Raiders, SRA advance to title game
Bloe pours in game-high 40 for Saints; Bans scores 27 points for Shea
PAWTUCKET — Before a strong turnout at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket on Thursday night, St. Raphael senior Avion Bloe and Shea High junior Erickson Bans put on a scoring display that proved to be title game worthy.
Championship Saturday awaits the Saints and the Raiders and after each club passed their respective semifinal test in con- junction with the annual Donaldson-Lynch Memorial Tournament. Bloe pumped in 25 of his game-high 40 points after halftime as the Saints fought back from a double-digit deficit to knock off Tolman, 74-68. In the first game, Bans netted 27 points as Shea pulled away from Central Falls to win going away, 76-52.
SRA and Shea will play for the 2018 Donaldson-Lynch crown at 7:45 p.m. while earlier Saturday, C.F. and Tolman will meet in the 4:15 p.m. consolation game.
Saturday’s championship matchup figures to be dominated by the two backcourts. Bloe may have stole the show, but he had help as sophomore Ameir Gomes contributed 24 points. Shea received a lift from DeJuan Hayes, who scored all eight of his points during a second half that also saw the junior play point guard for long stretches.
The night, however, belonged to Bloe. After a lackluster first half that saw the Saints grab just five rebounds and pull into halftime with Tolman enjoying a 38-29 lead, SRA veteran head coach Tom Sorrentine went with a smaller lineup that helped turn the tide.
The Tigers appeared to be in business, up 49-37 with 11:51 remaining, but a 14-2 run by the Saints that was capped when Matt West cleaned up a missed shot that tied the game at 51-51 with 7:22 left.
Some long-distance work by Bloe helped the Saints stretch out their lead to 60-54. The Tigers went a long stretch without senior Justin Carvalho, who scored 19 points in the first half but ran into foul trouble during the latter half. He ended up with 28 points before fouling out.
Tolman never drew closer than a single possession after one of Bloe’s five three-pointers made SRA’s lead stand at 65-59.
“We had to go bigger, but Avion and Amir got us going,” said Sorrentine.
The Raiders appeared to be in solid shape, sprinting out to leads of 12-3 and 18-11. C.F. was able to cut into the deficit behind strong play from Dutchie Arroyo (nine points). The senior scored on backto-back possessions and then added another hoop as part of an 8-0 run that cut Shea’s lead to one (26-25). Bans responded in kind with a layup and a runner in the lane with 30 seconds left in the opening half.
What was a 39-33 deficit for the Warriors swelled to 5537 with 9:19 left. Marcos Medina led C.F. with 12 points.
“We were sluggish in the first half and Central Falls had something to do with it,” said Shea coach Steve DeMeo. “We started to press more in the second half and that gave us more energy. We got some turnovers and Erickson feeds off that, going downhill.” Follow Brendan McGair on Twitter @BWMcGair03