EPHS Sports Notes: Wrestling team wraps up busy stretch of Division I matches

Townies fall in boys’ hoops rematch against Hendricken

Posted 1/27/20

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School wrestling team recently completed what was a relatively busy stretch of league outings as the locals vied in three Division I meets with six …

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EPHS Sports Notes: Wrestling team wraps up busy stretch of Division I matches

Townies fall in boys’ hoops rematch against Hendricken

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School wrestling team recently completed what was a relatively busy stretch of league outings as the locals vied in three Division I meets with six other sides over a seven-day period.
The Townies traveled to Coventry for a double duel against the host Knotty Oakers and Juanita Sanchez, splitting the contests after losing to the former and beating the latter. Host EPHS was swept at the end of a triple duel with visitors Cumberland, Hope and Mt. Hope on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Townies closed last week on a trip to North Providence for a duel against the host Cougars where they also lost, dipping to 2-8 in D-I matches at the time.
Jeff Clark, at 170 pounds, and Eric Robinson, at heavyweight, each went 5-1 in their matches during the stretch. Kianu Duarte, at 220, went 4-2. Kyle Xavier, a 195, won two of his three matches during the King holiday event.
“We’ve had our ups and downs. We have a lot of young kids in the lineup. They’re taking their lumps, but they’re working hard,” said EPHS head coach Tom Galligan of the season to date. “We’ve also had injuries and the flu. Pretty much anything that can happen has happened. Wrestling is the type of sport where you have to go through the tough times to become a good team. They’re in practice every day putting in the work. Good things are going to happen for these kids eventually.”
The Townies are in the midst of a week off from Division I action. They return to league contests on Wednesday, Feb. 5, in Lincoln. The locals travel Warwick for a match with Pilgrim the next night. Their next home match is Saturday, Feb. 8, against Cranston East and North Kingstown at 10 a.m.
Last weekend, the locals traveled to Branford, Conn., for a tournament, the Shoreline Scuffle. Five Townies placed, including Clark, who took first place at 170 pounds. Clark received a bye through the first round, then won his next three matches, the last for the tournament title over Anthony Lafogg of Branford by major decision, 11-0.
Ismael Frias, at 152, and Xavier, at 195, each finished second. Xavier fell by pin 55 seconds into the finals to Cody McHenry of Branford. Frias was pinned a minute into the second round of his final by Alex Cardozo of Fairfield Prep.
Duarte, at 220, and Robert Amaral, at 182, each finished fourth individually for EPHS, which placed sixth out of 16 teams with 98 points. Branford won the tournament with 211 points, placing 13 of its wrestlers with four winners. Fairfield Prep was second with 131.

Boys’ basketball
The anticipated rematch between the EPHS and Bishop Hendricken boys’ basketball teams ended the same way as the first, just by a larger margin.
In Warwick Wednesday night, Jan. 22, the host Hawks defeated the Townies by an 84-65 count. Hendricken improved to 7-1 in the Division I-A standings at the time, good for first place. The second-place Townies dropped to 5-2. Hendricken beat the locals 81-75 in their first meeting of the season three weeks ago in city.
EPHS head coach Joe Andrade called the Townies’ effort “up and down.” The game started relatively tight before the Hawks used an extended run late in the first half to build a 44-28 edge at the break. Andrade said his side “came out strong” in the final 16 minutes. EPHS closed its deficit to just four early in the second half, but Hendricken again pulled away en route to the 19-point win. Andrade chalked up the loss to the Hawks’ proficiency in the paint along with too many turnovers by his Townies and porous defense.
“We aren’t defending,” Andrade added. “We can’t win that way.”
R.J. Pina, whom Andrade said played well, led the locals with 24 points, the only Townie in double figures. Brian Taylor added nine, Justin Pena eight, Josh Kauffman seven and Zach Russell six.
East Providence remained on the road to close the week against another of the top squads in the state when it visited traditional rival LaSalle in Providence Friday night, Jan. 24. Defense was again lacking for the locals as they dropped an 82-64 decision, falling to 5-3 in the standings.
The Rams scored 49 first-half points and led by 13 at the break. Pina had a team-best 19 points. Taylor added 16. Kauffman had nine. LaSalle, which handed Hendricken its lone defeat to date 66-61 two weeks ago, improved to 7-2 in I-C behind reigning league and state champ, 8-1 North Kingstown.

