East Providence Girls Basketball Loses to Barrington Eagles

The East Providence high school girls basketball team suffered a tough loss to the Eagles on Tuesday night in Barrington.  The Eagles held a double digit lead for most of the game and the final score was 59-48.

Senior Michaela Wiggins was the offensive leader for East Providence with 11 points.  Mary Monagle was also an offensive standout with 10 points.

The two teams were even on rebounds in the first half, but Barrington adjusted in the second and East Providence could not respond.

"They're a good team on the boards. That's their bread and butter, getting second shots. We let them get them [rebounds] in the first half, but in the second half we kind of limited that," Stephen Lenz, Barrington's head coach, said.

The Barrington defense also dominated East Providence on steals with 13 throughout the game.  Catherine Matthews and Kelly Mannix each had three steals for the Eagles.  Matthews and Mannix also led their team's offense to victory. Matthews scored 15 points and Mannix scored 16.  Caroline Coleman also had 11 points.

East Providence head coach Michael Solitro spoke to his team's inability to control the ball.

"The biggest thing for us was the fact that we turned the ball over in key situations," Solitro said. "Every time we brought it to within nine or single digits, they'd come back or we'd make a silly play. Good defenses and pressure will do that to you."

Both teams faced foul trouble with East Providence receiving 22 fouls and Barrington 19. Coach Solitro linked part of his team's problems matching up with Barrington's defense to the foul trouble.

"Having to switch lineups with people in foul trouble we had people trying to play different positions on the press so they weren't comfortable," he said.  

East Providence is now 1-2 in Division I play. Their next divisional game is against St. Mary Academy—Bay View Academy on Jan. 4. Both East Providence and Barrington will take part in the Barrington Boosters Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29.