March 28, 2024

Update on Sports

Posted

EPHS Boy's Basketball
The East Providence High boys basketball team enters the new season with a new coach and a new, young team as they compete with some of the state's top programs. As it becomes harder every year to compete against non-public schools who can accept students from any city or town or even nearby states, East Providence has a daunting challenge. With the resignation of veteran basketball coach Alex Butler, a new era is greeting Townie players. Butler's long time assistant coach Joe Andrade is taking over the program. "I think we can compete with the strong programs and we'll work hard at it," said Andrade. "We are a young team but have a group of hard working kids."

The Townies are 3-2 in overall play but 0-2 in the division. Ep lost to tough Central High by a 73-55 score. "We ran into a hot shooting Central team led by their Pedro Munoz with 43 points. He had 9 three pointers. It was definitely a career night for the junior guard," said Andrade. The Townies had no answer, down 10 at half, they were able to get it to 5 Central led by Munoz just kept hitting baskets. The Townies were led by Sophmore Point Guard Dion Hazard with 19.

The Townies dropped their league opener to Classical, 45-42. Ep struggled and had no energy in the first half. "We were only down 22-14 despite the lack of energy and the second half was a little better as we were able to finally regain the lead and go up 1 with about 16 seconds to go. With the ball with 16 seconds to go we made an inexperienced mistake by shooting the ball instead of waiting to get fouled. Classical was able to rebound it and got fouled by us," said Andrade. Classical only made one free throw which tied the game. Immediately following the Townies turned the ball over and Classical Malik Chase hit a 3 at the buzzer to give Classical the win. Classical's Chase led all scorers with 22 and Dion Hazard for EP had 13 points.

In a game last month in which both teams played hard for a win, Ep beat Durfee High 51-47. EP had to overcome Kyerstan Casey not playing in the 2nd half due to an injury and sophomore guard Dion Hazard ended up fouling out in the 2nd half leaving the Townies to have to rely on Junior guard Andre Gordon to run the show. Durfee captured the lead once but EP stormed back with a Deyshawn Tengbeh dunk. "Deyshawn had a game high 26 points and senior Quinton Osbourne was a major contributor to the win with 8 points and his leadership," said Coach Andrade.

In another early season game, Ep rolled over Pilgrim in a tough road game, 61-43. "We experienced a tough environment away at Pilgrim High School. We built a 31-23 lead at half time but really turned the pressure up in the second half and ended up winning the game," said a satisfied Andrade. "Overall it was a great team effort as all 13 players contributed in the win." Deyshawn Tengbeh had 10 points, Kyerstan Casey 10 points and Dave Ogunronbi added 11 points in a well balanced attack.

East Providence took the win 57-56 in an overtime injury fund matchup with Tiverton. Kyerstan Casey led the Townies with 17 points and provided some key senior leadership. The team came out strong up 12 at half but struggled in the 2nd half as Tiverton crawled its way back into the game. The Townie team is brand new, many key players to last years team have graduated. "This will be a learning experience for many of the new players," said coach Andrade. The 2017 roster: Kyerstan Casey G, Sr, Andre Gordon G, Jr, Connor Gordon, C, Jr, Justin Harris, G, Sr, Dion Hazard, G, So, Dante Macahdo G/F, Jr, David Ogunronbi, C/F, Sr, Clinton Ogunronbi, C/F, So, Quinton Osbourne, G, Sr, Freddie Ruffin, F, Jr, Ben Sears C/F, Jr, Deyshawn Tengbeh, G/F, Jr and Juston Williams, G, Jr.

