WOONSOCKET — The East Providence High School entry into the 2021 Mount St. Charles Boys' Basketball Summer League won the championship with a 43-40 victory over Woonsocket Wednesday night, Aug. 11.

EPHS went 9-1 during the regular season then defeated Bellingham (Mass.) and Ponaganset in the playoffs to reach the finals.

The Townies' summer league roster included freshman Cristian Torres and Alex Mulamba, sophmores Trey Rezendes and Xavier Hazard; juniors Will Winfield, JC Caldwell, Jay Gonsalves, Max Colliins and Kemarie Dublin; and seniors Denzy Suazo and Eligah Moniz. Varsity assistants Todd Costa and Bill McEnery coached the team.

“Overall, I’m very happy,” said EPHS varsity head coach Joe Andrade, who has led the Townies to the playoffs in all five of his seasons on the bench to date.

“But we didn’t run any plays  We didn’t run any sets. And we were missing just about all of our guys inside," Andrade continued. "We had a tough time dealing with some of the guys who chose AAU and rec leagues instead of playing with us in the summer. So we basically played five guards.

“The big take away was giving kids like Will and Jay and Elijah and JC an opportunity to show what they can do and they really stepped into their own. We know what guys like Trey and Max are going to do, but we had guys like Xavier who worked hard and played very well.”

The Townies can take many positives from the summer of 2021, which included a runner-up result in a Massachusetts Premier League Tournament in late July, though it may not necessarily translate into results come the league season this winter. Injuries, grades and actual game-planning against more intense opposition are among the things EPHS will face starting in December.

“We didn’t have our usual summer league in Providence so I wanted to go up there to play teams like Woonsocket and Cumberland, teams we struggle with during season because they play physical. We struggle with physicality,” Andrade added. “The guys who came played hard and I’m very happy about that, but we have a lot of learning to do before the season starts.”

— East Providence Post and eastbayri.com staff photographer Rich Dionne shot the accompanying gallery of photos.