By CHRIS SHOTT Sports Editor
A sense of urgency finally crept in.
The Toll Gate boys' basketball team retained its long-shot Division I-A playoff hopes last Friday night by coming back from a seven-point deficit at halftime to outlast host Pilgrim, 60-54.
Jake Shaffer poured in a game-high 19 points, Jarrid Stearns finished with 16 points and Bryan Rouse dumped in 10 points as the Titans erased a 28-21 disadvantage at intermission with a 28-11 streak opening the final period, then withstood a frantic last-ditch Patriot comeback bid. The victory improved Toll Gate's league mark to 6-10 and kept alive their postseason prospects.
The Titans need to defeat Rogers of Newport tonight and Warwick Vets on Friday at home to earn a berth in the Division I-A playoffs, but to do so must play with more passion than they did last Friday night. After assuming a 10-point bulge with less than four minutes to play, Toll Gate saw its lead shrink to just two points with 90 seconds left before regrouping to pull out a vital victory.
A visibly relieved Titan head coach Chris LeBlanc said that his team experienced a “gut check” at intermission.
“At halftime I told the kids that we needed to show heart and to play with more heart in the second half,” LeBlanc said. “I knew coming in that Pilgrim would be fired-up for this game and that we had to match their intensity if we wanted next week's games to mean something.”
With Toll Gate clinging to a 51-49 edge with 1:25 to go, Rouse banked in a driving lay-up and, 22 seconds later, Stearns sank a lay-in to widen the gap to 55-49. David Cherry countered at the 54-second mark with a conventional three-point play (on which Shaffer fouled out) to draw the Pats to within 55-52, but Rouse calmly drained two free throws with 42 seconds remaining and Stearns contributed one charity toss with 33 ticks remaining to reestablish a six-point spread at 58-52.
Pilgrim's Eric Shields (seven points) and Titan Andrew Shaffer exchanged baskets in the closing 20 seconds to conclude the scoring.
Will Lyons poured in 18 points and Cherry tallied 13 points for the Pats, who remained winless this season against Division I-A rivals at 0-16. Pilgrim missed numerous easy scoring chances throughout the contest and further hampered its effort by converting just six of 16 foul shots.
“We missed a lot of shots and free throws,” said Patriot head coach Al Petrarca. “At times we made critical mistakes on offense, but our kids played very hard tonight. We just didn't shoot well at times.”
To LeBlanc, the key to the outcome was a change in Toll Gate's attack in the final period.
“We shot the ball horrendously in the first half and took too many shots from the perimeter,” LeBlanc said. “In the second half, we concentrated on pounding the ball inside, and it worked.”
Indeed it did. The Titans required just a little over four minutes of the second chapter to erase their disadvantage as Jake Shaffer accumulated seven points during a 10-2 burst that put the guests in front, 31-30. Pilgrim responded with a 6-0 binge on a Shields' jumper and four points from Mike Richardson (including a three-point hoop) until hoops by Jake Shaffer, Stearns and Rouse put Toll Gate on top, 37-36.
A Lyons lay-in with seven minutes to play gave the Pats their final lead of the night at 38-37, but 39 seconds later Rouse powered in a lay-up to put the Titans ahead for good. Holding a 41-39 advantage, Toll Gate tallied eight answered points – including two Stearns trifectas and a Jake Shaffer offensive rebound – to assume its only double-digit cushion of the game at 49-39.
The Titans led through most of the opening period and by as many as six points before going cold and struggling against Pilgrim's pressure defenses. The Pats erased a 16-14 deficit with an 11-0 eruption to take a 25-16 lead, thanks to five points from Cherry and two points apiece by Lyons, Chris Bowen (seven points) and Tracy Bravo.
A three-pointer by Stearns with 1:04 remaining was matched by Shields with three ticks left that provided Pilgrim with its seven-point halftime bulge.
Petrarca blamed the Pats' shortcomings on “inexperience.”
“We were down by two points late in the game and twice we were beaten in our press over the top [with long passes],” he said. “That's a sign of our inexperience. But our kids are coming along, and we had some good stretches tonight.”
Pilgrim will wrap up the 2003-04 campaign this week with league games tomorrow night at Warwick Vets and Friday night at home opposite Rogers. Toll Gate, meanwhile, will attempt to extend its season beyond Friday.
“Obviously, we need to win our next two games to make the playoffs, but it will be a battle for us,” LeBlanc said. “Based on our scores the first time around this season against Rogers and Vets, we know that we can play with both teams.”
And, he hopes, with a sense of urgency.