2007-2008 Season
Overall 12-11
League 8-10
Post-Season 0-1
News & Updates
On March 7, 2008 the Girls Basketball Program held its 1st annual Alumni game which was a huge success. I would personally like to thank everyone who participated, and who continue to support girls basketball in East Providence.
Former Players: Jill Boucher, Natacha Varela, Beth Barron, Beth Leonardo, Sandy Levesque, Nicole Durand, Liz Mellen, Shannon Bakelman, Kristen Johnson, Jess Morse, Cara Constable, Amy Erickson and Kristen Johnson ('96).
Officials: Mr. Boucher and Mr. Vermette
Scorer: Mr. Cabral
Announcer: Mr. Varela
Raffle: Mrs. Cabral
Sponsor: Grogan Marciano
And a special thanks goes out to the families and friends who came out to cheer these ladies on. The money raised for the evening will go to help defer the cost of our participation in CCRI's Summer Basketball Program.
Thanks Again,
Coach Solitro
February 26, 2008 Tiverton 56 East Providence 45
The Townies saw their late season surge come to an end in a first round loss to Tiverton last night. The Townies found themselves down twelve at the break after a woeful shooting performance in the first half. The team missed numerous lay-ups and open looks from 8-10 feet away. The Townies shot 34% (18-53) for the game, but still pulled to within seven with 90 seconds left to go. Unfortunately, it was too late. Michaela Wiggins paced the team again with 18 points and 11 boards. Both Stephanie Michalopolous and Brianna Am each had 10. Although the loss hurts, the girls should be extremely proud of what they have accomplished this season. The game marks the last time the program will see senior captains Brianna Am and Morgan Johnson in action. I thank these ladies for their hard work and dedication to myself as well as this program, and I know they will continue to make us proud in the future.
Townies Earn All Division Honors. Congratulations to Brianna Am for making 1st team all division, Stephanie Michalopoulos 3rd team all division, and Michelle Fleming honorable mention. There will be a banquet for the honorees on Thursday, March 20th at the West Valley Inn starting at 6:00 PM. Please contact Coach Solitro for tickets or more information.
The Townies playoff picture is set! The Townies earned the 15th seed in the upcoming state playoffs. The team will travel to Tiverton to face the 2nd seeded Tigers (15-3) this Tuesday at 7:00 in the opening round.
February 21, 2008 East Providence 46 Portsmouth 40
The Townies overcame a fourteen point deficit early in the second half, to earn their first playoff victory in a decade. The team knew they needed to win the remainder of their games, and they did just that. This is the team's fourth win in a row, and the victory gives them an opportunity to play in the upcoming state playoffs. Michaela Wiggins led the Townies with a career best 17 points and pulled down an impressive 14 boards. Stephanie Michalopolous had 12 points and 5 assists. The girls should be extremely proud of themselves and this accomplishment. The team will play their first playoff game away, either Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
February 19, 2008 East Providence 50 Mt. Hope 45
The Townies lead the whole way through until Mt. Hope senior Ariel Texeira hit a deep three with under a minute to go to knot the score at 44-44. On the next possession, Michaela Wiggins came down with a rebound and a huge putback shot that put the team up 46-44. After Texeira made one of two free throws, the Huskies had one more opportunity to tie it with ten seconds to go in the game, but had the shot go right. After securing the rebound Brianna Am sank 3-4 free throws out of the double bonus, and off a technical foul from the Huskies. Brianna finished the game with 15 points and 9 boards. Stephanie Michalopolous paced the Townies with 19 points. The win comes on very a special evening as both seniors Brianna Am and Morgan Johnson, were honored for their 4 year dedication to the Girls Basketball program. These two young ladies will be sorely missed year, and I thank them for all their hard work.
February 15, 2008 East Providence 66 Moses Brown 45
The team looked sluggish and out of sync in the opening half, missing nine open lay-ups, but still found themselves up ten at the break 32-22. The Townies were whistled for 12 team fouls in the first, and the bench gave some great minutes in the second half. Stephanie Michalopolous lead all scorers with 19 points, and had five assists and four steals to go along with it. Amanda Cabral dished the ball well as she accumulated 8 assists to go along with her 11 points. Brianna Am had 9 points and 9 boards, while Michelle Fleming also had 9 points and 7 assists. The team plays next on Tuesday as they will face Mt. Hope on senior night. We will be honoring two special ladies that night, senior captains Brianna Am and Morgan Johnson. The game is a normal start time with JV playing at 5:45, followed by the Varsity contest at 7:30.
