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Defending Division I state baseball champion Cranston West has picked up where it left off last season.

Through games of April 18, the Falcons (5-0) were tied for first place with Hendricken in Division 1 Central.

And like any good team, the Falcons are doing it with pitching and hitting.

Just check their last three games:

• Rich Reo pitched no-hit ball until the sixth inning – the second time this season he’s lost a no-hitter in the sixth – and Frank Pettinato and Tony Crudale each collected three hits and two RBI in a 7-1 victory over Pilgrim.
• Ryan Long scattered six hits and went the distance as the Falcons edged East Providence, 3-2.
• Rob DeCosta led the last of the seventh with a solo home run which snapped a tie and gave the Falcons a 3-2 triumph over Cranston East.

In other games of note:

• La Salle’s Caleb Gardner went the distance on a three-hitter, striking out 10 in the process, as the Rams beat Lincoln, 3-1. Frank D’Amato’s two-run homer and Jon Lapolla’s solo blast accounted for the Rams’ scoring.
• Kyle Tracey threw only 95 pitches and went nine innings as Cranston East nipped Warwick Vets, 3-2.
• Scituate’s Scott Iacobucci tossed a no-hitter, replete with 11 whiffs and only one walk, as the Spartans blanked Davies, 14-0, in a Division II-North game.

LAWSON TOPS ALL-STATE BASKETBALL TEAM
Senior forward Jarell Lawson led Central to the state basketball championship, the Knights’ first in 20 years.

Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise when he was named First Team All-State.

Lawson averaged 19 points and 10.9 rebounds for the 19-4 Knights.

Joining Lawson on the First Team are North Kingstown senior center Evan Scott (he averaged 16.7 ppg. and tied the school record with 69 blocked shots); West Warwick senior forward Ryan Lawton (20.1 ppg. and 1.35 rpg.); La Salle junior guard Tom Hunt (18.9 ppg.); and, for the second consecutive year, St. Raphael junior guard Charles Correa (20.4 ppg. and 7.5 assists per game).

Second Team honors were accorded to St. Raphael senior forward Cesar Mejia, Hope senior forward Emmanuel Kargbo, Mount Pleasant sophomore guard Kip Stewart, North Providence senior guard Austin Van Bemmelen, Westerly junior guard Austin Cilley and West Warwick senior guard John Morrison.

WAS SILVA PUSHED OUT THE DOOR?
As is the case with many schools, coaches must apply for their positions on an annual basis regardless of their tenure.

That was the case with Mount Hope head football coach Ron Silva. But in what was anything but a “harmonious meeting,” Silva exited his session with school administrators after confirming he would not apply to remain the Huskies’ coach for the 2012 season.

In five seasons at the helm, Silva compiled a 22-19 record in Division II games and guided the Huskies to the playoffs four times.

Mount Hope advanced to the 2009 Super Bowl where it was blanked, 19-0, by Woonsocket.

Silva indicated he would like to continue coaching and noted he’s already received a few offers.

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At the risk of using a horse-racing metaphor, Cranston West High recorded a “daily double” when Words Unlimited announced its award winners for the 2011 calendar year.

Jeff Diehl, who starred in basketball and baseball, was voted the Schoolboy Athlete of the Year while Falcons baseball coach Rob Malo was voted the Schoolboy Sports Coach of the Year.

Diehl, a senior, led the Falcons to the first-ever Division I basketball championship in school history.

Then, in the spring, he hit .537 with six home runs and 27 RBI as the Falcons compiled a 13-5 regular-season record. His production was a major reason why Cranston West won the Division I state championship.

When June rolled around, Diehl was selected in the 23rd round by the New York Mets.

Malo replaced veteran and eminently successful coach Chuck Jones in 2007 – two years after the Falcons won their first Division I state baseball title since 1975.

The Falcons finished the 2011 season on top of the Division I pile as they spotted North Kingstown a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three finals and won the next two games to capture the state championship.

On the distaff side, La Salle’s twin sisters Madison and McKenzie Meehan were voted co-Schoolgirl Athletes of the Year while Barrington cross-country coach Annmarie Marino was named the Schoolgirl Sports Coach of the Year.

Last fall, Madison Meehan led the country in assists with 44 while McKenzie led the nation in scoring with 80 goals as the Rams won their fourth consecutive Division I state soccer championship.

Each Meehan also earned All-State honors the previous winter as the Rams annexed their fifth straight state indoor title.

Marino guided the Eagles to both the Class A and State championships. The state title was the first in school history since 1994.

Words Unlimited is the statewide organization of sportswriters, sportscasters and sports publicists.

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Those of a certain age remember the slogan for Timex watches: “They take a licking and keep on ticking.”

The same could be said of the St. Raphael Academy boys’ basketball team.

Defending CIAC Class L champion New London smacked the Saints upside the head last Saturday en route to a 66-55 victory at the CCRI Knight Campus Fieldhouse.