Girls’ basketball
Teams at the opposite end of the Division I spectrum met last week in city when winless EPHS girls’ basketball team hosted unbeaten at the time North Kingstown, and the records remained that way after the visiting Skippers eased to a 58-22 victory. N.K. built a commanding 30-7 by halftime. Arianna Soares led the Townies with nine points. Mia Jackson added five and Kayla Hannon four.
EPHS faced another of the state’s best to close last week as LaSalle visited the city. The unbeaten Rams improved to 8-0 while the Townies dropped to 0-8 in the league after leaving with a 66-14 win, completing a season sweep of the locals. LaSalle defeated EPHS 55-17 earlier this month in Providence. Last week, the Rams held the Townies to just four first-half points. Hannon led EPHS with seven.

Indoor track
The EPHS girls’ and boys’ indoor track and field teams completed their respective regular season dual meet schedules last week.
The girls finished with a 1-7 record in the Division I-Headley ranks following a 49-37 loss to Lincoln High and a 70-21 setback to West Warwick. The boys also dropped their last two Metropolitan Division duals, 54-27 to Mt. Pleasant and 53-45 to Central, leaving the locals with a 4-5 record for the 2019-20 season.
The Townies were slated to vie in their respective division championship meets this week.

Hockey
The Moses Brown/East Providence boys’ hockey co-op entered its games last weekend still searching of its first Division I win of the season and it remained that way for the Quakers following 4-1 and 11-2 losses to Prout/Scituate and LaSalle, respectively. MB/EP fell to 0-6-1 (1 point) in the league standings.
Captain Dom Froio scored the lone goal for the locals in the loss against Prout/Scituate, which cut their deficit to 2-1 early in the third period. The score remained that way until the Crusaders netted an even-strength goal late then tacked on an empty netter.
MB/EP had a rough go against the first-place and unbeaten Rams, who scored four first-period goals to take quick command of the contest. E.P.’s Cole LaValley and MB’s D.J. Plante split time in the Quaker net, making 16 and 23 saves each. Froio scored one of the goals for the locals, his second in as many games.

Swimming
The EPHS swim teams returned to action last week, each improving to 3-1 in the league standings after beating host Mount St. Charles. The boys won their outing 63-21 and the girls 48-40.
E.P. lost only one boys’ event. Aidan Ottone won the 50 yard freestyle in 26.2 seconds. Tyler Robinson won the 100 free in 1:11.37. Yanis Benadouda took the 100 backstroke in 1:00.29 and the 200 free in 1:58.3. Brayden Paiva won the 100 breaststroke in 1:26.14. Andrew Langille won the 100 butterfly in 1:18.54. And David Capobianco won the 500 in 6:07.64.
The Townies swept the relays. The team of Rami Aldine, Ottone, Paiva and Robinson won the 200 free in 1:56.69. Benadouda, Paiva, Ottone and Capobianco added victories in both the 200 medley (2:03) and the 400 free (4:08.77).
Christina-Marie Capobianco and Raissa Luu each won a pair of individual events for the Townies and were part of a winning relay in girls’ victory. Capobianco took the 50 free (29.31) and the 100 free (1:08.53). Luu claimed the 100 fly (1:14.85) and the 200 individual medley (2:35.32). They along with Shelby Enos and Elke Jones teamed to win the 200 medley relay (2:17.22) as well.
Enos added a solo victory in the 200 free (2:41.31). Jones was joined by Britney Carlson Alaila Azulay and Marayhah Vasconceles on E.P.’s other winning relay in the meet, the 200 free (2:13.98).

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