AGONIZING ENDING
No. 3 Shea jumps ahead early, falls in final to Hawks Shea proud of superb campaign
KINGSTON – Perhaps 30 minutes before Shea High’s R.I. Open Tournament championship final opposite top-ranked Hendricken late Sunday afternoon, head coach Matt Pita stood in his visitors’ locker room at URI’s Ryan Center, preparing for the upcoming clash.
When asked if he had addressed the fact his Raiders had dropped a heartbreaking 72-64 decision to Cumberland in the state Division II final on March 5, and whether avenging that defeat was a part of his message, Pita shook his head.
He also was asked if he mentioned to his football-playing hoopsters that they should be used to winning – Shea captured the D-II Super Bowl over Moses Brown in a romp – he again smiled and said, “No.
“My only message was for the guys to go out and have fun,” Pita offered. “I told them, ‘You’re one of the last two teams in the state right now which is still playing, so have a good time. Just do the basics well and everything will take care of itself.’
“I also said, ‘This is your chance to cement yourself as one of the greatest basketball teams in Shea High School basketball history. It’s your time, so go get it.’”
Throughout the first half, and for a significant time in the second, the Raiders seemed poised to achieve its goal of collecting the “all-state” title. The Hawks, however, rattled off a 16-3 surge over a minimal span of 3:36 midway through the stanza to capture a 66-55 triumph before several hundred fans.
With 11:03 left in regulation and Shea guarding a 32-28 cushion after senior Malik Muhammed-Hester’s putback, Hendricken slowly worked its way back into it with more timely rebounding and by forcing turnovers.
In the end, the Hawks were the ones celebrating on the hardwood, but Pita’s crew hardly seemed dejected.
“I’m not upset, not at all,” senior point guard Yanique Duarte stated while his opponents were accepting their state championship plaque. “The team did what we had to do to get here, and we competed. We were going against a Division I-level team, and we had to fight hard every minute, but they just came out on top.
“Our team did a great job of executing and playing through the tough calls,” he added. “I want to congratulate our guys on going undefeated during the regular season (18-0), then going to the state (D-II) championship game. Unfortunately, we lost that to Cumberland, but it was great getting there. Then we made it here, and it was hard to do that.
“I just want to congratulate all of my teammates for a job well done.”
Shea finished the campaign with a remarkable 26-3 mark, one Pita never dreamed of after his bunch lost its first tilt of the season against St. Raphael. (The Raiders actually avenged that defeat in the Open semifinals, 65-57, on Saturday night).
“I’m just happy for the guys,” Pita stated afterward. “I’m so proud of them. We executed well, especially in the first half, when we were switching up our zones. We played great, I thought, but then turned the ball over and they converted them into baskets.
“We made some shots, they made some shots, but they won the game – pure and simple,” he continued. “They’re celebrating, and we’re taking the bus back to Pawtucket, but we’ll make that trip with pride. No one is dejected in that locker room. That’s the type of kids they are. They’re able to put everything in the rear-view mirror and look ahead. We’re holding our heads high.
“We’re 26-3, and I don’t know of any team (dating back to the late 1970s when Pawtucket West was renamed Shea) in school history that’s posted that kind of record. I really can’t believe all the success we had. It’s been a dream season.”
Four of Pita’s hoopsters just happened to play key roles for Dino Campopiano’s Division II Super Bowl-winning Raiders in early December. They include Duarte, senior center/forward Abdul Ajia, junior guard Gerald Soe and senior guard Tyreek Rodrigues.
All indicated their success on the gridiron aided in how well Shea played on the court this winter.
“We brought all our chemistry from the football field to the basketball court,” Duarte insisted.
Offered Ajia: “That’s completely true. We’re a really tight-knit group; all the guys who play football, basketball and baseball, even track, we’re so close. We can all relate to the success another team has had.
“I’m not upset at all,” he added. “We did the best we could against the best team in the state. I mean, we’re a public school from the west side of Pawtucket and they’re a private school with kids from all over the state and region. Why shouldn’t we be satis- fied?”
The only thing that left Ajia a bit sour was the fact that, after his wicked slam with 12:30 remaining in the final session (giving Shea a 30-27 lead), he landed awkwardly.
“I twisted my knee when I came down from the dunk,” Ajia noted, reaching for his right knee, which was wrapped in ice. “It didn’t affect me a lot, but there was some loss in stability … Anyway, we all wanted to win that game against Cumberland, and we all wanted to win this one. It just didn’t work out that way.”
Senior forward Malik Muhammed-Hester didn’t play football, but did mention the fact that squad’s state title gave the basketball team a lift earlier in the season.
“They didn’t really say much about it, but they didn’t have to,” stated MuhammedHester, who led Shea with 17 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals, and – because of those splendid numbers – earned the Raiders’ MVP Award. “It was like an expectation they had to just as well in basketball.
“They took care of business on the football field, and pretty much told us, ‘There’s no reason we can’t do it again.’ You know what? We almost did – twice. We’re really proud of what we accomplished.”