With the memory of that loss still fresh in their minds, the Saints took the floor Tuesday night for a key, early-season game against Central.

The Saints edged the Knights, 57-54, and remained atop the Interscholastic League’s new Power Points Standings with a 6-0 record (SRA is 9-1 overall).

Leading the way was SRA’s 1-2 punch of Charles Correa and Cesar Mejia.

Correa, who struggled to score 15 points against New London, led both teams with 19 points while Mejia chipped in with 18 (before the game, Mejia was honored for having scored his 1000th career point earlier in the season).

Granted, the game was marked by a series of turnovers. But when clutch time rolled around, SRA held Central (5-1, 5-2) to four free throws in the final minute.

Conversely, while the Saints were soaring, perennial state power Hendricken High’s Hawks were floundering. At the moment, the Hawks are 1-4 and rank 33rd in the Power Points standings.

Given the new rules changes imposed for this season, one of which requires a team to win at least 40 percent of its league games to qualify for post-season play, the Hawks could be in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in decades.

The top 32 teams qualify.

Hendricken absorbed a brutal 55-53 loss at the hands of arch-rival La Salle on Jan. 3, which did zero to bolster the team’s confidence.

Among other things, a lack of offense has been the proverbial Achilles’ heel for the Hawks who’ve been minus their top returning player, Lee Messier, who’s been sidelined with a sprained ankle.

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WARWICK, R.I. -- With a bounce in his step and genuine grin in his visage, Kris Dunn reveled in the post-game mini-mob of cameraphones and autograph seekers at CCRI-Warwick's gym, all looking to get a piece of the kid that just put on a clinic.

Some shy away from the constant attention. Then there's Dunn, who seems to bask in the attention and -- if tonight's game was any indication -- saves his best performances for the biggest stage.

"Actually, it's a great feeling," the Providence signee and nation's No. 2 point guard smiled, when asked about the signage requests. "It kinda feels like you're in the NBA, just seeing kids that look up to you, you're kind of their hero a little bit. It's a great feeling for me."

Local pride at stake? Sure. But when it boiled down, this was what the 1,000-plus on hand at CCRI-Warwick's gymnasium had come to see: this 6-foot-3 gazelle of a point guard, considered by some as New England's top college prospect, as pure a scorer some say you'll find in the Northeast.

Darting around at a pace that was at once breakneck and breathtaking, New London's All-Everything leader did not disappoint. Tonight's game was billed as a matchup between two heavyweights, with the defending CIAC Class L champs going up against defending RIIL champ St. Raphael and its junior point guard Charles Correa -- a 5-foot-8 waterbug considered the Ocean State's top junior, and with Division 1 interest beginning to take root.

Running the point on offense and manning the post on defense, Dunn racked up 32 points, 22 rebounds, four steals and four assists, as the Whalers won going away, 66-55.

But it wasn't just the way Dunn ran up court, it was the way he ran with authority that had so many in the stands cheering him on tonight; had so many recruiting analysts throwing praise over the last nine months; and had even one nationally-respected analyst calling him the Friars' most important backcourt recruit since God Shammgod.

Over and over on the defensive end, Dunn would spring towards the rim, grab the loose ball and immediately turn up court with a full head of steam. Rinse and repeat at the other end, where Dunn picked up 12 offensive rebounds on the night.

St. Raphael head coach Tom Sorrentine tried everything to slow him down -- full court man-to-man, traps at halfcourt, zone defenses, bringing his bigs up to the foul line to cut him off. But for most of the night, the Saints had to resort to physically trying to force him to a dead stop, picking up plenty of fouls along the way.

Dunn went to the line for a total of 20 free throw attempts, hitting 16 of them. Most of the trips to the line came from fouls on the floor.

"You gotta try and get the ball out of his hands," Sorrentine said. "And he's a great passer, too. He's tough. He turned the whole game around. I mean, he just makes you do things that you're not used to doing."

Playing all but the last two minutes tonight, Dunn appeared visibly fatigued at times -- all that jumping will do that to you. But he says he was prepared for the physical tone of tonight's game.

"I was in the weight room during the summer, and during the football season, so I was ready for something like this," Dunn said. "You've just got to keep going."

Maybe this should come as no surprise that Dunn manned the safety spot during the fall-- "strong safety, so I'm coming up to hit," he added with a chuckle.

When asked to make a comparison, Sorrentine barely let the reporter finish his sentence before calling upon former Friars great Marshon Brooks, a first-round pick last June who's currently playing for the New Jersey Nets.

"I think he's just like Marshon. He's long, he gets to where he wants to go," Sorrentine said. "He can get by you, know what I mean? You can think that you're covering him, and next thing you know he's by you. He's got those long legs, long arms...typical Marshon for me. That's what I said the first time I saw him [last season, a 100-72 loss to New London]."

