Woonsocket reaches D-III final
No. 3 Woonsocket holds off Pilgrim to advance
Talented freshmen lead No. 3 Novans past Pilgrim
NORTH SCITUATE — Immediately following her team’s Division III semifinal inside the Ponaganset High gymnasium on Thursday night, Woonsocket High junior forward Erinee Agyemang had just been treated by a trainer, but the pain hadn’t subsided.
“Ow, my pinkie,” she exclaimed, as she removed ice from the red, semi-swollen wound. “I don’t know how I did it, except maybe when I was chasing the ball out of bounds.”
When someone asked her how much it hurt after her Villa Novans had survived a thrilling 47-40 victory over seventh-seeded Pilgrim, she grinned, “You know, you say that, and it doesn’t hurt anymore!”
With the triumph, the third- ranked Villa Novams earned a berth in the state D- III championship game slated for high noon Sunday at Rhode Island College.
Their foe will be fifth-seeded Mount Pleasant, which blasted top-ranked Burrillville, 57-38, in the first semifinal.
“She said just getting here to the semis was quite an accomplishment, but we wanted more.”
Stated Stanton: “They’ve worked so hard every day to get to where they are, so they’re not going to be defined by one game. It just stings that this wasn’t their game; they got this far, but I wish they could have gone all the way with it.
“They’ve helped this program come an awfully long way in a short time,” she continued. “The difference here was we played so nervous. Confidence has been something we’ve been working on all season, but I think when they walked in and saw the crowd, the numbers, I think that caused the nervous butterflies to come back.”
Junior sharpshooter Kelsey Hatch closed with a game-high 21 points and five steals, while classmate Francheska Contreras managed a “double-double” with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Actually, senior Laura Monteiro notched one herself with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and classmate Amber Quinones dropped eight points.
As for the Broncos, only senior Alyssa Simpson reached double-digit status with 12, while fellow 12th-grader Brooke Pinocci tacked on nine and Brown eight.
Senior captain Prario mustered four.
From the outset, Burrillville began experiencing its issues, as it fell behind by scores of 7-0, 13-1 and 14-5 before Mount Pleasant really began to surge.
The reason: Burrillville had picked up its fifth turnover with only 2:54 elapsed, and its 10th exactly 2:54 later. At that point, with 10:12 remaining, the Kilties held a 13-1 lead, though the “hosts” sliced it to 14-5 when Simpson drained a lay-in off a steal at the 9:25 mark.
That nine-point deficit would be the closest they would come the rest of the evening.
Just 17 ticks later, Hatch ripped a trey, Monteiro a baseline hook, Hatch a scoop, Contreras a one-handed six-footer and Quinones a 17-foot “two” to push that 14-5 advantage to 25-7 with 6:59 left.
After Quinones hit a three-point bomb with 1:21 left before the break, the Kilties had surged to a 3613 lead.
To put it in perspective, MP had exploded for a 22-8 run in the span of 8:04.
It didn’t get much better
Sam in the second half, as the Providence bunch outscored BHS, 9-4, in the initial 6:12 of the last session.
The Broncos didn’t knife it to less than 20 until senior Aleice Harmon nailed her first free throw with 6.4 seconds left in regulation.
“That was the best first half I’ve seen all year,” noted MP head coach Zachary Pino. “We got out in transition, had defensive intensity and we rebounded extremely well. Actually, we moved the ball better on offensively than we have all season. The same goes for our screens.
“My kids didn’t surprise me at all,” he added. “I’ve told them all season that I thought they have the most talent of anyone in the division. This is the hardest-working, most laid-back but also most disciplined team I’ve had in my six years here. It’s a really determined group, and you saw that (Wednesday night).”
**
MOUNT PLEASANT (58) – Francheska Contreras 5 2-3 12, Kelsey Hatch 8 4-5 21, Amber Quinones 3 1-2 8, Laura Monteiro 4 3-6 11, Amya Perry 0 1-2 1, Julissa Walmsley 2 0-0 4, Jasmine Garcia 0 0-0 0, Corinthia Hayes 0 0-0 0; totals 22 11-18 57. BURRILLVILLE (38) – Alyssa Simpson 5 2-3 12, Molly Brown 3 2-8 8, Sam Prario 1 2-2 4, Aleice Harmon 0 1-2 1, Brooke Pinocci 4 1-2 9, Alicia Harmon 0 0-0 0, Morgan Bassett 0 0-0 0, Aoibh Potter 0 0-0 0, Avery Clifford 0 0-0 0, Isabel Costa 0 0-0 0, Maddie Seldon 0 0-0 0, Abigail Ludovici 0 0-0 0; totals 15 8-18 38.
Three-point field goals: Hatch, Quinones. Halftime: Mount Pleasant, 36-13.
Photo by Ernest A. Brown