Awaiting Playoffs, Tiverton Finishes Season In Close 64-60 Win Over Barrington

Rockin’ and rollin’ on a Friday night.

The visiting Tiverton High School boys’ basketball spoiled Barrington High School's “Senior Night” celebration Friday, building a 12-point halftime lead before holding on to post a critical 64-60 Division II-East victory before a near-capacity crowd.

Gunnar Bjornson poured in a game-high 25 points, Ben Bergandy contributed 22 points (including three key free throws in the closing 30 seconds) and Terrance Caldwell swished a pair of foul shots and grabbed two huge rebounds in the final minute as the Tigers won their third straight outing and concluded their Division II campaign with a 14-4 mark. Tiverton, which finished it regular-season schedule with a 17-6 standard, has clinched no worse than second place in the final Division II-East standings, a No. 3 seed for the upcoming Division II State Playoffs, and a berth in the All-State Tournament.

“We gutted out this win because nothing came easy tonight,” Tiverton Coach Jerry Arcouette said. “Our shooting was off, but we found ways to get to the hoop and get to the foul line and I think that was the difference.”

Ben Engvall sparked Barrington with 21 points, Cade Jones-Pearson finished with 12 points, Connor Fiske added 9 points and Tyler Brown chipped in with 8 points. The Eagles are 11-6 opposite divisional rivals and 13-9 on the year.

A 12-0 spurt midway through the opening period and Ken Welchman’s 40-foot heave at the buzzer which went in produced a 37-25 advantage for the visitors at intermission, but Barrington netted the first eight points of the second session, only to yield nine unanswered Tiger points for a 46-33 bulge. The gritty Eagles, however, chipped away and narrowed their deficit to two points (48-46) with 8:06 to play and to three points (61-58) with 37 ticks remaining after Jones-Pearson drained a three-point hoop to counter two charity tosses by Caldwell (who had snared a crucial rebound after a Tiverton miss and was fouled) at the 43-second mark.

After Bjornson missed two foul shots with 29 seconds to go, Caldwell latched onto the rebound and passed to Bergandy, who was fouled. Despite a deafening din, Bergandy coolly drained two shots to push the guests in front by a 63-58 margin.

After Engvall banked in a lay-in with 11 seconds left, Bergandy connected on the first of two free throws with nine seconds left and the Eagles’ final three-point try was off the mark.

“Every time Tiverton needed a big stop defensively or a big shot on offense, they got it,” said Barrington Coach Patrick Sullivan. “We didn’t play well in the first half and spotted them a big lead. You can’t do that against good teams.”

After honoring its five seniors – Fiske, Jones-Pearson, Michael Zimmerman, Alex Spiess and Brown – in a pre-game ceremony, Sullivan started the quintet and they quickly zoomed to an 8-4 lead. The Eagles held a 13-10 edge with 11:04 left in the first half when Bergandy, Bjornson and B.K. Kiser ignited a 12-0 burst and a 16-3 spurt – interrupted only by Fiske’s trey – which produced a 26-16 Tiger lead.

Barrington narrowed its deficit to 30-25 late in the first chapter, but Bergandy hit a lay-in, Welchman dropped in two charity tosses and he beat the halftime buzzer to produce the 12-point spread.

Bjornson kept Tiverton ahead in the second half with 15 points, while Engvall (10) and Jones-Pearson (9) did the bulk of the offensive damage for Barrington.

“Considering the illnesses and injuries we’re fighting, I’m very pleased with this win,” Arcouette said. “Now we’ll take the weekend off, get back to work next week, and await the start of the playoffs.”

The Tigers will be idle until Feb. 21 when they will host a Division II State Playoff quarterfinal-round contest.

TIGER TALES: Forward Alex Rosa sat out his second straight game with a knee injury suffered in Monday’s victory at Pilgrim High School of Warwick. According to Arcouette, Rosa suffered a “serious bone bruise,” but is optimistic he will return to action in time for the playoffs.