to this point. We all put in a lot of effort.”

Sarina Lafleur may be a sophomore partner for the Novans, but she’s plenty experienced in this sport.

“This is my fourth year; I did it for the last three at North Smithfield Middle School before I transferred,” she noted. “I had a blast doing it there, and then I found out about this program. A lot of my friends were athletes at North Smithfield, so I wanted to help here, too. Plus my sister, Secillya, was an athlete.

“What do I get out of it? I get to play, and I have fun. I mean, it’s not too competitive like most varsity sports,” she added. “When I saw Greg do that after the three, raise his arms all excited, I loved it. It makes me think of when I was a kid and I did something special with my parents watching.

“It’s so cool, all you do is smile. It makes you glow inside.”