March 29, 2024

Sports Update

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EPHS Boys Basketball
The East Providence High boys basketball team lost to Hendricken High 74-55 late last month in an Elite 8 tournament game at Brown University. East Providence held their own early on but in the end was no match for Hendricken. The game started out as a contest of three-point shots as both teams threes with some regularity. The Hawks jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead and then the Townies Dion Hazard hit on a 2 point jump shot to make the score 8-6 for Hendricken. Early on East Providence was aggressive on the boards pulling down some key rebounds as both teams played cautiously at first. The Townies Deyshawn Tengbeh showed good ball control and with some crisp passing found Ep's Ben Sears who hit a deep three-point basket to overtake the Hawks and put East Providence on top at 12-11. However the Hawks regained the lead at 15-12 on a drive and basket by Angel Sanchez.

The Townies continued to hit the boards and had fans thinking twice when Kyerstan Casey hit on a long three-pointer to tie the game at 15. But Hendricken roared back with Jalen Watson hitting on a three-pointer as the Hawks would not trail again. Ep made it a game for awhile as Tengbeh hit on a three-pointer to bring the Townies close but the Hawkd Watson was fouled on a driving layup by Ep's Tengbeh and the Hawks lead grew to 21-15. Ep called a timeout and tried to slow done the Hawk's momentum and Hazard hit on a three-pointer making the score 21-8 Hawks. The action went back and forth with Ep playing a tough defense early but having difficulty getting the ball inside the paint of Hendricken. Tengbeh scored on a layup after an Ep steal on defense and then Ben Sears hit on a three-pointer to bring Ep within 1 at 24-23. Ep wasn't dead yet as Casey blocked a Hawk shot and grabbed the ball feeding a pass to Tengbeh who was fouled. Tengbeh hit the free-throw and again the game was tied at 24. The Hawks went back on top 27-24 when once again Watson hit on a deep three-pointer. The Townies Ben Sears scored on a fall-away jump shot bringing Ep to within one but the Hawks Justin Mazzulla tapped in missed Hawk layup.Jalen Watson hit on another Hawk three-pointer and the score grew to a 34-26 Hawk lead.The Townies Tengbeh made a couple of key defensive plays but Ep missed a couple of shots and Ep had 7 team fouls.

The game was becoming out of reach for the Townies and was accentuated by a Isaiah Mylers thundering dunk shot while being fouled by Tengbeh. Mylers made the free throw and all of a sudden the score was 44-27 for the Hawks. East Providence made some key rebounds and had a few good offensive runs at the hoop but the scoring hole was too big to climb out of. The Townies threw away some passes and missed a few key shots while Hendricken remained hot. Both teams started to substitute non-starters as the Hawk lead seemed was insurmountable. Townie bench player, junior center Connor Gordon, came into the game and hit on a long three-pointer to applause from the Ep crowd but the game ended at 74-55 for Hendricken. After the game East Providence Athletic Director, Gregg Amore applauded the Townies. "This was a great season. They made it to the Elite 8 and is good as we've had (in basketball) in a long time," said Amore. "Our guys won the Division championship and we had a first-year coach, Joe Andrade who did a great job. A big plus is that the team played classy all year, a tribute to our school. We're also very young and should be very good again," said A.D. Amore.

First year head coach Joe Andrade was pleased with his team's effort. "We gave them a game for a while. They're very physical and we ran with them as much as possible. We are relatively young and I know we'll work hard next year. I'm pleased we were Division champs and made it to the Elite 8 bracket," Andrade said.

EPHS Girls Basketball
East Providence High girls basketball defeated Wheeler High in State Tourney Sweet 16 action in late March at East Greenwich High School. The Townies showed no ill-effects from their recent coaching change as they won 53-42. Wheeler came out shooting three pointers and took an early 8-2 lead but with a 28 point performance by the Townies Courtney Dorr - which included 6 three-pointers - the Townies took the lead and never looked back.

EP led at halftime and Dorr began the second half with another barrage of three pointers moving EP to a 28-19 lead. Ep played a tenacious defense and never looked back. There were a couple of momentum changes, but Wheeler had no answer for Dorr even though they had their own top scorer in Emma Kiniry. Kiniry also finished with 28 points and 7 three-pointers for Wheeler.

After the game Dorr praised her teammates. "I couldn't do it without them," said Dorr. "We have a hard working team I am very proud of. Last year we didn't get too far in the state tourney, but we're still going," she added. "We have a tough Division I opponent Saturday. We can't run at them all day so we will work hard and look for chances to score."

