By Ryan Lanigan, Editor-in-Chief
WRENTHAM, Mass. – King Philip amped up their defensive pressure to turn a seven point lead after a quarter to a 21 point lead by halftime and never looked back to pick up a 63-35 win over Barrington. The win marked the third straight for the Warriors.
The Warriors built a 9-0 lead over the first five minutes of the game but Barrington — who was a state finalist in Rhode Island last season — battled back to get within four. KP senior Ben Smith drained a three shortly before the buzzer to push the lead back to seven.
In the second quarter, the Warriors amped up their pressure in their 2-2-1 press and then in their 2-3 zone. The Warriors also cleaned up their own misses to create separation.
Freshman Kyle Layman started the run, grabbing a defensive rebound and then taking a pass from Seth Sullivan. Smith drained another three, Goodwin added back to back field goals, Layman made a putback plus the harm, Goodwin drained a three, Layman converted another offensive rebound, and Pharoah Davis drove to the basket to complete a 19-0 run.
“I thought we got some opportunities in their zone that we didn’t really cash in on and I thought we were getting the ball where it needed to go but I think we were being a little impatient in that first quarter,” King Philip head coach Matt Coute said. “Eventually we let the offense come to us. I think the key in that second quarter was we ended up pushing the ball more in transition. We wanted to take advantage of our athleticism and strength. I told the guys to be more aggressive in the 2-2-1 in terms of trapping and getting in the passing lanes. We were able to get some easy ones to kind of push the lead and make them play on their heels.”
In the second quarter, the Warriors shot 60% from the field, hitting nine of their 15 field goal attempts.
“A lot of that was what type of three’s we are taking and a couple baskets in transition instead of a lot of contested shots in the half court which was happening some in the first quarter.”
King Philip’s 2-2-1 – dubbed an “opportunistic” zone by Coute — wasn’t the biggest reason for the Eagles’ 15 first half turnovers, but it was key in terms of keeping the pace where KP wanted it. The Eagles didn’t get any fast break points in the first half.
“It started with Sharon, we’ve been playing an opportunistic 2-2-1 is what I call it,” Coute said. “When the traps present themselves we take it but it’s more of a time management 2-2-1, trying to keep it a possession game rather than an up and down game. We want the pace to be at where we want. We’re not a team that will score 70 or 80 points so we want to keep the pace at our level against teams that want to run.”
“[The zone] has helped a lot too. Over the last couple of games we’ve shot a better percentage. Ben Smith has been a big lift for us hitting some outside shots, [Noah] Goodwin is playing better and [Pharoah] Davis is finishing better in transition. When that all happens, it gives everyone else more confidence. When we get into the 2-3 zone, we’re extending it too and it helps with Kyle Layman in the middle because he alters the game, he alters a lot of shots. He takes that high post spot so we don’t have to collapse.”
The Warriors won the third quarter 13-8 and by the fourth quarter, Coute was able to rest his starters. In the final quarter, Tom Sullivan (five rebounds) and RJ McCarthy each had four points while Matt Lehoullier, Will Weir and Smith each added points. JJ Tibbetts added a pair of assists and Ryan Ackles came away with a steal.
Goodwin finished with a game-high 17 points while Layman had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks and Smith had nine points and four rebounds.
King Philip (3-6, 2-5) is back in action on Tuesday night, taking a trip to Canton for a 6:30 tip off.
“It will be nice to go to Canton and get a win. I know Canton is hungry, they have scouted us a couple times. We know they are hungry for their first league win, it’s at Canton so we know we’re going to get their best. And they’re well coached too.”
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at RyanLanigan@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.
Tag: Ryan Ackles
Thursday's Schedule & Scoreboard – 10/22/15
Today’s games are listed below.
Boys Soccer
King Philip, 1 @ Attleboro, 1 – Final – King Philip’s Ryan Ackles scored the late equalizer to earn the Warriors a point on the road. Attleboro senior Junior Coca put the Bombardiers up in the first half.
Mansfield, 2 vs. Catholic Memorial, 0 – Final – Ryan Amaral broke open a scoreless game in the 72nd minute off an assist from Jared Miller and then Miller converted a penalty kick just four minutes later to double the Hornets’ lead. Mansfield goalie Michael Kirejczyk made five saves in net for his eighth shutout of the season.
Girls Soccer
Attleboro, 5 @ King Philip, 2 – Final – Rebekah Entwistle scored two second half goals, including the game-winner, in the final four minutes to lead Attleboro to the win. Paige Medeiros had two assists and Jessica Bishop scored her first varsity goal for the Bombardiers. Cassie Vivar and Hannah Meier also scored for Attleboro. With the score 3-2, Madison Brown stopped a penalty kick and the rebound. Rachel Hogan and Elizabeth Cooley had the goals for the Warriors.
Franklin, 2 @ Taunton, 0 – Final – Victoria Stowell scored from the penalty spot and Megan Georges had Franklin’s second goal on an assist by Maddie Connelly.
Volleyball
King Philip, 3 @ Attleboro, 0 – Final – King Philip picked up the sweep on the road, 25-14, 25-23, 25-9. Carly Adams had 10 service points in game one, including six aces, Emma Lopez had six service points and three aces in game two and Gwen Uyrus had nine service points with three aces in game three. Micaela Murray added six service points, including two aces, in game three.
Milford, 0 @ Canton, 3 – Final – The Bulldogs got the sweep at home, 25-19, 25-14, 25-20. Rye Verille had nine kills and Elizabeth Hamilton had eight kills, 10 aces and nine digs. Head coach Pat Cawley said Sarah Reissfelder, Emma Gobbi, Emma Murphy and Kelly Dever all had strong play at the net.
