It's mostly low seeds as state boys basketball tournament pares down to semifinals

No. 1 La Salle 75, No. 9 St. Raphael 46

Kelvin Odih nearly had a triple-double in the first half as the Rams took control early and never let up, eliminating the Saints with a 75-46 win.

La Salle jumped out to a 7-0 lead, led 16-5 after the first quarter and 36-20 at the half as Odih scored 11 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists over the first 16 minutes.

The Rams never quite put the nail in the coffin in the second half, but didn’t let the Saints get within single digits, either. Up 13 in the waning seconds of the third, La Salle’s Jacob Marcone buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer that put the Rams up 16 going to the final quarter. La Salle opened the fourth with a 7-0 run before finishing things off.

Josh Ojuri led La Salle in scoring with 16 points while Odih finished his afternoon with 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Niyo White was the top scorer for St. Raphael, putting up 22 in the loss. Moses Meus added 11.

ST. RAPHAEL, 46: Niyo White 7-20 5-8 22; Nathan Hernandez 0-2 0-0 0; Jayden Cardoso 1-14 3-4 5; Ethan McCann-Carter 0-1 0-0 0; Moses Meus 3-6 5-10 11; Christian Rue 0-0 0-0 0; Daniel Akan-Disu 0-0 0-0 0; Jonah Venditto 0-5 0-0 0; Ian Bing 2-2 0-0 4; Scott Palardy 2-6 0-0 4; Jalen Antoine 0-2 0-0 0; Jason Alarcon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-59 13-22 46.

LA SALLE, 75: Ja’Kai Washington 1-3 0-2 2; Dante Iafrate 2-3 1-2 7; Kelvin Odih 5-12 1-1 11; Liam Simpson 4-9 0-1 8; Josh Ojuri 7-17 0-3 16; Lucas Gillis 2-4 0-0 6; Timoy Stitchell 3-5 0-0 6; Jacob Marcone 6-13 0-0 14; Matt Hayes 1-2 0-0 2; Zach Perullo 0-0 0-0 0; Thomas Malloy 0-0 3-4 3; Rex Zadronzy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 31-69 5-13 75.

Halftime — La Salle 36-20. 3-pointers — St. Raphael 3-16 (White 3-6, Venditto 0-5, Jayden Cardoso 0-3, Hernandez 0-1, Palardy 0-1); La Salle 8-25 (Ojuri 2-8, Marcone 2-8, Iafrate 2-2, Gillis 2-2, Odih 0-2, Stitchell 0-2, Washington 0-1). Rebounds – St. Raphael 39 (Cardoso 8), La Salle 50 (Odih 12). Assists — St. Raphael 3 (White, Hernandez, Cardoso); La Salle 23 (Iafrate 7). Steals — St. Raphael 8 (White 4), La Salle 13 (Ojuri 3). Turnovers — St. Raphael 15 (White 5), La Salle 13 (Stitchell 5). Blocks — St. Raphael 6 (Meus 3), La Salle 11 (Simpson 4).

No. 11 East Providence 71, No. 14 Smithfield 66

Just when it looked like the Townies were going to run away with a win, the Sentinels hit every big shot possible to make things interesting. EP came up with plays down the stretch to close out the 71-66 win and earn the program’s first semifinal state tournament appearance.

East Providence came shot out of a rocket, using its speed and athleticism to get into transition and play at a pace Smithfield wanted to avoid.

The Townies led, 19-9, after the first quarter and 34-25 at halftime. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Xavier Hazard and Trey Rezendes had them up 43-25 with 5:03 left in the third quarter and the rout looked on.

Smithfield slowly got things turned around and closed the quarter with the last four points to get the deficit to 12 heading to the fourth quarter. The Sentinels played at a controlled pace and chewed at the deficit slowly and surely, getting it down to six after a 3-pointer by Reilly Bennett with 5:06 left to play. A 3-pointer by Elijah Reed made it a five-point game with 3:25 left.

But down the stretch, East Providence made plays and hit free throws. Hazard buried one from deep that put the Townies up by eight with 2:22 left and, after Smithfield cut it to four with 21 seconds left, Hazard made two from the line that sealed the win.

Hazard led the way for EP with 22 points and Rezendes was right behind him with 21.

Smithfield got 16 points from Shaun Dwyer and Bennett scored 15. Reed joined them in double figures with 14.

East Providence is the highest seed left in the tournament and will take on Hendricken in Saturday’s semifinal at the Ryan Center.

SMITHFIELD, 66: Nick Collins 1-6 0-0 2; Chris Currie 3-5 5-5 11; Shaun Dwyer 5-10 6-6 16; Reilly Bennett 5-13 2-2 15; Ray Porter 3-10 0-0 7; Elijah Reed 4-6 3-3 14; Gavin Trost 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 21-51 17-18 66.

EAST PROVIDENCE, 71: Jayveeon Gonsalves 2-2 0-0 5; Trey Rezendes 7-12 5-6 21; William Winfield 4-9 0-0 8; Xavier Hazard 7-15 4-4 22; Alex Mulamba 1-3 2-4 4; Jayden Caldwell 0-0 0-0 0; Max Collins 2-6 0-1 5; Kenaz Ochgwu 1-6 1-1 3; Derrell Liggins 0-1 3-4 3. Totals: 24-54 15-20 71.

