Hawks win Round 1 vs. Rams; Super Chargers down defending D-II champs; Scituate freshman shines in win
Did you think this game would go any other way?
Thrillers are generally what Hendricken and La Salle do whenever they get together and Wednesday night was no different. The rivalry game between the state’s top two teams was intense and required an extra session, where the Hawks found some points from the free-throw line to take down the Rams, 70-68, in the first of two regular-season meetings between the teams.
Powered by Josh Ojuri in the first quarter and then Kelvin Odih in the second, La Salle led 38-29 at halftime. Hendricken’s Eze Wali picked things up in the third and got the deficit down to 46-45 heading to the fourth, where the teams finished tied at 62.
In overtime, free throws got the job done for Hendricken. Mike Paquette made 3 of 4, Azmar Abdullah made 2 of 4, Eze Wali made one and a bucket from Devin Lynch was enough to outdo the six La Salle points, all scored by Ojuri.
Abdullah led the Hawks with 20 points and Wali scored 17. Paquette came through with 14 in the win and Lynch was also in double figures with 11.
Odih was the game’s high scorer, putting up 26 in the loss. Ojuri finished his night with 22 and Dante Iafrate had 13 for La Salle.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Division I
Barrington 56, Westerly 43
Matt Raffa and Nick Scandura got the Eagles flying off the bus in a 56-43 win over the Bulldogs.
Barrington outscored Westerly 21-8 in the opening quarter, powered by 15 points from Raffa and Scandura. The lead was 17 at halftime and never got to single digits the rest of the way.
Raffa finished his evening with 16 points, closing with six in the fourth quarter. Scandura was right behind him, scoring seven more after halftime to give him 15 for the night. Sean Bonneau provided a steady hand in the offense, adding eight.
Romello Hamelin tried to keep the Westerly offense going, scoring all of his team-high 16 of his points in the first three quarter.
Cranston East 71, East Greenwich 63
The Thunderbolts played their best ball in the middle portion of the game and pulled out a 71-63 win over the Avengers.
Cranston East led 19-18 after the first quarter, but got contributions from five different players in a 20-point second quarter that built the lead to six at the half. Sean Pena and Naz Milien combined for 11 points in the third as the Thunderbolts extended their lead to double figures and did enough to keep things comfortable the rest of the way.
Milien led Cranston East with 19 points and Pena had 14, 11 coming in the second half. Albany Torres-Carrasco scored 10 in the win and Delwin Monan added eight.
East Greenwich’s Rees Maccarone was the game’s high scorer with 23 points. Luke Pedro came up with 14 for the Avengers and Will Erickson had 12.
Smithfield 78, North Kingstown 59
The Sentinels were firing on all cylinders, with four players reaching double figures to help them take down the Skippers, 78-59.
Smithfield revved up its offense in the second half, scoring 46 points over the final two quarters. Reilly Bennett led all scorers with 17 points - making three 3-pointers - and 12 rebounds and Ray Porter scored 15 points and pulled down 14 boards. Elijah Reed added 13 points and Shaun Dwyer scored 11 in the win.
The Skippers were led by Michael DeOrsey, who scored 16 points, and Trent Sterner, who had 10.
Division II
Lincoln 92, Toll Gate 36
The Lions roared before the Titans could break a sweat, dominating from start to finish in a 92-36 win.
Lincoln scored 32 points in the opening quarter and 52 in the first half while holding Toll Gate to eight and 15 over the same period of time.
Six Lions reached double figures in the win, led by 17 from Kameron Clemetson’s 17. Camden DiChiara scored 15 for Lincoln, Wayne McNamara and Will Denio both had 11 and Tyler Dickinson and Ace Cote both had 10.
Dylan Perreault let the Titans with 12 points and Liam Leahy scored 11.
Chariho 62, Shea 46
Defense was the name of the game for the Chargers, as they held the Raiders to under 20 points in the first half, then held on with some clutch fourth-quarter free-throw shooting to take down the defending D-II champs, 62-46.
