[VIDEO] Skippers Take Girls' Holiday Tourney

Using its depth and a pressure defense for a second straight night, the North Kingstown High School girls’ basketball team took the finals of the 2011-2012 Centreville Bank Holiday Tournament, outlasting Narragansett 42-32 in the finals.

Despite not having a scorer in double-digits, the Skippers (5-2, 3-2 Division I-South) pulled away from Narragansett (5-2, 3-0 Division II-South) in the second half. Allie Barton led NK with nine points, and Jenna Gibson and Brenna Coppola both had seven.

North Kingstown used defense to wear down the Mariners, turning a 3-point halftime deficit into a 10-point victory.

“I told them we needed to pick up the intensity,” North Kingstown head coach Bob Simeone said. “We’re still trying to find a constitent rotation, and an identity.”

Simeone said that while his team has two seniors, they aren’t incredibly experienced on the varsity level, and he’s still waiting for his team to gel.

“We’re young,” he said.

The Skippers had 14 steals, and Maddie Ferranti led the way with five. North Kingstown also shot an efficient 7-for-9 from the free throw line.

In contrast, Narragansett stayed in the game almost solely on athleticism vs. refined play. Mercedes Harris finished with seven points and seven blocks, including two swats that pancaked the offensive player on the ground.

Freshmen Abigail McKanna and Chelsea Sahagian had 11 and seven points, respectively, but both struggled in the final 16. Sahagian did not have a second half field goal, and McKanna had consecutive turnovers with less than four minutes.

“We had some good moments and some bad moments,” Narragansett head coach Kathryn Mahoney said. “They definitely have a deep bench, [but] I think we’ve definitely improved since the beginning of the year.”

In that first game in early December, the Skippers doubled up the Mariners, 52-26. On Thursday night, the Mariners led for most of the first half, and the game was competitive throughout. The largest NK lead – 13 points – came late in the second half.

With about 12:30 left, Raquel Harris cut the North Kingstown lead to one, 27-26, with a drive and shot in the lane.

However, Narragansett only managed six points in the final 12 minutes, despite repeated trips to the free throw line. The Mariners finished six-for-16 from the line – 37.5 percent. Mercedes Harris went 3-for-6 from the line, but didn’t have a second half field goal.

Mahoney said learning to feed Mercedes was something her team would adjust to as the season goes on.

“It’s learning how to get it into the post with a high pressure man-to-man defense like North Kingstown played,” she said.

North Kingstown plays 7 p.m. Wednesday at Barrington (6-1, 4-0 Division I-North). At the same time, same day, Narragansett plays at Toll Gate (0-7, 0-4 Division II-South).

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Rebels Take Third, Eke Out Victory Against West, Rodriguez

NORTH KINGSTOWN – Thanks to 18 from Kristina Dufficy, 11 from Anisah McGillivray and a tight second half defense, the South Kingstown girls’ basketball team took home a third place finish in the 2011-2012 Centreville Bank Holiday Tournament.

The Rebels held on for a 47-42 win against Division II Cranston East, despite the best efforts of Emely Ramirez. Playing much of the second half with four fouls, the sophomore guard still finished with 21 points and three steals.

However, to counter her effectiveness, South Kingstown (1-5, 0-3 Division I-South) head coach Joel Tuoni said he went to a smaller, quicker lineup.

“They [Cranston West] didn’t really have a lot of size, so we didn’t need [the Laraway sisters] to match-up.”

The six-footers stayed on the bench for much of the second half, and instead, the Rebels went to Dufficy and McGillivray for scoring. McGillivray’s offensive rebounding kept SK in the game in the first half, and Dufficy’s outside shots went down in the second, as she stroked two 3-pointers.

“She’s going to be streaky,” Tuoni said of Dufficy. “We need her to keep shooting as long as they’re good shots and in the right flow of the offense.”

The Rebels only led 24-22 at the half, and East kept it close in the second. SK led by 10 with 3:13 remaining, but the Thunderbolts kept attacking the hoop. However, the Rebels held on, using as much of the clock as they could down the stretch.

Outside of Ramirez, Cranston East (3-5, 2-3 Division II-South) struggled to score. Kelsy Evie had 10 points, the only other player in double figures. While they were an efficient 15-for-18 from the free throw line, the Thunderbolts struggled to break the Rebels’ press.

South Kingstown travels to Cranston West (4-3, 2-2 Division I-South) for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday. Cranston East hosts East Greenwich (4-2, 3-1 Division II-South) at 7 p.m. Thursday.

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