Cold start ends Barrington's postseason; Patriots advance in state tournament

Portsmouth perseveres, 46-37, in open tournament opener

By Josh Bickford
Posted 3/2/23

A slow start spelled big trouble for the Barrington High School girls basketball team on Wednesday night, March 1. 

The Eagles scored just 12 first-half points — seven in the first …

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Cold start ends Barrington's postseason; Patriots advance in state tournament

Portsmouth perseveres, 46-37, in open tournament opener

Posted

A slow start spelled big trouble for the Barrington High School girls basketball team on Wednesday night, March 1. 

The Eagles scored just 12 first-half points — seven in the first quarter and five in the second quarter — and were unable to cap a valiant comeback in the second half, losing to Portsmouth 46-37 in the first round of the state open tournament.

“Look, you’ve got to score to win and we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket tonight, until late,” said Barrington Coach Stephen Lenz. “And that happens to us sometimes, but more so tonight…”

The Eagles missed their first five shots from the floor to start the game — some were open outside jumpers while others were in the paint. Barrington managed to keep the score close by playing smothering defense against the Patriots. 

Morgan Casey eventually put Portsmouth on the scoreboard with a jumper from the elbow, and Barrington responded with a basket by Isys Dunphy. The sophomore grabbed an offensive rebound and dropped in a layup.

Portsmouth’s Maeve Tullson scored to give the Patriots a 4-2 lead, but Dunphy scored again, capitalizing on a fast-break to knot the score at 4-4. 

Tullson answered with another basket, and Dunphy then followed with a free throw. Olivia Morrissette gave Barrington its only lead of the game at 7-6, but Tullson scored again with 1:41 to play in the first quarter, pushing the Patriots ahead 8-7. 

Portsmouth then went on a 13-0 run to end the first quarter and open the second. That dropped Barrington into a 12-point hole, as the Eagles struggled to convert open looks into baskets.

“We struggled to finish tonight,” Lenz said. “I think the kids are probably frustrated by that. We had some wide open looks and we just didn’t finish. And unfortunately, sometimes that deflates you on the defensive end. It can be frustrating. I think we saw that. How many times can you come down and have an open look and we don’t finish and then you have to come back and defend all over again.

“We were in tremendous foul trouble in the first half. That really effected us, particularly down in the post. Isys and Lindsey (Lemay) both picked up two fouls, so then we had to switch to a zone and you don’t want to zone a team like Portsmouth, because they can shoot. We didn’t really have a choice.”

Barrington’s five second quarter points came late — a free throw by Lemay, a steal and layup by Dunphy and two more free throws by Maddie Gill. 

The Eagles trailed 26-12 at halftime, and Portsmouth increased its lead to 16 points, 28-12, to start the third quarter. 

But with about 3:30 to play in the third Gill heated up. 

The junior guard unloaded every shot in her arsenal against the Patriots — she scored on driving layups, pull-up jumpers and deep three-pointers. Gill scored 11 points in the third quarter and helped the Eagles cut the Patriots lead to 34-24 by the end of the third. 

“All season we’ve been a team that we’ve struggled a little bit in one half and we can pick it up in the second half,” Gill said. “So we all got in there (at halftime), we were like ‘We’re not letting down, this could be our last game.’ We just wanted to go out there and fight. We wanted to give it our all. So that’s what we came out in the second half to do. 

“I felt good. We were starting to get momentum as a team. We were all feeding the ball to each other. We were getting out in transition. It was pushing up our intensity. The bench was getting into it. The fans were getting into it. Everyone was getting into it. So, it just kind of helped my momentum. I know it helped the team’s momentum. We started to get on a run. I was feeling good.”

Gill and the Eagles started the fourth quarter just as they ended the third — she drove to the basket and scored over Portsmouth’s Casey, dropping the lead to single digits. Dunphy scored to make it 34-28 and then put back a rebound to make it 34-30 with 6:23 to play. 

Tullson knocked down a free throw to make it 35-30 and Ava Hackley hit one out of two from the free throw line to make it 36-30 with 4:30 to go. 

Gill then ignited the home crowd with a basket, but Portsmouth responded again, as Tullson and Emily Maiato scored back-to-back baskets, giving Portsmouth a 40-32 edge with three minutes to play. 

Dunphy answered the call with a basket at the two minute mark, and Lemay stuffed a shot attempt by Maiato. The crowd roared after the blocked shot and then exploded when Gill drilled a long-range three to cut the lead to 40-37 with 1:18 left. 

Barrington’s defense came up with a stop on the next series and Barrington brought the ball down the court with a chance to tie or cut the lead to one point. 

Gill pulled up from the wing and floated a three-pointer toward the basket — the shot just caught the front rim and bounced out. 

Barrington would get no closer to victory.

“I think (fatigue) was starting to get to us a little bit, but I knew that we still had fight in us to keep going and keep pushing ourselves,” Gill said. “We did it til the end. It just… the ball didn’t go in the basket at the end of the day. 

“I’m very disappointed. It was a great season. It was tough to end, at home. They’re a great team. We really wanted to come out here and play today.”

Portsmouth knocked down six free throws in six attempts to finish out the game.

Gill finished with 19 points to lead all scorers, and Dunphy added 13. Morrissette and Lemay each scored two. Janaya Prince-Baquero, Barrington’s leading scorer all season, was unable to crack into the scoring column against the Patriots.

“It’s hard,” Lenz said. “You do the things you can control. You’re having a bad night shooting, so then we play good defense. We battle on defense. We battle on the boards. We did. Particularly in the second half. We played better defensively. I think in the first half we got a little bit frazzled because of the missed baskets and the foul trouble.

“…we played in probably the hardest Division I I’ve seen in my 15 years in Division I. The top eight teams are very good teams. We went 13-5. We’re a younger team. It’s the first year a lot of them are playing together. I just said to them at the end of the game, ‘You’ve got to learn from this.’”

Tullson and Maiato led Portsmouth, scoring 15 and 11, respectively. 

About Portsmouth, Lenz said: “They’re a senior-laden team. They have four seniors who didn’t want to go home today. I give them a lot of credit.”

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.