EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School boys’ basketball team collected its ninth and 10th wins of the Division I regular season as the Townies approached securing playoff berths in both the league and Open State tournaments following victories over St. Raphael and Woonsocket last week.
The locals defeated the Saints, 78-62. The Townies pulled out to a 36-26 lead by intermission and maintained that margin the rest of way en route to the victory. Justin Pena, R.J. Pina and Josh Kauffman shared team-high scoring honors as each scored 17 points. Zach Russell added 15. Both he and Kauffman connected on three 3-point buckets. Pina made seven free throws as part of his night.
EPHS (10-4 in D-I at the time) closed out the week with a dramatic 61-59 road victory over Woonsocket as Russell drained a triple late for the game-winning bucket. The contest was tight throughout, tied at 31 at halftime. Russell’s bucket came with eight seconds left. He finished with a team-best 15 points. Pena had 14, Pina 12 and Brian Taylor 10.
The Townies closed the week with 10 points in the Open State Tourney power ranks, which put them well inside the would-be field of 18 that will eventually qualify for the event next month. EPHS entered this week also on track to secure a high seed in the Division I championship tourney. The Townies had the fifth-best record in the league at the close of play last week. Games in the three division events count towards qualification into the Open State Tournament. Division I regular season league and divisional tournament wins count as one point in the Open Tourney qualification race with D-II counting as .8 and D-III .6.

Hockey
The Moses Brown/East Providence High School boys’ hockey club earned its first Division I win of the season last weekend, a 3-2 victory over Prout in overtime at the University of Rhode Island’s Boss Arena. The locals improved to 1-10-1 in league play at the time.
The Quakers scored the game’s first goal by Gabe Mamdani in the opening period, before the host Crusaders netted the next two. Prout’s initial goal came just 20 seconds after Mamdani and the other came mid-way through the third period. MB/EPHS eventually tied it late in the third on Dom Froio’s tally then won the game in the extra session on a goal by Henry Alessandro. Ian McCormack assisted on all three Quaker tallies. East Providence senior goalie Cole LaValley was credited with 34 saves.

Wrestling
The EPHS wrestling team vied in its final Division I regular season home meet of the 2019-20 season last week, falling to visiting Ponaganset by a 66-10 count. Jeff Clark recorded the only actual victory for the Townies, winning his match at 170 pounds by the major decision score of 11-0. Eric Robinson earned the other points for EPHS on the evening, receiving a forfeit at 285 pounds. The Townies dropped to 3-11 in league matches at the time.

Swimming
The EPHS swim sides returned to division meet action last week with home meets against Classical at the East Providence Boys & Girls Club pool, each team falling to the visiting Purple. Classical improved to 5-1 in the standings with its 57-35 victory in the boys’ outing and remained unbeaten at 8-0 on the girls’ side with its 74-19 win.
The EPHS boys dipped to 5-2 in the standings. Yanis Benadouda led the locals with a pair of individual event wins. The senior clocked a time of 57.98 seconds in the 100 yard backstroke and a 1:53.94 in the 200 freestyle. Aidan Ottone added the other solo win for the Townies with his time of 25.56 in the 50 free.
The Purple swept first place in all 10 of the day’s events in the girls’ portion of the meet to defeat the Townies, who also vied and lost a female-only outing against Pilgrim in Warwick at the McDermott Pool to close week, 54-38. EPHS dipped to 4-5 in the standings with the setbacks.
Against the Patriots to end last week, Christina-Marie Capobianco and Raissa Luu each won two individual events and were also part of two winning relays. Capobianco won the 50 and 100 frees (28.52, 1:08.38). Luu won the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley (1:05.63, 2:27.16). Shelby Enos added the other solo win for the locals in the 200 free (2:34.86). That Townie trio was joined by Elke Jones to win the 200 medley relay (2:19.8) and Ashley Dias to win the 400 free relay (4:39.19).

Girls’ basketball
The EPHS girls’ basketball team played just once last week, falling to Barrington by a 56-30 score. The visiting Eagles took control of the contest in the first half, building a 28-12 lead by the break. Arianna Soares led the locals with nine points. Makiah Denson and Ahmya Ingram each had six. Kayla Hannon chipped in five. The Townies fell to 1-13 in Division I at the time.

Indoor track
A small contingent of EPHS indoor track and field athletes gathered at the Interscholastic League state championship meet held in the Providence Career and Tech Academy Fieldhouse Saturday, Feb. 15. Neither Townie side scored in the boys’ and girls’ competitions, won respectively by Bishop Hendricken and LaSalle.
The Hawks edged LaSalle for the boys’ title, 88-85. Mt. Pleasant was a distant third with 41 points. The Rams won the girls’ title with 91 points. Barrington was second with 67 and Moses Brown third with 51.
As for the Townies, Alyssa DeOliveira ran a time of 7.75 seconds in the girls’ 55 meter dash to place 12th in the preliminary round, but did not qualify for the final won by Hawa Grear of Juanita Sanchez in 7.29. Likewise, Jahad Davis-Pinto clocked a 6.92, the 14th best time in the boys’ 55 prelims, and did not make the final, won by Mt. Pleasant’s Abraham Tambah in 6.48.
In the field, Davis-Pinto, the Metropolitan Division champ in the event this winter, covered 19 feet, 7 inches in the boys’ long jump, which was won with a distance of 21’11.75” by LaSalle’s Steven Doss. Jayden DaCruz vied for the locals in the boys’ high jump, clearing 5’8.” Hendricken’s John Santos won the competition at 6’4.”