Eastbayri.com

EAST BAY — Friday night’s Division I-North girls’ basketball game between host Barrington High School and East Providence turned out to be not much of a contest at all as the Eagles the throttled injury-laden Townies, 51-32.

Barrington was in control from the outset, using its typically feisty defense to turn East Providence over repeatedly. The Townies, who lost leading scorer and key backcourt contributor Alyssa Dias to injury just the day before in practice, committed 22 miscues on the night.

The Eagles led by a commanding 29-12 score at intermission. Their lead climbed over 20 (33-12) on a 3-pointer from the wing from Sarah Middleton. The talented freshman later upped Barrington’s edge to a night-high of 28 (51-23) with another triple from the corner off an inbounds play with a little over four minutes remaining in the game.

“I think it’s the best we’ve played since the first game of the season against Exeter,” BHS head coach Steve Lenz said of the Eagles’ effort Friday. “We defended well. We pressed. We pushed the ball up the floor and found open looks. I’m very pleased about how we played and excited because it couldn’t have happened at a better time with next week and then the start of the playoffs.”

The Eagles are vying with Woonsocket for the No. 2 seed from I-North in the state tournament. Unbeaten Bay View has a lock on the top spot. Barrington improved to 11-5 with its win Friday. Woonsocket also defeated Lincoln High Friday, 42-38, to also improve to 11-5.

Both the Eagles and Villa Novans have two games remaining. Barrington is on the road at Lincoln (8-7), Feb. 22, and home for North Providence (4-11), Feb. 24. Woonsocket is home for North Providence, Feb. 20, and on the road at Ponaganset (6-9), Feb. 24.

East Providence, holding down one of the last eight possible playoffs bids from I-North, also has two games left after dropping to 6-10 in the league standings with Friday’s loss. The Townies are home for Bay View, Feb. 21, and are at 0-16 Cumberland, Feb. 24. All games tip at 7 p.m.

E.P. likely plays those games without Dias, who planted, cut and her a pop in her knee during practice Thursday afternoon, Feb. 16. As she sat on the bench with her leg in a brace, the Townies were without her 16 points and ball-handling abilities Friday.

In Dias’ stead, Michaela Wiggins led E.P. with 10 points and Brittany Crosby had five. Caroline Coleman led Barrington with a night-best 13 points. Middleton had 12. Grecia Restituyo added eight. Maggie O’Hayer, Maura Kelty and Kelly Thayer each had six.

“Any time you have an injury of this nature and you only have 35 minutes to prepare for a team like Barrington, it’s going to be a tough road,” E.P. head coach Mike Solitro said of Friday’s game. “I never use injuries as an excuse, but at the same time once we lost our leading scorer and best ball-handler we knew were going to have a lot of problems.”

SHS boys win

The Seekonk High School boys’ basketball team closed out both its South Coast Conference and home schedules Friday with a 68-55 victory over visiting Case on the Warriors’ Senior Night.

Seekonk finished its conference slate with a 5-11 record. Senior Jake Menard had 12 points Friday and classmate Austin Travers had 10. Junior Danny Silva led the locals with 13 points. Sophomore Josh Silva chipped in 10.

The Warriors improved to 6-12 overall with two games in the Foxboro Tournament remaining on their docket, including a date against the hosts Monday afternoon, Feb. 20, at 2:30.

“It was a nice win, especially coming on Senior Night. The kids played well,” said SHS head coach Joe Reddington.

SHS girls fall

In Swansea Friday, the Seekonk High girls also wrapped up their South Coast Conference regular season schedule with a 69-43 loss to host Swansea.

The Warriors dropped to 1-18 overall, 1-15 in the league with the loss. Amanda Cavallaro paced the locals with 21 points. Seekonk wraps up its season Tuesday night, Feb. 21, at home against Cardinal Spellman at 6:30.

Mt. Hope girls fall

The up-and-down nature of the Mt. Hope High School girls’ basketball team continued Friday night as the Huskies suffered a 51-36 loss to host East Greenwich in an important Division II-South outing.

Mt. Hope slipped to 9-8 in the league standings with the loss. The Avengers improved to 9-7. The Huskies missed out on earning a season sweep of E.G. and getting the edge over the Avengers in the chase for a better seed in the upcoming league playoffs.

“We were outplayed in all areas,” said Mt. Hope head coach Mike Almeida.

Lauren Fletcher led the locals with 12 points. Christie Ribeiro and Crystal Leitao each chipped in nine.

The Huskies are tentatively set to complete their regular season schedule Friday night, Feb. 24, at home against 14-2 Narragansett at 7 o’clock. Almeida, however, said there is a chance the game could be moved back a day due to work being done at Mt. Hope during February vacation.

EPHS boys fall

The East Providence High School boys’ basketball team suffered a 57-49 loss to visiting Hope Friday night in a Division I-East encounter.

The Blue Wave trailed early, but eventually responded to take a 27-23 lead at intermission. Wayne Andrew-Clements sparked the visitors in the second half, scoring 19 of game-best 24 points in the final 16 minutes. Jawaan Lyles paced the locals with 17 points. John Vaughn added eight and Alex Hurley six.

East Providence dropped to 5-12 with the loss. Hope improved to 8-9 with the win and earned a spot in the upcoming Open State Tournament. The Townies close out their season at home Wednesday night, Feb. 22, against St. Raphael at 7 o’clock.