St. Raphael bounces back with road win

CRANSTON – Whatever you want to do, we’ll match it. That was the theme in the early going last night as every time St. Raphael pressed Cranston East, the Thunderbolts responded in kind.

Eventually, the back-and-forth nature subsided as the Saints pulled away from their Division I counterparts. Led by 19 points and 18 points from junior forward Trevante Jones and 15 points from classmate Peter Wilson, SRA cruised to a 59-40 victory at the Thunder Dome.

“We try to play fast and that kind of played into their hands a little bit in the first half,” said Saints head coach Tom “Saar” Sorrentine.

The Saints took control thanks in large part to Jones, who netted all of his points in the opening half.

As usual, he was particularly tough on the offensive glass. Jones rebounded a missed free throw by Jay-Juan Hayes and went right back up for a hoop that also resulted in a trip to the charity stripe. He also had another crack at an inside 3-point play after rebounding a SRAmiss.

All of the aforementioned activity transpired in the final minute of the opening half and helped extend the Saints’ halftime lead to 36-22.

“He led the charge there,” said Sorrentine about Jones, who was limited to seven points in Wednesday’s loss to D-I contender Smithfield.

The Saints tried like heck to get Jones over the 20-point plateau, particularly in the early stages of the second half. He touched the ball three straight times against a Cranston East frontline that was dealing with foul issues. Nothing seemed to drop for Jones, who was taken out by Sorrentine with 2:05 remaining and the Saints well on their way to winning their fourth game in five tries.

Any hope of a Cranston East comeback was wiped away when the Thunderbolts (2-5, Division I) opening the second half in a 1-for-8 dry spell from the field with three turnovers sprinkled in for good measure. One of those miscues resulted in three by Huascar Beato (eight points) that pushed SRA’s lead to 20 points (44-24).

Sorrentine was impressed with the output Wilson gave; the guard had been dealing with an ankle injury.

“This was a tough week for us. We had three games,” said Sorrentine, who rolled past Woonsocket before falling to Smithfield.

The Saints will carry a 5-2 record into Tuesday’s home clash with North Kingstown.

“They’re one of those big, physical teams that seems to give us trouble,” said Sorrentine.