February 11, 2008 East Providence 51 Middletown 42
The Townies earned a much needed victory against the visiting Islanders of Middletown. The team had one of their best defensive efforts of the season tonight, and opened up a 32-21 halftime lead. The lead was then extended to sixteen, before Middletown brought it to within five with 1:10 to go in the game. The Townies sealed the victory with some key free throws down the stretch. Michelle Fleming paced the Townies with 14 points, while Michaela Wiggins added 13 to go along with her 11 boards. The Townies are back in action on Friday night at Moses Brown at 6:30. Also the JV team picked up a good win after dropping a close quarterfinal game against Chariho yesterday at the Junior Varsity State Tournament. The team should be very proud of themselves as they played three games in three days, and have shown great improvement since the beginning of the season.
February 9, 2008 Barrington 70 East Providence 40
The Townies "turned over" the game to Barrington, as they compiled 22 mistakes against the visiting Eagles. The team played smart for the first six minutes as they played Barrington close 10-7. Then the mental mistakes began both offensively and defensively as the Eagles built a 45-21 halftime lead. The team played with lack of intensity, and desire as they allowed the 12-2 Eagles to take complete control of the game. Brianna Am lead the Townies with 18 points. The team needs to regroup quickly, and play with more urgency, when they face Middletown on Monday. On a brighter note, the JV team won the first round of the State Tournament, and is set to face off with Chariho tomorrow at 3:30 at Bay View High School.
February, 4, 2008 East Providence 58 Tolman 30
The Townies opened up the game with a 10-0 start but the Tigers hit a couple of three pointers to cut the lead to 16-11 midway through the first. The team was then able to extend their lead to 33-20 at the break. Defensively the Townies had a better second half, holding the visiting Tigers to 10 points. Amanda Cabral had a great game overall finishing with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 7 steals, and five assists. Brianna Am picked up another double-double as she lead all scorers with 13 points, and pulled down 10 boards. Michelle Fleming chipped in with 10 points, and 4 assists, while Michaela Wiggins and Morgan Johnson had 11 and 8 rebounds respectively. The Townies have a tough task coming up as they prepare to play Barrington who currently is in a tie for first place at 10-2 in the Division II East standings.
January 31, 2008 East Providence 56 West Warwick 47
The Townies made it interesting but pulled out a win against the visiting Wizards. With solid shooting and good rebounding the team was able to open up a 30-16 halftime lead. After opening up a twenty-point lead at one point in the second, the team made a bunch of mental errors and allowed West Warwick to get back into the game. Fortunately, they were able to regroup and keep their composure during the last two minutes of the game and sealed a much needed victory. Michelle Fleming lead the Townies matching her career high with 22 points, along with 8 boards, and 6 assists. Brianna Am had a double-double with 15 points and a monster game on the glass with an impressive 17 rebounds. Michaela Wiggins also pulled down 12 boards to go along with her 6 points.
January 29, 2008 Westerly 60 East Providence 47
After playing their best first half of basketball all season, the Townies only found themselves down one 34-33 at the break against a very good Westerly (8-2) team.
The Townies showed poise, heart, and determination as both teams pushed the ball hard in a very exciting 16 minutes of basketball. The second half saw the Bulldogs extend their one point lead quickly to eight, as the team missed 12 shots from five feet or closer in the second half. Stephanie Michalopolous paced the Townies with 16 points, and Brianna Am had 14 points and 8 boards. Amanda Cabral had 7 rebounds to go along with her 4 steals, and 6 assists. The Townies have to regroup quickly as they are back at home against West Warwick on Thursday night.
January 24, 2008 East Providence 50 Rogers 41
The Townies shook off a sluggish first half on defense to earn a victory against the visiting Vikings last night. Rogers who shot lights out against the Townies defense in the first half earned a 25-23 halftime lead. The team finally started attacking the basket more in the second and utilizing the inside game. The defense also stepped up in the second with Amanda Cabral finishing the night with 8 steals (five in the second half). Brianna Am had 13 points and to go along with her 7 rebounds. Michelle Fleming had her best overall game of the season finishing the night with 13 points, 10 boards, and 7 assists.
January 23, 2008 Prout 57 East Providence 35
The Townies once again had a solid first half of defense but couldn't find the basket. The second half saw the complete opposite as the team picked it up offensively, but had trouble containing the Crusaders offense. The team was once again short handed and certain players were forced to play a different roll. This resulted in the team's lowest offensive output of the year with only 10 first half points, 5 for 21 from the floor. Prout (9-1) took advantage of the that early and lead from beginning to end. Brianna Am lead the Townies with 14, while Michaela Wiggins had 12. The team is back home on Friday against Rogers, game times are 5:45 and 7:30.
