The No. 12 Pilgrim Patriots fell to the No. 5 Narragansett Mariners, 65-47, in the first round of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League state tournament Thursday evening at Bryant University.

“Narragansett’s a very good team,” Pilgrim head coach Mike Batalon said. “They’re very athletic. We tried our best to stay with them, but they’re a very good defensive team and they forced us to take a lot of outside shots tonight.”

Tyrone Weeks led the Patriots with 18 points and Ethan Schneider added nine.

Narragansett won the opening tip and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead when captain Austin McKanna made a driving layup.

The Pats cut it to 3-2 when Matt Woods made a hook shot. Then, Narragansett extended its lead to 8-2 after senior guard Jason Palmer hit a layup and added two free throws. Palmer had 18 points and nine rebounds, while teammates Thomaz Whitford and McKanna had double doubles.

After going down 10-2, the Pats made a run. First, senior guard Brandon Lawton dished to Weeks, who buried a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five. Next, Weeks missed a close-range jumper, but cleaned up his own mess, putting back a layup and cutting the lead to 10-7 with 10:45 remaining in the first half.

However, guard Will Doyle nailed a 3-pointer and put Narragansett back up six. Weeks struck again and made a driving layup, cutting it to 13-9.

After Narragansett’s Jack Clancey added two more points at the charity stripe, Schneider buried a 3 to pull the Pats to 15-12 with 7:45 left in the half.  

After an offensive foul call against McKanna, Pilgrim tied it at 15, when Lawton found an open Tyler Perry for a 3-ball with seven minutes to go in the half.

Nonetheless, Narragansett went back up on a put-back layup from the center, Whitford. After Clancey made the first of two from the line, McKanna was there for the offensive rebound and added on two more, putting Narragansett up 20-15.

Weeks would score one of two buckets at the line after he stole the ball and went coast-to-coast before getting fouled. With 4:45 left in the first half, Whitford scored on a driving layup and extended the Narragansett lead to 22-16. Whitford would add two more at the free throw line.

After Pilgrim’s Woods missed a 3, Doyle took a 3 of his own and made it to extend his team’s lead to 27-16, while forcing Pilgrim into using a timeout.

After a couple turnovers from each team, Weeks put the Pats on his back. He started by sinking a floater and followed it by taking a charge under the basket from Whitford. Then, Weeks made two free throws, pulling the Pats to within 27-20.

To end the first half, Narragansett guard Kyle Pereira made a layup, followed by a layup from Pilgrim’s Woods, as Narragansett led 29-22 at the break.

Palmer opened the second half with a 3-pointer for Narragansett, extending the lead to 10. Then, Pilgrim’s Schneider got a lucky bounce on a 3-pointer and cut the lead back to seven. Immediately after, Doyle made a layup and Narragansett went up nine.

Then, Lawton dished to junior forward Jadin Genao, who made a layup and cut it to 34-27. After a jumper from Whitford found the bottom of the net, Weeks came down and scored a layup for Pilgrim. But, a 3-pointer from Palmer would put Narragansett up 10 at 39-29.

With under 13 minutes to play, Pilgrim’s Woods made a floater to cut the lead to 40-31. However, after a missed 3 from Schneider, McKanna extended the lead with a jump shot. Next, Weeks made one of his own and cut it to 42-33. But, Palmer buried another 3-pointer and increased the lead to 12. Pilgrim was forced to keep shooting from the outside, and it didn’t pay off. Woods and Schneider came up empty on a pair of 3-pointers.

Narragansett extended its lead to 49-33 on a layup from Doyle with 9:30 to play. Next, the Narragansett defense forced the Pats into the only shot clock violation of the game.

Not long after, Pilgrim’s Genao was there on the offensive glass to put back a miss from Perry, making it 52-35.

Perry missed back-to-back 3s for Pilgrim, but Lawton was there to put back one of them. Weeks had two blocks before he stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for the bucket.

Down the other end, McKanna scored after an offensive rebound, putting Narragansett up 55-39. Genao then made a 3-pointer for the Pats and cut it to 55-42. But trading baskets in basketball is never a good thing. A layup from Narragansett’s Palmer wouldn’t help Pilgrim.

An offensive foul call on Clancey did help Pilgrim, as Schneider drilled a 3 on the ensuing possession, pulling the Pats to within 57-45 with 3:22 left.

After a missed 3 from Perry, Whitford made a running floater and Narragansett went up 59-45. Soon after, Palmer added to the lead with a layup. A minute later, Whitford stole the ball and went on a breakaway and threw down a one-handed jam, increasing the lead to 63-45. Pilgrim was unable to cut into the deficit any further and Narragansett cruised to a 65-47 victory.