Schools
Girls Basketball: Rebels Pull Away Late, Defeating the Thunderbolts
South Kingstown defeats Cranston East 47-42 in the third place game of the Centreville Bank Holiday Tournament.
On Thursday night at North Kingstown High School, Cranston East and South Kingstown faced off in the third place game of the girls basketball Centreville Bank Holiday Tournament. It was a competitive game throughout, and the Rebels won it 47-42.
The teams battled hard all night long, and points were hard to come by in this contest. South junior Michaela Lawler converted a layup on her drive to the lane, giving the Rebels a 11-6 lead.
South Kingstown's full court press caused many problems for the Thunderbolts and led to some easy buckets for the Rebels. They were relentless in their pursuit of the basketball and forced many turnovers and poor decision making.
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"We tried to stretch the floor and wear them down with the full court press," South Kingstown's coach, Joel Tuoni, said.
East sophomore point guard Emely Ramirez drilled a three pointer with three minutes left in the half, tying the game at 16.
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"Emely had a tremendous game and is the motor that keeps us going," East head coach, Rich Glover, said.
On the final play of the half, Lawler drove to the bucket and dished it off to captain Anisah McGillivray who made the layup, giving South a 24-22 halftime lead.
Neither team was able to pull away and build a lead throughout the second half. It remained a single digit game for almost the entire half.
Both teams fought hard, but the difference in the game came down to second chance points. The Rebels crashed the boards hard and got many offensive rebounds, that led to scoring opportunities.
"The problem for us was giving up those offensive rebounds," Glover added.
Ramirez drove to the basket and laid it off to senior Kelsy Evje, who finished the play cutting their deficit to 38-36 with just under five minutes left in the game.
The Rebels relied on senior leadership down the stretch. Captain Kristina Dufficy sparked an 8-0 run, with two three pointers, and South's lead grew to 46-36 with three minutes left. East fought hard until the end, but could not notch a comeback victory, eventually falling 47-42.
Ramirez led all scorers with 21 points and Evje poured in ten points. Dufficy led the Rebels with 18 points.