EPHS Girls Basketball
The 4-0 Lady Townies are off to a good start with coach Mike Solitro at the helm. The Townies opened up league play with a huge home victory against the visiting Prout Crusaders by a score of 40-29. "We struggled offensively in the first half, but the defense held strong holding Prout to only 14 first half points," said Coach Solitro. In the second half the Townies made some better decisions in their half court offense with junior Shaniah Hazard leading all scorers with a career best 19 points. The team's defense tallied 20 total steals with Hazard owning seven thefts throughout the game. "Our undersized Seniors Amber Drainville and Julia Andrade, along with teammates Emma DaSilva and Paige Chakouian had the daunting task of trying to control Prout's size underneath. With solid execution these four were able to control the glass, while holding these leading scorers to to a combined 13 points. This type of defensive effort will need to be repeated as we compete going ahead," said Solitro.

The short-handed Townies were able to grind out a 43-29 win on the road against the host Mt. Hope Huskies. "Our team saw major minutes from some young faces on our squad which helped with rotation issues and early foul trouble. Still, we were able to shake off a rough first half and find some continuity after the break. The team was paced by Courtney Dorr who finished with a career high 20 points, while fellow junior guard Shaniah Hazard chipped in 11, but more importantly led our defensive charge," added Solitro.

The Townies jumped out to an early lead against the Burrillville Broncos and never looked back in a 49-20 win. Junior guards Courtney Dorr & Shaniah Hazard paced the Townies with 11 & 10 points respectively, while sophomore forward Emma DaSilva helped lead the charge with 9 points and a solid night on the glass with 12 boards.

The Townies opened up its 2016-2017 campaign in dramatic fashion, with an upset victory over Division I powerhouse Bay View Academy. The Townies trailed by 19 points at the break, but grinded it out in the second half to lead to a thrilling 55-54 victory over the Bengals. Juniors Courtney Dorr and Shaniah Hazard led the charge with 17 & 14 points respectively. "Senior Julia Andrade made 2 free throws to tie the ball game with under a minute to play, right before Bay View hit a front end of a one and one to give them a one point advantage with 22 ticks left," reported coach Solitro. Point guard Lillian Conti then hit two consecutive free throws after making a great steal at half court which gave the Townies the one point advantage. The Townies defense held for one final possession which sealed the victory on opening night. Forwards Paige Chakouian and Amber Drainville played extremely hard underneath to help control the Bengals All State forward in the second half. The Lady Townies 2016-17 roster: Shaniah Hazard, Guard, Jr, Courtney Dorr, Guard, Jr, Julia Andra, Guard, Sr, Savannah Feola, Guard, Fr, Emma DaSilva, Forward, So, Mia Jackson, Guard, Fr, Lillian Conti, Guard ,Jr, Arianna Calouro, Guard, Sr, Amber Drainville, Forward, Sr, Hailey Hannon, So, Michaela Doro, Forward So, Jazmyn Ivy, Forward Sr and Paige Chakouinan Forward, Jr.

During December, the Lady Townies spent some time with the residents of the Waterview Villa Nursing Home. Players donated blankets, puzzles, gifts and pizza and Bingo. "Words cannot express how proud I am to call myself coach to these fabulous young ladies," said coach Solitro. "The EPHS Girls Basketball team, along with the Riverside Middle School Vikings, surprised 132 residents and staff at Waterview," said Solitro. "Each player had an opportunity to visit residents who were unable to leave their room. The emotion that was shared by players and residents together was a display of the real meaning of this holiday season. These players never to cease to amaze me, and I am blessed to be able to coach such incredible young ladies," added Solitro. "Special thanks to Courtney Dorr who volunteered to be Santa for the elderly."

EPHS Girls Swimming
The girls swim team started the season with a meet against Pilgrim. Ellen Phillips took 1st place in the 50 free with a time of 33:38; she also placed 1st in the 100 breast stroke with a finishing time of 1:35:53. New to the team this year are Jordan Farnsworth, Christina Capobianco and Alexandra Wolski. Jordan placed 3rd in the 50 free, Christina placed 2nd in the 100 free and Alexandra placed 3 rd in the 100 free.

