Avengers Upset Johnston HS In 'White Out' Basketball Game

Johnston High School was undefeated in the division, until they came to play East Greenwich High School in the Avengers' annual White Out game.

The entire gymnasium was filled with enthusiastic students and parents sporting their favorite white attire. The Avengers definitely did not disappoint the vociferous crowd as they put on a show while beating the best team in the division, 63-49.

Nick Messier played arguably the best game of his career and carried the Avengers to victory. He was getting steals, controlling the offense, and was on fire shooting the ball. The Panthers simply could not stop Messier's hot hand late in the game as he hit four consecutive shots, en route to a 27-point career game. 

"We were coming off a loss and we needed this game to clinch the third seed," Messier said. "We were motivated and were ready to play."

Still, the victory did not come easy for the Avengers. The Panthers gave a valiant effort to try to keep their undefeated record. The game started off with both student sections going wild even before the opening tip-off. Dan Shawver won the jump ball and Dan Caron received a quick pass leading to a layup to take the early lead. Dan Caron played tremendous defense on the McDonald's All-American-nominee Isaac Medeiros throughout the game, and added 12 points of his own.

The Avengers then showcased their defensive intensity to create a few turnovers, which lead to more points in EG's favor. For the rest of the half both teams were fighting to earn the game momentum while being motivated by their crowd supporting them.

With just seconds left the star of the night, Messier, drove to the basket sinking a lay-up as time expired to make the score 25-24. 

Evan Walsh, who dropped 16 points, summed up the victory.

"We had a game plan going in and we executed it throughout the entire game," he said. "The support from the kids who came to the game and took part in the White Out was also such a great thing to have while playing, it was constant energy."

Both teams came out of the locker room eager to battle for the win in the second half. Johnston definitely got a huge wake up call and knew they had to outplay the Avengers by a lot in order to maintain perfection on the season.

But this was EG's night and the entire crowd knew it, everything was going right for them and they were playing their best game of basketball all year. 

"We came off a brutal loss and were fired up with the bleachers packed," said Sam Payette. "Our defense also battled the entire time and gave them nothing easy." 

East Greenwich played tenacious defense throughout the second half, especially on Johnston's best player Medeiros. Dan Shawver and Dan Caron were racking up blocks on him late into the game which put it out of reach for Johnston.

This game was not only a huge upset for the Avengers, it gave them the three spot in the Division 3 tournament which is what they needed. With the new statewide tournament coming into play this year, the Avengers now earned a ticket to that unless Prout wins the division 3 title. 

The top 8 teams from division one, top 5 from division two, and top 3 from division three make up the 16 teams who play in the state tournament this March.

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