Tolman closes in on No. 1 seed
Tigers overcome fouls, turnovers to top Novans
WOONSOCKET – The atmosphere at the Gus Savaria Memorial Gymnasium on Wednesday night couldn’t have been any more civil, given the fact that Tolman High’s head coach Bunky Gonzalez and Woonsocket mentor Mike Cahill served as Shea High boys’ hoop coaches between 1999-2001, and have been longtime friends.
The actual tilt between the two Division III mill-city foes turned out to be anything but.
In the first half alone, the Tigers and Villa Novans combined for 46 turnovers and 21 personal fouls and missed a collective 11 of 20 from the charity stripe as the visitors gained a six-point lead.
Gonzalez’ bunch, however, fought off a Woonsocket surge early in the final session, manufactured a stunning 18-0 flurry in the span of 3:50 to eventually coast to a 60-43 victory.
“As you know, Mike and I go way back to when we coached Shea together, and obviously we have a great rapport,” Gonzalez grinned after his club improved to 17-2 overall and 15-1 in league action.
“I’m sure a lot of people could tell the way we were talking and joking around throughout the game. He’s going a great job here with the girls; they respond well to him.
“Still, we came here to win,” he added. “Woonsocket gave us a scare in the first half; they made me nervous, especially after (sophomore Taylor Tempest’s) three at the buzzer, which cut our lead (to 28-22).
“We both were so sloppy in the first half, but we just decided to play (good) basketball in the second. We picked up our energy level a couple of notches and moved a little quicker, didn’t turn the ball over as much – or foul as much.”
Gonzalez noted his Tigers now have to defeat Blackstone Valley Prep on the road at 5 p.m., Friday to earn the top seed for the upcoming Division III tourney.
Senior point Julia AlAmir ad classmate Victoria Percy paced Tolman with 20 points each, while the former produced four assists and three steals and the latter 11 rebounds and three blocks. Other key contributors included junior Thania Santana with nine points; sophomore Jasmine Wilson with four points; and senior Maya Barbosa only one point but five boards and five thefts.
For the Novans (7-11 overall, 7-8 league), no one reached double digigs, though sophomore Abigail Desjardin mustered eight points; sophomores Peyton Cahill and Taylor Tempest seven apiec; and classmate Lauren Cunanan another six.
WHS had actually over- come a 32-24 deficit after Percy’s hook in the paint with just 59 seconds elapsed in the final stanza with a 9-2 run in a brief period of 2:18 to knife the deficit to 34-33. Cahill posted five of those nine points on a trey and a fast-break layup off a steal.
That last bucket came with 12:43 remaining in regulation.
The Tigers, however, took advantage of Percy’s short jumper, then two consecutive putbacks to increase the lead to 41-33 with 10:34 left.
Just 2:56 later, that advantage ballooned to 52-33, courtesy of Santana’s two freebies.
“We had about four minutes there in the second half where we panicked against the press, and that resulted in a lot of turnovers,” Cahill stated. “The difference was they went on that 18-0 run, and we went 5:20 without a point.”
When asked if having an old pal on the other side of the mid-court stripe was any consolation, Cahill grinned, “No, it’s never fun when you lose, but it’s always fun to go against Bunk. He’s a very good coach. What bothers me was the differential in foul calls in the second half (Woonsocket had 20, Tolman only four).”
**
TOLMAN (60) – Julia Al-Amir 8 1-2 20, Maya Barbosa 0 1-2 1, Amsatou Diagne 0 1-2 1, Tamara Negron 0 3-6 3, Minelle Pagan 0 0-0 0, Victoria Percy 10 0-3 20, Bella Russell 1 0-1 2, Thania Santana 3 3-7 9, Nariah Washington 0 0-0 0, Jasmine Wilson 1 2-4 4; totals 23 11-27 60. WOONSOCKET (43) – Mechayla Hill 1 0-0 2, Peyton Cahill 3 0-0 7, Taylor Tempest 3 0-0 7, Grace Washington 2 0-0 4, Erinee Agyemang 0 1-2 1, Tianna Carpentier 1 0-2 2, Abigail Desjardin 2 2-3 8, Lauren Brunelle 0 1-2 1, Rushie Vilane 1 0-0 3, Amy Seck 1 0-0 2, Lauren Cunanan 3 0-1 6; totals 17 4-10 43. Three-point field goals: Al-Amir 3, Cahill, Tempest, Vilane, Desjardin 2. Halftime: Tolman, 28-22.