March 29, 2024

Sports Roundup

Posted

New Year, New Townie Athletic Director
The start of the new year will bring a new Director of Athletics to East Providence High School.  The election of long-time local educator Gregg Amore to the Rhode Island Secretary of State position and his subsequent moving on from his job as EPHS athletic director, created an opening in that key position.  Amore has been a veteran teacher, coach, administrator and state representative for East Providence.  Amore a graduate of EPHS and highly regarded educator and athletic administrator, will be replaced by another revered Townie.  Alex Butler, an assistant athletic director was appointed the new Director of Athletics.  Butler has also been a student, teacher, coach and administrator in the city.  Butler has coached basketball and volleyball for the Townies.  Butler has worked at Martin Middle and recently was a Dean of Students at the high school.  Butler was an athlete at EPHS and became one of Rhode Island College’s best-ever basketball players and is an inductee to the Rhode Island College Hall of Fame.

Amore and Butler are big supporters of each other.  “I’m thankful for the guidance and support I’ve received through the many years I’ve known Gregg,” said Butler.  And for his part, Amore was quick to support Butler to succeed him as the next Athletic Director for EP.  “Alex is very talented and a great role model for students,” said Amore.  Butler is also the first African American to serve as an Athletic Director for East Providence.  Two Townies, keeping Townie Pride alive for another number of years.

EPHS Boys Basketball
Most high school sporting experts in Rhode Island pick Hendricken and LaSalle to have the edge in winning a state championship in boys basketball this year.  The experts may be right.  Hendricken. LaSalle and the other non-public schools accept student athletes from any city, town or state.  The non-publics essential field “all-star” level teams.  However, last year the Townies boys and girls teams played good basketball and made the state playoffs.  Teams were fearful of meeting East Providence in the states as EP could potentially beat any team on any given night.  In the end, the Townies fell short of state championships, but this is another year.

East Providence playing in the state’s top division will have to face Hendricken, LaSalle and many other very good teams again this year.  They are off to a pretty good start.  In a big match late in December, the Townies went into Providence to take on favored LaSalle.  These two teams will have a good chance of meeting each other in later playoff action.  The game was evenly played and wend down to the final whistle with the Rams squeaking out a 57-56 win over EP.  The Townies Xavier Hazard led all scorers with a game high 23 points.  The rematch on February 8th at EPHS should be a good one.

One of the keys to the Townies chances this year is junior guard Trey Rezendes.  Rezendes, who also starred in football, is very smooth on the court and can be a prolific scorer.  Rezendes is already being followed by several college teams and has received a Division 1 college offer with others not far behind.  The season is young for the Townies and they have defeated Narragansett, Saint Rays, East Greenwich and Saint Andrews.  Ep has losses to Cumberland, LaSalle and Central (Mutter Tournament).

East Providence has a big game against Hendricken on January 3rd at home and play Classical, North Kingstown, Woonsocket, Smithfield, Mount Pleasant and Central, all in January.  That LaSalle rematch is February 8th at East Providence.

Harry Mutter Tournament
The Townies won the first game of the annual Harry Mutter Christmas Tournament at EPHS by defeating North Providence 83-48.  Junior duo Xavier Hazard and Trey Rezendes combined for 35 points while 12 Townies added points to the total.  The win propelled East Providence to the championship game against Central High.  Unfortunately for the Townies, they didn’t play their best game in the final.  They were forced to play without team scoring leader and starting point guard Max Collins.  Collins will be out of action for four to five weeks with a broken finger.

EP was sluggish in the first half and turned the ball over several times while Central High played consistent ball, although the Knights did not score a lot at first either.  Central would pull away a few times in the game and lead by 8 to 10 points, but EP would fight their way back and briefly took a two-point lead late in the game.  Trey Rezendes handled the ball well and hit on some key shots to keep EP close.  Hazzard and Ochgwu were also key down the stretch, but some late game steals and fouls gave Central the tough win in the end.  “We’ll be competitive,” said coach Joe Andrade after the game.  “We’ve had some injuries and a flu bug go through the team.  At full strength we can play a lot better.”

Kenaz Ochgwu, at 6’5” for East Providence is also getting attention from major college scouts and is a key to the Townies hopes this year for a title.  Other major contributors are William Winfield, Max Collins, Xavier Hazard and Jayveeon Gonsalves.  Providing a well-balanced Townie squad are Franklin Carela Lopez, Kemerie Dublin, Tyler Gomez, Levi Jacobs, Justin Jardine  , Derrell Liggins, Alex Mulamba, Jonus Rivera, Christian Torres and Brandyn Van Wagner.  The Head Coach is Joe Andrade.  Assistant Coaches:  Patrick Marchand, Todd Costa, Mason Santos, William McEnery and the Athletic Trainer is Amanda Moran.

EPHS Girls Basketball
Townies win the Gwynne Holiday Classic title at PCD
The Townies girls basketball team has started slowly with a couple of league losses but came back to win the Charlie Gwynne Holiday Invitational tournament held at Providence Country Day.  The Townies defeated Tiverton in the first tournament game and then came back to defeat host PCD to take the championship.  East Providence won the tournament last year and successfully defended the title with this year’s tourney win.  The Townies new head coach this year is Tanita Allen.  

Riverside-Martin Middle School Boys Basketball
The Riverside Boys picked up their first win of the season over Martin 55-49. The team started hot with Aidan Martin hitting 3 of his 4 three-point shots in the first couple of minutes and Riverside never gave up the lead the rest of the game.  Riverside led 30-18 at the half, but Martin battled the whole way and closed the gap late in the game.  Free throws by Aidan and Jacob Stover, and a layup by JJ Renaud sealed the victory for the Vikings with time running out.  The offense was lead but Aidan Martin’s game high 23 points, Jayden Fernandez's 13 points, Jacob Stover 10 points and JJ Renaud’s 9 points.

EPHS Wrestling
Veteran EP & RI Coach Tom Galligan has Team Ready
Quietly but not so quickly, EPHS Wrestling coach Tom Galligan has become one of the senior coaches in East Providence.  Only retired teacher Bill McEnery, who still coaches in the system, has been at it longer.  Galligan has been coaching wrestling for some 32 years at EP.  He is also one of the more veteran teachers in the system.  Galligan teaches the highly successful construction technology class at the EPHS Career & Tech Center.  His classes are popular with students and many of his former students have gone on to the construction and carpentry profession.  Construction teacher by day and wrestling coach after school and evenings, Galligan has been around EPHS for a long time.  He is a graduate of EPHS and was an athlete himself when in school.  A noted football player and wrestler, Galligan has continued the rich tradition of skilled wrestlers in EP.  “I don’t really count the years, I just know I’ve been here for a long time,” Galligan chuckles during a recent practice.  His squad is preparing for a holiday tournament to be hosted at EPHS’ new gymnasium on the last day of December.  The Reporter is going to press for the January issue and will have tourney results online and next month.

Like other public schools in the state, East Providence has seen certain sports go up and down in Divisions due to enrollments and private school advantages.  Townie wrestling has always been a Division I contender had recently dropped to Division II to rebuild the program.  The Townies did that and were undefeated in the 2021-22 regular season.  Galligan and school administrators have agreed to rejoin Division I this year and expect to compete at a high level.  “Our sport was impacted more than others with COVID due to the athlete-to-athlete close contact,” Galligan explained recently.  “We have a large squad this year and they are working hard.  It will be a challenge, but I feel good that we’re back in Division I.  We should be ready by state tournament time after the dual and multi-school meets are done.” 

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