Foxboro, 0 @ Stoughton, 3 – Final – Stoughton picked up the win 25-20, 25-23, 25-19. Stoughton’s Bridgette Whalen had eight kills, seven blocks, 16 digs and six service points, Bianca DeSousa added 10 assists, seven service points (five aces) and 10 digs and Ava Siegel had 15 service points, seven digs, and four kills.
Taunton, 2 @ Franklin, 3 – Final – Sam Campbell and Rose Morrisette both played strong defense for the Panthers and each had key serving runs in the fifth set to lead Franklin. Dayna McCue had 43 serve receivers, 21 digs and four aces, Aubrie Kutil had 12 kills and a pair of digs and Beth Neal had 18 assists, eight kills, four aces and a pair of blocks.
North Attleboro, 2 @ Mansfield, 3 – Final – Mansfield rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win game four and then took care of business in the fifth set. The Hornets won 25-22, 19-25, 22-25, 29-27, 15-8. Sophomore Meg Hill led the offense with 17 kills and seven blocks, Sarah Mullahy had 12 kills and eight service points, Cathryn Heavey had 45 assists, 11 service points and 11 digs and Jess Haradon had 31 digs and 11 service points for Mansfield.
Sharon @ Oliver Ames, 5:00
Field Hockey
King Philip, 2 @ Attleboro, 1 – Final – Alli Meehan put the Warriors up by a goal in the first half off an assist from Liz Furfari but Attleboro tied the game late in the second half off a goal from Kate LeBlanc on an assist from Grace Mayer. KP scored the game winner with 5:48 left when Christina Hathaway converted a penalty stroke.
Milford, 0 @ Canton, 5 – Final – Canton junior Caroline Hagan recorded a hat trick in the win for the bulldogs.
Foxboro, 3 @ Stoughton, 1 – Final – Foxboro qualified for the state tournament for the 14th straight year.
North Attleboro @ Mansfield, 3:30
Sharon, 0 @ Oliver Ames, 4 – Final – Kendall Clifford, Nadia Eldemery, Hannah Friend and Missy Krim each scored goals in the first half for Oliver Ames.
Warriors Set Tone Early in Division Win Over Taunton
By Ryan Lanigan, Editor-in-Chief
NORFOLK, Mass. – King Philip first year head coach Nick Gale strived for continuity through the program’s first six games this season and the team went 3-3.
On Tuesday afternoon, Gale decided to switch it up and it paid off in a big way as the Warriors picked up their biggest win of the season, a 4-0 win over divisional rival Taunton.
“You try to have some continuity in what you do and we’ve kind of kept things the same the last five or six games,” Gale said. “And I thought this would be a good game to switch things up, spice things up.”
KP senior captain Joe Kellett has seen time at center back and in the center midfield but was pushed higher up in a more attacking role against the Tigers. The switch paid off as he put a shot on frame inside the first 30 seconds as the Warriors set their attacking tone early.
“We’ve struggled to score goals so we had to try set a tone early,” Gale said. “Even right off the opening play we wanted to be offensive. I think Joe was a good adjustment up there and he took advantage of his opportunities. You can put him anywhere and he’s going to be a threat.”
Kellett had the first serious scoring chance for the Warriors in the 10th minute. Sophomore Tyler Mann cut a pass back to Clayton Geuss and he centered to Kellett but a sprawling effort from Taunton sophomore goalie Marc DeSousa pushed the shot wide.
But it didn’t take long for the Warriors to create another chance and this one found the back of the net. A short free kick from Taunton in the defensive third turned into turnover when Kellett pressed high and came away with the ball. Kellett took control of possession and found Mann wide open in the middle of the area and the sophomore buried his chance.
Junior Sean Crowley had a chance to level the game for Taunton in the 14th minute. Crowley gathered the ball with his back to goal along the left flank and cut into the middle. He was about to get around his defender and ripped a low shot from outside the 18 but KP goalie Brandon Ziolkowski.
Four minutes later, Mansfield was able to double their lead, this time Mann returning the favor to Kellett. On a corner kick, Mann put his service towards the back post and Kellett came sliding in to connect and find the back of the net.
The Warriors were able to make it 3-0 just over the half hour mark. Will Weir picked up a loss ball and lifted a shot that just went through the finger tips of DeSousa and found the back of the net.
““We set a tone very early,” Gale said. “We wanted to be very offensive today and very direct and we got that result early, which is the first time we’ve really gotten an early lead and held onto it. And I think that really sucks the wind out of your opponent. They challenged a lot, especially in the second half, but we set the tone early and that was awesome.”
Though the three lead felt comfortable heading into the second half, King Philip was able to tack one more on inside the first five minutes of the second half. Taunton was whistled for a foul about 30 yards from its own net. The ref whistled for King Philip to push the ball back and as DeSousa hugged the near post to try and set up a wall, King Philip’s Cam Mullins ripped a shot that floated into the back of the open net. Despite the lack of a restart whistle, the ref allowed the goal to count.
“You can try to set things up [on a free kick] but he’s an offensive minded defender I guess you can say,” Gale said. “He has a nose for goal even as a center back. He took advantage of the open goal and it was a good heads up play.”
Both teams pushed to try and find the back of the net for the rest of the half but neither was able to create a serious scoring threat.
With the win, King Philip improved to 4-3 overall and 4-3 in the division, which puts them in second at the time. The Warriors will be back in action on Friday when they host Franklin. Taunton drops to 1-4-2 overall and in division play and will look to bounce back with a trip to division leading Mansfield.
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at RyanLanigan@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.