"Dorr was unconscious tonight," said EP coach Zachary Roche. "Our girls have played well all season. We played great defense tonight, leading to several fast breaks for us. We have a couple of hard practices ahead this week," said the coach.

"We needed this win tonight," said Athletic Director Gregg Amore. "This was a big win."

Moving on to deeper action in state championship tournament play, the Lady Townies were defeated by higher seed, Division One 2nd seed LaSalle Rams 47-34. The Division two Townies made LaSalle work hard for most baskets but in the end the stronger Division one team prevailed. "We had a good run and I'm proud of how hard the team worked all year," said Coach Roche. "We're looking forward to next year."

EP Basketball Post Season
The Rhode Island Basketball Coaches selected East Providence's Joe Andrade as coach of the year. Also the Lady Townies basketball coach, Mike Solitro, similarly won the award for the girls teams.

For the boys, first team All-League selection went to Deyshawn Tengbeh of EP. Dion Hazard, and Kyerstan Casey were selected to the Division second team.

For the girls, Shania Hazard was a 1st team All-Division selection. Lilian Conti was picked for first team Division honors while Julia Andrade made third team and Courtney Dorr and Amber Drainville won Honorable Mention.

St. Mary's Bay View
The BayView/ Burrillville/Ponaganset Co-Op hockey team finished 15-1 atop the Division this year as they entered state championship play. In a tremendously played hockey game, the South County Co-Op defeated the Bay View Co-Op squad, 2-1 to take the state title.

In Basketball championship play, the Bengals defeated South Kingstown in Elite 8 action before being eliminated by Moses Brown in an overtime thriller 52-47. In earlier action, Bay View eventually distanced themselves from South Kingstown and picked up an impressive 50-34 win. A 22-6 run for the Bengals put away the Rebels as Antonia Corsinetti scored a game-high 18 points. Corsinetti hit on 4 key three-point shots. Maya Solomon-Messier also scored 16 points for the victors.

The basketball season record was 18-10 overall with a league record of 14-4. The team placed 2nd in Division 1 Central. Madison D' Ambra 2nd Team All Division; Maya Soloman Messier made 2nd Team All Division. Honorable Mention All Division were: Antonia Corsinetti, Cassie Pare, Melaina Emidy, and Jazlyn Contreras.

BV Indoor Track Team Honored by Rhode Island Track & Field Coaches’ Association
The Indoor Track Team was honored to receive the Team Sportsmanship Award at the Indoor Awards Banquet on March 20th. “This award speaks to how well you represent yourselves, your team and school, and your community. It also shows that teams/coaches around the state have noticed and appreciate your hard work and dedication,” said Coach Lacey Craker.

Team Roster: Diana Bianco-Riley,12, 3rd Team All-Division, 2nd Team All-Class, Qualified for New England Championship. Sarah Conti, 11, Olivia Foster, 9, Alexandra Cianfarani, 11, Olivia Granatiero, 10, broke school record in 4x400 relay, Qualified for New England Championship. Claire Hanlon, 12, 3rd Team All-Division; Academic All-State. Aliya Barrows, 10, 3rd Team All Division, 2nd Team All-State, broke school record in 4x400 relay, Qualified for New England Championship. Ae Jee Booth, 10, Emily Conley, 9, Clara Cruz, 10, Coaches Award Recipient, broke school record in 4x800 relay, Qualified for New England Championship. Allison Dillon, 11, Olympia Good, 12, Amy Hurst, 9, Rylee Marin, 9, Leah Sirmalis, 12, Perissa Sousa, 10, Josseline Vasquez, 10, Hanna O’Connor, 10, 1st Team All-Division, 3rd Team All-Class, broke school record in 4x400 relay, Qualified for New England Championship. Grace Farrow, 10, Noelya DeLacruz, 11, , 2nd Team All-Division. Sarah Bain, 12, Academic All-State, broke school record in 4x800 relay, Qualified for New England Championship. Christine Kulsic, 11, Ishita Rai, 9, Emma Shaw, 10, broke school record in 4x800 relay, Qualified for New England Championship. Emily Smith, 10, Rachel Taraian, 12, Susanna Mello, 11, Caitlyn Murphy, 10, 3rd Team All-Division, broke school record in 4x400 relay and 4x800 relay, Qualified for New England Championship. Emma North, 10, Caitlin Fogerty, 11.

