Clark Tournament: Tyler Dill scores 24 as Narragansett tops Maynard for Small Schools title
WORCESTER — Tyler Dill scored 24 points and junior Freddie
Monette-Harris netted 19 to lead No. 2 seed Narragansett Regional to a
58-50 win over fourth-seeded Maynard in the Small Schools final of the
80th Clark Tournament on Saturday night.
Playing before a boisterous Kneller Athletic Center crowd, the Warriors (19-3) won their first Clark title since 1987 with a fourth quarter comeback including clutch free throws by Dill down the stretch.
“It’s incredible. I didn’t even know what the Clark Tournament was coming into my sophomore year and now, it’s just unbelievable,” said Dill, a team captain.
In a contested back-and-forth match, Maynard (18-5), the two-time defending small school champs, grabbed a 43-34 lead with just over five minutes to play on Ian Fowler’s 3-pointer.
Monette-Harris was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the next possession, hitting the trifecta from the foul line.
After a Maynard turnover he drove to the hole and landed a finger-roll and subsequent foul shot for a six-point spurt that brought the Warriors to within 43-40.
The teams traded baskets before Dill made a steal and went court-length to pull within one; following that with a baseline trey that gave Gansett the lead for good with 1:54 to go.
“We have a list of things we wanted to accomplish this year,” Narragansett coach Rich Zalneraitis said. “We hadn’t won a league title since 1996. We crossed that off the list as we were co-champs with Maynard.”
“We wanted to come here and at least make the next step to the final. Then we figured since we’re here we might as well try and win it.”
The teams are not new to each other; splitting a pair of matchups earlier this season with the home team prevailing in each.
The Warriors’ 64-43 win on Jan. 8 dropped the Tigers to 4-4, but they then reeled off 13 straight wins until Saturday 89-85 shootout over Gansett on Jan. 31.
Points came at a premium during the opening minutes as the teams sought to settle down before a sizable crowd.
Finally, just over two minutes into the tilt, Maynard senior Tommy Smith (team-high 24 points) sank the back end of a pair of free throws to break the ice.
After a matching free-throw by Monette-Harris, Smith tallied his own 8-0 run on an old-fashioned 3-point play, a high-arching trey from beyond the key and a crossover and jumper from the elbow.
Trailing, 12-5, after one quarter, Gansett found its scoring legs
behind eight first-half points from Monette-Harris and six from Ben
Edwards who finished with 10 points.
Edwards gave the Warriors a 19-18 edge at the half after a slam-dunk on an inbound play with five seconds on the clock.
“It felt great (to jam). I don’t even know how I thought to do it. It just clicked in my head,” said the 6-foot-7 senior captain Edwards, who also had several blocks on the night. “This is the funnest team I’ve ever been with. We’re just so goofy and lighthearted, but when we need to focus and get things done we can do it.
—Contact Shaun Suhoski at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @tgsports.
Playing before a boisterous Kneller Athletic Center crowd, the Warriors (19-3) won their first Clark title since 1987 with a fourth quarter comeback including clutch free throws by Dill down the stretch.
“It’s incredible. I didn’t even know what the Clark Tournament was coming into my sophomore year and now, it’s just unbelievable,” said Dill, a team captain.
In a contested back-and-forth match, Maynard (18-5), the two-time defending small school champs, grabbed a 43-34 lead with just over five minutes to play on Ian Fowler’s 3-pointer.
Monette-Harris was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the next possession, hitting the trifecta from the foul line.
After a Maynard turnover he drove to the hole and landed a finger-roll and subsequent foul shot for a six-point spurt that brought the Warriors to within 43-40.
The teams traded baskets before Dill made a steal and went court-length to pull within one; following that with a baseline trey that gave Gansett the lead for good with 1:54 to go.
“We have a list of things we wanted to accomplish this year,” Narragansett coach Rich Zalneraitis said. “We hadn’t won a league title since 1996. We crossed that off the list as we were co-champs with Maynard.”
“We wanted to come here and at least make the next step to the final. Then we figured since we’re here we might as well try and win it.”
The teams are not new to each other; splitting a pair of matchups earlier this season with the home team prevailing in each.
The Warriors’ 64-43 win on Jan. 8 dropped the Tigers to 4-4, but they then reeled off 13 straight wins until Saturday 89-85 shootout over Gansett on Jan. 31.
Points came at a premium during the opening minutes as the teams sought to settle down before a sizable crowd.
Finally, just over two minutes into the tilt, Maynard senior Tommy Smith (team-high 24 points) sank the back end of a pair of free throws to break the ice.
After a matching free-throw by Monette-Harris, Smith tallied his own 8-0 run on an old-fashioned 3-point play, a high-arching trey from beyond the key and a crossover and jumper from the elbow.
Edwards gave the Warriors a 19-18 edge at the half after a slam-dunk on an inbound play with five seconds on the clock.
“It felt great (to jam). I don’t even know how I thought to do it. It just clicked in my head,” said the 6-foot-7 senior captain Edwards, who also had several blocks on the night. “This is the funnest team I’ve ever been with. We’re just so goofy and lighthearted, but when we need to focus and get things done we can do it.
—Contact Shaun Suhoski at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @tgsports.
congrats warriors !!!! good luck in the districts !!!!
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