January 18, 2008 East Providence 50 Narragansett 42
The team earned a hard fought victory against the visiting Mariners of Narragansett. Although the Townies only had nine players dressing tonight, each had something to contribute to help the Townies be successful. Sophomore Brittany Pietruszka, got her first Varsity start in place of absent Stephanie Michalopoulos, and made the most of it as she helped spark the Townies defensive 2-3 zone. Despite early foul trouble, the senior forward duo of Morgan Johnson and Brianna Am had 8 and 10 points respectively. Freshman Michaela Wiggins had her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 boards. Junior Michelle Fleming just missed the double mark with 8 points and 9 rebounds. She, along with sophomore Amanda Cabral (10 points, 5 steals) helped control the ball for the entire 32 minutes of the game. Charlotte Newton and Ashley Curti gave some huge minutes off the bench, and provided the Townies some much needed depth for the evening.
January 15, 2008 Chariho 53 East Providence 40
The Townies dropped their fourth league loss in a row on Tuesday night to the Chargers of Chariho. The team dug themselves a huge hole in the first half finding themselves down 34-14 at the break. The team picked up the defensive intensity at the start of the second half lead by the sophomore Brittany Pietruszka who is filling in for an absent Stephanie Michalopoulos. They out-scored, out-worked, and out-played the Chargers in the second, and cut the lead all the way down to eight at the six minute mark, but the twenty point deficit eventually proved too much to overcome. Michelle Fleming lead all scorers with 16 points, while Morgan Johnson pulled down a career high 9 rebounds. The JV team continues to get physically and mentally better as they picked up another good win (39-36) and improve their record to 6-3 overall.
January 9, 2008 Portsmouth 55 East Providence 54
On a night with multiple lead changes, big shots, and huge defensive stops, both teams battled for 32 minutes as the Townies went punch for punch with a very good Patriot squad who finished least year with a 16-2 league record. The Townies missed three key layups underneath in the final 30 seconds and had a 3-pointer attempt blocked by before Brianna Am put in a layup for the 1-point difference as time expired. The team out-shot their opponent from the field, but only got to the charity stripe ten times, compared to the Patriots 23 attempts. Although it is a difficult loss to swallow the team has to be extremely proud of themselves for the effort they put forth tonight. They are working extremely hard and have to realize that tonight was a step in the right direction in getting the program to where it needs to be. In the effort, Brianna Am lead all scorers with 22 points and Amanda Cabral added 9, while Stephanie Michalopoulos chipped in with 7 points, and 9 assists. The team concludes their difficult schedule this week with an away contest at first place Tiverton on Friday night.
January 7, 2008 Mount Hope 54 East Providence 37
The Townies drop a very difficult loss to the Huskies. The team used their swarming man to man defense to hold the Huskies to 19 first half points but shot a dismal, season low, 5 for 25 from the field but still only found themselves down four at the break (19-15). The Huskies came out firing in the second half and extended their four point lead to ten. The team spent the rest of the game trying to chip away at the lead and brought it to within six at the seven minute mark of the second, but two untimely turnovers, allowed the Huskies to pull away for keeps. Overall, the team played disciplined defense but their 22 turnovers and 13 of 49 shooting was the difference in the game. Brianna Am lead the team with 19 points. The Townies have got to shoot the ball better if they hope to be successful against visiting Portsmouth on Wednesday, and a rematch at Tiverton on Friday.
January 3, 2008 East Providence 59 Moses Brown 39
The Townies utilized good defense to earn a victory against the visiting Quakers. The team started off slowly missing a bunch of open looks, but remained consistent on the defensive side of the floor. Stephanie Michalopoulos lead all scorers with a season-high 23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 steals. Michaela Wiggins had another double-double as she connected for 10 points and pulled down a team high 10 rebounds. Morgan Johnson chipped in with 8 points. The team now faces their toughest stretch of the season as they prepare to play three difficult games next week (Mt. Hope, Portsmouth, & Tiverton).
December 28, 2007 East Providence 51 Tollgate 32
The Townies picked up a victory on Friday as they beat Tollgate in the second game of the Smithfield Christmas Tournament. The team was lead by junior guard duo Stephanie Michalopoulos and Michelle Fleming who had 17 and 13 points respectively. Amanda Cabral contributed with six points, while Michaela Wiggins grabbed a team high eight rebounds to go along with her five points. The team is off until Thursday, January 3rd when they will get back to league play against visiting Moses Brown.