Alex placed 2nd in the 100 breast, Christina placed 3rd in the 100 back. Taking second in the 200 medley relay was the combo of Christina, Ellen, Mary McBride and Alexandra. Ellen, Jordan, Christina and Mary placed second in the 200 free relay.

EPHS Boys Indoor Track & Field
The Boys Indoor Track & Field earned a surprising split against perennial Metropolitan Division powers Hope and Central. The Townies defeated Hope and lost to a Central team favored by many to capture the 2017 RI Indoor Track & Field Championship. The young Townies who compete in the state's toughest division received outstanding performances from Clinton Ogunronbi, David Ogunronbi, and Arman Dumapias who completed a 1,2,3 sweep in the long jump. "Both Clinton Ogunronbi and David Ogunronbi recorded jumps that place them in the top five of the seasonal state rankings," said veteran coach Bob Lyons. David Ogunronbi followed up his performance in the long jump with a winning jump of 5'-10" in the high jump placing him in the top five of the state seasonal rankings in the event. Aaron Parsons added much needed points in the 55 meter hurdles with a performance that places him in the top ten of the state seasonal rankings. Other major contributors for the Townies were: Exondus Barnes and Dennis Urquhurt in the high jump, Colby Amaral in the 3000 meter and 600 meter, Warren Smith in the shot put, Josh Silveira in the 55 meter high hurdles, Evan Berger in the 1000 meter, David Ogunronbi and Clinton Ogunronbi in the 55 meter.

"Sophomores Exondus "Biggie" Barnes and Aaron Parsons established new individual PRs at the Large School Relay Carnival on December 8, 2016 at the Providence Career and Technical Academy. Barnes jumped a new PR in the high jump while competing in the high jump relay and Parsons ran a new PR in the high hurdles during his leg of the 60 meter shuttle run relay," said coach Lyons. The roster: Parsons Aaron, Joshua Adewusi, Kaleb Almeida, Colby Amaral, Justin Barahona, Evan Berger, Ashton Boyle, Elliot Charron, Tyler Coelho, Centeio Daeson, Marco Daponte, Rico DaRosa Troy DeAndrade, Arman Dumapias, Barnes Exondus, Zach Fanara, LaBrecque Jon, Eric Long, Matthew Maini, Zachary Medeiros, Benjamin Nelson, Krynt O'Donnell, Clinton Ogunronbi, Armani Ortega, Aidan Schwab, Josh Silveria, Warren Smith, Ben Stone, Dennis Urquhart and Robert Watson.

EPHS Girls Indoor Track & Field
There were plenty of standout performances as the girls Townies Track team won its first 2 meets on the season. EP defeated Rogers High School 61-48 and Mt. Hope High 76-33. "Our young Townies team showed plenty of promise so far with some outstanding performances. The girls 4x200m relay team took 1st place with a time of 1:59.8, comprised of Jade Braxton, Alyssa DeOliveira, Hasna Badji, and Megan Enes. Haley Teodoro took 1st place in the High Jump with a jump of 4'10". Lilly Palumbo took 1st place in the 1500m with a time of 5:42.8. Hasna Badji took 1st place in the 55m hurdles with a time of 10.0. Also the girls 4x400m relay team won their event with a time of 5:01. The team consisted of Hasna Badji, Haley Teodoro, Hailey Placido, and Isabel "Izzy" Lopes.

EPHS Wrestling
The always competitive Townies defeated two powerhouse schools in wrestling last month. East Providence defeated New Bedford and Bishop Hendricken just before Christmas and is 4-1 overall and undefeated in league play as of press time. Christmas tournament results will be updated at ReporterToday.com.

St. Mary's Bay View
Bay View is off to a competitive but slow start to date. Basketball is 0-3 with losses to EP, Barrington and New London. Indoor Track is 1-1 in meets while Swimming has two very close losses to East Greenwich and LaSalle,

(Thanks to EPHS coaches and staff for providing game summary information. Regular updates can be found at ReporterToday.com)

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

Share!
Truly local news delivered to every home in town