EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School girls’ basketball team entered the week still in search of its first Division I win of the 2019-20 season after the Townies dropped a trio of league outings following the Christmas recess.
EPHS opened the stretch against reigning state and D-I champion LaSalle, falling to the Rams by a 55-17 score. Arianna Soares led the locals with 12 points.
The Townies next played host to Moses Brown when the locals suffered a 45-22 defeat. The visiting Quakers held EPHS to just three first-half points while building a commanding 26-point advantage. The Townies made a better account of themselves, scoring 19 total points over the final 16 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to bridge the large gap.
EPHS closed the week on the road in Portsmouth where the locals fell by another one-sided score, 80-36. The host Patriots raced to a 44-14 edge by the half. The Townies slipped to 0-4 in Division I outings at the time. Kayla Hannon and Makiah Denson shared team high scoring honors for the locals with 10 points each. Ahmya Ingram added eight.
Boys’ Basketball
Back to Division I regular season action from the holiday break, the EPHS boys’ basketball team played perennial power Hendricken well for all 32 minutes, but came up on the short end of an 81-75 decision. R.J. Pina led four Townies in double figures with 24 points. Josh Kauffman had 17, Justin Pena 14 and Brian Taylor 12.
EPHS got back to its winning ways to start last week, defeating host Cranston East by an 85-65 count as they improved to 2-1 in league play at the time. Pina again topped the scoring chart for the locals with 26. Zach Russell had a season best 21. Taylor added 15 and Matt DosSantos 11.
The Townies concluded last week at home against South Kingstown with a decisive 71-52 victory for their third league win in four tries. Taylor led four locals in double digits with 13. Pina, DosSantos and Russell each had 12. Eleven Townies in total scored at least a point in the contest, which saw the locals race to a commanding 37-11 lead at intermission.
Indoor track
The EPHS boys’ indoor track and field team got back to its Metropolitan Division dual meet season after the holidays with a pair of meets. The Townies split both, improving their record to 4-3.
Both outings taking place at the Providence Career and Tech Center Fieldhouse, EPHS lost to LaSalle and beat Moses Brown the first week of the new year. Santi Nocella had the lone individual win for the locals, taking the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 4 inches.
Early last week, the Townies defeated Juanita Sanchez and lost to Barrington. Freshman Jahad Davis Pinto won three solo events for EPHS with a time of 6.84 seconds in the 55 meter dash, a height of 5’6” in the high jump and a distance of 19’10” in the long jump.
The EPHS girls’ indoor track meet saw its first league action since the break last week, losing a pair of decisions at the PCTA Fieldhouse, 82-26 to Smithfield and 81-27 to South Kingstown. The Townies’ record fell to 1-3 in the Division I-Headley subgroup at the time. Results for the locals included Emma Nordquist second in the high jump at 4’6,” which was a new personal record. Jasmine DosSantos placed second in the weight with a throw of 39’ 8,” also a PR and placed her top 12 in the state. Elizabeth Meneses also did well, placing third in the weight throw at 36 and the shot 27’ 8.” Katherine Diaz Araujo was second in the 600 meters in 1:52.2.
Swimming
The EPHS swim teams got back to their regular season meet schedules last week in Lincoln against host Davies when the Townies won the boys’ portion by a 44-13 score and the girls were winners by a 49-14 score. The Townies ended the week in Pawtucket against the Tolman/Shea co-op when the locals lost the boys’ meet, 61-32, while the girls won, 59-27. Both EPHS outfits saw their records move to 2-1 at the time.
Hockey
The Moses Brown School/East Providence High School boys’ hockey co-operative played once this past weekend, Friday, Jan. 10, against Mount St. Charles in Woonsocket at Adelard Arena where the host Mounties shutout the locals by a 5-0 score. The Quakers dropped to 0-3-1 (1 point) in Division I with the setback.
Mount potted a pair of goals in the first period, including what proved the lone tally the hosts would need just over five minutes in. The Mounties doubled their lead with two power play goals in the end of the second period before adding an insurance score in the third.
Mount outshot the MB/EPHS 45-11. East Providence’s Cole LaValley made 40 saves in the Quakers’ net. While the Mounties twice made good on the man advantage, MB/EPHS could not convert on six power play chances during the game.
Wrestling
The EPHS wrestling team dropped its first league match out of the break, 51-27, on the road last week against Chariho. The Townies fell to 1-4 in Division I outings at the time.
EPHS closed the week by competing in the 2020 Brendan Grant Tournament hosted by Belmont (Mass.) High School Saturday, Jan. 11, where the Townies placed sixth out 12 teams with 122 points. Arlington (Mass.) won the tourney with 194 points, 41 better than runner-up Masconomet (Mass.).
Eight East Providence wrestlers placed, led by Kianu Duate, at 220 pounds, and Kyle Xavier, at 189, who each reached the championship bouts in their divisions. Duarte was the runner-up after he fell in the final to Charles Gillis of Arlington by pin mid-way through the second period (2:53). Xavier also placed second after he lost via pin in the first (1:20) to Declan Griffin of Newton North.
In the consolation bracket, William Mugoodwin led the locals, placing third with his pinfall win over Mike Pesirdis of Arlington just 26 seconds into their match. Evan Decker at 132 and Eric Robertson at 220 placed fourth at 132. Sean Sullivan at 106 and Robert Amaral at 170 placed fifth. Jacob Poore placed sixth at 138.