St. Raphael hopes third time’s the charm vs. SK
Saints, Rebels meet for spot in state final
PAWTUCKET — If recent history is any indication, St. Raphael Academy should have issues when it faces second-seeded South Kingstown High in an Interscholastic Open Tournament semifinal today at 2 p.m. at the University of Rhode Island’s Ryan Center.
Way back on Jan. 24, the thirdranked Saints held a whopping 17-point lead with 9:50 remaining in regulation but allowed the Rebels to fight back and eventually claim a six-point victory.
And, on Feb. 28, during a Division I tourney semifinal, SK in essence woman-handled the Saints, and ended up with a seven-point verdict.
“South Kingstown went to a full-court press, and we shriveled under the pressure,” head coach Tammy Drape stated. “It was hard to watch; I could see it all unravel right in front of me, so I called a timeout to help us regroup, but the kids didn’t respond very well. I think they panicked.
“As for the semifinal game, we had a small lead in the beginning, but they came back and took control of it,” she added. “The final three minutes or so, we were more patient with the basketball, made some buckets and got back into it.
We had some opportunities late in the game, but they iced it and won by seven.”
Drape indicated she’s spent most of this week explaining what went wrong, and that they needed to have more faith in each other as a unit.
“I honestly think those were two good lessons for us,” she offered. “We talked about each game being 32 minutes long, and that they’re going to have to at 110 percent for all 32 minutes if they want to win. I said, ‘All the other teams are going to play at 110 percent for a full 32, so you need to as well.
“You know, looking back, that actually helped us in our game against Bay View. We allowed them to crawl back into it, but then we regained control and iced them, so we are capable of doing it.”
She also mentioned she hopes her girls are angry at what happened the two previous times, and want to avenge those tight defeats.
“We’re not worried about what they’re going to do; we’re just concentrating on what we do ourselves,” she said. “I want them to think about, ‘Do what we do best.’ My focus, as always, is on defense, and that’s what we’ve been concentrating on this week.
“The kids seem to be happy where they’re at right now; they’re excited about going to the Final Four, especially after the way the D-I tournament ended for us,” she added. “But even Nina (Bliss, Drape’s heralded assistant) has been telling the girls, ‘We haven’t come this far just to play at URI. We’ve put in a ton of work this season, so we’re going down there to win it!
“I know the last time a Saints’ team won a state championship was way back in 2000. I told the kids that their health & PE teacher, Erika Paiva, was a senior that year, and they all think that’s funny. She was on that team with athletes like Jackie Fournier and Mary McConnell; it was very good.
“There’s no reason we can’t go down there and win this semifinal. We just have to take care of the basketball, limit our amount of turnovers. More importantly, these girls all know how good they are, how much talent they have, especially when they play as a team.”