Giard’s big second half helps Titans past Warriors

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 1/28/16

Basketball is a team sport, but on Tuesday night, senior point guard Austin Giard single-handedly took over the game.

The Toll Gate boys’ basketball team faced a one-point deficit against …

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Giard’s big second half helps Titans past Warriors

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Basketball is a team sport, but on Tuesday night, senior point guard Austin Giard single-handedly took over the game.

The Toll Gate boys’ basketball team faced a one-point deficit against Masters heading into the second half, before Giard took over, scoring 18 points and recording eight steals in the second half alone to pace the Titans to a 50-42 victory.

Giard, who was under the weather entering the game, was a non-factor in the first half, posting just one steal and no points while sitting for a good chunk of the 16 minutes.

But the veteran guard came to life after the break, wreaking havoc on defense and turning several steals into easy, transition points to fully swing the momentum.

“He’s a juggernaut on offense – he’s one of the fastest kids I’ve ever seen,” Toll Gate head coach Tom Rayko said of Giard. “He just controls the game on defense, too, and really makes people work. He was under the weather in the first half, so that’s why he came out early in the first half. In the second half, he was flying around like his normal self. He’s good for four or five steals per game, easy.”

Despite playing solid defense in the first half, Toll Gate struggled to score and create high-percentage shots on the offensive end. As a result, Toll Gate scored just 17 points in the opening half, with Masters taking an 18-17 lead into the locker room.

“I just really told them to pick up the intensity level,” Rayko said of his message to the team at halftime. “We just felt like we were playing lackadaisical. Offensively, we got to the paint sometimes, but I don’t know why we weren’t doing that all the time. Instead, we were settling for jump shots that weren’t in our wheelhouse. ‘Let’s get some layups, let’s get some life – once the ball goes through the basket, you’re going to start to feel much better.’”

However, Toll Gate didn’t have to worry about its halfcourt offense much in the second half.

Kyle McGuire made a nice feed to a cutting Giard for a layup to open the half, but after that, most of the Titans’ points came in transition.

A couple of minutes later, Giard recorded his first steal and score of the half to give Toll Gate a 3-point lead, 21-18.

Masters’ freshman Reece Bullock helped his squad keep pace with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to tie the game.

Both teams battled back and forth for a few minutes, trading scores, with Ryan Sgroi and Austin Ouimette chipping in with key baskets for Toll Gate.

But back to back steal and scores by Giard near the 6-minute mark helped balloon the Titans’ lead to 43-33.

Masters battled back, cutting the deficit to 6, but a home run pass from Giard to Joe Gasbarro for a layup helped to put the game away.

Gasbarro, Ouimette and McGuire all added six points for the Titans (7-4).

Masters (5-7) had two scorers in double figures in a losing effort – Bullock with a team-high 16 points and David Cabeceiras with 14.

Toll Gate is picking up steam at the right time.

As the Division III tournament approaches, the Titans are playing their best basketball, winning four of their last five games.

“We opened up against Moses Brown and got a big win over Moses Brown,” Rayko said. “Then we hit a down point – played back to back games and the kids just didn’t really respond well. All of a sudden we kind of snapped back, got some energy in practice, on the defensive end and the ball started to drop for us a little more.”

Toll Gate was set for a non-league matchup at Division I West Warwick on Wednesday night, but results were unavailable at press time.

It will then return to D-III action on Friday night, when Toll Gate travels to one-win Mount St. Charles for a 7 p.m. tip.

Mount is one of just five opponents left on the Titans’ league schedule.

The Titans, who currently sit in fifth place in the D-III standings, will close out their league slate with matchups against Ponaganset, Pilgrim, Chariho and Warwick Vets.

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