Cumberland clinches D-II playoff spot
After slow start, Clippers have won five of last six
CUMBERLAND — After tasting success in her first two seasons with the Cumberland girls basketball team, Clipper senior wing Casey Farrell was facing the very real possibility of missing the playoffs in each of her last two seasons.
A young Cumberland squad struggled in Division I last season and those issues carried over to the first half of this season in Division II where the Clippers had just two league victories going into the final week of January.
And then, after back-to-back blowout losses to title contenders, something clicked for the young Clippers. The turnovers Cumber- land was making earlier in the season vanished and the poor foul shooting the plagued the squad in close losses was a thing of the past.
Thursday night, Farrell and fellow senior Emily Lambrou made sure their careers would end in the playoffs thanks to Cumberland’s fifth victory in the last six games. Farrell delivered a game-high 17 points, while precocious sophomore wing Madison Zancan added 10 points in the Clippers; 61-27 victory over struggling North Providence at the Well- ness Center.
“The energy, honestly, is so much better. As a team, we’ve improved immensely,” Farrell said after the Clippers won all three contests this week. “We’ve figured out to work together. We got off to a rough start because we didn’t know how to play together. Last year, I think only two of the freshmen were on the varsity team, so we’re finally learning how to work together.”
“We’re starting to be comfortable with each other and we’re starting to play not so tentatively,” veteran Cumberland coach George Coderre said. “Defensively, we’re finally starting to understand what we’re trying to accomplish collectively. The confidence is coming with it. Now, we have to test how far we’ve come. We’re excited about where we’re at.”
Cumberland (7-7 Division II) will find out just how real they are as Division II contenders over the final three league games with a non-league game against Division I Bay View Academy sprinkled in. The Clippers travel to playoff-hopeful Ponaganset next week before Prout comes to the Wellness Center at the end of the week. The regular season ends with a road game against first-place Scituate.
“The next step for us to be a threat is we have to be more consistent with our approach,” Coderre said. “We’re doing a very nice job of everyone trying to work to the common good, but when we need something specific, we need to get into that more quickly.”
North Providence (1-12 Division II) received a team-high 15 points from junior guard Karissa Shearman, while junior Stephanie Saucier added eight. The Cougars didn’t bring a JV team with them up Route 146, so Coderre was hoping to jump on them early to give some of his inexperienced kids a chance to play against varsity competition.
Farrell, Zancan, Molly Rebelo, Abby LaRose and Abby Vallely guided the Clippers to a 20-5 advantage midway through the first half. Zancan had five points in the first nine minutes, while LaRose also added hopes, but Farrell drove the Clippers.
Even though she wasn’t the primary ballhander, the senior always seemed to be in the right place to make a play. Farrell scored a game-high 13 points in the first half, which was just two fewer than the visitors.
“Casey doesn’t demand the ball, she’s perfectly willing to move without it,” Coderre said. “They’re recognizing when to get it to her and not just when she’s sitting wide open on the wing. That’s coming with understanding each other and maturing as ball players.”
Junior point guard Molly Rebelo knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half to stretch the lead out to 29. Coderre began substituting liberally after Rebelo’s explosion, which gave freshmen Shannon Raftery (two points), Riley Trudeau (three points) and Isabella Luca (two points) an opportunity to play with varsity starters.
“This week is good. Coach has been saying that this league is wonky and it’s anyone’s game,” Farrell said. “We saw that at the beginning of the season. We knew we could beat some of those teams, we just didn’t have the confidence to do it. Now that we have that behind us, we’re looking pretty good for the playoffs.” Follow Branden Mello on Twitter @Branden_ Mello NORTH PROVIDENCE (27) Raffaela Brunetti 1 0-0 2, Tatiana Caro 0 0-0 0, Karissa Shearman 4 3-4 15, Stephanie Saucier 2 4-5 8, Nicole Mendoza 1 1-2 3, Victoria Hess 0 0-0 0, Gionna Dovidio 0 0-0 0, totals 8 8-11 27. CUMBERLAND (61) Casey Farrell 7 1-1 17, Emily Lambrou 1 0-0 3, Lily Lachance 0 0-0 0, Abby LaRose 4 0-0 8, Isabella Luca 1 0-0 2, Shannon Raftery 1 0-1 2, Molly Rebelo 2 0-0 6, Riley Trudeau 1 0-0 3, Abby Vallely 1 0-0 2, Juliette Vemmer 2 0-0 4, Morgan Vinacco 1 0-0 2, Madison Zancan 4 1-1 10, totals 26 2-3 61.
3-pointers – NP, Shearman 3; C, Farrell 2, Rebelo 2, Lambrou, Trudeau, Zancan.
Halftime – Cumberland, 36-15.
PATS CRUSH HUSKIES
LINCOLN — Mt. Hope simply had no answer for Davies Tech in the paint Thursday night. Jenny Cruz scored a game-high 12 points and talented senior center Thalia Philippe added 10 points to lead the Patriots to a 55-21 Division III victory over the Huskies at Gaskin Alumni Hall.
Davies Tech (10-4 Division III) built a 24-point lead at halftime on a Husky squad that didn’t have a play reach double figures. Mia Merritt led the Huskies with two 3-pointers and nine points.
For the Patriots, Kearra Howard (11 points), Tiana Spooner (six points) and Cheyenne Robertson (three points) all made a 3-pointer. The Patriots host Mt. Pleasant Monday night at 6.
MT. HOPE (21) Krista Sqiartrito 0 0-2 0, Isabel Savinon 2 0-0 4, Zoe Mouligne 1 0-0 2, Mia Merritt 3 1-2 9, Blanch 0 0-0 0, Ava Lombardo 3 0-0 6, Kyra Boucher 0 0-0 0, totals 11 1-6 21.
DAVIES TECH (55) Julie Desuatel 1 2-2 4, Tiana Spooner 2 1-2 6, Jenny Cruz 6 0-0 12, Paola Hernandez 1 0-0 2, Sam Baako 0 1-4 1, Thalia Philippe 5 0-0 10, Destiny Baptista 2 0-0 4, Kearra Howard 5 0-0 11, Cheyenne Robertson 1 0-0 3, Juliana Rosado 1 0-0 2, Alanya Rubio 0 0-0 0, totals 27 4-8 55.
3-pointers – MH, Merritt 2; DT, Howard, Spooner, Robertson. Halftime – Davies, 30-6.
NOVANS PLAYOFF BOUND
PROVIDENCE — Sophomore wing Peyton Cahill scored a game-high 14 points and Erinee Agyemang added seven points to lead Woonsocket to a 42-32 road victory over the Lincoln School to earn the Villa Novans a Division III playoff spot.
Woonsocket (7-7 Division III) also received five second-half points from wing Lauren Cunanan. The Villa Novans, who have won four straight contests, welcome first-place Tolman to town next Wednesday night. As a matter of fact, the Novans’ final three games are all against Blackstone Valley foes.
SAINTS WIN AGAIN
PAWTUCKET — St. Raphael sophomore forward Amaya Dowdy, of Woonsocket, scored a game-high 17 points and hit three 3-pointers to lead the Saints to a comfortable 51-22 Division I victory over visiting Rogers Thursday night.
St. Raphael (12-3 Division I) also received eight points and two 3-pointers from Tatyana Vicente and six points from Tatum Forbes. Monet Gailloux and Paige O’Brien each added five. The Saints, who have won four games in a row, travel to East Providence to take on Bay View Academy Monday night.