The Swim Team had a great season with strong young swimmers, and senior Kate Magill, (4-time state Champ in the 500 free, committed to swimming for DI Fordham University next year).
This year, Bay View started an equestrian club. They ride at Silverstone Stables in Rehoboth, and compete in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association.

EPHS Freshmen Wrestling Brief
A good showing for the Townies in the Freshman States. The team finished 2nd overall. Cameron Bailey became freshman state champion. Kyle Xavier, Jeff Clark, and Mike Popolillo all placed 2nd in their weight classes. Andrew Baptista took 3rd place. In the JV states Fernando Espillant finished 2nd.

EPHS Baseball Spring Preview
Coach Bobby Rodericks is optimistic as his baseball Townies prepare for battle in the state's top division for the upcoming season. "It has potential for a good season. Our program is solid with the three teams freshman (2nd official season), JV and Varsity. We have a variety of classes ranging from freshman to seniors that will have an impact on the varsity level directly this season," said coach Rodericks.

"Senior Andrew Rodrigues is the projected number one pitcher and looks good with the stick so he will most likely hit for his own position but also as a DH when he isn't pitching. Seniors Riley Cronin, Nate Silveira, and Nick Lemire are expected to produce offensively and defensively speaking they will cover around 6 different positions depending on the specific needs for the present lineup," added Rodericks. Nick Mackevich and Dylan Carreiro are seniors looking to cover some of the outfield this season and Ben Sears and Deshaun Tengbeh coming from terrific basketball seasons are looking to carry the momentum with them through baseball. "Sears and Tengbeh will play the left side of the infield and pitch and are expected to produce offensively as well as my seniors. Nate Pimental and Andrew Lethbridge are two juniors that pretty much have sewed up the top two JV pitching roles and will swing for varsity as bullpen. Also junior Clayton Cook looks to take charge of 1st base for JV and will swing as an extra bench utility player," added the coach.

The sophomore crew is very talented and the coaching staff is very excited to have some projected impact players this season. "Seth Daly will be in the pitching rotation and play right field, and Zach Fanara and Josh Silveira look to break into the lineup as outfielders and Josh even some infield." Two talented newcomers to the program are Cole Poissant and Keegan Seagrave who will cover as catchers along w senior Nick Lemire. "Cole and Keegan are both above average freshman and Keegan will play freshman and JV while Cole will get a chance to break into the varsity lineup," said Rodericks.

"I feel that with the versatility of this team, we have more options to utilize and can adjust well to any situation that arises whether it's an injury, or just players competing for lineup spots that earn the right to start that particular game," he added. "Coach Chris Kennedy is looking to have another strong JV team while defending their state JV title from last season. Freshman coach Jay Olsen is very excited about the athleticism and potential his freshman squares possesses.

Alice Sullivan Scholarships
RI Interscholastic League Director of Multimedia Content, Carolyn Thornton, has announced that Alice Sullivan Memorial Scholarship Applications are available for female student-athletes.

Alice Sullivan was a retired physical-education teacher and former vice principal of East Providence High School. She was the first director of girls sports for the Interscholastic League, a position she held for 24 years. "Alice Sullivan’s time as a teacher and administrator at East Providence High School spanned four decades. That is an impressive length of service all on its own, but Sullivan’s contributions to Rhode Island’s student-athletes, especially girls, went even further than that," said Thornton. The driving force behind girls sports being added to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League in the late 1960s, she became the league’s director of girls sports and then its first assistant executive director.

By the time Sullivan stepped down from her position at the RIIL in 1996, the league was offering 14 sports for girls. Even after her retirement, she continued to work tirelessly to ensure that girls received the best athletic opportunities possible until her death in November 2003 at the age of 78. Shortly after her passing, a foundation and scholarship was created in Sullivan’s name “to sustain in perpetuity Alice Sullivan’s life, character and enthusiasm for girls athletics.”

She was inducted into the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame and also the East Providence High School Hall of Fame. Her numerous honors include: 1983, the Rhode Island Board of Women's Basketball Officials names its annual award for outstanding and dedicated service the Alice Sullivan Award; 1981, "Service to Women in Rhode Island," by the Permanent Advisory Commission on Women; 1967, National Jaycees Physical Fitness Leadership Award, the first woman ever selected.

Applications are currently being accepted for the Alice Sullivan Scholarship, which is open to female high school or collegiate student-athletes planning to pursue a career in coaching, officiating or athletic administration. Deadline to submit an application is April 17, 2017. Applications can also be found at riil.org. (Go to “Resources” and then “Documents and Forms”).

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