The Tiverton girls basketball team held their heads up high, after getting walloped by Moses Brown 63-30 in a Division II home game on Thursday night. The Tigers never quit as they continued to scratch and claw for every point till the final buzzer against the talented parochial school lineup.

“It wasn’t a bad loss. I am happy and proud of our entire team,” said Laney LePage, a senior captain. “We came out and worked together and are bonding more every game. If we can compete with a team like this, we can only go up from here.”

“I’m happy,” said Tigers’ head coach Michael Brigham. “I thought that they played hard.” 

Jah'niece Branch and Izzy Williams combined for 21 points in the loss as Tiverton dropped their overall record to 2-7. 

The scrappy Branch, a sophomore, took a beating while fighting for rebounds under the hoop with the talented Quakers. Towards the end of the second quarter she gave back a hard foul on a Quaker driving the lane and was pulled for the rest of the quarter by Coach Brigham. He sent the center back out in the third quarter and she finished with 12 points for the Tigers.

“We worked on our physicality in practice,” Coach Brigham said. “I got it in their heads. We didn’t want to get pushed around.” 

Williams, a freshman guard, scored all of her 9 points in the second half. She drove the lane and finished well and also sank a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. The rest of the Tigers had trouble finishing at times and couldn’t keep up with the high-powered Quakers.

“We are struggling a little bit offensively, but I think that our defensive effort was strong,” said forward Jenna Deldeo who scored 7 points for the Tigers. “I think that we are getting there. We are starting to see a progression.”

Coach Brigham spoke highly of his leading scorer and junior co-captain.

“Jenna does everything,” he said. “She does too much for me. She helps with the press. She rebounds. She can hit jumpers and score from the paint. She very rarely comes off the floor.”

Freshman guard Cami Oliveira scored 3, and senior forward Laney LePage netted a free throw.

Oliveira played well distributing the ball and seniors Page, Delia Pieroni, Katie Richardson and junior Ellery Pacheco all played hard in the loss, though Richardson, a senior captain, gave credit to her younger teammates. 

“They are phenomenal. They bring a lot of skill to the team and we are scoring more points,” She said after the game. “I am very proud of the progress that we have made.” 

Next up: Tiverton hosts Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and travels to Chariho on Friday at 7 p.m.