WORKING OVERTIME
Northmen ride defense, Paiva to deny Mount playoff spot in OT
NORTH SMITHFIELD — In the span of 2 minutes, 20 seconds late in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game with first-place North Smithfield, the Mount St. Charles boys basketball team took complete control of the Division III contest by knocking down four 3-pointers – three from Peter Burke – to build a seven-point lead going into the final quarter.
The Mounties, who needed to win the game to earn a spot in the playoffs, only made two field goals over the final 12 minutes of the rivalry contest. The Northmen, behind the scoring of junior point guard Tyson Green and a stingy defense, erased the deficit and forced overtime when the Mounties missed two shots in the final three seconds.
Anthony Paiva knocked down what turned out to be the game-winning 3-pointer with 35 seconds to go before the Mounties missed a last-gasp shot from the baseline at the buzzer, as the Northmen secured a 60-58 victory at Lovett Gymnasium.
“We just kept playing hard and we didn’t give up when they had the lead and that’s what you need to do if you want to win in the playoffs,” Green said after scoring a team-high 18 points. “Defensively, we just dug in and when it got to overtime we knew the score was zero-zero, so we just had to find a way to beat. We did a better job of getting out to their shooters and we switched some things up.”
“We didn’t double them as much late in the game because when we were doubling, the perimeter was open,” Paiva said. “We shaded a little bit to the ball and then got back to our man. We were an angry group after losing our last game. We wanted nothing more than winning this. We felt what it’s like to lose and we didn’t want to feel it again.”
Mount St. Charles (6-12 Division I) needed to win just one of its final six games to earn a playoff spot, but the Mounties lost four games by fewer than eight points and all six games came against teams that are still alive for the Division III title. Tuesday night, the Mounties led after the first, second and third quarters thanks to 3-point shooting.
Burke, a talented junior, made six 3-pointers and finished the night with a game-high 20 points. Cam Giles added nine points and Connor Robillard hit two 3-pointers, including one with 16 seconds left in overtime to cut the Northmen’s lead to one. Carter Deslauriers made a free throw to double the lead, but the Mounties missed a shot that would’ve sent the game to a second overtime.
“I’m extremely proud and it’s a credit to our seniors and the rest of the team that we were ready for this opportunity to start the game,” Mount coach Henry Coleman said. “The kids persevered and answered North Smithfield every single time that they needed to except on that last play in overtime. All the credit in the world to North Smithfield for the adjustments they made on the defensive end.
“We knew we could play with anybody on any given night, there were just some missed opportunities along the way. I couldn’t be any prouder of this group.”
North Smithfield (17-1 Division III) bounced back from its first league loss of the season last week to Highlander Charter. The Northmen have a few days to recover and hopefully welcome the return of injured junior wing Aidan Bienvenue before starting the playoffs next week at Lovett Gymnasium. The No. 1 Northmen will host either Prout or Paul Cuffee in the quarterfinals. Their semifinal opponent will be either No. 4 Blackstone Valley Prep or No. 5 North Providence.
In Tuesday’s game, Green led the way offensively, while junior Al Viera Dones scored 10 of his 12 points after halftime. Paiva knocked down three 3-pointers and added 12 points, while Azariah Chauvin scored eight in the second quarter.
The Northmen desperately needed Chauvin’s points because Giles, Burke and Robillard hit 3-pointers in the quarter to help the Mounties go into halftime with a three-point lead. Green quickly erased the deficit and helped the Northmen take a threepoint lead midway through the third before the Mounties went on a 16-4 run. Burke hit three 3-pointers during the run to put Mount up nine.
“It was a career night for Peter and hopefully this is just the beginning going into next year and building off of this,” Coleman said.
The Mounties only made one field goal – a Burke 3-pointer – in the final quarter, as the Northmen methodically chipped away at the deficit. They eventually built a 5552 advantage in the final minute, but Burke sent the game to overtime with his final 3-pointer of the evening.
The first field goal in overtime proved to be the game winner when Paiva, a possession after missing two open 3-pointers, connected on a 3-pointer on a designed play.
“It was all about confidence,” Paiva said. “My coaches have so much confidence in me and they told me they didn’t care that I just missed two of them, they told me they knew I was going to hit the next one. The play was an option where we either passed it to a cutter or hit me for a three. They overplayed the cut and I just hit the three with confidence.”