Long steps in for Gonzalez to lead Tigers to win

Tolman remains undefeated in Division III thanks to Percy’s 10 points, 13 rebounds

PROVIDENCE – Due to issues at his job, Tolman High head coach Walter “Bunky” Gonzalez had to miss his team’s Division III contest at Hope on Thursday afternoon, but able assistant Ryan Long indicated Gonzalez had planned a “trial run” for him anyway.

“Bunky told me he wanted to watch his daughter play her final game for UMass-Dartmouth at Rhode Island College; he said it was going to be on the same night as our original game against Davies,” Long explained. “That game had to be rescheduled, so he decided this would be the time. He wanted me to get a feel for the varsity team.

“This is my second year with Bunky and Tolman, and I had told him coming into this year that I wanted to be a little more vocal on the varsity sidelines, play a bigger role,” he continued. “I’ve learned all the systems, so figured I could help him and the girls out more.”

Long achieved his goals on Thursday, though it wasn’t the barnburner he may have chosen for his first varsity clash. The Tigers forced the Blue Wave into 22 first-half turnovers and outscored it 25-3 in the final 11:42 of the opening stanza to cruise to a 48-20 triumph before perhaps 50 folks at the Hope gym.

With the verdict, Tolman not only improved to 6-2 overall, but remained unbeaten in league action at 5-0.

Senior center Victoria Percy led the club with a double-double, including 10 points and 13 rebounds, though classmate/swing Tamara Negron, a transfer from Central Falls, paced the Tigers with 12 points and six boards.

Other crucial contributions came from sophomore Jasmine Wilson (11 points, four steals); junior power forward Ashley Percy (four points, seven rebounds); senior captain/point Julia Al-Amir (six points); and sophomore Izabella Russell, who not only notched four points and six steals but also exhibited supreme defense.

For that matter, so did Wilson. As for the Blue Wave, senior Marianella Galan netted a teamhigh 11, while junior Katherine Escobar notched six (on two treys) and frosh Sarah Keith three.

Tolman had jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the opening 2:28, courtesy of Negron’s six points (four of them on steals-turned-layups); it did so because of a fullcourt press that caused Hope numerous turnovers.

Galan, however, canned a turnaround 12-footer and Escobar a trey to slice the deficit to 8-5 with 11:42 left before intermission.

There suddenly was hope for Hope, but that didn’t last long.

Negron hit an amazing onehander while falling to her right 13 ticks later, then a pair of free throws, and those sparked a 17-1 surge over the ensuing 9:27. At one point in that run, Wilson recorded six straight points, those on a weaving lay-in, a trey and a baseline jumper.

Because of the nature of the game, Long was able to use a platoon system – that is, play groups of five every few minutes.

“In that first half, I thought we could have a higher tempo; we missed a lot of easy shots,” Long noted. “The results were what we wanted, what we were looking for, but the level of play wasn’t where it should have been,”

After outscoring the Blue Wave, 25-3, in the last 11:42, the Tigers scored the first three points of the second half to make it 368, but Hope began forcing more turnovers and actually played its foe even over the final 13:02.

“The good thing was that we were able to get a lot of the younger kids some playing time,” he said. “That’s why we were using that platoon system. Our JV game was canceled (because Hope doesn’t have a team), so it was important to get them all in there.”