Barrington Ruins Tiverton's State Title Hopes In 68-59 Ousting

One and done.

The Barrington High School boys’ basketball team avenged two regular-season defeats to by shocking the Tigers 68-59 Monday night before a capacity crowd in Tiverton in a quarterfinal-round game of the Division II playoffs.

Sophomore Ben Engvall poured in 21 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, Connor Fiske drained four three-point baskets en route to 17 points, and Tyler Brown dropped in 15 points as the sixth-seeded Eagles (15-9) led from start to finish and earned a berth in the semifinal round Thursday night at CCRI-Warwick against either second-seeded Rogers High School (17-5) or Shea High School of Pawtucket (13-9).

Gunnar Bjornson (16), Ken Welchman (15) and Ben Bergandy (11) all finished in double digits for the Tigers, who fell into a 13-point hole in the opening five minutes of the game and never recovered. Forced to play from behind the whole night, Tiverton made several spirited charges to get back into the contest, but Barrington responded to every challenge and finally pulled away in the closing minutes.

The Eagles won because of their red-hot perimeter shooting (10 treys), a disciplined and intelligent offensive game plan, and a physical defense which forced the hosts into difficult shots. Barrington especially boxed out well on its defensive boards, handled the Tigers’ variety of pressure defenses, and effectively spread Tiverton’s defense, creating open shots and dribbling lanes.

“I think we did a much better job tonight offensively being patient and keeping Tiverton off the offensive glass,” said Barrington Coach Patrick Sullivan. “I also thought our defense was outstanding.”

Barrington zoomed to a 20-7 lead with 10:32 left in the opening period and was in front by seven points (38-31) at intermission. The Tigers ran off seven unanswered points to draw to within 48-46 with 8:46 remaining and were down by just a 53-49 tally with 4:57 to play after Tyler Mulcahy bottomed a trey from the left wing.

Fiske countered 11 seconds later with a three-pointer from the top of the key and Brown followed at the 4:10 mark with a conventional three-point play to open up a 59-49 gap. After two Bergandy free throws reduced the spread to 61-54 at the 3:19 mark, Brown sank a lay-in, Mike Zimmerman (8 points) converted a three-point play and Zimmerman added a lane jumper with 1:45 remaining to create a 68-54 differential, effectively ending the contest.

“I thought we were a step slow defensively tonight,” said Tiverton Coach Jerry Arcouette. “I thought Barrington played very well, but we didn’t get to their shooters early and they hurt us badly.”

Especially Engvall. During the game’s critical stretch in the first half, Engvall netted 13 of his squad’s first 18 points, including three treys. He added another three-pointer later in the session, then adjusted to Tiverton’s more aggressive defense by taking the ball to the hoop and drawing personal fouls.

After falling in arrears by the 20-7 margin, the Tigers scored 11 successive points to close to within 20-18 as Alex Rosa (8 points) produced six points. Tiverton later drew to 26-24 on a Geoff McNally offensive rebound and hoop, but Brown canned a runner, Engvall swished two foul shots and Zimmerman drilled a trey to open up a 33-24 edge.

The Tigers had been idle for 10 days until Monday’s contest, but Arcouette said that was not a factor in his club’s performance.

“Engvall hurt us badly in the first half and didn’t miss too much,” Arcouette said. “We didn’t get it done defensively and we didn’t stop them.”

Despite the loss, Tiverton’s season is not yet completed. By finishing third overall in Division II during the regular season, the Tigers earned a berth in the Statewide Tournament, which will feature the top 16 squads in Rhode Island this year in Division I, II and III.

Tiverton will open its quest for the state title on Saturday, March 5, at 4 p.m. against Division I LaSalle Academy of Providence at the Providence Career & Technical Academy.

“We’re fortunate in that we got a berth,” Arcouette said. “What we’ll do is take a couple of days off to heal and then come back and work hard and point to that.”