CCRI ROUNDUP

Lady Knights navigate past Navy Prep

Posted 11/24/15

The CCRI Lady Knights’ basketball team hosted the Midshipmen Candidates of The Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) for a game on Sunday at the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse in Warwick. The Lady …

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CCRI ROUNDUP

Lady Knights navigate past Navy Prep

Posted

The CCRI Lady Knights’ basketball team hosted the Midshipmen Candidates of The Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) for a game on Sunday at the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse in Warwick. The Lady Knights defeated NAPS 55-47. With the victory, CCRI improves to 3-6 overall on the season.  

The Lady Knights and Midshipmen Candidates met for the second time in a week as the Lady Knights defeated NAPS 53-43 on Nov. 15 in the Dean College Invitational. 

The Midshipmen Candidates were out to exact revenge on the Lady Knights and jumped out to a quick, 10-0, lead in the first quarter until Kennethah Harden (Roosevelt, N.Y.) entered the game and scored six straight points for CCRI, making the score 12-6, while Briana Gerena (East Hartford, Conn.) added a 3-pointer, but Navy Prep still closed the quarter with a commanding 18-9 advantage. 

The Lady Knights chipped away at the lead in the second quarter, outscoring NAPS 13-7. The Lady Knights played much better defense and got a couple 3-pointers, one from co-captain Haley Beausoleil (Plainfield, Conn.) and one from Maritza Gustave (Fall River, Mass.) to cut the NAPS lead to 25-22 by the half.

In the third quarter, CCRI took its first lead of the game after back-to-back 3-pointers from Gerena followed by another from Gustave, making the score 32-27 Lady Knights. NAPS battled back to close the quarter with an 8-4 run to cut the CCRI lead to one point, 36-35, going into the final quarter. 

The Lady Knights saved their best for last as they outscored Navy Prep 19-12 in the final frame, led by freshman point guard Alexis Antonacci (Plainview, N.Y.), who scored nine of her 12 points down the stretch with penetrating drives to the basket and clutch free throw shooting to secure the victory for CCRI. 

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Gerena with a game-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers, with three steals and two assists. Gerena was helped by Harden, who charted her fifth double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds while adding three steals, two assists and a blocked shot. Also having an excellent day was Antonacci with 12 points and dishing-out a season-high eight assists, while Gustave added six points on two 3-pointers while ripping down eight rebounds.    

The next game for the Lady Knights will be today when they travel to Middletown, N.Y. to play the Colts of Orange County Community College at 6:00 p.m.

Knights hit 14 3-pointers in loss to Essex CC

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team traveled to New Rochelle, N.Y., on Saturday where it faced off against No. 15 ranked (NJCAA D-II poll) Essex County College in the Monroe College Basketball Classic. The Knights did score an impressive 88 points, but were unable to stop Essex at all, allowing the Wolverines to score 111 points. The Knights dropped to 4-3 on the year with the 88-111 loss.

The Knights dug themselves a hole to start the game, getting down by double digits quickly. They were able to fight back and take a lead halfway through the first half. That was the last time the Knights would take the lead in the game, though, as the Wolverines went on a run to close out the half and lead, 57-47, at the break.

The lead kept growing for the Wolverines and the Knights just could not keep up with their size and scoring. The Wolverines had what head coach Rick Harris called “an NBA-sized frontcourt” with two players standing at 6’9” and a third at 6’8.” The Knights were also once again without their best rebounder, Edvaldo Ferreira (Cape Verde), who is out with an injury. The Knights relied on their 3-point shooting to counter the Wolverines’ size. The Knights shot well enough to hang around, but not well enough to overcome 26 offensive rebounds by the Wolverines.

Sophomore Jordan Grant (New London, Conn.) had a great effort rebounding for the Knights as he finished with 11 boards to go along with his 12 points and two assists. Josh Mann (Detroit, Mich.) led the Knights in points with 18, while chipping in five boards. Sharpshooting Elijah Vazquez (Woonsocket, R.I.) had his fourth straight game with at least four 3-pointers as he hit four on his way to 12 points. Cranston native Mike DeJesus was able to put in 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from downtown while adding two assists and two steals. Adrian La Fleur (Sydney, Australia) also hit three 3-pointers and posted a solid stat line with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Harris had this to say after the game, “We play a tough schedule during the season and this week we played three very good teams. Hopefully our games versus Dean, Navy Prep and Essex will help us grow quicker and build up experience.”

The Knights’ next game is Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m., following the women’s game at 5. They will be at home against Massasoit in a Region XXI showdown.

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