Northmen earn first victory
Bienvenue, Deslauriers lead North Smithfield past Mount
NORTH SMITHFIELD – They might be in ninth grade, yet Aiden Bienvenue and Carter Deslauriers played with the swagger of an established veteran on Friday night.
Both were instrumental in North Smithfield claiming a 50-45 overtime victory over Mount St. Charles in Division III boys basketball action. Bienvenue hit timely threes in the fourth quarter and extra session while Deslauriers netted four of his 10 points in the overtime. Both players combined to score all seven of the points that the Northmen netted in the additional period.
“You don’t think that they’re freshmen out there. They don’t care,” said Northmen head coach Brandon DiPaola. “They aren’t nervous. I believe in both of them.”
Save for a few fleeting moments, Mount spent much of the night swimming against the tide. A disastrous opening quarter where they only had one basket – a three by junior Alex Gasbarro – and five turnovers resulted in an 11-3 deficit.
“I thought the slow start was due to the rivalry aspect of the game. Emotions were running high and we got away from the system that we’ve had in place and has worked,” said MSC head coach Henry Coleman after his squad fell to 1-2 in league play.
Mount senior Gary Bennett led all scorers with 13 points. The Mounties surrendered eight second-chance points in the opening half. As a result, they trailed 19-14 at the break.
The Northmen continued to own the upper head hand at 2519 before the visitors enjoyed their best offensive surges. A three-point play by Owen Noecker helped key a quarter-ending 9-3 run and tie the game at 28-28 heading into the fourth.
Mount pulled ahead 37-34 behind back-to-back hoops from senior Gary Kalmer. North Smithfield responded with a three by Bienvenue (10 points) and a hoop from Deslauriers to go up 43-37 with 1:49 left in regulation. The Mounties scored forced overtime when a scramble resulted in a Northmen turnover and Bennett hit a game-tying three inside the final minute.
Mount managed just one basket in the extra session as North Smithfield’s dynamic freshmen duo helped seal their team’s second D-III win as opposed to one defeat. Bienvenue hit a three in the corner after taking a nice feed from Cam Giles before Deslauriers took care of the rest of a hoop and two free throws that came with 10 seconds remaining and made it a two-possession game.