Archive - Dec 2012 - Sports Article
Just when you thought it was going to be awfully difficult to top all the great accomplishments and moments that took place in 2011...
Another wonderful year has passed in the Blackstone Valley, and 2012 supplied the region’s sports scene with an abundance of state championship teams, remarkable individual performances, and its Triple-A baseball team, the Pawtucket Red Sox, seizing its first Governors’ Cup title since 1984.
December 27th
PROVIDENCE – When this possibility – Providence College playing at Brown – was first rumored last spring, more than a few eyebrows were raised.
A school hailing from the Big East that’s willing to serve as the away team in a venue that houses an Ivy League participant? Surely you jest?
What was once thought a mere pipedream becomes reality Friday night when the Friars take the steep climb up Waterman Street before hanging a left onto Hope Street. A few blocks down sits the Pizzitola Center, home to the Bears and site for what is truly a rare occasion.
December 26th
SMITHFIELD — Prior to facing Davies Tech in a Red Division tilt of the 26th annual Rhode Island Board of Girls Basketball Officials/Smithfield Boosters Club Holiday Classic on Wednesday afternoon, Burrillville High head coach Lindsay Rachlow asked her players to work on what she deemed a few weaknesses.
They included more attention to finding the open girl and rebounding.
She saw some improvements in both as the Broncos crushed the Patriots, 54-23, at Smithfield High’s gymnasium, the long-term site of the event.
December 25th
PROVIDENCE — His primary outlet and source of pure enjoyment having been taken away, the question was then posed as to how Nyheem Sanders planned on incorporating competitive basketball back into his life.
It was a college career squarely on the bubble, and that’s where the story of this Pawtucket native begins.
No one wants to hear the message that Sanders was told in fall of 2011, when Bob Walsh, the men’s basketball head coach at Rhode Island College, informed Sanders that he didn’t figure into the Anchormen’s plans for the upcoming season.
December 24th
BURRILLVILLE — As the scoreboard clock ticked down to “0:00” on Monday night, Nov. 5, Jaime LeClair-Roy sat in the front row of the Roger Williams University Stadium's stands with her family, numb not from the bitter cold but at what she was witnessing.
Her daughter, senior goalkeeper Alex LeClair, had just led her Burrillville High girls' field hockey team to a 1-0 victory over Smithfield, and in the process sealed for the Broncos their first Division II state championship in 28 years.
December 22nd
BURRILLVILLE — Boss Arena’s loss promises to be Levy Arena’s gain next weekend.
After busing down to the University of Rhode Island the past two Christmas vacations to play in the featured eight-team, two-day Holiday Classic, Burrillville coach Steve Daigle found out two months ago that the tournament was not coming back this winter.
Scrambling to find an alternative tournament to keep his players active during the break, Daigle instead decided to create his own, and judging by the early reports, this one looks like it has the makings to be a success.
December 18th
PROVIDENCE – Now that the fog has dispersed and Providence College along with the rest of its Catholic school brethren have succeeded in making a clean break from the Big East, now seems as good a time as any to raise the question of just how appealing a basketball-centric conference is in the eyes of potential recruits.
To that end, PC head coach Ed Cooley feels that the Catholic Seven and the still-to-be-determined additional schools have an excellent shot to thrive and prosper due to basketball serving as the main draw at every institution.
PROVIDENCE — Call it a solid first step for Ed Cooley and his new-look Providence Friars.
On a night that saw freshman Kris Dunn make an immediate impact, Providence overwhelmed Colgate, 79-45, before 6,033 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. A point guard who on Tuesday night displayed an uncanny knack in finding his teammates, Dunn tossed 13 assists on his way to becoming the first PC player to reach double figures in said category in his first game with the program.
December 17th
NORTH SMITHFIELD — At halftime of this Division III-North rivalry clash against Burrillville High, North Smithfield head coach T.J. Ciolfi followed his troops off the floor and into a room for a pep talk of sorts.
“I told the kids that we live in spurts, and that they have to come off of our defense,” he stated of his club’s scant 23-19 cushion. “I also said that they did a really good job of playing at their tempo, and that we don’t like playing a half-court game.
PROVIDENCE — There are games against more noteworthy opponents on the horizon, yet it’s probably a safe bet to assume that Providence College basketball fans have been eyeing Tuesday’s game against Colgate for quite some time.
The night will feature the long-anticipated debuts of two Friars. In freshman Kris Dunn, PC is hitching its wagon to a point guard, a critical position that suffered a major hit when Vincent Council went down in a heap in the season opener. In sophomore Sidiki Johnson, the Friars are receiving a rugged 6-foot-10 sort who’s expected shore up the low post.
