Rogers, Portsmouth girls advance to Elite 8 in open RI basketball tournament
Being the lower-seeded team didn’t seem to faze the Rogers and Portsmouth high school girls basketball squads on Wednesday night as each went on the road and won an open state tournament Sweet 16 matchup.
The No. 12 seed Vikings rolled to a 60-28 win over No. 5 seed West Warwick, while the No. 10 seed Patriots took down No. 7 seed Barrington 46-37.
Next up for the locals are Elite Eight contests on Saturday at Rhode Island College. Portsmouth will play No. 2 seed North Kingstown at 4 p.m., while Rogers will go against No. 4 seed Moses Brown at 6 p.m. They will be the last two of four Elite Eight games on the docket at the site. WADK-FM (101.1) will air both contests.
Quick start helps Patriots to victory
On Wednesday night, Portsmouth got off to a fast start and maintained the advantage for three quarters as it took a 10-point edge into the final eight minutes. Host Barrington quickly cut the deficit to four points and stayed close to the end. That’s when Portsmouth’s Ava Moore stepped up.
“(Moore) had a great defensive game and struggled from field goal range but had a huge four fouls shots at the end of the game to give us the edge,” Portsmouth coach Risha Pelligrino said in an email.
Boys tournament:Rogers hopes state tournament journey lasts longer than the one it took Monday night
Olivia Durant, who finished with seven points, also contributed a pair of late free throws to help seal the victory. Maeve Tullson scored 15 points and snared 11 rebounds, Emily Maiato had 11 points and eight rebounds and Morgan Casey came through with six points and seven rebounds.
Portsmouth, which will face regular-season Division I champion North Kingstown next, has never won two open state tournament playoff games in the same season. Three years ago the Patriots beat West Warwick in the Sweet 16 but never got the chance to play in the next round because COVID abruptly ended the season.
Vikings turn offensive against Wizards
Rogers, which hadn’t played since losing 31-30 to La Salle seven days ago, apparently shook off the rust as it cruised past Division II champion West Warwick. The Vikings didn’t make a free throw and went to the foul line just six times against LaSalle. Rogers was 23-for-32 from the line against the Wizards.
Rogers, which was led by Maeve Crowley’s 26 points, outscored West Warwick 29-8 in the second half. Rylee Donovan nailed three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points, Sydney Newsome had eight points, Danaysha Cherry had seven points and Ellie Margolis had six points for the Vikings.
Rogers has not faced Moses Brown this season. The Quakers went through the Division II season unbeaten before West Warwick bumped them off in the division title game. Moses Brown has a 23-1 overall record.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Open RI girls basketball tournament: Rogers, Portsmouth advance
