Saints top Chieftains in DII semi
PSW co-op team grabs 6-2 win over Ponaganset
– St. Raphael Academy head coach Tammy Drape has already made it crystal clear to her girls not to expect to see the same Westerly squad they did back in December when the two meet again in the Elite Eight of the Open tournament tonight at 6 at Rhode Island College.
In that one, only the second tilt of the Division I campaign, the Saints clubbed the Bulldogs, 56-23.
“I remember they didn’t have their guard, (senior Isis) Hamelin, and I knew she had talent because Doug Haynes was recruiting her to play at (the Community College of Rhode Island),” Drape said. “If I remember correctly, we got a lot of people involved that night, and we also held (senior forward Megan) Albamonti to only seven points, which is big.
“Then again, that has nothing to do with this game,” she added. “I know they have a ton of depth, and I like the way they push the ball up the floor. I saw them in transition (in a first-round win) against Tolman, and you could tell they’ve improved a lot. Westerly is definitely not the same team we saw back then.”
That’s a given, as the sixth-ranked Bulldogs (16-6 overall) has dropped only four of 20 games since.
As for the third-seeded Saints (17-5), they’re coming off a seven-point D-I Tournament loss to South Kingstown, a result that didn’t sit well with Drape.
“Toward the end of the regular season, the last three or four games, I was rather pleased with our play,” she noted. “We were getting back on defense; we were able to generate points off our defense, but I’m not happy about how we’ve played in our last three. We beat Bay View and North Kingstown before losing to SK, but we’ve scored 40 points or less. That is not satisfactory.
“In this one, we’re going to have contain Albamonti, but they also have some really good shooters, so we’re going to have to be wary of them,” she added. “We’re going to have to play really good defense, but also protect the basketball. We can’t turn the ball over; if we do that, we’re in trouble.
“I’ve talked to the girls about us being the No. 3 seed, and reminded them how hard we worked all season to earn it. I also told them that the seed doesn’t mean anything, that if we play our best basketball, we’re capable of winning the whole thing.
“We’re a very athletic team, and when we execute and play clean, we an accomplish anything. Each and every player should know that by now.”