Lady Shock, Bullets, Clippers & Wildcats CBA Champs

The past, present and future of Coventry basketball was intertwined among players, coaches, officials and even some fans in the climatic four-game conclusion of the Coventry Basketball Association playoffs held on Wednesday at  in Coventry.

First it was the Lady Shock, who, under head coach Chris Anderson, are champions again after capturing their third straight Girls 13-17 title, 39-33, over the Lady Rockers. Autumn English had a game-high 15 points while Carla O’Brien dished out several assists. Others playing important roles were Megan Bell, Charlotte Bracken, Samantha Clark, Haley Dennis, Vanessa Equitani, Gabrielle Furtado, Alison Guilmette, Rebecca LaPlante, Alexandria O’Rourke and Lyndsey Sweeney.  

“All but three of these players have been with me the past three years,” said Anderson. “I credit our great defense for the win and English, Bell and Bracken for their outstanding play. LaPlante came in at one stretch and carried us with a rebound, reverse layup, steal and a bounce pass underneath for an assist.”

The two squads were tied, 19-19, at halftime before Lady Shock edged away. The Lady Rockers were led by Kristine McCann 11, Julie Jadach 8 and Danielle Albro 6.  Their head coach was Tim Painter.

The Boys 13-14 game provided the night's most suspense and excitement. The Clippers broke open a close affair to spurt ahead by as many as 13 in the second half and were cruising for a title landing until the Hornets’ Shawn Pacifico (Oakers JV player) pulled off Reggie Miller-like, end-of-game heroics to send the game into overtime with six points in the last 13.5 seconds, with three straight free throws and a 29-foot high-arcing trey at the buzzer. Pacifico finished with 26-23 in the second half with Lee Geyer and Ethan Lesnett adding 11 each, Joe Foley 8 and Tristin Carlton 6. The Hornets coach was Glen Lesnett.

But the Clippers recovered, to win 65-62 in overtime, with Conner Flynn forging the way with a game-high 21 points, including late 8-of-12 clutch free throw shooting, consistent scoring by Andrew Light (16), eight points by Chris Brodeur, seven by Connor Lucas and five by Jesse Ruest to hold off their rivals.

Other Clippers players were Anthony Andriote, Jake Austin, Kevin Hellman, Mason Raposa and Anthony Saliant. Head coach Christopher Ruest (assisted by Mike Jester) said “we could have folded but we didn’t”, of the fantastic finish by the Hornets in regulation. “Connor Flynn, a freshman guard was great, Andrew Light was tough inside, Brodeur and Salliant were big off the bench and Jesse (his son) made some big shots.”

The Bullets won the Boys 15-17 championship, 76-59, going away against the Bucks with an nearly unstoppable performance by Oakers varsity star Garrett Douglass, the southpaw deadeye shooter who poured in 41 points, including seven three-pointers. The Bullets had additional double-digit help from Matt Lebrun (15) and Tyler Woodcock (10).  Paul Shaughnessy chipped in with seven with more contributions for the champions by Matthew Devine, Daniel Fiske, Alexander Frenze, Matthew Jester, Andrew Mitura and Jared Ward. 

The Bucks, ahead 31-30, at halftime, countered with a 25-point effort from another Oakers varsity standout, Aaron Greenwood, and 9 by Zachary Anctil.  Their head coach was James Walters and assisted by Henry Rose.

“I thought foul trouble was going to hurt us in the first half,” said Bullets winning head coach Josh Dionne of his first CBA coaching championship. "We used a straight 2-3 zone defense. Garrett was unbelievable. Shaughnessy, LeBrun and Woodcock did a great job keeping Greenwood from getting inside too much. Matt Jester had 14 assists and Matt Devine was excellent in keeping three-pointers from hurting us.”  Paul Lucas also assisted Dionne. 

The first CBA Legends Championship game was a well-played and memorable one, as Henry Rose ground it out with 26 points inside and out and Mike Pesanello with 16 paced the Wildcats squad to a 62-59 victory over the Bulls after being mired with an early and big deficit.

Former Coventry JV boys coach Paul Blais played an important role for the victors, coming off the bench to act as a key defensive stopper. Other members of the winning team were Zach David, Tyler Cunningham, Dylan Guerrero, Geoffrey Sinott and Ryan Zeolla. Meghan Nessett also played during the regular season.

For the Bulls, Marc Belleville had 24 points with seven three-pointers while Greg Mruk added 17 points and Jeremy Dimicco 8.

“A lot of these guys grew up with each other three or four years ago,” said Rose, a Coventry native, former CBA member, and later a valuable player for Bishop Hendricken HS and later Anna Maria College. “It was just two good teams with good competition and what else could you ask for. We played good defense and it was a total team effort.”

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