Broncos move to 3-0 in D-II
CRANSTON — After the first week of the season there are only three undefeated boys basketball teams left in the Blackstone Valley – and two play in Division II.
Along with D-II mainstay Tolman, the Burrillville boys are off to a 3-0 start after another smothering defensive performance Friday night at Cranston West. Junior wing Wes Cournoyer and Jeff Cabral each scored a team-high 11 points in a 46-33 Division II victory.
“I don’t feel like many people saw this coming except for us,” Burrillville coach Kevin Randall said. “We are doing this with our defense because we haven’t let a team score more than 40 points yet. Normally, we play strong man-to-man defense, but we’re doing this with a 2-3 zone and the kids are really stepping up.”
Burrillville (3-0 Division II) trailed by five points early in the contest, but the Broncos battled back to grab a 9-7 advantage after the opening quarter.
The visitors stretched the lead out to eight after two quarters and 12 with just eight minutes left in the game. Randall said the win was meaningful because the Falcons destroyed the Broncos last season.
“This was a big one for us because Cranston West absolutely beat us up physically, mentally and physiologically last season when we went there,” Randall said. “I don’t think they expected us to be as physical as we were. We went with basically two centers in the second half and Jeff Cabral played his best game in a Bronco uniform.”
Burrillville, which also received eight points from Jared Deschamps, hosts Juanita Sanchez Thursday night at 6 p.m.
RAIDERS NOTCH WIN
PAWTUCKET – In a matchup of Division I boys basketball newcomers, Shea High prevailed by a 63-61 count over PCD on Friday night at Jenks Middle School.
The Raiders (1-2) trailed 29-25 at halftime before going up by as many as 10 points in the second half. The Knights came back to go up by seven, but Shea closed strong behind Enrique Sosa, who finished with a gamehigh 22 points.
Isaac Ogutuga delivered the winning points for the Raiders, the junior making two free throws with 16 points remaining. He finished with 12 points as did Joey Reyes.