Chariho came out super charged, as Jeremiah Graham scored with intent, posing 14 of his team-high 22 points in the first two quarters that sent the Super Chargers into halftime up 38-16.
Shea can do some scoring of its own and Malik Matanmi got the offense going that started a second-half comeback. Chariho put an end to any comeback hopes in the fourth, as Chris Niziolek made all four of his free throws and Graham made a pair to close out the win.
Graham had the big night for the Chargers, but four other players reached double figures. Kyle McGovern came through with 13 points, Dylan Dugas scored 11 and Niziolek added 10.
Matanmi scored a team-high 17 points for Shea and Keke Silva had 10 in the loss.
Johnston 90, Hope 49
Anthony Corsinetti couldn’t miss, burying shots from all over the gymnasium as the Panthers rolled to a 90-49 win over the Blue Wave.
Corsinetti started his night hot and finished the same way. He hit three 3-pointers in the opening quarter, had 21 total points at halftime, then poured in another 14 in the third quarter for a career-best 35 points.
Cam Walker also had it working from deep, hitting three 3-pointers in an 11-point performance for Johnston. Brandon Testa added nine points in the win and Derek Salvatore filled up the stat sheet, scoring seven points to go with 12 rebounds, nine assists and six steals.
Jorge Nicasio had a big night in defeat, scoring 26 points for Hope.
Tolman 68, South Kingstown 58
Jaiden Perry took over the game in the second half, helping the Tigers turn a double-digit deficit into a doublt-digit win over the Rebels, 68-58.
South Kingstown looked like it was going to cruise after the first half, as Luca Prodigio’s 14 points put the Rebels up 34-20 going into the locker rooms.
Coming out, Perry was in charge. He scored 12 of Tolman’s 19 points in the third quarter that saw the deficit shrink to seven, then scored another 10 in the fourth quarter that helped the Tigers run away with the win.
Perry finished his night with 29 points. Isiah Gois was equally impressive, carrying the offensive load in the second quarter and coming up big with nine points of his own in the fourth before finishing with 18. Malik Gelinas scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter to help grab the dub.
Prodigio had a terrific night for SK, scoring 27 points. Griffin Sward was also in double figures for the Rebels with 11.
Middletown 57, St. Raphael 42
The Islanders held the Saints to seven points and cruised on home with a 57-42 win.
Middletown’s dominant defense gave it a 14-2 lead after the first quarter and a 32-7 advantage at the half.
Patrick Cranson led the Islanders on offense with 15 points and Timmy Robinson and R.J. Wiggins both scored 13 in the win.
Niyo White was St. Raphael’s top scorer with 17 and Jayden Cardosa had 10 in the loss.
Division III
Ponaganset 65, Blackstone Valley Prep 59
Gianlucca Bachini kept the Chieftains in the game in the third quarter and Michael Stewart came up with a pair of big 3-pointers in the fourth to help the Chieftains down the Pride, 65-59.
Ponaganset was able to withstand an offensive attack from BVP’s Juan Bedoya in the first half and take a one-point lead in the locker room. The Pride had a more balanced attack in the third quarter, but Bachini caught fire and scored 14 points to keep the lead at one.
The fourth was a neck-and-neck affair, but two 3-pointers by Stewart and four huge free throws from Jason Sepe ended up being the difference.
Bachini finished the game with 28 points for Ponaganset. Sepe ended his night with 17 and Stewart scored eight in the win.
Bedoya led BVP with 21 points – 15 of those in the first half – and Xavier Coleman had 18 in the loss. Urias Brooks joined them in double figures with 12.
West Warwick 45, Central Falls 34
The Wizards started the second half strong on the offensive end and closed the fourth quarter with defense in a 45-34 win over the Warriors.
West Warwick led 21-16 at the break when DionDre Chase jump-started the offense scoring seven of the Wizards’ 18 third-quarter points to grow the lead to double digits. In the fourth, WW held Central Falls to just five points to seal the victory.
Chase was the Wizards’ leading scorer with 11 points and Karl Swanson joined him in double figures with 10. Nathan Vanasse chipped in with eight in the victory.
