On the way up
Novans get best of Clippers
The Tolman High boys’ basketball team moved to 2-3 in Division II thanks to a comeback win over North Providence.
WOONSOCKET – The biggest play of Wednesday’s Division I-B game was turned in by someone who finished with zero points and spent most of the second half on the bench.
Called upon with the outcome still in the balance, Woonsocket sophomore Eric Agyemang grabbed a key offensive rebound after senior Denzel Lyles missed both ends of a two-shot free-throw sequence with 19.1 seconds left.
At that moment, Cumberland’s deficit was just three points.
Agyemang’s work on the glass prevented the Clippers from drawing closer and paved the way for two clinching free throws by senior Justo Colon with now 16.1 seconds flashing on the Saravia Gymnasium clock. The lead was now five points and Woonsocket held serve the rest of the way for a 6459 win that was witnessed by one of the best crowds for a Novan basketball game in a very long time.
“He’s skipping home right now and he should be,” said WHS head coach T.J. Ciolfi about Agyemang. “That was the biggest play of the night. The first person I addressed in the locker room was Eric.”
WHS senior Dwayne Robinson-O’Hagan finished with a gamehigh 31 points, a performance that per CHS mentor Gary Reedy was worthy of first-team all-state status. Lyles netted 12 of his 14 points during the second half. The win enabled the Villa Novans to take the season series from Cumberland, which captured the first meeting on Dec. 14 but dropped the final two.
Cumberland senior Jackson Zancan scrapped his way to 21 points but fouled out with 4:55 remaining. Junior Dante Aviles-Santos dialed up four 3-pointers as part of a 13-point outing while Brendan Raftery also added 13 points. Freshman Colin Mories showed plenty of poise on his way to finishing with nine points.
“That means guys are breaking through the front row. The wings need to close up the gaps better,” said Reedy when asked about playing down the stretch minus his team’s top player in Zancan. “We’re not getting enough help defense.”
It truly was a game of runs that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Cumberland appeared to be in trouble when Woonsocket built a 41-29 advantage with 13 minutes left, but the Clippers dusted themselves off and responded with a 12-2 run. Woonsocket turned the ball four times during Cumberland’s run but the Clippers could only muster three points off the miscues.
“We told the guys to hang in there. There was a lot of time left,” said Reedy.
The Villa Novans (4-1, Division I-B) led wire-to-wire but only led by one after Zancan made two free throws with 8:53 left. There was more back-and-forth action as Raftery made a three that tied the game at 48-48 but Robinson-O’Hagan quickly broke the deadlock with one of his five triples.
Another three from Robinson-O’Hagan pushed Woonsocket’s lead to 57-52 but it was once again a one-point game with 3:20 left. A baseline jumper by Lyles pushed the Novans’ edge to three (60-57) with 1:25 left. Cumberland was looking for something from the corner but instead got an airball that was launched at the top of the key. Woonsocket came racing down with Lyles scoring in transition to put the Novans up five with just over 60 seconds to go.
The door was still open for Cumberland after Robinson-O’Hagan missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 34.7 seconds left and Raftery took advantage with a nice move that once again pulled the Clippers to within three (62-59). That’s when Agyemong stepped in and came up with a game-saving rebound for the Novans (4-1, Division I-B).
The first half was the Dwayne Robinson-O’Hagan show. The shifty guard scored in a variety of ways on his way to pulling into the break with 21 points on 9-of11 shooting. Aviles-Santos got hot with back-to-back threes but Cumberland committed 10 turnovers and ended up trailing 35-25 at halftime.
“You can’t teach what he’s doing,” said Ciolfi about Robinson-O’Hagan. CUMBERLAND (59): Dante Aviles-Santos 4 1-4 13, Jackson Zancan 7 6-8 21, Brendan Raftery 5 1-2 13, Colin Mories 4 1-1 9, Seth Anderson 0 0-0 0, Mason Matos 0 0-0 0, Jackson Walsh 0 0-0 0, William Andrews 1 0-0 3, Ben Keeler 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 9-15 59.
WOONSOCKET (64): Denzel Lyles 6 1-4 14, Dwayne Robinson- O’Hagan 12 2-4 31, Marcus Harmon 2 0-0 5, Justo Colon 2 3-4 7, Jossue Hernandez 1 0-0 2, Eric Agyemang 0 0-0 0, Ousmane Kourouma 1 3-6 5, Jaylen Lopez 0 0-0 0. 23 9-19 64. Halftime: W 35-25.
Three-point field goals: C 8 ( Dante Aviles- Santos 4, Brendan Raftery 2, Jackson Zancan, William Andrews); W 7 (Dwayne Robinson- O’Hagan 5, Denzel Lyles, Marcus Harmon).