Titans will rely on experience, look to return to winning ways

Matt Metcalf, Assistant Sports Editor
Posted 12/16/14

The Toll Gate boys’ basketball team certainly encountered some struggles last season, finishing ahead of just three teams in Division III with a 5-13 record.

But heading into this season, the …

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Titans will rely on experience, look to return to winning ways

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The Toll Gate boys’ basketball team certainly encountered some struggles last season, finishing ahead of just three teams in Division III with a 5-13 record.

But heading into this season, the feeling around the program is definitely one of optimism.

“This year, we feel like we’ll be better than last year’s team,” Titans’ head coach Tom Rayko said. “Last year was a rebuilding year, we only had two seniors. Our goal is to be better than 5-13.”

One of the two seniors that Toll Gate did graduate though, was First Team All-Division selection Zach Bacon.

To fill the void that Bacon left, the Titans will look to senior Adam Brice – a Second Team All-Division choice a season ago – as well as a number of returning junior players, to step up this season.

“Our junior class is pretty heavily stacked for the division that we’re in,” Rayko said.

Toll Gate has seven juniors on its roster this season, most of whom will log a lot of time for Rayko’s squad.

Austin Giard will handle the point guard duties for the Titans and was impressive against Hendricken in Toll Gate’s first game of the season – a 65-29 loss to the defending state champions.

Austin Ouimmette will provide an inside presence for the Titans and led Toll Gate with a team-high eight points against the Hawks.

Junior transfer Joe Gasbarro from La Salle will also be a main contributor, as will Joel Johnson, who is expected to accompany Giard in the back court. Johnson is a little bit of an unknown for Rayko, as he was injured last year.

Giard, Ouimmette, Gasbarro and Johnson – all juniors – will provide leadership and experience on a team that contains just three seniors. It showed against Hendricken, as they were the team’s top four scorers, combining for 21 of the team’s 29 points.

Junior forward Liam McMullen will also see some time this year in the frontcourt. He got on the stat sheet Thursday night, chipping in with two points against the Hawks.

 “We should definitely be able to do more this year,” Rayko said. “We have some guys who can play inside and we have some guards who can play, so we’ll be able to spread the floor a little bit better than last year’s team.”

Sophomore guard Amari Maduro should also see time alongside Giard and Johnson in the backcourt, scoring four points and playing an aggressive style of basketball against Hendricken.

Senior Uzair Ayaz will be in the rotation as well, getting the start on Thursday.

Overall, there should be a greater level of confidence in Toll Gate this year, as the majority of the team has varsity experience under their belts.

 “We’re definitely used to the style and level of play this year,” Rayko said. “It should be an easier transition for (the players) going into this year.”

The Titans will play in D-III-South this season, as opposed to D-III-Central a season ago.

The three Warwick schools – Toll Gate, Warwick Vets and Pilgrim – will all remain together in D-III-South, but the fourth team in their division has changed.

Former D-III power Juanita Sanchez has moved to D-II this season, while Chariho has moved down and will complete the four-team subdivision in D-III-South this season.

Juanita Sanchez won the D-III state championship last season, going 14-4, while Chariho struggled in D-II, compiling just four wins.

The swap could directly benfit Toll Gate, Vets and Pilgrim.

“We’ve always played each other, so it’s really not a big deal to me,” Rayko said of playing in the same division as Vets and Pilgrim. “Chariho versus Juanita, it’s definitely two different styles. It’s an up-and-down game as opposed to a slower-paced game.”

The shuffling of teams within the state, along with some more experienced players this year, should give the Titans every opportunity to compete.

The playoff format for boys’ basketball in the state will remain the same. Each team will get so many points for a win – one point for D-I, .8 points for D-II and .6 points for D-III. At the end of the season, each Division will have its own tournament and then the top 16 teams with the highest point totals will play a single-elimination round robin for the state championship.

“Our ultimate goal is to win our division and then possibly make the open state tournament,” Rayko said.

Other players on Toll Gate’s roster are Umair Ayaz, Jarry Berrio, Joshua Coleman, Aidan Estrella, Nick Kazandjian, Yanghuang Lu, Kyle McGuire, Elvis Pimental, Ryan Sgroi and Tristan Wyns.

Toll Gate was scheduled to open the season against Moses Brown on Monday, with the results unavailable at press time. It’ll play its home opener tomorrow night at 7 p.m. against the Paul Cuffee School, before hosting Johnston on Thursday at 7 p.m.

“We need to play team basketball,” Rayko said. “We have to come out and play the style that we need to play and be a little bit tougher than we were last year.”

If they do that, then the Titans should find the win column more frequently this season.

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