Cole Coasts Past Wickford Middle School 46-30

EAST GREENWICH — A strong first half paced the Archie R. Cole Middle School girls basketball team past Wickford Middle School 46-30 Thursday at East Greenwich High School in the preliminary round of the Middle School Girls Basketball State Tournament.

“It was important for us to show where we were when we came on the floor today, and my starters came out with the energy that we needed to get us going,” Cole head coach Jason Martin said. “The majority of the team played and everyone that went in played hard and played their hearts out.”

The Lancers jumped all over the Wildcats in the first quarter, controlling the game at both ends of the floor en route to a 12-2 lead after the first quarter.

“We came out really slow and really flat,” Wickford head coach Paul Graham said.  “They didn’t come out with a lot of confidence. I think they were nervous. We were outsized pretty much all over the floor.”

Cole kept the pressure on the entire first half, successfully solving the Wildcats’ 2-3 zone defense for a commanding 25-7 halftime lead.

“We actually play better against a zone. The teams that usually beat us beat us because we miss shots, not because they play better defense on us,” Martin said.  “We have a pretty good offense against both man and zone, but we thrive playing against a zone.”

Wickford switched its defense for the second half, playing a full-court, trapping man-to-man press and were able to outscore the Lancers 25-23.

“They put on a full court press and because we hadn’t seen it in the game it stunned us a little bit,” Martin said. 

Unfortunately for the Wildcats the defensive adjustment came too late, as Cole had built too large of a lead in the first half to come back from.

“In the second half we turned things around,” Graham said. “We pressured in the half and then pressured in the full at the end just hoping for the best, hoping we could get back in, but we probably should have gone to it a little bit earlier.”

Joya Pelosi led the Lancers with a game-high 16 points, while Abbey and Morgan Burke finished with 10 and eight points, respectively.

“It was really nice as a coach having my captain come out and take leadership on the floor. I can’t say enough about how Abbey played today,” Martin said. “Joya has been a consistent factor on our team all year long both on the offensive end and in the defensive end.”

Erin Wietman led Wickford with 15 points, including three three-pointers, and both Rachel Schneeberg and Daniela Went finished with four points.

“Erin is kind of like my go to person. In fact she’s all over the floor,” Graham said.  “She’s got to run the point for me even though she’s not really a point, but she does the job and she’s a pretty tough kid.” 

The Wildcats, who enjoyed an up and down season filled with good wins and tough losses, finish their season at 6-7 overall.

“We had some nice kids, great kids, that were always giving 100 percent,” Graham said. “They’ve had some nice comebacks, a couple of buzzer beaters and some 10 to 12 point games so it’s been a nice season, very well rounded.”

The Lancers will live to fight another day, as they will face Nicholas A. Ferri Middle School from Johnston Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Johnston High School in the second round of the playoffs.

“We are playing the first seed in our division who we just lost to a week ago, and we end up playing in Johnston High School, which is a bigger gym than what our players are used to,” Martin said. 

“I think if we continue the momentum and the energy that we had today though, that you will see a different Cole team against Ferri next game.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL

Cole 46, Wickford 30

                                1^st           2^nd          3^rd         4^th—Final

Cole                                 12                 13                 13                    8—46

Wickford                      2                   5                  13                  10—30

WICKFORD (30): Wietman 6 0-0 15, Schneeberg 2 0-0 4, Went 2 0-2 4, Wirth 0 3-4 3, Smith 1 0-0 2, Hicks 1 0-0 2; totals 12 3-6 30.

COLE (46): Jo. Pelosi 8 0-0 16, A. Burke 4 2-2 10, M. burke 3 0-0 8, McCaffrey 1 0-0 2, Carasotto 1 0-0 2, Nicastri 1 0-0 2, Je. Pelosi 1 0-0 2, Sarazem 1 0-0 2, Browne 1 0-0 2; totals 21 2-2 46.

3-pointers: C, 2 (M. Burke 2); W, 3 (Wietman 3).  Fouled out: None.