December 27, 2007 North Providence 50 East Providence 44
The team turned in one of their best overall performances of the year and just fell short to Division II central leading North Providence. The Townies lead for most of the first half and found themselves down one at the half (22-23). Three consecutive first half turnovers allowed North Providence to go up by six and extend their lead to as much as ten. The team continued to fight their way back and brought the score to within five at the three minute mark. The team missed some opportunities down the stretch as they failed to convert on a couple of easy baskets, finishing the night 17-50 from the field. Stephanie Michalopoulos lead the Townies with 14 points and four assists. Michaela Wiggins, making her first varsity start for injured Brianna Am, produced a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. The team gets back to action on Friday as they prepare to play the second game of the tournament at 1:30 against Division I opponent, Toll Gate High School.
December 22, 2007 East Providence 48 Fatima 27
The Townies picked up a non-league victory on Saturday against the visiting Tigers. The team was paced by Stephanie Michalopoulos and Brianna Am who had 10 and 12 points respectively. This is the first of three non-league games slated for the break, as the team will travel to Smithfield High School on Thursday night to face North Providence, the Division II central leaders, with an 8:00 start time.
December 21, 2007 Middletown 52 East Providence 34
The team traveled to Middletown and out played the Islanders in every category, but had a woeful night shooting the ball. The Townies looked sharp running their offensive sets and received multiple open looks, but could not score the basketball. The team finished with a mere 13 field goals and 6-16 from the free throw line. An entire effort was given rebounding the ball as the girls had to deal with the Islanders height of Pfeiffer (6'4) and Edes (6'0) who combined for 37 of the Islanders total 52 points. The Townies found themselves only down eight at the break, 28-20, and came out in the second half constantly trying to chip into the lead. At the six minute mark the Townies cut the lead to seven, but missed some key shots during a three minute stretch and allowed the Islanders to pull away for the eventual win. Stephanie Michalopoulos paced the Townies with 14 points, and the team received some key minutes off the bench from freshmen Michaela Wiggins and Charlotte Newton. The team has a short rest as they prepare to host a non-league game on Saturday beginning at 1:00.
December 15, 2007 Barrington 62 East Providence 36
For the second game in a row, the Townies struggle to protect the basketball and drop their second consecutive league game. The team committed 29 turnovers for the game and the Eagles capitalized on a bunch of them. By utilizing their press the team kept the game relatively close (15-10) at the five minute mark in the first, but the Townies could not finish on the opposite end of the floor and allowed Barrington to go on a 17-8 run to close out the half. The second half the team did not fair any better as they let the game slip further away with each turnover. The team was lead by Stephanie Michalopoulos and Brianna Am with 10 and 9 points respectively. Although it is still early in the season the team has to play with more urgency and leadership as they prepare to get ready for another tough league game at Middletown this Friday night. Also the team has a rare non-league game this Saturday afternoon at East Providence High School beginning at 1:00.
December 12, 2007 Tiverton 67 East Providence 41
The Townies opened up league play with a loss to the visiting Tigers. The team was unable to handle Tiverton's pressure and turned the ball over 25 times for the game. The team did not show any poise as they constantly threw eractic and questionable passes against Tiverton's man defense. Although the Townies turned the ball over an incredible 16 times in the first half they were only down ten at the break. The second half saw more of the same from the Townies, with sloppy offensive play while the Tigers could simply not miss. Brianna Am lead all scorers with 13 points, while Michelle Fleming had 11. The team needs to get back to the basics, as they prepare to play defending state champions Barrington, this Saturday afternoon at 1:45.
December 7, 2007 East Providence 72 North Smithfield 36
The Townies started off the 2007-2008 season with a win over visiting North Smithfield. The team used it speed, and active 2-3 zone defense to get out and push the ball hard up the floor in the first half, opening up a 40-19 halftime lead. The team had a solid rebounding effort and also had a combined 16 team steals. Brianna Am led all scorers with 23 points. Michelle Fleming had a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Stephanie Michalopolous chipped in with 13 points and 4 steals. Amanda Cabral played well making her first varsity start at the point guard position. She set the pace early in the game with Morgan Johnson who also contributed 8 points. The Townies also received good minutes from their bench especially from Michaela Wiggins who contributed 10 points and 6 rebounds. The team still as much work to do as they prepare to get ready to open up league play on Wednesday night against a very good Tiverton team.