Tigers Come Up Short Against Mariners in Season Finale

So close.

The Narragansett High School girls’ basketball team spoiled 's Senior Night celebration Thursday, sinking five of six free throws in the final 36 seconds and holding on for a 44-42 Division II-South victory in the regular-season finale for both squads.

Jaclyn Iannucci scored a game-high 11 points – including four from the charity stripe in the closing minute of play – Hannah Lindsley added 10 points and Margaret Salomone tallied 9 points as the Mariners led from start to finish. Narragansett, which had already clinched a spot in the Division II State Playoffs which begin next week, concluded its divisional competition with a 10-8 record and is 10-11 on the year.

Haley Higginbottom and Jenny Burton both finished with 8 points for the Tigers, who closed their 2010-11 campaign with a 3-15 league mark and 4-16 overall standard.

After leading by double digits on three occasions in the opening chapter and holding an eight-point edge at the break, the Mariners went cold in the second half and the Tigers clawed back twice to within one point, but never took the lead.

After two free throws by Hannah Maymon (7 points, all in the second half), gave Narragansett a 39-34 lead with 2:50 to play, neither team scored for the next two minutes until Burton dropped in a three-pointer to slice the gap to 39-37 with 50 ticks remaining. Iannucci was fouled 14 seconds later and calmly drained both free throws, but Burton followed with another trey at the 28-second mark reducing the hosts’ deficit to 41-40.

After Ali Castrovillari made one of two foul shots for the Mariners, Tiverton misfired on a three-point try and Iannucci was fouled again with 9 seconds left. She iced the win with two more charity tosses, offsetting a Sarah Whiston basket at the final buzzer.

Despite the season-ending loss, Tiverton Coach Derrick Wise said he was “ecstatic” about his team’s effort.

“I’m very pleased with the way we played,” he said. “We came together as a team and our young ladies played their hearts out. They played hard and competed and we should be proud of what we did.”

With a few breaks, the Tigers could have been proud and victorious on this night. Tiverton had several opportunities to tie the contest or take the lead, but came up short in every instance. Narragansett ultimately prevailed because of its fast start, rebounding advantage and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.

With Salomone pouring in 8 points in the opening five minutes of action, the Mariners zoomed to early leads of 11-2, 14-3 and 16-5 until the Tigers countered with an 8-0 blitz fueled by four points from Higginbottom to whittle its disadvantage to 16-13. Tiverton, however, did not score again until a Bianca DiPrato bucket with 47 seconds left and the visitors took a 23-15 edge into the break.

Tiverton tallied the first seven points of the second half to crawl to within 23-22 before Lindsley and Maymon produced all the points in a 7-2 Narragansett streak which created a 30-24 discrepancy. An Olivia Bergandy basket at the 8:05 mark and DiPrato’s hoop with 6:11 left twice narrowed the gap to two points, but the Tigers could never get over the hump.

While Wise admitted to “a tough year,” he also said he was looking forward to the 2011-12 season.

“Tonight was a great start for us for next season,” he said. “I know our young ladies now believe in their abilities and know they can play this game."

Prior to the game, Tiverton seniors Alexandra Azevedo, Alyssa Thornsbury and Margaret Masse were honored along with their parents for their contributions to the Tigers’ hoop program. Wise also spoke glowingly in public about their character and work ethic and thanked them for their leadership this season.

All three seniors started the contest for Tiverton and Azevedo (4) and Thornsbury (2) cracked the scoring column.