Raiders get Broncos
Shea tops Falcons; will host Burrillville in D-II playoffs
CRANSTON — Playing on the same team as Shea High junior Erickson Bans carries obvious advantages. But it isn’t always as most would think.
This has nothing to do with Bans the player, mind you. It has to do with his willingness to trust his teammates. Somebody from the supporting cast needs to step forward and demonstrate that they too can handle the bright stage.
With a chance at opening the Division II playoffs with back-to-back home games hanging in the balance, DeJuan Hayes proved a most perfect sidekick to the scoring tsunami that is Bans. From big shots to timely assists, Hayes did a little bit of everything down the stretch to propel the Raiders to a hard-fought 69-64 win over host Cranston West in the regular-season finale for both clubs on Thursday night.
Shea (12-6, Division II) will now turn its attention to a D-II preliminary round game against Burrillville that’s on the docket for tomorrow at 4 p.m. at The Cage. A win over the Broncos would mean another home playoff contest in the quarterfinals for a Raider team that will be the No. 4 seed in the divisional tourney. Cranston West (6-12, Division II) needed the win to earn a postseason but came up short on a night that saw the Falcons finish 17-of-29 from the free-throw line.
Bans led all scorers with 37 points. He missed just one of the nine free throws he attempted and nailed three 3-pointers. Jared Olson tried his best to keep Cranston West in the hunt until the very end, hitting five 3s as part of a 26-point barrage.
The true difference-maker was Hayes, who finished with 13 points on three shots from downtown. His most prolific make from beyond the arc came with three minutes remaining. With Bans dribbling near the top of the key, he looked left and delivered a pass that led to nothing but net from Hayes. The three was part of an 11-4 run that saw the Raiders go from one down to up 59-50.
“Right before that play, I told Erickson to hit me. If you believe you can do it, you’ll have the confidence to close out the game,” Hayes said. “I’ve been playing with Erickson since middle school. To be honest, the trust waivers at times when my shot isn’t there. My shot wasn’t falling in the first half but my coaches told me to keep at it. Eventually, they will fall.”
The other play of note from Hayes came when he penetrated and dished off to Isaiah Silva, a hard-nosed player who isn’t exactly known for his offense. All Silva had to do was lay the ball in, which he did to give Shea a 66-58 lead with 1:30 to go. The credit goes to Hayes for putting his teammate in prime scoring position.
“Every time we drove, they converged on us. The middle was going to be open,” Shea head coach Steve DeMeo said.
Hayes had a chance to ice the game at the foul line but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 22 seconds left and made 1-of-2 with 14 seconds left. In between, the Falcons’ Olson hit a three that allowed Cranston West to possibly tie with 10 seconds remaining.
The Raiders didn’t allow Olson to even touch the ball as the Falcons on their final possession were forced to settle for an off-balanced shot with two seconds left. Bans sealed it with two free throws.
After a first half that saw the Falcons pull into the break with a 31-29 lead, Cranston West opened the second half on 7-2 run to take its biggest lead of the contest at 38-31. The Raiders responded in a major way with an 11-2 surge that saw Bans make a three and score a layup off a Cranston West turnover.
“When we were hitting everything … that’s Shea basketball,” DeMeo said.
Now up 42-39, Shea watched as Cranston West fought back to tie things at 46-46. Hayes broke the deadlock with a three with 8:30 left.
Cranston West’s last lead was 5251 with 4:37 remaining. Back-to-back layups from Bans put the Raiders back in front and helped set the stage for a timely make from Hayes that proved to send Shea on its way.
“Give a lot of credit to Cranston West. We wanted to run but they did a helluva of a job getting back on defense,” DeMeo said. SHEA (69): Marquis Gomes 2 2-2 6, Erickson Bans 13 8-9 37, Nathan Rodrigues 0 0-0 0, Taivon Curry 1 1-1 3, Isaiah Silva 1 0-0 2, DeJuan Hayes 4 3-5 14, Josiah Diaz 2 3-4 7, Kenny Silva 0 0-1 0, Pedro Tavares 0 0-0 0, Jacob Lopes 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 17-22 69. CRANSTON WEST (64): Cam Alves 2 2-2 7, Jarred D’Amico 1 0-0 2, Jared Olson 9 3-4 26, Aiden Kermen 0 0-0 0, Joseph Ragosta 0 5-6 5, Andrew Dionizio 1 3-10 5, Caleb Harris 1 4-4 7, Massimo Feroce 2 0-1 4, Cameron Bissitt 4 0-2 8, Nick Santurri 0 0-0 0, Ethan Ryan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 17-29 64.
Halftime: CW 31-29.
Three-point field goals: S 6 (Erickson Bans 3, DeJuan Hayes 3); CW 7 (Jared Olson 5, Cam Alves, Caleb Harris).