Lara, Pride suffer D-III defeat
BRISTOL — Coaches can scheme around plenty of weaknesses. They can go up-tempo if their team is undersized or press if they struggle to create offense in the half court.
But there’s one thing a coach can’t scheme around – experience.
The Blackstone Valley Prep boys basketball team went all the way to last season’s Division III final on the back of forwards Xavier Mendez and Jordan Mendes. Mendez is now playing at Bristol Community College and Mendez is enrolled at Shea, which left not only a big scoring void, but also an enormous leadership void.
Senior Xavier Lara, who played a supporting role last season, has admirably filled that void to lead the Pride to an unbeaten Division III record headed into 2022. Lara had 21 points and eight rebounds Monday night against Mt. Hope, but the Pride’s winning ways in league play came to an end as Bruce McGuire pumped in a game-high 33 points in a 62-53 victory.
“We never quit and we kept battling back, but there were just too many mistakes,” BVP coach Kevin Payette said. “A couple of our guys are playing a little timid at times, but we just told them that we don’t have a choice but to go out and play. They need to go out there and figure it out because we’re not deep. We play three sophomores a lot.
“This is valuable experience for those younger kids, but Lara is our heart and soul. We ask him to guard the other team’s best player and also take most of our shots. We are asking a ton from him – maybe too much. He’s willing and he never backs down.”
Blackstone Valley Prep (3-3, 3-1 Division III) has now lost three straight games, including back-toback non-league road defeats to Rogers and Woonsocket. The Pride return to their south Cumberland gym for a game for the first time in over three weeks when Moses Brown makes the short trip up Interstate 95 Thursday night.
In Monday’s game, the Pride also received a solid effort from sophomore forward Juan Bedoya, who scored six of his 14 points in the opening quarter to stake his team to an early lead. He also added six rebounds, while junior Urias Brooks chipped in with six points and 11 rebounds.
“Juan is getting better,” Payette said. “He’s understanding the game better and when he keeps it simple, he has great touch around the basket. He’s going to be good for us this year and going forward. We like our young group this year and going forward. They’re learning how to play hard in games and practices and Xavier sets the tone for that. It’s a baptism by fire for these guys.”
Mt. Hope (4-0 Division III) struggled with its half-court offense for long stretches of the first quarter to help the Pride take a 7-2 lead thanks to a bucket from Bedoya and a 3-pointer from Lara. The lead was only one after the first quarter because of turnovers and second-chance points.
McGuire and the Huskies went on a 12-2 run to grab a 20-14 advantage early in the second quarter. Sophomore Ethan Sou and Lara combined to close the gap to one (22-21), but that was as close as the Pride would get over the final 20 minutes.
“We had a hard time shutting down [McGuire] and it seemed every time we had a little bit of momentum, we had a careless turnover,” Payette said. “We were just a little bit short on a lot of possessions and a little bit short in the game. It kind of mirrored itself where we’d get a stop and then we don’t get the rebound. Or we’d get a stop and we’d turn it over.”
The script remained the same in the second half, as McGuire pushed the lead out to 10, but 3-pointers from Lara and Sou made it a four-point game. The Huskies opened the advantage back up to 10 before Lara made it a 51-46 game with a 3-pointer. McGuire answered with his second 3-pointer to secure the victory.