Archive - 2012 - Sports Article
March 8th
WOONSOCKET â George Coderre sounded more like a proud father rather than a head coach upon being informed that Woonsocket High senior Kailey Fugere had been selected by Gatorade as the 2011-12 R.I. Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
âSheâs always been an outstanding athlete,â noted Coderre on Thursday morning, âbut to see her round out her game and see her adjust from year to year ⊠sheâs a quiet and unassuming kid and to see her take on more of a leadership role, thatâs why sheâs been a pleasure to coach.â
When Courtney Kent took to the starting blocks for the R.I. Interscholastic Girls Swimming Championships at the University of Rhode Islandâs Tootell Natatorium back on Feb. 25, she desperately wanted to defend her titles in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles.
Naturally, it had something to do with her desire to achieve personal-best times â not to mention proving to herself she still was the Ocean State's fastest â but much more so to show her father, Michael, how much she had improved over the years.
March 6th
PROVIDENCE â As 1998 U. S. Olympic womenâs hockey star and gold medallist Sara DeCosta draped runner-up medals around the necks of the Mount St. Charlesâ girls, most wiped away tears.
Their disappointment was more than obvious after La Salle Academy had mustered a 2-0 victory over the Mounties at Providence Collegeâs Schneider Arena on Tuesday night. With that triumph in this rubber game of the R.I. Championship Division Tournamentâs best-of-three final set, the Rams had earned its first-ever title in the category, and closed its season at 16-5.
NEW YORK â In some ways it was an ending, as in the end of the season for Providence College. In other respects, Tuesday nightâs 79-47 bludgeoning at the hands of Seton Hall in opening round of the Big East Tournament can be viewed as the official jumping-off point to the Ed Cooley era.
Cooleyâs first season at PC ended in futile fashion, his club suffering a 32-point defeat that goes in the books as the largest loss margin for the Friars in their Big East tourney history. Providence has now dropped 14 of its last 16 conference tournament games.
NEW YORK â Wednesday morning will see the presidents and athletic directors from the Big East gather in a central location. The guest list will include party crashers in the form of representatives from the schools in line to join the league.
Wouldnât you like to be a fly in that room?
âI think theyâll introduce some of the new members and [league president John Marinatto] is going to give us an update to where we are on a lot of issues,â Providence College athletic director Driscoll remarked. âIt should be a good meeting and Iâm looking forward to it.â
March 5th
PROVIDENCE â Vincent Council provided the type of response that epitomizes the mindset of the Providence College Friars heading into the Big East Tournament.
To summarize, the junior doesnât expect the Friars to be a one-and-done casualty, their season ending at the hands of Seton Hall on Day 1 of the five-day mad dash leading up to a hoops coronation at Madison Square Garden.
WOONSOCKET â This is how Mount St. Charles sophomore Brian Larence celebrated an amazing 3-2, double-overtime victory over La Salle Academy on Monday night:
While his teammates went ballistic on the ice, exchanging hugs and high-fives, Larence skated to the chain-link fence near the Mountiesâ bench at Adelard Arena and fist-bumped schoolmates with his right-handed glove.
He then shed his stick, bent over, grabbed some snow off the ice and threw it at those fans, still going berserk at what they had just witnessed.
PROVIDENCE â In the end, it wasnât meant to be for head coach Alisha Brannon and her North Smithfield squad.
Despite North Smithfield putting forth a gutsy and determined effort in the face of long odds, the Northmen saw their season come to a close Monday night in the Division III semifinals at Rhode Island College.
Led by 29 points from senior Sandy Kun, top seed and unbeaten Juanita Sanchez held on for a 53-49 victory.
March 4th
PROVIDENCE â After his squad's 4-0 loss to La Salle Academy in the first game of the R.I. Championship Division Tournament finals' best-of-three set on Saturday, Mount St. Charles head coach Steve Shea told his kids he loved the fact they had outshot their foes, 30-18.
He also explained to them that mere attempts on goal wouldn't be enough to dispatch the Rams, but firing more quality shots at senior goalkeeper Holly Scott could change the Mounties' fortune.
PROVIDENCE â Just days before the start of the R.I. Division I Tournament championship series between the Burrillville and Barrington co-op squads, Broncos head coach Marc Brissette and his son spent some time shuffling through some old newspapers, just to reminisce.
They came upon one that highlighted the premier PGA careers of the Ocean Stateâs Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade.
âI knew we were facing Sophie Faxon, the Barrington goalie and Bradâs daughter, in the finals, and I told my son, âHow ironic is that?ââ Brissette stated. âI also said, âI hope itâs not an omen.ââ
