Chieftains cruise past Northmen
Ponaganset dominates Division III showdown
NORTH SMITHFIELD — Even though they struggled defensively and committed far too many turnovers for the first 9 minutes, 20 seconds of Monday night’s Division III clash with one-loss Ponaganset, the North Smithfield boys basketball team was down just seven points after back-toback hoops by reserve Liam Zonin.
It just seemed like a matter of time before North Smithfield 1,000-point scorers Steven Goulet and Ethan Savoie would get going and the Northmen would challenge the red-hot Chieftains.
It never happened. Ponaganset responded to Zonin’s hoops by scoring 31 of the game’s next 36 points to build a 33-point advantage in the second half. Goulet did score a team-high 16 points and Aldrec Viera-Dones added 15 points, but their efforts were purely cosmetic because Steve DelSesto (18 points) and Griffin Ferranti (game-high 19 points) led the Chieftains to an emphatic 80-52 victory at Lovett Gymnasium.
“All the credit goes to Ponaganset because they beat us up from the start and they played a great game,” North Smithfield coach Brandon DiPaola said. “They were ready to play and all the credit goes to them. Honestly, they were hitting shots and driving right by us, which wasn’t great. When that happens, this is the result.”
North Smithfield (1-3 Division III) came into the season with dreams of competing for the division title, but right now the Northmen are going to have to work hard to earn a home game in the first round of the playoffs. The week doesn’t get any easier for the Northmen because talented Toll Gate is on the schedule tomorrow in Warwick before the week ends with Exeter-West Greenwich’s visit to Lovett Friday night.
The big challenge for DiPaola and his coaching staff is to develop some defensive cohesion. Whether the Northmen were in man-to-man or a 3-2 zone Monday night, the Chieftains scored baskets far too easily. It also didn’t help that the home side committed 22 turnovers that allowed DelSesto and Sean Cullen to get out in transition.
“We knew this game was going to be a tough matchup for us because they’re very good and they play with a lot of guards,” DiPaola said. “We’ve really been working on our man and we still have a lot of work to do. We’re still nowhere near where we need to be. I think our help-side defense needs to improve drastically. We’re too worried about our own guy and not helping. That needs to change. We need to do a better job of talking and switching on screens.”
Ponaganset (4-1 Division I) lost its first league game of the season last week to Toll Gate, but the Chieftains responded with victories over Blackstone Valley Prep and the Northmen. Monday, the Northmen were in position to jump ahead in the first three minutes, but missed free throws by Kyle Haner and Viera-Dones allowed the Chieftains to remain in front.
Michael Resnick threw down a dunk and hit a 3-pointer to help the visitors build a 24-13 advantage before Zonin came off the bench to score four straight points. Ponaganset answered with an 18-5 run to take a 20-point lead at halftime.
Any chance of a North Smithfield comeback was snuffed out when the home side committed six turnovers in the first three minutes of the second half, which allowed Ponaganset to score 13 straight points out of the break. Cullen, DelSesto and Ferranti did most of the damage.
“That’s all a credit to them because they play a tough 2-3 zone and they were extending it on us,” DiPaola said of the turnovers. “They pressured us and we didn’t take care of the ball at all. That allowed them to get easy transition buckets. You can’t let a team score 80 points and expect to hang with them. Again, it’s a credit to them because they did a great job.”