EAST PROVIDENCE — The burden of being one of the last winless teams in Division I as well as that of a losing streak dating back to all of the 2018-19 season finally came to an end for the East Providence High School girls’ basketball team after the Townies defeated host Moses Brown, 50-44, in Providence Wednesday night, Jan. 29.
EPHS halted its run of losses at nine league games to start the 2019-20 season and a total of 27 overall stretching back to last winter when the locals went 0-18 in D-I contests. The Quakers dropped to 3-6 in the division.
“It was a great scene and just amazing to see the girls celebrate. I’m especially happy for my seniors. They deserve this win more than anyone…I’m so proud of them,” first-year EPHS head coach Bay Lambert said of the Townies initial league win.
The teams played a tight first 16 minutes. Moses Brown led 22-20 at intermission. In the second half, East Providence’s Makiah Denson found the hot hand as the sophomore guard scored 14 of her team-best 18 points to lead the locals to the victory. The Townies outscored their hosts 30-22 to close out the win. Ariana Soares added 13 points for the locals. Kayla Hannon chipped in eight and Ahmya Ingram five. Mia Jackson and Savannah Feola had three apiece.
Last week’s game was a far cry from the teams’ first meeting of the year back in early January when Moses Brown held the Townies to just three first-half points en route to a rather comfortable 45-22 win. E.P. nearly picked up its first league win two weeks prior against Johnston when it had the ball for the final possession of the game, but the locals couldn’t get a shot up and suffered a 49-48 loss to the Panthers.
“They have been working hard, and I told them (a win) was coming soon. They’re starting to believe in ‘us,’ in each other and it shows on the court,” Lambert added.
The Townies were involved in another game with a team seeking its first win when they closed last week at home against neighboring Bay View, which entered the contest 0-10 in league games. The Bengals, like E.P. did earlier in the week, left with their initial victory of the season, 53-37.
Bay View led 28-20 at halftime en route to the win. Kaleigh Valle led all scorers with 23 points for the Bengals. Ahtiana Benway added 18. Denson paced the Townies with 15. Soares and Ingram each had 10.

Swimming

The EPHS swim teams played host to Smithfield in their first home regular season meet at the East Providence Boys & Girls Club last week, the boys improving to 4-1 with a 40-23 win and the girls dropping to 3-2 after falling 45-42.
Aidan Ottone (50 freestyle, 26.11), Ryan Heatherton (100 butterfly, 1:18.83), Tyler Robinson (200 free, 2:11.82), David Capobianco (200 individual medley, 2:26.02) and Yanis Benadouda (500 free, 5:28.84) were individual event winners for the boys. Ottone, Robinson, Brayden Paiva and Andrew Langille teamed to win the 200 free relay in 2:00.78 Benadouda, Paiva, Capobianco and Ottone also won the 200 medley relay in 2:02.29.
Christina-Marie Capobianco (50 free, 27.94), Emily Gorski (100 backstroke, 1:06.42), Shelby Enos (100 breaststroke, 1:27.46) and Raissa Luu (100 fly, 1:04.72) earned solo wins for the girls. The team of Enos, Capobianco, Luu and Britney Carlson won the 400 free relay in 4:40.24.

Hockey

The Moses Brown/East Providence High School co-op boys’ hockey team remained winless in Division I after the locals dropped a pair of league games last week: 6-3 to Burrillville and 4-2 to Barrington. The Quakers dipped to 0-8-1 in the standings.

Boys’ hoops

The EPHS boys’ basketball team had its fourth crack at beating one of the state’s better teams this season when reigning league and Open Tourney champion North Kingstown visited the city Thursday night, Jan. 30, but like the three other times the Townies came up short.
The Skippers used a very good first-half performance to build a double digit lead then fended off a late EPHS rally to earn a 69-65 win. N.K.'s three-guard combo of Nick Sacchetti, Clay Brochu and John Quianoo spurred the win, scoring 26, 24 and 14 points respectively.
North Kingstown improved to 10-1 in Division I-C standings. The Townies dropped to 6-4 in the I-A ranks. All of the East Providence losses to date have come against the perceived powers this winter: two to 9-1 Hendricken, another to 8-3 LaSalle and the other to the Skippers.
Josh Kauffman led the locals with 17 points. Brian Taylor added 15 and Matt DosSantos 10. R.J. Pina was held to eight, 12 below his season average. Justin Pena had nine.
N.K. first stretched its lead to 10 points, 22-12, midway through the opening period on a Sacchetti 3-pointer. The Townies, dealing with the early foul trouble of starter Brian Taylor and without injured Zach Russell, sliced into their deficit a bit before the break, but the locals committed too many turnovers and their defense was somewhat soft, allowing the visitors rather easy access to the hoop. The Skippers would eventually take a 38-25 lead at intermission.
The Skippers scored the first five points of the second half to increase their edge to a high of 18 (43-25) on a Brochu 3 before the Townies began their response. E.P. went on a 15-2 run to get back into the game, culminating on a R.J. Pina rebound put-back layup.
The score remained within two possessions for just about the rest of the night before the locals, who played with more intensity on defense and aggression on offense in the second half, twice came within a shot of tying the game. Each time, though, the Skippers responded.
With about four minutes to go, Tyler Lima drained a 3 from the corner for the Townies to trim the lead to 58-55. Taylor, who was a factor late, brought E.P. to within just a pair (63-61) on a layup with just under two minutes left.
Brochu answered Taylor’s bucket with a drive and free throw to complete the “and-1.” Josh Kauffman then hit another corner 3 for the Townies to make it 66-64 with 40 seconds left. Brochu again was in the spotlight, making and missing the ends of a one-and-one after being fouled.
Next was a hectic sequence when each team turned the ball over. The Townies had it and a chance to tie with under 10 seconds, but the play never materialized. N.K.’s Quainoo ended up with the ball, was fouled and made both free throws to seal the victory for the Skippers.

Girls' indoor track

The EPHS girls’ indoor track and field squad vied in the Division I-Headley subgroup championship meet Saturday, Feb. 1, at the PCTA Fieldhouse, the Townies scoring three points to place ninth. LaSalle won the division title going away with 128.5 points. Cumberland was second with 76.5 and Portsmouth third with 70.
East Providence’s points were scored on three sixth-place results. The team of Eva Caron, Michelle Diaz-Araujo, Katherine Diaz-Araujo and Elizabeth Meneses clocked a 11:34.07 in the 4x800 relay, won by LaSalle in 10:03.57. Alyssa DeOliveira ran a 7.86 in the 55 meter dash, won by LaSalle’s Jackie Comeau in 7.45. And the quartet of Michelle Diaz-Araujo, Katherine Diaz-Araujo, Emma-Kim Raphael and Arianna Cunha timed a 4:50.34 in the 4x4 relay, again also won by LaSalle in 4:17.96.
The EPHS girls join their male counterparts back at the PCTA Fieldhouse this weekend, Saturday, Feb. 8, for the Large Class Championship meet starting at 9 a.m.