Ian Grace led the Warriors with 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers, and Alex Maia scored 13 in the loss.
Scituate 71, St. Patrick 65
Freshman Ryan Larsh threw the Spartans on his back and engaged D-III scoring monster John Oladipo in a dual and won both as Scituate took down the Padres, 71-65.
Larsh was unhinged, scoring 34 points to help the Spartans grab their first win of the season. The effort was needed as Oladipo – fresh off setting a school-record with 39 in St. Pat’s previous game – posted 26 before getting hurt late in the game.
Scituate saw Chris Hourigan put up 17 and Matt Rosenholm added nine in the win.
Oladipo’s 29 led the Padres, who also got 16 from Julius Brogan and 14 from August Jones.
Highlander Charter 63, Paul Cuffee 53
The Hawks’ scoring duo of Miftah Ibiyemi and Ky’Shawn Turner outdueled the Navigators’ duo of Luis Henderson and Leon Cargoe as Highlander downed Cuffee, 63-53, for its first win of the season.
Down five at halftime, Ibiyemi and Turner took over in the third quarter, scoring all 18 of the Hawks’ points as they cut the deficit to one heading to the fourth. Highlander showed some balance in the final eight minutes, getting baskets from six different players to pick up the victory.
Ibiyemi led the Hawks with a career-best 27 points. Turner scored 17 in the win and Fabihan Jimenez scored eight.
Henderson had another solid night for Cuffee, scoring 18, and Cargoe was right there with him with a 16-point performance.
Juanita Sanchez 63, Moses Brown 57
It was a back-and-forth ballgame all night long but in the fourth the Quakers’ Darius Ajakaiye and Luke Porcaro came up with enough big baskets to withstand a surge from the Cavaliers’ Marcos Miranda and pull out the 63-57 win.
Moses Brown slowly built an eight-point advantage heading to the fourth quarter when Miranda turned on the heat with a scoring barrage, scoring 13 of his game-high 26 points.
Ajakaiye and Porcaro had the answers, combining for 14 points to help seal the win. Ajakaiye finished his night with 21 points, tied for team-high with freshman Donovan Clement, who poured in 17 of his 21 in the second and third quarters. Porcaro finished with nine.
In addition to Miranda’s big night, Taurean Williams helped Juanita with a 16-point performance.
Home team coaches did not report scores to the Journal for the following games (home team in bold). Players on these home teams will be ineligible for Journal Player of the Week honors.
Division I
Portsmouth 70, Narragansett 65
Central 69, Woonsocket 47
Division II
Cranston West 64, Mt. Hope 63
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Division III
Middletown 39, Burrillville 30
Lily Sokol produced a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Ginnie Hamilton was good for 7 points and 14 boards and Ella Bolano scored 12 points, had 8 helpers and recorded 3 steals as the Islanders win to move them to 2-2 on the year.
Thursday's High School Basketball Schedule
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Division I
Ponaganset at Classical, 6 p.m.
St. Raphael at Juanita Sanchez, 6 p.m.
Barrington at Rogers, 7 p.m.
East Providence at North Kingstown, 7 p.m.
South Kingstown at Scituate, 7 p.m.
La Salle at Portsmouth, 7 p.m.
Division II
Moses Brown at Mt. Hope, 5 p.m.
Mount Pleasant at Cranston East, 6 p.m.
East Greenwich at Mount St. Charles, 6:30 p.m.
Smithfield vs. Sholman at Jenks Middle School, 6:30 p.m.
West Warwick at Prout, 6:30 p.m.
Cumberland at Woonsocket, 7 p.m.
Chariho at Westerly, 7 p.m.
Division III
Central at Lincoln, 5:30 p.m.
Pilgrim at Narragansett, 5:30 p.m.
North Smithfield at North Providence, 6 p.m.
Toll Gate at Exeter-West Greenwich, 6:30 p.m.
Division IV
CP2 at Hope, 6:15 p.m.
Blackstone Valley Prep at Johnston, 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Journal Hoops wrap recaps and scores from Tuesday's RIIL basketball games
