Pilgrim edges Vets in final unified showdown

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 4/28/16

Another chapter in the storied Pilgrim-Warwick Vets rivalry has come to a close.

The Pats and ’Canes faced off one last time in unified basketball on Wednesday morning, with Pilgrim emerging …

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Pilgrim edges Vets in final unified showdown

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Another chapter in the storied Pilgrim-Warwick Vets rivalry has come to a close.

The Pats and ’Canes faced off one last time in unified basketball on Wednesday morning, with Pilgrim emerging victorious, 41-36. Vets’ Chelsea Gonzalez led all scorers with 14 points, but Kim Mallett wasn’t far behind for Pilgrim with 11.

Brian Dusseault notched 10 for the Pats and Max O’Neill chipped in eight. Eric Carter and Josh Langevin each had four, and Alaric Swanton and Mike McGregor each had two.

After Gonzalez, Jacob Madore had eight for the ’Canes, while Jess Yuettner and Helen Czephya recorded four points apiece. Jon Carpetis, Hannah Pelletier and Andreana Snead each added a bucket.

Prior to tipoff, Pilgrim head coach Jess Difilippo spoke briefly to thank Vets for a competitive rivalry. The Pats unveiled new unified shirts and also gave them to their opponents, with the back of the shirt reading “Together We Achieve More.”

Teamwork would be integral to a tight first half, too. Neither team would go up by more than four throughout the course of the first 16 minutes. The first lead of more than two points came halfway into the first when Madore got a layup to go to put Vets ahead 10-6.

Pilgrim got contributions from almost everyone to take a late, 14-12 advantage. Dusseault hit a short jumper and Mallett answered a Vets bucket with one of her own to make it 12-10. O’Neill sank a layup with 2:44 left and Mallett hit another from short range to give the Pats the lead.

Vets would knot the score in the final seconds, though, after calling timeout to draw up a play with 8.1 left on the clock.

The game would go back and forth again as both sides traded baskets in the first few minutes. Yuettner gave Vets an 18-16 lead early in the second, but after that point the Pats would reel off a 17-4 run to go ahead by as much as 11.

Dusseault got the surge started with two quick buckets, and layups from O’Neill kept the ’Canes at bay. Mallett extended the Pilgrim lead to seven with the game’s only 3-pointer, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Swanton and Langevin both made jumpers to push Pilgrim out in front, 33-22, with 7:28 left.

The ’Canes fought back, though. After Czephya drained a jumper, Gonzalez made three unanswered shots to whittle Pilgrim’s lead down to 33-30. Dusseault responded with a big short-range jumper, but Vets stayed resilient. Madore got a shot to rattle in that brought the ’Canes within one, 35-34.

Pilgrim stood tough and closed it out despite the furious comeback attempt. McGregor and Carter each made a jumper in the final two minutes in 15 seconds. Carter sealed the win on a breakaway layup with just 19.7 seconds left.

It was only fitting that two schools with such rich history as Vets and Pilgrim closed out their respective slates against each other with a close game that represented the intensity of the rivalry as well as it did.

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