The East Providence High School boys' basketball team dropped a pair of games late last week in the 2023 edition of its annual Harry Mutter Holiday Classic hosted by the Townies December 27 and 28.

The Townies fell to Shea in their opener 49-39, then dropped a 66-49 decision to Central in the consolation round.

The Raiders, of Pawtucket, then throttled North Providence 59-34 for the title. Shea lead 25-14 at halftime and continually built upon its advantage en route to the championship.

The Cougars outlasted Central 58-56 to reach the final. North Providence took the lead with just under three minutes remaining, then had a handful of chances to extend their edge at the free throw line, but missed. The Knights, though, couldn't take advantage. Central turned the ball over twice in the last 13 seconds of the game when they had a chance to tie or take the lead, including on its last possession with five seconds to go.

Shea loss
In the 10-point loss to the Raiders to begin the event, Shea was first to break the ice with a layup after neither side scored in the opening 90 seconds. Kenaz Ochgwu got the Townies on the board with a nifty reverse layup of his own, but the Raiders next hit another shot deep in the post to take a 4-2 edge. Shea wouldn't trail the rest of the way.

In fact, the Raiders soon built a 12-2 lead on a 3-pointer. East Providence later closed to 15-11 on floater by Christian Torres, a 3 from the left wing by Tyler Gomez and two more Ochgwu buckets, a 10-foot jumper from the right block and a coast-to-coast layup off a steal. Shea, though, notched the final hoop of first quarter to hold a 17-11 lead.

The Raiders scored the first bucket of the second quarter, then the teams basically played to a stalemate through the rest of the period and into the third as they exchanged 6-0 runs.

The Townies scored six in a row to get back to within two (19-17) early in the second. Gomez had a steal and layup, Alex Mulamba had a hoop and Torres drove hard to goal. But Shea matched the spree to go back up 25-17 before Gomez was fouled in the act and made one of two from the line. The Raiders scored the next four to take a 29-18 lead to intermission.

Out of the breaks, East Providence again went for a half-dozen in a row. Ochgwu connected on a jump hook and another reverse layup then Levi Jacobs was fouled on the shot and made both, closing the Townies' gap to 29-24.

Again, however, Shea had an answer, scoring the next four. The Raiders finished the period with a 37-27 lead. In between, Mulamba put back a miss and made a free throw to account for EP's other points.

Shea, all but sealed the victory, on a 3 with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth. The shot from distance gave the Raiders a night-high 44-29 lead. Just prior, Torres his a pull-up jumper in the lane for the locals.

And just after, Franklin Carela Lopez sank a free throw after being fouled, Torres drained all three from the stripe after being hit taking a 3 then he finished off a steal with layup. EP's final two hoops were a Mulamba put-back and an Ochgwu drive.

Ochgwu led the Townies with 12 points. Torres had 11, Mulamba seven and Gomez six.

Central setback
In the consolation game against their league rivals, the Townies led for much of the first quarter, but couldn't sustain the prosperity for long.

EP went up 6-2 on a Jacobs bucket then 15-11 on an Ochgwu spin move on the base line. The Knights, however, would close the opening period on a 7-2 run to take an 18-17 edge, never trailing the rest of the way.

Central built its initial 10-point spread (31-21) on a 3 from the right corner late in the period. Ochgwu got a rise out of the crowd when he converted a Torres steal into a two-hand slam. But he did a pull-up on the rim and was hit with a T. The Knights made a free throw and a layup before the halftime buzzer, taking a 34-23 lead to the room.

Out of intermission, the closest EP would get in the third quarter was eight (39-31) on a Mulamba runner in the lane. Central's lead grew to a then-high of 17 (48-31) prior to a Derrell Liggins jumper made it 48-33 by the end of the period.

The Knights' largest advantage of the evening, 59-41, came just after the mid-point of the fourth. Torres hit a 3 from the top of the key and also finished a layup while Jacobs also made a layup and one free throw before the final horn.

Ochgwu was named to the All-Tournament team after finishing with another team-best 14 points for EP. Jacobs had 11, Liggins nine and Torres seven.

Up next
The Townies return to league action late this week with a trip to Providence to take on the same Central squad for real in a meaningful Division I regular season contest Thursday night, Jan. 4, at 7.

EP (2-4 overall, 1-2 in D-I) then plays a rare Saturday afternoon league outing when the Townies host Smithfield on January 6 at 1 o'clock. The game was rescheduled from its original December 12 date due to the chaos created at the start of the Washington Bridge westbound closure the day previous.