Archive - 2012 - Sports Article
March 4th
PROVIDENCE â George Coderre knows the drill. As the head coach at Woonsocket High, Coderre studies the game from his sideline perch while his mind races with various adjustment schemes. Obviously the idea is to outsmart the opposition, which Coderreâs club was able to do for most of Sundayâs playoff exercise against Westerly High.
March 3rd
WARWICK --- Brandon Borges saved the season for Mount St. Charles.
The sophomore right wing produced the biggest goal of his young high school career on Saturday night in the second overtime of Game 2 of MSCâs best-of-three State Championship semifinal-round series against La Salle.
Borges scored off a pass from junior Brian Belisle 39 seconds into the second 7œ-minute session to lead the Mounties to a heart-pounding 4-3 triumph over the Rams before a packed house at Thayer Arena.
PROVIDENCE â The slow start hurt, but the late penalties proved to be the undoing of the Burrillville/Ponaganset co-op team on Saturday afternoon in the opening game of their best-of-three Division I championship series with the Barrington co-op squad.
Emily Carlsonâs second goal of the game, on a 5-on-3 power play with 2:22 left in the game, ruined a dominant third-period showing by the Broncos and lifted the Eagles to a 3-2 triumph at Providence Collegeâs Schneider Arena.
PROVIDENCE â For the fourth time this season, Mount St. Charles had a hard-fought battle on its hands with longtime rival La Salle, but unlike their first three meetings, the Mounties werenât fortunate enough to skate out of it with a âWâ.
And unfortunately for the Mounties, this was no ordinary loss. This was one of their most lopsided defeats in the programâs history, and it took place on a stage they couldnât afford to lose on â the opening game of the best-of-three State Championship series.
WOONSOCKET -- A red-hot goalie and a forward who gave the team fits during the regular season teamed up to hand Mount St. Charles a tough loss in Game 1 of the State Championship best-of-three semifinal-round series.
Tyler Walsh turned away 45 shots and Bryan Lemos supplied the scoring to lead La Salle to a 2-1 victory and put the Rams one win away from a trip to the state finals before a packed house at Adelard Arena.
The third-seeded Rams (12-6-1) will look to end the Mountiesâ bid for a fifth straight state championship tonight when the series resumes tonight at 7 p.m. at Thayer Arena.
March 2nd
WARWICK â Burrillville did everything in its power to beat heavily favored Bishop Hendricken on Friday night in the opening game of their best-of-three State Championship semifinal-round series at Thayer Arena.
The fourth-seeded Broncos turned in one of their best efforts of the season, an effort that saw them play a penalty-free game with the regular-season champs and match their physical play and defensive prowess, but in the end, the hosts took advantage of a couple of breaks to come out on top, 4-2.
PROVIDENCE â In the person of Carl LaBranche, the R.I. Interscholastic League and Providence College benefited from having an ace in the hole.
The underlying reason why PCâs venerable Alumni Hall gym is the site for Sundayâs âElite Eightâ round of the open state tournament is due to the communication and negotiating skills tapped by LaBranche in harmonizing this project. With this Pawtucket native (Tolman High School Class of 1970) serving as the point man, LaBrancheâs vision of opening Alumni Hallâs doors to the stateâs high school basketball sector became a reality.
March 1st
Three months of regular-season games have now boiled down to three weeks of state tournament action.
And for five of the six Blackstone Valley teams that qualified for the playoffs, the âsecond seasonâ commences tonight at arenas throughout the state.
While the opening weekend of the postseason had long been reserved for the quarterfinal-round series, that wonât be the case this winter in the new State Championship playoffs, which along with the Division I tourney, jumps right into its semifinals this weekend.
February 29th
BURRILLVILLE â History has been extremely good to the Burrillville/Ponaganset co-op team when it comes to playing Barringtonâs East Bay co-op squad.
Even since Barrington joined the girlsâ hockey varsity ranks eight years ago, the Broncos have had the Eaglesâ number. They own a 12-2 record against them, and a five-game win streak that has seen the Eagles strengthen their numbers by adding Mount Hope and Portsmouth to its co-op squad, yet the Broncos still win each time by five or more goals.
NORTH SMITHFIELD â After a rather sloppy initial half, one in which it registered 15 turnovers and had serious issues netting a bucket, North Smithfield High head coach Alisha Brannon took her troops aside and told them simply to calm down and think.
âBasically, we have a tendency to rush on offense, and the first half was a classic example,â she said. âThey try to pass too quickly or dribble past (defenders). At halftime, I told them to quit rushing and spread the floor.