Halftime — East Providence 34-25. 3-pointers — Smithfield 7-20 (Bennett 3-7, Reed 3-5, Porter 1-3, Dwyer 0-5), East Providence 8-15 (Hazard 4-5, Rezendes 2-4, Collins 1-4, Gonsalves 1-1, Liggins 0-1). Rebounds — Smithfield 28 (Porter 7), East Providence 35 (Gonsalves 8). Assists — Smithfield 11 (Collins, Currie 3), East Providence 13 (Collins 4). Steals – Smithfield 15 (Currie 5), East Providence 10 (Hazard 5). Turnovers — Smithfield 17 (Currie 5), East Providence 20 Rezendes, Hazard 5). Blocks — Smithfield 1 (Reed), East Providence 5 (Hazard 3). Fouled out — Winfield.

No. 2 Hendricken 57, No. 10 Cumberland 38

The Hawks were content to play at the pace the Clippers wanted and used their defense to control the game in a 57-38 win.

With 2 minutes left in the first quarter, Cumberland took an 8-6 lead on a 3-pointer by Connor Allard. Hendricken responded by closing the quarter on an 8-0 run. After a three-point play by Cumberland’s Kalil Fofana made it 16-11 in the second quarter, Hendricken went on a 7-0 run and the game never was closer.

The Hawks did it with defense. They forced Cumberland into 21 turnovers and 13-of-38 shooting while outrebounding the Clippers, 35-20.

Down, 32-22, Cumberland got a 3-pointer by Taye Meerbott 34 seconds into the second half to cut the deficit to seven, but didn’t score again until there were 33 seconds left. In that time, Hendricken turned turnovers and rebounds into transition points and went into the fourth quarter up, 43-27, before cruising home with the win.

Azmar Abdullah and Eze Wali handled the scoring load for Hendricken. Abdullah scored 22 points to go with four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Wali had 18 points and spent a large majority of his afternoon shadowing Fofana on defense. Devin Lynch added nine points and led the team with 10 rebounds.

Fofana led Cumberland with 17 points. Joe Parenteau was the only other Clipper in double figures, scoring 10.

Hendricken moves on to the semifinals and will play No. 11 East Providence at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Ryan Center.

CUMBERLAND, 38: Kalil Fofana 5-20 7-7 17; Taye Meerbott 1-6 0-0 3; Luke Plumer 0-0 0-0 0; Joe Parenteau 4-5 1-1 10; Chris Cotto 0-0 0-0 0; Dylan Briere 0-0 0-0 0; Connor Allard 1-3 0-0 3; Andrew Ramos 1-2 0-0 2; Michael McVeigh 0-0 0-0 0; Hunter Zancan 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Nocera 1-1 0-0 3; Uriel Dabu 0-0 0-0 0; Evan Spencer 0-0 0-0 0; Ben Jahnz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 13-38 8-9 38.

HENDRICKEN, 57: Matt Brock 1-6 2-2 4; Eze Wali 6-15; Michael Paquette 1-4 0-0 2; Devin Lynch 3-4 3-9 9; Azmar Abdullah 8-14 4-4 22; James Caldarella 1-3 0-0 2; Becan Kegelman 0-0 0-0 0; Tyler Russas 0-0 0-0 0; John Erickson 0-0 0-0 0; Dylan Lynch 0-0 0-0 0; Richard Gonzalez 0-2 0-0 0; Christian Butera 0-1 0-0 0; William Mascena 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-49 14-21 57.

Halftime — Hendricken 32-22. 3-pointers — Cumberland 4-17 (Meerbott 1-5, Allard 1-3, Parenteau 1-2, Nocera 1-1, Fofana 0-6), Hendricken 3-17 (Abdullah 2-6, Wali 1-3, Brock 0-3, Caldarella 0-2, Gonzalez 0-2, Paquette 0-1). Rebounds — Cumberland 20 (Meerbott 6), Hendricken 35 (Lynch 10). Assists — Cumberland 5 (Parenteau 2), Hendricken 7 (Abudullah 4). Steals — Cumberland 4 (Plumer 2), Hendricken 14 (Abdullah 4). Turnovers — Cumberland 21 (Parenteau 8), Hendricken 15 (Dev. Lynch, Abdullah 3). Blocks — Cumberland 1 (Zancan), Hendricken 0.

No. 5 Middletown 65, No. 4 Barrington 59

Timmy Robinson came out on fire and the Islanders rode his momentum before holding on down the stretch to defeat the Eagles, 65-49, and earn the program’s first state tournament semifinal appearance.

Robinson was torching nets early at Rhode Island College. He hit three 3-pointers in the first half, each deeper than the previous one, and scored 16 points in the first half as the Islanders led, 32-26, at the break.

Barrington focused its defensive energy on Robinson in the second half, but Middletown continued to find big buckets. Ben Connerton hit three 3-pointers in the second half and R.J. Wiggins scored seven points over the final two quarters as well.

Middletown’s lead got as big as 10 in the third quarter but a basket by Barrington’s Sean Bonneau cut it to 51-43 at the end of the third quarter. The Eagles got the deficit down to four points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, the last coming after two free throws by Dan Coogan with 2:36 left to play, and a one-and-one by Nick Scandura made it 62-59 with 1:22 left.

But Middletown finished strong, with Patrick Cranson putting back his own miss with 35 seconds left to break the Eagles back.

Robinson led Middletown with 18 points and Wiggins scored 16 in the win. Connerton scored nine and Cranson finished with eight.

Barrington was led by 20 points from Matt Raffa, who was injured in the fourth quarter and watched from the bench as the Eagles nearly pulled off the comeback. Scandura had 16 for Barrington and Coogan added nine.

Middletown advances to the final four and will play top-seeded La Salle at the Ryan Center on Saturday night.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: It's mostly low seeds as state boys basketball tournament pares down to semifinals