Laquerre, Mounties remain undefeated
Davies pushes Mount for 32 minutes; turnovers, free throws the difference
WOONSOCKET — For the second straight time, a Blackstone Valley girls basketball squad trudged out of Mount St. Charles feeling likely they should’ve handed the Mounties their first Division III loss of the season.
Just like Central Falls the week before, Davies Tech held the Mounties in check offensively, but 41 turnovers in the contest and 4-for-11 shooting from the foul line in the second half, combined with 17 points from Mount junior wing Julia Laquerre ,earned the hosts a 35-25 victory Tuesday night.
“We were in the game in the first half and part of the second half before we got a little gassed and ran into foul trouble,” Davies coach Joe Handy said. “There are times where you saw our good spots, but we have to take care of the ball. This was a low scoring game and it’s great to keep an undefeated team like that at 35 points.”
Just how are the Mounties still undefeated even though they are struggling to hit on all cylinders offensively in January? Coach Ray Leveille said it’s quite simple.
“Coaches come in and say since we’re undefeated we must be really good and we do have talent,” Leveille said. “Our big thing is we outwork people. We play tough defense and we’re physical. For a small team we’re a tough, physical team. I think that surprises teams because when they come in they see our size and think they can work over us.”
Laquerre who has been in a shooting slump over the last week and struggled for long stretches of the first half Tuesday, hit the biggest shot of the game to put the Patriots away. The junior received an inbound pass at the top of the key with two seconds left on the shot clock and drained a 3-pointer with 3:20 left to extend the Mounties’ lead to 11.
Mount St. Charles (13-0 Division III) is going to find out just where it stands in the landscape of the state and Division III over the next week. After Thursday’s game against Hope, the Mounties host Division II powerhouse St. Raphael Saturday night in a non-league game before a de-facto D-III regular-season title game Thursday at undefeated Middletown.
“We’re going to keep working hard and we’re going to keep playing,” Leveille said. “Offensively, it’s just a confidence thing with the girls. Katie (Lynch), Emily (D’Abrosca) and Julia have the confidence right now, but we need to get it from everybody, including the girls off the bench.”
Davies (9-5 Division III) appears to be exceeding Handy’s expectations because he thought his young squad would only reach the .500 mark this season. Tuesday, point guard Tiana DaSilva was the only reliable source for offense with a team-high 13 points. Freshman Anya Desautel was the only other Patriot with more than one basket and she finished with four points.
“She’s our point guard and we run everything through her,” Handy said. “She’s only a junior and she knows we need her out there. We know she’s more than capable of leading us to wins.”