Barrington’s as good as advertised. I thought today we were just a little bit better.”

Joe Occhi, head coach, PHS boys' basketball

WARWICK — In a game that was still up for grabs with under two minutes to play, the Portsmouth Patriots boys’ varsity basketball team pulled away from Barrington to capture the Division II championship Sunday.

The Patriots were up by only five points with 1:46 left on the clock, but kept their composure after a brief run by the Eagles, and ended with an 81-70 victory.

“It was kind of a game of runs, and Barrington’s as good as advertised. I thought today we were just a little bit better,” PHS head coach Joe Occhi said after the game, held at Community College of Rhode Island’s Warwick campus.

Mr. Occhi said his team responded strongly after losing its leader, senior Justin Parsons, who fouled out with a few minutes left to play.

“That was challenging, but you know what — and we talked about this in the timeout — he’s been their leader out of the gate. They finished it off for him.”

“I think we responded well,” added Ben Hurd, a sophomore guard who also had a strong game for the Patriots. “Justin Parsons brought the energy, and we all fed off that. The games are about runs. We just have to stay calm, knowing our run is going to come too.”

Portsmouth jumped out to an early 12-4 lead after back-to-back jumpers from Parsons and senior guard Robbie Yates, but Barrington quickly chipped away and went out ahead, 18-16, after senior guard Ryan Bonneau sank his own 3-pointer with 8:40 left.

The Eagles’ biggest lead came when Portsmouth turned the ball over and senior guard Brandan Conaty scored to make it 37-31 with 2:25 left in the half. The Patriots finished the half strong, however, with a drive to the hoop by senior forward Tyree Evans, followed by a layup by Parsons, making the score 45-43 Eagles at the half.

Second half

Portsmouth came out blazing in the second half, with junior forward Jack Bielawa tying things up at 45 with a layup, followed by a steal and then two inside scores by Hurd, followed by Yates drilling a 3-pointer, making it 55-47 Patriots with 11:40 left.

Two minutes after Barrington’s Bonneau and Portsmouth’s freshman guard Elijah Newsome traded 3s, a hard drive to the hoop by Hurd and layup by junior center Tim Chlaupek gave the Patriots a 63-51 lead with eight minutes left. 

Barrington didn’t cave, however, and went on another run which climaxed with senior guard William Rywolt nailing a 3 at the top of the key, followed by a steal and a layup by Bonneau to bring the Eagles to within a point — 66-65 with four minutes left. The Barrington fans went wild and the momentum had seemingly shifted to the Eagles.

The Patriots kept their cool, however, and Barrington never regained the lead.

‘Jacking up shots’

Barrington head coach Greg Graham said his players broke from their game in the second half and simply made too many mistakes down the stretch.

“We didn’t play as well in the second half as we did in the first half,” he said. “We totally got away from what we were doing. Too many fouls, quick shots. I mean, (Portsmouth) went zone, and if we had just worked the ball to get it inside, we would have been fine. But we kept jacking up shots with so much time on the shot clock. It really hurt us. (PHS) just capitalized on it; they got to the foul lines and they made their free throws, and we didn’t.”

Mr. Graham said he was proud of his team’s overall performance for the season, however.

“Obviously it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, either in the playoffs or at the end of the regular season, but we still have a chance in the open (state tournament). We’re going to take a day off, regroup and see what happens.”

Mr. Occhi said like they’ve been doing all year, his players performed collectively as a team.

“Everybody contributed — again — from (Tim) Chlaupek starting off the first couple minutes hot, to Jack Bielawa having a couple of great digs at the end, to Eli (Newsome) hitting a couple of big 3s — everybody. Benny (Hurd), too,” he said.

Mr. Occhi said he “couldn’t be happier” about his team’s season. 

But he doesn’t think Portsmouth is through with Barrington just yet. Both qualified for the state open tournament, and he believes they may meet up again.

“The way the numbers line up, if we both win our first-round games, I think we get them again,” Mr. Occhi said.

“Honestly, I thought these were the two best teams in Division II, and I think today’s game proved it.”

Fans separated

In a regular season game on Feb. 18 in Barrington, the Patriots edged the Eagles by three points in a contest that featured a few skirmishes between opposing fans in the stands. For this game, organizers kept the Barrington and Portsmouth supporters on opposite sides of the court.

One Barrington fan was ejected from the gym early in the second half Sunday after he apparently yelled something the refs deemed over the top. Other than that, there were no other incidents of unruly behavior.