Former SK Great Speaks to Tigers Prior to Title Tilt

KINGSTON—Before the start of Saturday’s state championship tilt between St. Raphael Academy and , five members of the South Kingstown boys’ basketball team from the mid-1960’s were honored.

Keith Monroe, Dennis Hazard, Steve King, Joe McCugh and Ray Johnson each played for the state champion Rebels in 1965 and 1966, the last time Rhode Island held an open tournament.

“To me, it should have happened a long time ago, but I’m glad it happened now,” Johnson said.  “After all this is said and done, it’s a great feeling to be here and I’m looking forward to the title game.”

Johnson was the star of those South Kingstown squads, and he found a particular connection with the underdog Tigers.  When the Rebels won their first title in ’65 they were the first team to ever do so out of Class C.

“Tiverton knocked off three powerhouse teams, they’re the 11th seed, and I’m rooting for them,” Johnson said.

Johnson, while originally from Narragansett, attended South Kingstown High, as there was no high school in Narragansett at the time.

“I went there in the 10th grade and just going from town to town I didn’t really hang out in South Kingstown, but it was quite different,” Johnson said.

“They accepted us [those from Narragansett], we gelled with the people that they had there and like anything we were there at the right place, at the right time, the right year and with the right people on the right team.”

Johnson felt a strong enough connection to the underdog Tigers to go to the Tiverton locker room and speak with them before the game.

“Just before the game I went into their locker room and gave them a little pep talk,” Johnson said. “I said you’re the 11th seed, look where you guys are.  Pay attention, stay focused, and stay with your assignments and you’ll be just fine.”

It brought Johnson back nearly 50 years, to a time when his team took on Class A Sacred Heart and took them down in five overtimes.

“It brings back a whole lot of memories, because anybody can be a winner on any given day,” Johnson said. “We were the last team to beat an A team, Tiverton knocked off three class A teams and they’re destined to win tonight.”

Unfortunately for the Tigers, their destiny was not as Johnson predicted, and it was the Saints that took home the first State Championship since the Rebels with a 58-47 victory.

“I was confident, I thought we could win," Tiverton senior captain Gunnar Bjornson said. "It’s a bit tough to lose, but it will be alright. We played really good the whole time, the team got together for this tournament and we just played good as a team.”

Despite the loss Bjornson was still grateful to have somebody like Johnson, who played at Providence College after his days at South Kingstown, come and talk to his team.

“It was very cool actually," Bjornson said. "It was appreciated by all the team for him to come talk to us, and I mean somebody like that is always good to have on your side.”