Knights crush Warriors to continue strong start

Posted 11/24/16

The CCRI Knights took on the Warriors of Massasoit Community College on Tuesday night in a Region XXI showdown. The Knights controlled the game from start to finish, winning by 23 points with a final score of 87-64. The win brings the Knights to 4-1

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Knights crush Warriors to continue strong start

Posted

The CCRI Knights took on the Warriors of Massasoit Community College on Tuesday night in a Region XXI showdown. The Knights controlled the game from start to finish, winning by 23 points with a final score of 87-64. The win brings the Knights to 4-1 overall on the season and 2-1 in Region XXI play. 

The game started out strong offensively. Both the Knights and the Warriors were able to create opportunities and score within the first 10 minutes of the game. With 8:40 left in the first half, the Knights were down by one point at 14-13. Around this time, Head Coach Rick Harris

 employed a full-court press against the Massasoit offense, which caused it many problems. The Warriors were barely able to break the press, bringing their offense to a halt. The Knights ended the half on a 31-10 run, bringing the score to 44-24 at halftime.

The Knights continued their defensive and offensive attack in the second half. When the half started, they continued using the full court press against Massasoit, who could not break it. The press was great for the Knights, leading to 16 total steals for the team. Kevin Paygai 

(West Warwick, Rhode Island) led the team with six steals. The Knights had a spread offense. Paygai

 led all scorers in the game with 21 points with two 3-pointers. Elijah Vazquez 

(Woonsocket, Rhode Island) had 14 points while shooting 50 percent from 3-point land, continuing his hot shooting streak. Daryl Flowers 

(Waterbury, Connecticut) chipped in with 11 points off the bench while shooting 50 percent from the floor.

Overall, it was a great showing for the Knights, who won the game on both ends of the court.

Harris was pleased with his team’s efforts, and noted how important the defense was. He stated it was “nice to see the young men feed off their defensive play. We turned defense into offense when we needed to take over the game.” He continued to say he was happy “to see everyone contribute, especially freshman point guard Kevin Paygai, who played an

outstandingly efficient game.” 

The Knights will play again next Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a Region XXI battle against Mass Bay.  Lady Knights earn win over Warriors The CCRI Lady Knights basketball team hosted the Warriors of Massasoit Community College from Brockton, Massachusetts, on Tuesday as part of a doubleheader with the Knights’ men’s squad. The Lady Knights defeated the Warriors, 65-56. With the victory, CCRI improves to 5-4 on the season and 2-0 in Region XXI play.

This was a very exciting game to watch with lots of scoring runs, 3-pointers, 3-point plays and two teams with familiarity that made for a great matchup. 

Both teams started the game playing evenly with the score 11-11 in the first few minutes, but the Lady Knights caught fire and went on a 16-3 run to close the half leading 27-14.

The Lady Knights had four first-quarter 3-pointers from four different players: Fantasia Semedo

(Seekonk, Massachusetts), Tiondra Hands

(Delray Beach, Florida), tri-captain Kelsey Hernandez

(New Britain, Connecticut) and Ashley VanBemmelen

(North Providence, Rhode Island). The 3-point barrage helped the Lady Knights extend to a 13-point lead by the end of the first. 

In the second quarter, CCRI’s scoring stalled while the Warriors played very well, outscoring the Lady Knights, 20-9, to cut the lead to two points by halftime with the score 36-34. Six different Warriors scored in the second quarter, led by Tati Dias and Monica Knight who scored five points apiece. 

In the third quarter, CCRI righted the ship to outscore Massasoit, 13-8, taking a 49-42 lead. The run was helped by Hernandez with three points and 3-pointers from D’Asia Allen

(Providence, Rhode Island) and Hands.

CCRI closed the game with vigor while playing their best quarter since the 27-point first quarter, scoring 16 points with a balanced attack, getting four points apiece from VanBemmelen, tri-captain Carol Rodriguez

(Pawtucket, Rhode Island) and Hands

and three points from Dionna Jackson

(Harriston, Mississippi) to win the game by the final score of 65-56.

Leading the way for CCRI was Hands with 12 points, including a game-high three 3-pointers with five assists and two steals, while Hernandez had a great all-around game with 10 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Also playing well was Jackson, charting a double-double with 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, while Rodriguez recorded a team-high four steals and just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Rounding out CCRI’s top performers was VanBemmelen with seven points, including two 3-pointers and six rebounds, and Semedo added six points two assists and two rebounds.

The next game for the Lady Knights will be Sunday when they host another Region XXI foe in the Pointers of UConn-Avery Point at 1 p.m. 

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here