Brito, Nassi lead Lincoln to MSC title
Woonsocket jumps out to big lead, Lions battle back with balanced attack
WOONSOCKET — For the first 12 minutes of Sunday night’s Mount St. Charles Summer League final, the 2019 state finalist Woonsocket boys basketball team showed why it could be dangerous in Division I this season, despite graduating AllState guard Dwayne O’Hagan.
Over long stretches of the final 24 minutes, Lincoln displayed the skill and shooting of a team that should be a contender for the Division III title.
Woonsocket senior center Ousmane Kourouma and senior forward Marcus Harmon dominated most of Sunday’s first half to help the Novans build a 12-point advantage. The undersized Lions responded by pushing the ball and making 3-pointers.
Octavio Brito scored a game-high 18 points, while sharp-shooter Vinny Nassi chipped in with 17 to lead the Lions to a 57-48 victory over the Novans to win the tournament title after going undefeated during the regular season.”
“Give the kids credit for taking the coaching adjustments – fronting the post and not letting [Kourouma] get inside – and making the plays that needed to be made,” Lincoln coach Kent Crooks said. “[North Smithfield coach] Brandon Dipaola said to me last game we space the floor well and that was a welcomed compliment. Spacing the floor and passing the ball is what got us to this point.”
Woonsocket, which finished second during the regular season, received 14 points apiece from Kourouma and Harmon, while Jacob Bissonnette buried two 3-pointers to finish with eight points. Woonsocket was the two-time defending tournament champion.
“The most important thing from my perspective is I got participation from the kids,” Woonsocket coach T.J. Ciolfi said. “We probably have two or varsity guys out here along with a couple of guys who are teetering on the edge of varsity. I wish I could have the whole group, but we have kids who play multiple sports. The fun thing for me was to watch Ousmane play against kids who are in his class.”
Woonsocket’s lack of depth was apparent in the final six minutes of the first half when Lincoln went on a 16-2 run to take a lead it would never relinquish. Prior to that moment, though, the Novans were the far better team. Kourouma, who was a starter on last season’s team that played North Kingstown in the state title game, controlled the paint and scored at will.
Bissonnette made an early 3-pointer to give Woonsocket a 9-3 advantage. After Lincoln countered with five straight points, the Novans went on a 14-2 run to build a 23-11 lead with just over six minutes left in the half.
“Ousmane does it on both ends of the court,” Ciolfi said. “The most important thing for me was to see him play as the main option because last year he might’ve been the third or fourth option. It’s important that we saw that in the summer.”
Ciolfi said he put some of his inexperienced players in late in the half and Lincoln took advantage. Senior point guard Josh Jahnz started the rally with a pair of free throws, and then Nassi, Brito and Cody Anter started to make shots. Brito gave the Lions a 27-25 lead at halftime when he stole an inbound pass and was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with just a second left in the half. The versatile wing made a pair of free throws.
“We were going lateral on offense and just hoisting up shots early in the game. That’s not good basketball and that’s not good motion offense,” Crooks said. “When they started to realize that drives and midrange shots will get you to the foul line and will get you better shots, that opened 3s for Octavio Brito in the corner.”
Brito made back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half to extend the lead to eight. Brito hit another 3-pointer with 10:22 remaining to stretch the lead out to 11. Woonsocket never got closer than six points, as Jahnz and Anter made free throws late to put the game away.
In the last few seasons, Cumberland and Woonsocket have used success at the MSC Summer League to reach the Ryan Center in March. While that might be too lofty a goal for the Lions, success this summer could lead to the program’s first division title in two decades.
“The first year we moved to this tournament from North Providence, we won the whole thing,” Crooks said. “That translated into a belief in each other. With a number of these guys being seniors, this should be a springboard into the season.”