Vikings' Defense Shuts Down Tigers in 68-32 Win [VIDEO]

Smothered.

The boys’ basketball team blanketed host with a smothering man-to-man defense Friday night and breezed to a 68-32 victory in the Division II-East opener for both squads.

Marc Washington (17), Cody Platt (16) and Trevor Morgera (11) all scored in double figures as the Vikings (2-1 overall) led from start to finish and exploited their speed, quickness, experience and depth to overwhelm the Tigers. Parish Perry and Divon Bailey both contributed 8 points to the victors’ cause.

Josh Lis topped Tiverton (1-3 on the year) with 11 points and Kyle Vasoncelos chipped in with 8 points.

Rogers won thanks to its superior personnel, but especially because of its suffocating defense which pressured every Tiger pass and shot, forced numerous turnovers and triggered its devastating fast-break attack. Tiverton, which has mightily struggled to score points in its first four starts this winter, had few answers for the Vikings’ ball-hawking ways and exacerbated its weaknesses through poor shot selection and a cold shooting performance from the floor.

“We had a tough game Monday (a 74-58 non-league loss to Division I North Kingstown High), but overall, I was happy with the way we played tonight,” said Rogers Coach Psaras. “Our football players are still working their way into basketball shape, but tonight, I think our experience showed.”

The Vikings used a 7-0 blitz to assume a commanding 14-3 lead with 9:33 left in the first half and later manufactured a 10-0 spurt to build a 29-13 advantage at halftime. Washington netted 10 points in the opening chapter, while point guard Reeyon Watts coolly directed the visitors’ attack and effectively checked Alex Rosa, Tiverton’s top scorer (who finished with just 6 points), on the defensive end.

The Tigers were still within shouting range early in the second half after a Lis lay-in sliced the Viking edge to 31-17, but just in time for Rogers to counter with a decisive 16-4 string to open up a 47-21 bulge with 9:42 to play. Perry had six points in that streak, Washington added five points and Bailey contributed a crowd-pleasing slam dunk at the end of a fast break off a Tiverton turnover.

The Tigers tallied the net five points to crawl to within 47-26 before Platt took over, draining five three-point buckets during the next seven minutes to nearly overtake Washington as the game’s leading point-producer.

“We really only started working on our defense in practice during the past week because of the absence of our football players and tonight we looked much better,” Psaras said. “On offense, I thought we were unselfish, we passed well and we looked for the open man. We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we’re getting there.”

Despite his squad’s early-season troubles, Tiverton Coach Jerry Arcouette said he remained upbeat about its prospects this season.

“Rogers is a very good team and they have all kinds of answers,” he said. “It’s still a learning process for us, but my guys believe they can compete. I still think we’ll get our share of wins this year.”

Both teams will resume their Division II schedules Tuesday. Rogers will host in an early-season showdown of projected divisional powers, while Tiverton will trek to Warwick to face Pilgrim High School.

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