Woonsocket girls win one for their city

BY MIKE SZOSTAK
Journal Sports Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN - Sparked by freshmen, buoyed by a sophomore and steadied by juniors, the Woonsocket girls won their city's first state basketball championship Sunday.
And the Villa Novans' convincing 55-42 triumph over two-time defending champion Barrington in the Credit Union Division II Girls Basketball Championship was a victory for their community as much as for the players and coaches on their team.

"A lot of us help out at the Y. We're their role models. A lot of them were here today," junior co-captain Brooke Coderre said. She contributed 11 points to the winning effort and was named the tournament's most valuable player.

"It's an awesome feeling," exclaimed George Coderre, the Woonsocket coach and Brooke's father. The city got behind his team, he said, mentioning the cops who stopped him on the street to wish him luck, the firefighters who called from the station, alumnae who called his cell phone from Florida, and the enthusiastic fans who made the trek to the Ryan Center from the old mill city on the Blackstone River.

"This is their team," the coach said.

Just as Bishop Hendricken sophomore Ricky Ledo had his coming out party with a 31-point performance in the boys Division I final Saturday night, Woonsocket freshman Kailey Fugere made her big-time debut a memorable one by coming off the bench and scoring 23 points, the game high. Finding the seams in Barrington's defense for layups and putbacks, she scored 17 in the second half, when the Villa Novans weathered a Barrington rally.

"She played like a veteran, and she's only a freshman," Brooke Coderre said.

Freshman point guard Michelle Brayboy, who stands slightly taller than the scorer's table - she's really 5-4 - scored only three points, but it was a long three-pointer in the last minute of the first half that put Woonsocket ahead by 14. More important, she handled the ball flawlessly and never hesitated to challenge the more experience Eagles.
Sophomore Ashley Dubois, one of the tallest players on the court, was a presence in the paint and scored six points.

Coderre and fellow junior Lauren Masse were the calming influences, and Masse scored seven points.

Barrington sophomores Catherine Matthews and Kelly Mannix combined for 32 points, but the damage could have been worse had Coderre not played solid defense on Mannix (15 points) and Fugere and Nicole Boucher not played physical defense on Matthews.

Woonsocket started to pull away midway through the first half on back-to-back treys by Coderre and Boucher and a short shot by Fugere for a 15-7 lead. The Villa Novans led, 31-19, at the break. Fugere scored six of Woonsocket's first eight points in the second half, and a Dubois basket gave Woonsocket a 43-28 lead.

Barrington rallied with a 12-3 run that prompted a Woonsocket timeout.

"We didn't want them to come back," Brooke Coderre said. "In the huddle with six minutes left, we said, 'Guys, we've worked too hard for this. Let's do it.' "

And they did, holding Barrington to two free throws the rest of the game.

"We have eight girls we rotate in and out, Anyone can play," Brooke Coderre said.

"We were so focused," her dad said. "We knew we were going to get it done. We really did."

The all-tournament team included Dubois and Masse from Woonsocket, Mannix and Matthews from Barrington and Sarah Ethier from Portsmouth.

WOONSOCKET (55) Nicole Boucher 1 0-0 3, Kailey Fugere 10 3-4 23, Abiodun Olowookere 1 0-0 2, Brooke Coderre 4 2-2 11, Michaelle Brayboy 1 0-0 3, Lauren Masse 2 1-2 7, Ashley Dubois 3 0-0 6 Totals 22 6-8 55 BARRINGTON (42) Kelly Mannix 5 5-8 15, Jerebelle Yucangco 0 0-0 0, Carly O'Keefe 2 0-0 4, Lisa Kwolek 0 0-0 0, Catherine Matthews 6 5-7 17, Julie Moss 1 2-4 4, Catarina Cowden 1 0-0 2 Totals 15 10-19 42 Halftime W 31-19.

mszostak@projo.com / (401) 277-7340

Posted by Mike Szostak  at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)