The future looks bright
Woonsocket Middle School completes perfect season
Woonsocket lays claim to the title of middle school boys’ basketball champion after beating Riverside.
CRANSTON – With 5.1 seconds remaining in regulation, after Woonsocket Middle School head coach Thomas Gray called a full timeout, eighth-grader Andre Bell strolled off the court on Thursday night, continuously lifting his arms in an effort to create more noise from the Mill City’s massive fan base.
He didn’t really need to do that, and the crowd behind the team bench actually didn’t pay much attention to his silent request. The reason: They didn’t have to. They already knew the final result, and that is that the second-seeded Villa Novans had clinched the RIPCOA state championship with a 57-51 triumph over gritty No. 4 Riverside at Cranston East.
With the triumph, Gray’s contingent – already the Northern Division regular-season champs – closed its campaign with a 16-0 overall record.
“Last year, I remember we lost in the second round to Barrington, and we wanted this so bad. We worked so hard for it, and now we’ve got it.”
— Woonsocket’s Alex Herrara
o The Vikings, on the other
hand, dropped to 15-2. ” “This means so much; tI’ve always wanted to do tthis,” eighth-grader/center sAlex Herrera stated after the awards ceremony and parents galore requesting poses afor photos from Woonsockret’s newest heroes. “Last year, I remember we lost rin the second round to BarLrington, and we wanted this
so bad. We worked so hard nfor it, and now we’ve got it.”
Offered guard Joel Felix: h“We knew we had a bunch rof players coming back after that loss last season, and e– from the first day – we were focused on this night. We’d start practices at 2:30 e(p.m.) and go for at least dthree hours, sometimes ‘til 6 e(p.m.). We’ve been gearing eup for this since that night.”
Gray admitted he didn’t eknow much about this Riv
erside bunch entering the nclash, as they play in sepatrate divisions during the regular campaign.
“All I had was two reports on them – that they were a good shooting basketball team and ran their offense very well, and that we were bigger (height-wise),” he said. “That’s all I knew oabout them, and that’s what swe went with. a “But as for this title, listen, we were 16-0, undefeated throughout the season, eand we won both tournadments we were in. This is a ehard-working, very respectgful, skilled basketball team, one that’s so dedicated. We practiced three hours a day, five days a week, and noobody was late, everybody
was on time and they never dcomplained.
“They would work right until 5:30, but other days we’d go later, but they didn’t say a word,” he continued. “It was a wonderful group to work with, and I’m going to miss my eighth-graders. I’ve got nine of them that I’m losing, and I’m going to miss them, but we’re going to keep this program going.
“Woonsocket proud, man! Woonsocket proud!”
Highlighting the Novans’ effort, at least in the scoring and rebounding department, were Herrera (14 points, 14 rebounds); Bell (14 points); Jeriel Vazquez (eight points); Rushaune Vilane and Felix (seven); and Jamaury Butt (four).
The
Vikings
actually canned eight 3-pointers, yet nevertheless came with the defeat. Skyller Garcia (five 3-pointers), Xavier Hazard (three) and Trey Rezendes III each registered 15 points, while the skyscraper Kanez Ochogwu dropped four (with numerous boards).
Following a topsy-turvy first half that included five ties and seven lead changes, Woonsocket led 26-24 entering the final 16 minutes and quickly added to that lead. In fact, WMS notched seven of the initial 10 points in the half, the last ones a conventional three-point play by Herrera with 2:37 elapsed.
The Vikings, however, responded in kind, tying it at 33-up after Hazard’s two straight3-pointers 10:53 left.
That happened to be the sixth tie of the night – and the last.
Vilane assembled a conventional three-point play 91, Melton a bomb and Bell a pair from the charity stripe to push the Novans back up by six (41-35). With 7:53 on the scoreboard clock, Garcia splashed another of his flowery treys to knife it back to a three-point deficit (41-38), yet – over the next 5:27 – Gray’s kids manufactured another 14-5 surge.
Herrera netted a baseline hook, Vazquez a running one-hander, Vilane a putback, Felix a trey and-- finally – Vazquez canned a free
with
Photo by Ernest A. Brown throw and missed the second before Bell snagged it on the baseline. He calmly drained a hook on the putback to deliver the Novans a 55-43 advantage with 2:26 remaining.
That’s what closed the 2210 flurry, all in the span of 6:56.
Riverside tried knot it again.
When it came to turnovers, they were pretty even, as the Vikings had 16 and WMS 14.
“The way we accomplished that 22-10 run was we rebounded the ball, pushed the ball up the floor and played great defense,” Gray grinned later. “The defense set the tone for everything else to happen. De
in
vain
to fense, rebounding the ball on the defensive end, they helped us get the ball up the floor and run the offense.
“I thought Alex did a great job of controlling the boards, especially the offensive, and he had three or four great baskets off the rebound. Those kept us in the game and allowed us to build that lead.”
Riverside mentor Scott Breault remained undaunted in his praise for his kids.
“These kids worked so hard, and I thought they played very well,” he said. “It’s just that Woonsocket was physical; they had size and they rebounded. We went a little bit cold from the field early and midway through the second and missed some shots, but we played well.”
Offered Felix during the intense post-game celebration: “Coach told us going into the second half we had to play sharp on defense, that we had to talk, communicate and value possession.”
When asked if he was ever taken aback by the Vikings’ big guns from “downtown,” he grinned mischeivously and said, “I was never nervous. I have confidence in myself, my teammates and the coaches. We wanted this, and we got it!”
**
RIVERSIDE (51) – Xavier Hazard 6 0-1 15, Skyller Garcia 5 0-0 15, Trey Rezendes III 5 5-7 15, Kanez Ochogwu 2 0-0 4 Cam Evora 1 0-0 2, Davien Jean-Rene 0 0-0 0, Dom Maiato 0 0-0 0, Darius Davis 0 0-0 0, Elijah McNair 0 0-0 0, Joe Chaves 0 0-0 0, Andrew Espada 0 0-0 0, Justin Jardine 0 0-0 0, Gavin Palombo 0 0-0 0; totals 19 5-8 51. WOONSOCKET (57) – Alex Herrera 6 2-3 14, Andre Bell 5 3-4 14, Jeriel Vazquez 3 1-2 8, Rushaune Vilane 3 1-3 7, Jamaury Barr 2 0-0 4, Joe Felix 3 0-3 7, Dante Melton 1 0-0 3, Juelz Stengel 0 0-0 0, Antonio Delgado 0 0-0 0, Dante Rogers 0 0-0 0, Andrew Bissonnette 0 0-0 0, Avyion Faux 0 0-0 0, Julean Nunez 0 0-0 0, Jermaine Wynkoop 0 0-0 0, Demitri Brin 0 0-0 0; totals 23 7-15 57.
Three-point field goals: Garcia 5, Hazard 3, Bell, Vazquez, Melton, Felix. Halftime: Woonsocket, 26-24.