Tigers back on track
PAWTUCKET – It appears Tolman High has mended its collective emotional psyche after suffering a harrowing threepoint loss to Lincoln at home on Monday night.
After that tilt, some of the Tigers were in tears as they walked through the traditional handshake line. They just weren’t used to losing after sustaining only one loss during its Division III championship banner-hoisting campaign of a year ago.
Some say it’s just what they needed, that crushing defeat, and senior captain
Thania Santos admitted after a sloppy but hard-earned 56-38 league triumph over pesky Mount Pleasant she thinks they’re right.
“That loss made us hungry, really hungry; we were so upset, so mad,” she explained. “Coach (Bunky Gonzalez) told us we made too many turnovers and mental mistakes, and that it was all on us. But now we beat Mt. Hope (recently) and Mount Pleasant, so this raises our confidence a bunch.
“At first, we were cocky because we were 5-0 in league; we though we were going to roll everybody, but the loss to Lincoln humbled us. It caused us to get hungry again, and this win just increases it.”
Santana happened to lead this most recent onslaught with 18 points, six steals, five assists and two rebounds, while freshman Abryanna Encarnacion registered 13 points and six boards; and junior Jaz Wilson seven points, three steals, two rebounds and a pair of assists.
Other integral outings came from senior center Ashley Percy (one point, nine boards, two blocks); gritty junior point guard Bella Russell (one point, four steals, five forced turnovers, two assists); and junior Nariah Washington (five boards).
With the verdict, the Tigers improved to 9-3 overall and 6-1 in league action, while the Kilties fell to 4-2 in D-III play.
MP junior Francheska Contreras had dropped a turnaround jumper to slice the deficit to 30-29 with 10:29 remaining in regulation (Tolman had led by nine a scant nine ticks into the final half), but Santana canned a fast-break layup 34 ticks later to increase that cushion to 32-29.
From that point to the 5:53 mark of the second stanza, the Tigers went on a 14-2 surge that virtually ended the game. Santana notched a conventional three-point play, then a pair of free throws and – finally – a lay-in off a theft with 5:53 left to push the lead to 44-31.
In the span of 4:02, Gonzalez and assistant Ryan Long had cinched it, though the contest couldn’t have been any more sloppy. The Kilties closed with 24 personal fouls and 42 turnovers, and the Tigers weren’t much better with 23 and 34, respectively.
All told, 47 fouls and 76 turnovers were committed.
Still, when Long was asked what won the game for the hosts, he grinned, “Execution. We saw opportunities throughout the game, but we just couldn’t finish (a basket). We missed tons of shots. But that 14-2 run? That’s when the girls started to heat up. Once you hit two or three in a row, that’s contagious; that’s what gets a team going, and it all starts to come together.
“That loss to Lincoln definitely hurt them, but I also think it humbled them,” he added. “It was the same way last year when we lost to Pilgrim. It was the same experience. You realize every team is going to play you to the best off your ability. You have a target on your backs, and the girls better start realizing that now.”