Tigers use strong second half to down Pats in D-III quarters

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 2/25/16

The Tolman girls’ basketball team, sparked by a 26-3 run that spanned from the end of the first half to midway through the second half, downed Pilgrim in the Division III quarterfinals on Tuesday …

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Tigers use strong second half to down Pats in D-III quarters

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The Tolman girls’ basketball team, sparked by a 26-3 run that spanned from the end of the first half to midway through the second half, downed Pilgrim in the Division III quarterfinals on Tuesday night, 47-37.

The Pats led the Tigers, 18-7, late in the first half, but Tolman went into the break on an 8-0 run over the final two minutes of the half, as Pilgrim held a slim, 18-15 advantage.

And things went from bad to worse in the second half for Pilgrim, with Tolman finding its shooting stroke and Pilgrim failing to take care of the basketball.

When all was said and done, Tolman established a 26-3 run – a run that didn’t end until Kendra Tantimonico buried a pair of free throws with 6:33 left.

But even with the free throws, Tolman’s lead was still 10, and it continued to hold off Pilgrim down the stretch.

“We came out of halftime and turned the ball over and were a little flat,” Pilgrim head coach Scott Bayha said of the 26-3 run. “I think we panicked a little bit, and I have to do a better job of coaching that at half. [Tolman] came out and hit 3s. In our minds, we were going to give them that shot unless it was [Alexandra Larson]. A couple of different girls hit 3s, they hit an NBA 3 and as far as basketball goes, I’ll give them that every day.”

Tolman took its first lead of the game one minute, 23 seconds into the second half, when post-presence Fenda Konte spun off a defender and banked in a shot to give the Tigers a 19-18 advantage.

While the Tigers were finding their rhythm, the Pats were losing theirs, turning the ball over on each of their first four possessions of the second half.

Tolman continued to make Pilgrim pay for its sloppy play too, with Larson draining a corner 3 a couple of minutes later to stretch the road team’s lead out to 29-20.

Captain Elise-Monet King then made it a 12-point game with 7:50 to go, when she collected a weak-side offensive rebound before cashing in on the putback, making it 33-21.

Pilgrim cut its deficit to eight on two separate occasions – with 5:33 to play on a Crystal Armstrong deuce, and then a minute later when Mercedes Faust drained a straightaway 3.

But the 8-point game was short-lived, as Tolman point guard Destiny Moore drove right down the floor for a contested bucket to push the Tigers’ lead back out to 38-28.

Pilgrim wasn’t able to trim the deficit any further down the stretch, as the Tigers held on for the 10-point victory.

For Pilgrim, the season was one of ups and down. It finished with an impressive record of 12-5, but endured a tough stretch at one point. Overall, though, Bayha couldn’t have been prouder of his team for its second-to-none work ethic that it displayed throughout the winter. Bayha wasn’t sure what to expect as a first-year head coach, but his players exceeded his expectations.

“We haven’t taken a day off from practice because they told me they’d quit if they took a day off from practice,” Bayha said. “That’s the kind of girls I had.”

Pilgrim will graduate six players from its roster this season – seniors Hannah Page, Alexia Martins, Tantimonico, Erin Plowman, Faust and Hannah Ambrosia. Those players will be irreplaceable for Bayha.

“I don’t think I’ll find six girls that will be like them again,” Bayha said. “My daughter I want to be just like every single one of them. They’re everything you want out of your child. It was a privilege to coach them for as long as I did. I wish I could’ve coached them longer.”

Tantimonico closed out her career with a double-double performance of 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Faust scored eight points and Page chipped in with six.

Tolman got a game-high 13 points apiece from Moore and Larson in the win.

The Tigers will play top-seeded Middletown at 6 p.m. tonight at East Providence High School in the D-III semifinals.

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