Novans loss a learning experience
Woonsocket will try to carry momentum into season
WOONSOCKET — Every time Woonsocket boys basketball team made a run and started to believe it was going to win Wednesday night’s MSC Summer League title, No. 2 East Providence had a response.
The undefeated Villa Novans never led in the contest, but twice in the second half they cut the Townies’ lead to just one point only to see East Providence methodically pull away thanks to superb 3-point shooting and transition offense.
EP shooting guard Max Collins hit two 3-pointers and scored a gamehigh 16 points, while Woonsocket junior forward Jahib Bassole and Shane Perrico combined for 19 points in the Townies’ 43-40 victory at Mount.
“This game was about missed opportunities and layups and missing some shots,” Woonsocket coach Dennis Harmon said. “We just ran out of time. They jumped out early and we got behind the 8-ball and just didn’t have enough time to fight back.
“The whole experience was great and the biggest thing was it was great to play basketball without wearing a mask. We’ll see what we have in November because I learned plenty about what we need to work on this summer.”
Woonsocket, which won the regular-season meeting between the squads, tried to use its size and play a 2-3 zone against the quicker Townies, but Collins and Will Winfield (10 points) shot the Novans out of that defense. With the Novans trailing 31-23 with 10 minutes left in the contest, Harmon went to a 1-3-1, which ignited a 7-0 run to close the gap to one.
The lead remained at one for a few minutes, but then the Townies responded with an 8-0 run to rebuild its comfortable advantage. The Townies took advantage of transition opportunities and a technical foul on the Novans for having six players on the court to take control of the game.
Perrico, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half, and Bassole both hit 3-pointers in the final two minutes, but the Novans ran out of time and suffered their first loss of the season.
“The guy who had the biggest leap in the summer was Jahib,” Harmon said. “We believe in him and having confidence in him, but we just need to work on his conditioning because he gets a little tired. We told him it’s going to be like this all season because we need him to be physical. He can play any position for us and is going to be an asset. Shane played really well and was a catalyst all summer. And Mamet [Manneh] also played well.”
Woonsocket and East Providence will see each other again in a Division I contest this winter, but between now and then Harmon simply wants his kids to keep improving and focusing on their school work. Based on Wednesday’s game, the Novans know they need to improve their spacing on offense.
Far too many times in the first half – a half where the Novans scored just 12 points in 18 minutes – a guard drove into the lane where a teammate was already stationed looking for a post up. The spacing improved in the second half, but the Townies never lost their lead.
“We want our bigs inside and we want to create 15 to 18 feet of space for our guards to operate,” Harmon said. “A lot of times we get jammed up because guys are moving where they shouldn’t be. It’s tough when you want to run some offense and people aren’t where they’re supposed to be.”
Woonsocket, which trailed 5-0 to start the game and 16-12 at halftime, received six points from wing Andre Bell and six points from Justin Hill. Manneh chipped in with four points and Davonte Lavallee added three points.