The Pilgrim boys basketball team is off to a strong start as it currently sits at 3-0. The Pats got an opening night win over East Providence before picking up wins against St. Ray’s and Cathedral Prep.
The Pats had four players reach double figures against Cathedral Prep and were led by Dylan Vale with 20 points. Jack Bannon added 17 while Jayden Ames and Mike Bryson each scored 10.
Bannon led the team with 20 points in its win against the Saints and Carter Clifton added 10 points as well.
“The kids are playing hard, they’re playing aggressive and they’re playing up tempo. They’re controlling the tempo and changing defenses on the fly. The problems have been too many turnovers, too many bad decisions, too many easy misses. Layups and free throws. We have a lot to clean up but the kids are working hard and we’re right where we want to be,” said Pilgrim coach Sean Henseler.
With a strong veteran group and a healthy mix of young standouts, Pilgrim has its sights set on making a deep run in Division II this season. Henseler has already seen a different mindset this season versus previous years with this group.
“The kids are gaining confidence. They understand the mistakes. They have an objective this year. The last couple years have been, ‘we hope we make the playoffs,’ but this year is ‘we want to make the playoffs and we want a home game.’ This group wants to prove that they can potentially make a run in the playoffs,” said Henseler.
The team has been using an eight-man rotation to this point and has seen each player contribute on the scoresheet.
“Carter has been rebounding like crazy and Dylan has been controlling the ball and tempo. Jack Bannon has come into his own, Jack Cirelli is stepping up, Jayden Ames has improved his game,” Henseler said. “Mike Bryson is starting to find his shot, we have an eight-man rotation with those guys and Ian Laplume and Jake Soulliere. They’re working well and it’s looking good. We kept 18 guys on the roster and we’re glad we did because the guys that haven’t seen minutes have been important, they’ve provided great competition at practice.”
The Pats will next face West Warwick on Thursday evening.

Toll Gate 61,
Achievement First 53
The Titans have also jumped out to a nice start with two straight wins, most recently beating Achievement First on Monday.
Brayden Healey scored 14 points to lead the Titans while Damola Oremosu added 12 in the win.