The Barrington High School boys basketball team battled back from an 18-point deficit and defeated South Kingstown in overtime, 72-67, in the Sweet 16 round of the State Tournament on Friday night, March 7. 

The Eagles will play against Central in a quarterfinal matchup on Monday night, March 10. 

Barrington scored the first basket of the game on Friday night, but the Rebels tied it up 30 seconds later and led for nearly the entire contest. 

With just 3.4 seconds remaining, the Eagles, trailing by two, ran a set-play inbounding the ball under the Rebels’ basket. Caleb Satisfield sprinted around a screen, caught the inbounds pass and elevated for the tying basket as time expired. 

In overtime, Barrington took its first lead since the opening 20 seconds of the game. The Eagles outscored the Rebels 10-5 in the extra period and advanced to the next round. 

Barrington Coach Michael Raffa credited his players for their resilience and determination following a tough overtime loss to Central in the Division I tournament. 

“You talk about how sports teaches you life lessons. We could’ve been really impacted by the end of the Central game but we talk about what can we learn and looking forward to making the next play and not dwelling,” Coach Raffa said. 

He also praised Satisfield’s willingness to step up in a key moment for the Eagles.  

“Maybe some other kids wouldn’t have wanted that last play drawn up for them,” he said. “We had him in that curl, tough catch and he went to go finish. It’s just, again, life lessons about resiliency, staying confident, being positive, and expecting good things to happen.”

Nothing good was happening for the Eagles in the first quarter. 

After taking a 2-0 lead, Barrington struggled mightily, as South Kingstown built leads of 7-2, 12-7, and at the end of the first quarter, 23-7. The Rebels scored the first basket of the second quarter and boasted an 18-point advantage. 

“I don’t think we had great energy to start,” Coach Raffa said. “They came in, had nothing to lose as a Division II team. They shot unbelievable, combined with we weren’t adhering to our game-plan and attention to detail. It seems that we just played too fast, too excited. We got down a lot. 

“We talked about trying to take a breath and focus on the next play. We changed a few of the assignments. We made sure we had much better help defense, and then we tried to simplify things. Make a stop and a score. Make a stop and a score. Don’t look at the scoreboard. Just continue to win the next four minutes, the next two minutes and then we’ll see where we’re at.”

The altered approach worked. Barrington chipped away at the South Kingstown lead in the second quarter. By half-time, the Eagles had narrowed the deficit to 13 points. They had it down to four points with about 2:45 to play in the second quarter, but the Rebels responded with three straight scores. 

“We were on the ropes. I think what we learned was instead of playing too fast and trying to ‘win the game,’ we just trust each other more, get downhill. Let’s go inside. If they double, let’s make the pass out. I think we’re much better at reading plays than playing too fast and we’ve got to go make a play,” Coach Raffa said. 

“We talked about decision-making and not forcing things. I think we did a much better job in the second half. And we didn’t panic. We kept trying to go attack. We wanted to go to the foul line or get a basket. We didn’t want to just jack threes because we thought that was our best course to come back.”

The start of the third quarter was all-Barrington. 

Colin McDermott opened with a basket and a minute later drilled a long three-pointer, cutting the Rebels’ lead to 38-30. Satisfield was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit all three free throws, narrowing the margin to five points. 

The Eagles and Rebels traded baskets, with Satisfield, McDermott and Ryan Rigamonti taking turns knocking down shots for Barrington. By the end of the third quarter, Barrington trailed by just four points, 50-46. 

Coach Raffa said the plan called for the offense to go through Rigamonti on the post. 

“If he could score, great. If we could get fouls we could get to the line and put them in a little foul trouble, they’re only seven deep. And then they’re making adjustments and doubling down, and that frees things up for Colin, and frees things up for Caleb to catch and shoot or catch and go downhill (toward the basket),” Coach Raffa said. 

South Kingstown nursed a four-point lead with one minute remaining, but McDermott got fouled on a drive and knocked down both free throws. 

With seven seconds left, McDermott had a chance to tie the game with two more free throws, but missed the first and second — Rigamonti elevated to grab the rebound on the second miss, but his shot rattled out. After a scramble for the rebound, the ball went out of bounds off a Rebel. 

The Eagles set up for the inbounds play and Satisfield’s lay-up at the buzzer sent the Barrington High School home crowd into a frenzy. 

“We called a play for Caleb. We never brought it out before,” said McDermott. “And we knew it would get us an instant bucket, so we called it out.”

Satisfield added: “We’ve been working on it for a while, and obviously it worked. We made that happen, and we won.”

Satisfield finished with a team-high 28 points, including a perfect nine-for-nine from the free throw line. He also drilled three three-pointers. 

McDermott added 22 points, and Rigamonti finished with 10. Ryan Realejo and Alex Anderson each scored four points, while Owen Pfeffer and Gabe Toste each had two. 

Barrington will tip off against Central in the State Tournament quarterfinals on Monday night, March 10, at Rhode Island College at 8 p.m. 

“We’re excited,” Coach Raffa said. “I think the celebration (for the Sweet 16 win) is over. We’re on to Central. We’re looking at film. We played them twice. Each of the first three quarters in each contest, we led for five of them and we were tied for one quarter. We were able to learn some things by looking at film and we’re excited to get another opportunity to get them.”