Townies take home first Unified hoops title on third try
After losing twice before in the finals, East Providence defeats Central Falls for D-II championship
WARWICK — The third time was indeed the charm for the East Providence High School Unified Basketball League squad as the locals captured the 2023 Division II championship Saturday morning, May …
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Townies take home first Unified hoops title on third try
After losing twice before in the finals, East Providence defeats Central Falls for D-II championship
WARWICK — The third time was indeed the charm for the East Providence High School Unified Basketball League squad as the locals captured the 2023 Division II championship Saturday morning, May 13, on the Bishop Hendricken campus.
The Townies, who lost their two previous trips to the finals, rallied from a 21-14 deficit at halftime to eventually edge Central Falls by a 39-37 count.
Jaiden Wright, one of the best outside shooters on the team, led the locals with nine points. Wright scored seven of her points during East Providence's second-half rally, including five in the fourth quarter and the Townies' lone 3-pointer in the game.
Kyanna Burgo added eight points, all coming in East Providence's response over the final 16 minutes. Ben Nascimento, Shane Lavin and Jayden Delgado each added four points. Joe Santana, PJ Kochan and Denzel Sivels recorded a bucket apiece.
The sides finished the first quarter tied at 10 before the Warriors raced paced the Townies in the second, outscoring the locals 11-4.
East Providence answered CF's second period spree with a more impressive run of its own, outscoring the Warriors by an 18-8 count to totally erase its deficit and take a three-point lead to the final eight minutes.
And like the first period, the teams basically played level, the Townies managing to hang onto their lead and capture the title.
The championship was the first for the Townies in the eight-year history of East Providence High School's Unified Hoops program.
The Townies came up short twice before in the finals, both losses coming to Westerly and both in the Division III ranks. The Bulldogs beat EPHS in back-to-back years, 2018 and 2019, by the same four-point margin, 35-31 and 26-22.
Unified League sports are a joint initiative co-sponsored by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League and Special Olympics of Rhode Island during each school year, pairing special needs athletes in high school with their partners from the general population. The organizations also co-coordinate a volleyball league in the fall, in which East Providence High School also participates.
— East Providence Post and eastbayri.com contributing photographer Julie Furtado shot the accompanying gallery of photos.
