Skippers Lose Rematch at EWG

WEST GREENWICH – Tuesday night’s showdown between the girls’ basketball teams from North Kingstown and Exeter/West Greenwich was expected to be another close battle between the two rivals.

Unfortunately, the rematch wasn’t nearly as dramatic as North Kingstown’s one-point victory in the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 19.

This time around, the Skippers couldn’t match the intensity of the Scarlet Knights, as they lost 64-48. A win would have put North Kingstown in a third place tie with EWG in the Division I-South standings, with the tiebreaker in favor of the Skippers.

“This was a big game for both teams,” said North Kingstown head coach Bob Simeone. “For some reason, we just didn’t seem to want it as much as they did.”

The Skippers dug themselves in a huge hole to start the game with EWG scoring the first 13 points of the contest. The Scarlet Knights shot well during the stretch, but were also aided by North Kingstown turnovers and missed layups.

With 12:17 remaining in the first half, the Skippers finally got on the scoreboard when leading scorer made two free throws. North Kingstown pulled within six, 17-11, when Soyria Giraud scored down low.

With 9:28 remaining, EWG co-captain Cara Caliri picked up her third foul, sending her to the bench for the rest of the half. The Skippers immediately went on a 10-5 run, making the score 24-21.

Jocelyn Harrington gave EWG a 35-29 edge at the half when she grabbed a rebound off of a teammate’s missed free throw and put the ball up and in with a couple of seconds left.

North Kingstown trimmed the deficit to five in the opening minutes of the second half when Smiley hit a 10-foot jump shot. A couple of minutes later, however, Smiley was whistled for her fourth foul, landing her on the bench. In the meantime, EWG went on an 11-3 run to make the score 50-37.

“We settled down after the horrible start, but in the second half we turned the ball over too many times like we did early on,” said Simeone.

EWG increased the lead to as much as 18, when Katelyn McElroy finished on a fastbreak, making the score 60-42.

“They were a step ahead of us the entire game,” stated Simeone. “We just seemed too lackadaisical at times.”

Smiley finished with a team-high 14 points; Giraud had nine rebounds, eight points and three blocks; and Maddie Ferranti contributed eight points and five steals.

With the playoffs approaching, North Kingstown (11-6 in league, 14-7 overall) must quickly refocus and bounce back from the loss.

“We have to get back to basics,” said Simeone. “We have to play sound man-to-man defense and take advantage of our size and athletic ability.”  

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