Pats sweep Titans

Pilgrim boys, girls top Toll Gate in Injury Fund

By ALEX SPONSELLER
Posted 12/17/19

By ALEX SPONSELLER The Pilgrim boys and girls basketball teams picked up wins over rival Toll Gate last week at the clubs' Injury Fund exhibitions. After falling behind 22-6 early in the first half, the Pilgrim boys would surge late in the period and

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Pats sweep Titans

Pilgrim boys, girls top Toll Gate in Injury Fund

Posted

The Pilgrim boys and girls basketball teams picked up wins over rival Toll Gate last week at the clubs’ Injury Fund exhibitions.

After falling behind 22-6 early in the first half, the Pilgrim boys would surge late in the period and throughout the second to wrap up the 71-60 win.

“(Toll Gate) was hitting their shots early so we understood that we had to get out on their shooters, so our defense picked it up a little bit. We got some good looks early on offense but they just weren’t going in which can sometimes happen early in the season, especially against your city rival,” said Pilgrim coach Matt Fontaine of the early struggles. “I think with the added defensive pressure, it let us get some better looks, get that one extra pass and attack the paint more.”

Leading the way for the Pats was Tyriek Weeks, who is now at Pilgrim after spending time at Bishop Hendricken. Weeks finished the evening with a game-high 34 points, 15 rebounds and five steals.

“He scored 34 points without a three-pointer. We know he can shoot, but we want to use his size to our advantage as well,” said Fontaine. “It’s always good to get those touches in the paint and to work from the inside out. We learned that our offensive sometimes needs to go through the inside in order to give our guys easier looks.”

Kenny Rix chipped in 14 points for Pilgrim, while Jared Reminder added eight points and eight rebounds. Dana Baptiste finished with seven points and five assists for the Pats.

Austin Noon led the Titans with 20 points, including five 3’s. Francisco Lopez added 12 points, while John Gyra scored 11 and Liam Hart nine.

Fontaine was proud of his team’s resiliency, which he hopes carries into the regular season.

“Well, we still have to learn how to win. That is the one thing with this team. We fell behind early, but stayed with it, stayed focused and battled back,” said Fontaine. “We did what we had to do and took control. That is what we have been preaching to them all season.”

The Pilgrim girls jumped ahead in the first half and never looked back as they rolled past the Titans 46-25.

Although Pilgrim showed off an improved offense, draining seven three-pointers, coach Scott Bayha believes that the strength of the team is still in its’ defense.

“The girls have been practicing three days a week and have been working hard. In the first half, we shot horribly, but our defense held their offense. We then began scoring in the second half. That was nice to see, but our team is going to win on defense. Hustling up and down the court and playing defense, working as a team,” said Bayha.

Kelsey Burr led the Pats with 11 points scored, while Faith Meade and Alyssa Medeiros added six each. Hannah French and Jill Woods each scored five points in the win as well.

Natalie Aloisio led Toll Gate with a game-high 13 points, followed by Sam Bertrand with six points.

Bayha was happy to see his club finish the preseason strong, but admits that it still has plenty of improvements to make in the coming weeks.

“We won, but we learned that we’ve got a lot of work to do. When we move the ball, our offense scores. We get selfish sometimes, so we need to keep passing. If we play team offense and team defense then we’ll be fine,” said Bayha, who was also happy to see some new faces chip in. “This is a rivalry game so everyone is up for that. We have some good, new additions this year. Faith Meade is a freshman and hit a big 3 for us. We’ll take a look at film and see what we need to do from here.”

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