Raposo, Fallon lead ’Canes past Knights

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 12/17/15

It looks as if the Warwick Vets girls’ basketball team is setting out to make a statement in its farewell tour.

After struggling for much of last season, Vets, which has much-needed roster …

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Raposo, Fallon lead ’Canes past Knights

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It looks as if the Warwick Vets girls’ basketball team is setting out to make a statement in its farewell tour.

After struggling for much of last season, Vets, which has much-needed roster depth this season, went out and beat a quality Central team on the road, 45-42, on Tuesday night in its Division III opener.

The ’Canes faced a 19-10 deficit in the final minutes of the first half, before pesky defense sparked a 10-0 run to end the half, as they took a 20-19 lead into the break.

Vets faced a similar situation in the second half, with Central regaining the lead early on and holding it until late in the game. The ’Canes trimmed Central’s lead to 42-41 near the one-minute mark, and would take the lead seconds later when Kat Raposo got fouled going to the hoop, as she knocked down both of her free throws to give her squad a 43-42 lead.

After a key defensive stop on the next possession, freshman forward Caitlyn Fallon stretched the lead to three when she collected an offensive rebound and converted a layup to make it 45-42.

Central guard Jada Littlejohn scored a game-high 25 points, but her 3-point attempt to tie the game fell short, allowing Vets to escape with its first win of the season.

Head Coach Owen Paquet was proud of his team and the way it willed itself back into the game on two occasions.

“That was a nice run we went on in the last three or four minutes of the first half, it was excellent,” Paquet said. “Excellent play by Kat and Caitlyn. Allison Russo has stepped up, Destinee Charette, Mackenzie (Hough) – they’re all starting to learn the process. That run that we went on was all heart. We rebounded and played defense and it worked out in our favor.”

Brendalee Olivo gave the Knights an early 5-0 lead in the first half after a corner 3-pointer and a jumper.

Vets would battle back, though, with Brianna DeRobbio pulling down a rebound and sending a pass forward to Hough for a layup to cut Central’s lead to 5-4.

However, the Knights would go on to score the next eight points to lead 13-4 and, later in the half, pulled ahead by nine once again, 19-10.

Central had all of the momentum approaching the end of the half until Vets’ defensive pressure started to create turnovers, translating into easy transition buckets.

With 1:30 to go, Hough stole the ball and passed ahead to Raposo, who pulled up at the elbow and sank a jump shot to make it 19-14.

After another forced turnover, Raposo grabbed a board and drained the putback to cut the deficit to three.

In all, Raposo scored eight points and Fallon added two during Vets’ 10-0 run that gave it a 20-19 lead at halftime.

And, even though Central came out strong to regain the lead early in the second half, that 10-0 run gave Vets a mental edge as the final stages of the game approached.

“That momentum [from the first half] carried over into the second half for the last two minutes, which helped out,” Paquet said.

Senior guard Emma Nason gave Vets a lift off of the bench in the second half.

She hit two of her first three shots – a long two and a 3-pointer – both of which kept Vets’ deficit at three.

After Littlejohn completely took control of the game, Vets began to make it more difficult for her on the defensive end, forcing her into tough, contested shots.

With the defensive efforts ramping up, Vets was able to tie the game with six minutes left, as Nason saved a ball heading out of bounds with a no-look pass to Hough for a layup to knot the score at 31.

Less than a minute later, Vets took the lead back, 33-31, when DeRobbio collected an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Nason, who drained an elbow jumper.

The Knights weren’t set to go away quietly on their home floor, though.

Littlejohn drove to the hoop a couple of minutes later and found a wide open Jackie Gamez under the basket, who laid the ball in to give Central a 35-33 lead.

Central was able to keep its lead at two until Raposo knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:40 left to tie the score at 39.

A Fallon layup gave Vets a short-lived lead near the two-minute mark, as Littlejohn came right down the floor and sank a straight-away 3-pointer to put Central back in front by 1.

But Vets continued to show its resiliency, with Raposo knocking down two more free throws before Fallon added an insurance layup to ice the win.

Raposo scored a team-high 20 points in the win with eight rebounds, while Fallon posted a double-double with 12 points and 15 boards.

Nason added seven points and two rebounds, and DeRobbio posted two points and eight rebounds.

After a 6-12 season last winter, the potential for the last girls’ basketball team at Vets is through the roof.

With Raposo back and the addition of an inside presence in Fallon, Vets should see a greater number in the win column by season’s end.

It will look to build off of its strong start on Friday when Vets hosts Central Falls at 7 p.m.

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