Central Falls drops semifinal contest to Coventry
COVENTRY — With a double overtime victory against Central last week serving as their inspiration, the Coventry boys basketball team put forth a more conventional showing on Friday afternoon as they hosted Central Falls in the opening round of the annual Coventry Credit Union Holiday Classic.
A tight first half gave way to a more one-sided second half, one in which the Oakers were able to pull away down the stretch in an eventual 60-53 final, a score made only that close by a pair of late 3-pointers by the Warriors.
“In spurts, in spurts,” Coventry coach Jim Moretti said when asked to asses whether or not his team put together a strong performance on the day.
“When we execute, we’re a good team. When we get ragged, we’re not a good team,” he said.
Junior Jayden Voelker led the way with 15 points for Coventry, 11 of which came in the opening half, as the Oakers took a 26-24 advantage into the break.
Senior Aaron Smith poured in 14 points, nailing a pair of three-pointers on the day, while going 2-for-2 at the free throw line. Classmate Nick Fuentes was right behind him with 13 points as the three combined for 42 of their team’s 60 overall points.
“Just looking for some combinations,” Moretti said of his team’s focus moving forward. “I thought Aaron Smith sparked us in the second half, Voelker hit some shots.”
Last year’s squad was led primarily by the play of Troy Osterhout, with few others for the Oakers to depend on from an offensive standpoint.
Moretti is hopeful that this year’s group is more balanced.
“We’ve got some guys that can spread it out. We’re not a one-man team, which is nice,” he said.
The win secures a spot in today’s finals against Exeter/West Greenwich after the Scarlet Knights defeated North Smithfield in the other game.
Moretti is hoping that his players do not take a victory for granted, which he felt they did at time during Friday’s contest against the Warriors.
“We’re just going to have to be aggressive and see what happens. Just because they’re Division III, we can’t play down to that. That’s what I think we did today and they came at us hard, Central Falls. We’ve got to come with an intensity,” he said.
Tip-off against E/WG is set for 4:30 p.m.
The Warriors will also be back in action at C. Arthur Flori Gymnasium today as they get set to face North Smithfield in the losers’ bracket of the tournament with their game set to begin at 1:30 p.m.
As for Friday’s showing against the Oakers, head coach Jeff Doucette was proud of the fact that his team did not let the game get away from them.
“We hung around. Playing against a D-I school, it’s good to not get blown out,” he said.
“I told Jimmy (Moretti) before the game ‘I just want to give you guys a game at least.’”
Senior Darryl Fleurantin led the Warriors with 11 points, while Jaquell Christal had 10 and Hector Osario, 8, four of which came right before the end of the opening half to cap a 9-2 run by the visitors to make it a 26-24 game.
Smith nailed a pair of threes for the Oakers to open the second half, as Coventry upped their lead to double digits for most of the half, but Doucette credited the fight shown by his team, especially considering their last showing.
“I’m happy with their energy. We had a game last week where we were like lifeless. To see them work hard and not give up, I’m happy,” he said.
The half dozen three-pointers his team made on the day was more a function of the score than anything else. “Our bread and butter is going to be the big guys inside, but we had to start firing threes because we were down by so much,” he said.