Clippers ‘press’ their luck
WESTERLY — Nothing was going right for the Cumberland girls basketball team Thursday night.
It took the Clippers over 90 minutes to make the trek down to Westerly after the bus was 45 minutes late and after all that, it looked like they were going to make the trip back home with an ugly loss, as they trailed by 10 points with 6:24 left in the Division II contest with the Bulldogs.
That’s when coach George Coderre started to press, which proved to make all the difference. Cumberland tied the game on a pair of Abby LaRose free throws and then she made the go-ahead basket with 24 seconds left in a 40-38 victory.
“This was awesome,” Coderre said. “It was a good win because we were struggling all game to get anything going. We put on the press and that forced three consecutive turnovers to get us back into the game.”
Cumberland (4-3 Division II) received a game-high 18 points from junior Madison Zancan, while LaRose chipped in with 10. Molly Rebelo added five for the Clippers, who host Exeter-West Greenwich Monday night.
CUMBERLAND (40) Madison Zancan 5 8-17 18, Molly Rebelo 1 2-4 5, Abby LaRose 4 2-2 10, Juliette Vemmer 0 2-2 2, Lily
LaChance 1 0-0 2, Bella Luca 1 1-2 3, Abbie Vallely 0 0-0 0, totals 12 15-27 40.
WESTERLY (38) Alexa Beal 3 0-0 6, Rachel Federico 1 2-4 4, Kylee Marley 3 2-2 8, Jaclyn Fusaro 1 2-2 4, Rachel Dobson 1 0-0 2, Mackenzie Fusaro 3 0-0 9, Meg Beal 2 1-2 5, Dina Arnold 0 0-0 0, Totals 14 7-7 38.
Halftime – Westerly, 18-14.
3-pointers – C, Rebelo; W, Fusaro 3, M. Beal.
SAINTS ROUT SMITHFIELD
PATRIOTS TRIP UP WARRIORS
PAWTUCKET — For the second time in two weeks the St. Raphael girls basketball team rebounded from a road loss to an undefeated team with a blowout victory.
The Saints, who dropped a decision to La Salle Tuesday, used 15 points apiece from junior center Amaya Dowdy and Tatum Forbes to crush visiting Smithfield, 61-29, Thursday night at Alumni Hall.
St. Raphael (6-2 Division I) also received 10 points from senior forward Paige O’Brien. The Saints host Moses Brown Monday night.
CENTRAL FALLS — Ana Gomes scored a game-high 13 points in Davies’ 35-28 Division III road victory over Central Falls Thursday.