Nothing’s for free
Cumberland beats Woonsocket at foul line
Woonsocket may have struggled at the free-throw line, but Cumberland still had to work to earn a 59-56 over its Division I rival.
WOONSOCKET — Apparently, Dante Aviles-Soares didn’t think much of his game-winning steal on Friday night.
But, because of it, Cumberland High survived a sometimes-infuriating, sometimes-entertaining, always-suspenseful 59-56 victory over Division I rival Woonsocket in both teams’ league opener at the Savaria Gymnasium.
“I didn’t really see anything, but I thought I could get to the pass; it was just a basketball play,” Aviles-Soares stated nonchalantly after what proved to be the game-clinching play. “That’s what Coach (Gary) Reedy always tells us, ‘Be smart and make good basketball plays.’ That’s what I did.”
The Clippers (2-0 overall) had been guarding a 57-54 led with under 15 ticks to play in regulation when Aviles-Soares sailed in and robbed the ball from a Villa Novan with 11.8 left. After being fouled, he calmly stepped to the charity stripe and planted a pair for the victory.
WHS junior Eric Agyemang managed a driving layup with 1.8 remaining, and Woonsocket did regain possession, but it failed to get a shot off.
Aviles-Soares paced the Clippers with 27 points and three steals, while sophomore guard Colin Mories finished with 12 points, junior Will Andrews eight and senior Brendan Raftery and sophomores Jack Proctor and Seth Anderson four each.
Raftery (eight) and Proctor combined for 15 boards.
For the Villa Novans (0-2 overall), junior Eric Agyemang managed a team-high 13 points, with senior Jake Bissonnette recording a dozen and classmates Ousmane Kourouma eight and Justus McLaurin seven.
“Dante stole the ball, and that was huge; he made a nice play,” Reedy stated afterward. “The difference was at the foul line. How many did we make?”
When told Cumberland hit 21 of 26 and WHS only six of 19, he shrugged, “Not bad, but it’s still early. Both teams looked off their game; you could tell. We both were feeling each other out. The timing was off the whole entire game.
“We needed to up-fake their big guy (Kourouma) more often in the first half and we didn’t do it; that’s why they came back on us,” he continued. “We did a better job in the second half.”
Like Reedy, Woonsocket coach T.J. Ciolfi agreed that neither team seemed ready for such an important season opener.
“I think it was too early to play such an important league game; I mean, we played an Injury Fund, had a snow day and only, like, four practices,” he said. “I mean, how good were we going to be? And they were in the same boat. Still, I’m pretty happy. My team looked much more organized than it did the last game.
“I just wish it happened later in the year. Neither team is anywhere near where we’re going to be when we meet again.”
It appeared the Clippers would pull away from the hosts early after building a 17- 6 lead in the span of 6:52. When junior Jackson Walsh drained two foul shots with 5: 54 remaining before the break, Cumberland. pulled ahead by 10 ( 22- 12).
The Novans responded with a 17-8 run the rest of the way, with junior Jared Downing’s free throw slicing the deficit to just one at halftime.
There were four lead changes in the final session, the last when Kourouma nailed a putback to make it 33-32 Woonsocket with 13:56 left. Seventeen ticks later, Mories hit a basket and Aviles-Soares a layup off a theft. That sparked a 17-6 flurry over the next 7:19; with 6:37 on the scoreboard clock, Mories not only earned a visit to the foul line, but Kourouma his fifth foul and early exit.
Undaunted, the Novans battled back, eventually knifing it to 50-48 with 3:17 left, then to 5554 at the 1:22 mark after another Agyemang bucket.
Aviles-Soares netted two charity stripers with 20.4 remaining, but he threw the ball away. That resulted in Agyemang’s layin, but the hosts ran out of time.
“Dante’s a terrific player, and he’s really worked on his game; I can tell,” Ciolfi grinned later. “I’m a big fan of his, but we have a lot to work on.”