Saints still looking for first D-I win
Defending D-I champions roll to victory over SRA
PROVIDENCE – For the St. Raphael boys’ basketball team, the beat goes on, as does the quest for the season’s first league victory.
Mount Pleasant, last year’s Division I champ and runner-up finisher in the open state tournament, left not a trace of doubt in this one. The Kilties overwhelmed the Saints on the both ends of the court en route to a 76-40 blowout at Ahern Gymnasium on Tuesday night. The lead peaked at 41 points after the home team enjoyed a 15-point advantage at halftime.
For the Saints, a trying season may have reached a new low. The 40 points represents the second-worst point total of the season
and the 36-point margin of victory marks the season’s largest deficit. Right now, answers are very hard to come by for a team that’s now 0-8 against D-I opponents.
“We just can’t keep taking it on the chin. We’ve got to fight back,” said veteran SRA mentor Tom “Saar” Sorrentine.
If the Kilties (7-2, Division I) weren’t hurting the Saints from the outside, the home team was busy punishing their opponent on the backboards. Naz Pona and Adonis Acevedo led the victors with 13 points apiece.
“He was a tough matchup for us,” said Sorrentine about Acevedo, who netted 12 first-half points.
The only double-figure scorer for SRA was sophomore Jayden Garces, who finished with 12 points. Garces finished off a couple of nice feeds from senior Avion Bloe, the team’s leading scorer who was held to just eight points. The Saints were without sophomore Ameir Gomes, the starting point guard and second-leading scorer.
“He’s been working hard,” said Sorrentine about Garces.
After getting off to a 2-of-11 start from the field, the Saints seemed to have something going after Garces scored and Bloe nailed a jumper that helped to cut Mount Pleasant’s lead to 10 points (20-10) with six minutes left in the first half. The Kilties responded with three straight three-pointers and were never seriously challenged after that.
After committing 11 first-half turnovers, the Saints did a much better job of valuing the ball in the second half. With 10 minutes remaining, the deficit stood at 22 points. With 5:27 left, the Kilties were enjoying a 63-33 advantage.
Awaiting St. Raphael on Wednesday night is a Central squad that’s also yet to experience the thrill of winning a Division I game. It’s your classic “something has to give” game and it will take place at the Providence Career & Technical Academy field house. ST. RAPHAEL (40): Neiko Ward 4 0-0 8, Devin O’Malley 2 0-0 5, Matt West 2 1-2 5, Jaden DeLomba 2 0-0 5, Kai Meerbott 1 0-0 3, Ronald Williams 0 0-2 0, Jayden Garces 5 2-2 12, Jeff Codman 1 0-0 2, Jovanny Edouard 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 3-6 40. MOUNT PLEASANT (76): Jansel Hayes 0 2-2 2, Matt Buchanan 3 1-2 9, Ryan Fogarty 3 2-2 9, Naz Pona 5 2-2 13, Adonis Acevedo 5 1-3 13, Tony Santana 1 0-0 3, Chaynce Trottman 5 1-1 12, Demetrius Demiranda 3 0-1 6, Henry Robinson 4 1-1 9. Totals: 29 10-14 76.
Halftime: MP 37-22.
Three-point field goals: SRA 3 ( Devin O’Malley, Jaden DeLomba, Kai Meerbott); MP 8 ( Matt Buchanan 2, Adonis Acevedo 2, Ryan Fogarty, Tony Santana, Chaynce Trottman, Naz Pona).