Prout Succumbs to Islanders

MIDDLETOWN – The Prout Crusaders, in an uncharacteristic performance in which they were unable to find their shooting rhythm, crashed in defeat Monday to the Middletown Islanders, 62-50, in a Division III-South rematch played at the MHS gym.

"We can live with losses, but tonight they out worked us," Prout head coach Eric Simonelli said after the game. "Give Middletown credit, they out-played us.  They had more heart, they had more passion, they had more desire, and for whatever reason we were flat."

The Crusaders' performance was substantially below that of their previous two games, in which they had upset East Greenwich and then won in overtime against Exeter-West Greenwich.

"I thought after we beat East Greenwich and that emotional win against Exeter West Greenwich, we would come out tonight and really play well," Simonelli said. "It was disappointing to see that lack of passion out there."

The outcome of Monday night's game was also greatly different than the last time the two teams met. In that game played in Wakefield, Prout mauled the Islanders.

"We got frustrated early in that game and then that kind of snowballed," commented Middletown head coach Kevin Lendrum, adding, "where tonight we kept our composure for the whole time."

Keeping their composure in Monday night's game allowed Middletown to beat Prout at both ends of the court. 

On offense, the Islanders had good ball movement with touches by a lot of different players, which resulted in good scoring balance.  On defense, Middletown prevented Prout from finding any offensive rhythm.

"They [Middletown] did a good job of denying all the passing lanes, and forced us to push out our offense a little further than we wanted to," Simonelli said. "Our game plan was to get it into the post, which we did, but unfortunately we did not finish a lot around the rim."

The Middletown in-your-face defense also managed to take the game away from the Crusaders' perimeter shooters, including Prout's 20-point-per-game scorer John King, who in this one scored just nine points, seven of which came from the foul line. 

"On the perimeter, I just told them, you can't give King any space because he has great range, you can't give him an inch, you've got to get up on him," Lendrum said, explaining his team’s defensive philosophy.

The Prout defense, on the other hand, left something to be desired.

"We didn't get enough competitive stops," Simonelli noted.  "We are not going to beat anybody unless we get stops defensively, and that is one of the things that we did not do, especially on transition and on the boards."

Prout co-captain Ben Thompson led the visitors in scoring, putting in 14 points, six of which came from the foul line.  Sophomore big man Justin Bristol was second on the team in scoring with 10 points in the contest.

Middletown co-captain Cam Murphy lead the home team with 14 points.   Three other Islanders scored in double digits: Neves and Mosher with 13 each, and O'Loughlin with 10.

Tournament Implications

With the loss, Prout falls to 11-4 in Division III play and 14-6 for the season. With the win, Middletown improves to 6-9 in divisional play and 6-13 for the season.

The ramifications of Monday night's game on the upcoming Division III tournament was on the mind of both coaches.

"Right now we are in 10th place," noted Lendrum, and since the tournament for Division III will have a field of just 10 teams, that places Middletown somewhat on the bubble.

"But to play like this before we get to that tournament, " an upbeat Lendrum continued, "if we get in, I think we can do some good things."

For his part, Simonelli was pragmatic and cautiously optimistic.

"It looks like, unless a miracle happens, that we are going to get the four or five seed going into the tournament," Simonelli said.  "We need to lock up the four seed to get a home playoff game, that's the first goal." 

"There are no 'gimme' games left, we've get to take it one game at a time, " Simonelli said.   "We have to grind these next few games coming up and hopefully go in to the tournament on a winning streak."

There's no place like home…

Next up for the Prout boys is a home game Wednesday against Burrillville.

The Broncos' record as of Monday night is 6-9 in Division III play, and 6-13 overall. On Tuesday, the night before they face Prout, Burrillville plays Division III powerhouse Johnston on the road.

So far this season, Prout is undefeated when playing on their home court in Wakefield. 

Monday Night's Box Score 

1

2

Total

The Prout School

26

24

50

Middletown High School

30

32

62

_

Player Stats 

Prout School

Pts

FGM

3PM

FTM

FTA

 Ben Thompson

14 

4 

0 

6 

7 

 Justin Bristol

10 

4 

0 

2 

2 

John King

9

1

0

7

8

Eric Rameika

7

3

1

0

1

Jeff Lamendola

5

1

0

3

3

Doug Buonanno

3

1

1

0

0

 Joe Bove

2 

0 

0 

2 

2 

TOTAL

50

14

2

20

23

Middletown

Pts

FGM

3PM

FTM

FTA

Cam Murphy

14

4

1

5

5

Toryn Smith-Neves

13

4

1

4

7

Ryan Mosher

13

5 

0 

3 

7 

Jalen O'Loughlin

10

4

2

0

0

Randy Butler

4

2

0

0

0

John McCabe

4

2

0

0

0

Mark Powell

2

1

0

0

0

 Justin Bailey

2

1 

0 

0 

0 

 TOTAL

62

23 

4 

12 

19