Northmen earn OT win over Burrillville

Viera-Dones, Goulet lead North Smithfield to win

BURRILLVILLE — North Smithfield junior center Aldrec Viera-Dones worked all off season to make sure what happened in last season’s Division III quarterfinal defeat to Burrillville didn’t happen again this season.

Burrillville’s Quentin Dearden dominated his matchup with Viera-Dones in the paint to help lead the Broncos to victory that February evening. Wednesday night, on the very same Broncodome court, Viera-Dones showed just how far he’s come as a player in the last nine months.

After scoring just four points in the opening half, Viera-Dones exploded for 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and overtime to lead the Northmen to a come-from-behind victory. The junior tallied three important buckets in the four-minute overtime session, as the Northmen returned home with a satisfying 59-53 non-league victory over the Broncos.

“My teammates have been pushing me and we’ve all been pushing each other in the offseason to work hard,” Viera-Dones said. “We always talked about getting the reps and getting back at it. We always have to stay together and have that team mentality. Late in the game, I was just thinking ‘I want to get that win for my boys.’”

“He can score 20 points at any time for us,” North Smithfield coach Brandon DiPaola said.

“He’s improved so much because his body has changed so much this year that he’s now a man down there. Last year when we played, [Dearden] really dominated him. This is his coming-out party. He did a great job on the boards, and was really big in overtime.”

Burrillville (1-2) was in complete control of the game in the second half. After trailing 34-33 with just under eight minutes left in regulation, the Broncos responded with an 8-0 run that looked to be enough to secure the victory. Colby Bouzan and freshman Wesley Cournoyer knocked down 3-pointers to help extend the lead to seven.

The Broncos, however, only made two field goals over the final six minutes to allow North Smithfield send the game to overtime.

Burrillville senior shooting guard Jake Gelinas hit four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 20 points, while Sam Clifford added 10. Bouzan scored nine.

“I like what I saw except for missing free throws and layups,” Burrillville coach Kevin Randall said. “That’s a game that I thought we could’ve had in regulation, but all of those misses really add up. I thought big Al was unbelievable in overtime. All of our attention was on Steve [Goulet] and Ethan [Savoie] – rightfully so – because they’re 1,000-point scorers. Al took over in overtime and won the game for them.”

North Smithfield (1-0) had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Goulet was stripped of the ball while attacking the hoop in the final seconds. Goulet, however, was a big reason the Northmen were even in position to win the contest because he scored nine points in the

second half and finished the evening with 20 points.

As a matter of fact, the only second-half points the Northmen scored that weren’t by Viera-Dones or Goulet were from Kyle Haner, who scored two points.

North Smithfield received contributions from its top three scorers to open up a five-point advantage in overtime. Savoie, who finished with nine, made a basket, while Viera-Dones scored a couple of crucial buckets in the paint to keep Burrillville at bay.

“I thought we did a good job in the second half and overtime,” DiPaola said. “We locked in on defense and played man-to-man defense in the last five minutes. We cut the lead down and went to overtime and controlled the game. Overall, we made a lot of mistakes, but it was just the first game.”

Savoie scored five points before Burrillville could get a bucket in the opening half to stake the visitors to a comfortable lead, but then Gelinas and the Broncos battled back. Burrillville went on a 16-4 run fueled by 3-point- ers to open up a 17-12 advantage midway through the first half.

The Northmen tied the game at 17, but the Broncos went into halftime with a one-point advantage.