Tigers win 5-straight, move into tie for second place

Story and photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr. 
Posted 2/3/25

The Tiverton girls’ basketball team used ferocious defense and timely scoring to dispatch Narragansett 59-55 on Thursday and crush Smithfield 65-27 on Saturday to move into a tie for second …

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Tigers win 5-straight, move into tie for second place

Posted
The Tiverton girls’ basketball team used ferocious defense and timely scoring to dispatch Narragansett 59-55 on Thursday and crush Smithfield 65-27 on Saturday to move into a tie for second place in Division 2. The Tigers have currently won 5-straight and improved their record to 10-4. 
“We play a really aggressive style of defense,” said senior co-captain Jenna DelDeo, who led the Tigers with 17 points in the win over Narragansett. “Other teams sometimes can’t handle that. Coach has been preaching it and it’s really showing on the court.”
Sophomore guard Cami Oliveira buried four 3-pointers and a jumper for 14 points. Sophomore guard Tori Murray scored 9, Sara Poland, also a sophomore guard, scored 8, Junior forward Jah’niece Branch scored 5 and Bea Pimentel and Ellery Pacheco each sank 3-pointers. 
“We’ve been keeping our composure on offense,” DelDeo said. “And we’ve been hitting our shots. That has been helping too.”
“It’s really been a team effort. Especially on defense,” said senior co-captain Ellery Pacheco. 
Forwards DelDeo and Branch have been rebounding machines at both ends of the court. The duo combined for 16 rebounds against Narragansett. 
“I don’t know where we’d be without them,” Pacheco said. “They make a huge difference under the basket.”
“They are good at reading what’s going on in front of them,” Coach Brigham said. 
The tenacious play of Tiverton’s guards, especially in their full court defense, has also been keeping teams off balance. 
“We’ve been talking about it since the beginning of the year,” said Tigers’ coach Mike Brigham. “Physical defense and share the ball. They’re starting to buy in and recognize the success that it brings.”
The Tigers had four players in double digits during the Smithfield blow out. Oliveira, who has become a legit outside threat, drained five 3-pointers and a jumper to lead Tiverton with 17 points.  Branch scored 11, DelDeo scored 10, Murray scored 10, Poland added 6, Beatrice Pimental and Tess Purcell each scored 4 and Brooke Sowa added a 3-pointer. 
“We are deceivingly fast and we’re playing smart behind it,” said Coach Brigham. “We have to continue to learn how to play with success. We have to keep our foot on the throttle and keep doing what we’re doing and not get complacent.”
Next Up: The Tigers travel to North Smithfield on (tonight) Monday at 6:30 p.m. 

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.