Gonsalves, Woods help Pats power past Cougars

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 1/19/17

If Jake Gonsalves and Matt Woods continue to dominate like they have recently, Pilgrim will be an extremely tough team to oust come playoff time. The pair of Pilgrim guards combined to score 40 points in the Pats' win over

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Gonsalves, Woods help Pats power past Cougars

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If Jake Gonsalves and Matt Woods continue to dominate like they have recently, Pilgrim will be an extremely tough team to oust come playoff time.

The pair of Pilgrim guards combined to score 40 points in the Pats’ win over Prout on Friday evening, and they were able to eclipse the 40-point plateau at North Providence on Tuesday night.

Gonsalves scored a game-high 28 points and Woods added 18 in an overwhelming, 83-62, victory over the Cougars.

After missing some time to start the season due to a knee injury, Gonsalves is back to full strength and has formed arguably the top duo in Division II alongside Woods.

“(Gonsalves) is back to full strength and he’s a great complement to Matt and the other guards,” Pilgrim head coach Chris LeBlanc said following the win. “(Gonsalves) can penetrate and open up outside shots, and then we can get it inside to our four bigs, who’ve played very well recently.”

Both Pilgrim and North Providence had no issue scoring in the first half.

Gonsalves, Nate Ferri and Woods used the full-court press to force turnovers, translating them into offense over the first 16 minutes.

With just under 10 minutes left in the first half and the Pats down four, 18-14, Ferri stole an inbounds pass for a layup, and Woods did the same just a few seconds later to tie the game at 18.

Pilgrim would pull ahead in the final eight minutes of the opening half, but Cougars’ guard Paul Rizzo did his best to keep the home squad close.

A Gonsalves layup and then a steal and dish to Jadin Genao for an easy deuce gave the Pats a bit of a cushion, before Rizzo drained a pair of 3s to help North Providence keep pace.

In the waning minutes of the first half, the better team would surface, though, as David Cabeceiras swished a 3 and Woods gathered a defensive rebound, drove the length of the floor and kicked to Gonsalves for a triple to up the Pilgrim lead to 41-36.

Woods, who poured in a game-high 15 points in the first half, would drill a 3 of his own shortly after to give the Pats a 44-36 lead at the break.

Although Pilgrim had an 8-point advantage at the half, the defensive effort wasn’t up to par, with Rizzo getting loose to score 14 points. Playing better defense was undoubtedly a focus for the Pats heading into half No. 2.

“We played terrible defense in the first half and we definitely needed to do something about that in the second half,” LeBlanc said. “That was my halftime speech.”

Pilgrim responded. It backed off the press, focusing on its halfcourt defense and North Providence struggled to get good looks.

The Pats raced out to a 10-0 run to start the second half to create separation on the scoreboard.

A Rizzo corner 3 would end the Pilgrim run, but the damage was insurmountable for the Cougars.

Gonsalves took over from there, not allowing North Providence to cut into its deficit whatsoever. He would net 15 of his 28 points in the second half to go along with five steals.

“He’s a leader,” LeBlanc said of Gonsalves. “He’s taken on that role here. There are guys who lead by example, and he’s one of those guys. He keeps his intensity up in practice, which is always a good thing.”

Pilgrim would pull away even more as the second half progressed.

Zach Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed Ferri free throw and kicked the ball back out to Ferri for a 3.

A few minutes later, Woods made a nice entry pass to Jarod Sickenger, who spun off his defender for a basket to make it 70-43.

The victory was Pilgrim’s second straight, improving its record to 6-2 in Division II.

The Pats will return to action tonight at Barrington (2-5) at 7 p.m.

Pilgrim will then endure some tougher tests in the coming weeks with several matchups against the other top teams in D-II. Contests against Westerly (4-3), Shea (8-0), Tolman (5-2), Narragansett (7-0), Portsmouth (6-2), Johnston (6-3) and Chariho (6-1) all loom on the horizon over the next month.

“I definitely do,” LeBlanc responded when asked if he feels like his team can contend in D-II. “But there are still a lot of teams in the middle of the pack, and we haven’t played the top of the league yet, so we’re just going to take it one game at a time and move forward as we go.”

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