And to think, this was a matchup that nearly wasn't. Over the summer, Dunn reportedly transferred to Wilbraham & Monson Academy, a prep school in Western Massachusetts, where he was set to team up with close friend Andre Drummond. But after a talk with his family, and a late-summer bolt to UConn by Drummond, Dunn returned to New London; and with his return, the Whalers are a favorite to repeat as state champions.

Seeing all this before him -- the sellout capacity crowd, the ooh's and aah's, the post-game crowds -- Dunn was asked if the return to New London has been worth it.

And as usual, he couldn't hide his emotions.

"Most definitely," he smiled. "This is all where it started, when I was a freshman. The New London community has always shown me love, ever since I was a freshman, so I just want to keep it going, and show my people that I'm going to show love back to them."

WARWICK, R.I. –- Granted, defending CIAC Class L champion New London High is led by All-World point guard Kris Dunn.

But the fact the Whalers play tenacious defense is just as important to their success.

Just ask defending Rhode Island Division I champion St. Raphael Academy.

New London held the Saints to 39.6 percent (19-for-48) shooting and broke open a relatively close game in the second half en route to a 66-55 victory Saturday night before an SRO crowd at the CCRI Knight Campus Fieldhouse.

“I thought we played good, solid, man-to-man defense tonight,” Whalers coach Craig Parker said. “I thought we did a good job on their point guard (Charles Correa) for the most part. Our defense was stellar tonight.”

One sequence underscored Parker’s analysis.

New London (7-2) began the second half leading 36-30.

After the first three minutes, the Whalers had hit on only one of 11 shots – yet they still maintained a six-point lead (40-34) because the Saints (9-1) missed six of their first seven shots.

Dunn had a typical game (by his standards) as he torched the Saints for 32 points, including 88.9 percent (16-for-18) shooting at the free throw line.

Keith Porter added 15 points while Doug Hinton chipped in with 11.

Conversely, SRA didn’t receive the type of performance it’s accustomed to seeing from Dunn’s counterpart, Correa, who was the MVP of last year’s state championship game.

Correa scored 15 points and didn’t notch his first two until almost 11 minutes had elapsed in the first half. And even more significant was the fact he “batted” .000 (0-for-6) from the line.

“We played him last year in New London and we knew he was real quick off the dribble and he would shoot from anywhere,” Parker said. “My assistant scouted him last week against Cranston East (Correa scored 28 points in a 78-67 win over the Thunderbolt) so we had an idea.”

Wrong focus: While Dunn without question had an idea of what he was going to do in this highlight inter-state game, the same couldn’t be said of Correa.

For the majority of the first half, he forced shots – some from beyond what would have been the NBA’s 3-point arc. And perhaps the play that typified his performance came with 10:08 left in the game and New London leading 43-34.

Correa stole the ball and raced down the court for what should have been an unmolested layup – only to miss the shot.

“It was a big challenge … it was Dunn and him,” SRA coach Tom Sorrentine said. “I think he took it personal and it kind of got into his head a little bit. He ended up taking some bad shots. He made bad choices at certain times.

“We needed to set things up. It wasn’t only him (the only other Saint to reach double figures was Cesar Mejia with 19 points). But if he has a good game, we’re right there. It just wasn’t a good night for him. He’s usually money, but not tonight.”

Money in the bank: Dunn was more than money.

If anything, he was all the gold in Fort Knox.

“The thing is we couldn’t stop Dunn,” Sorrentine said. “We tried everything. We tried to play him full-court man and then pick him up and double him. That wasn’t working because he was getting to the hoop.

“Then, we tried to zone the whole thing. We put our big guys at the top to try and drive him out of there and he still got to the hoop. He’s so long. He’s like (former Providence College star and current New Jersey Net) Marshon Brooks.”

Setting the tone: New London led 12-11 roughly midway through the first half when it hit SRA with a 12-2 run – Dunn scoring seven of those points. He even tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer for that 36-30 lead which ended a half during which SRA shot a modest 42.9 percent (9-for-21).

“We always emphasize defense at New London,” Parker said. “We have some good, quick athletic kids. That’s our thing, to be honest with you.

“And to be honest with you, we haven’t been a real good defensive team this year. This was our best defensive effort. It’s tough to get kids to play defense because they come alive on the offensive end. But, again, it was our best defensive effort of the year so far.”

ESPN Boston will be out in full force on Saturday night to cover a match-up with two reigning state champions, as Connecticut’s New London High School meets Rhode Island’s Saint Raphael Academy.

At the heart of the match-up is the promising individual battle between New London’s Kris Dunn and Saint Raphael’s Charles Correa, arguably the top two players in their respective state associations.

While the Providence-bound Dunn’s notoriety far outweighs Correa’s on the national level, recruiting doesn’t mean a thing in Saturday’s game. It’s simply a matter of which player can do more to help their team get a win, and when it comes to that department, Correa is no one’s pushover.

Here’s a Tale of the Tape to assess how the matchup might play out:

PHYSICAL TOOLS

Size & Length: At six-foot-three with long arms, wide shoulders, and a rapidly emerging physique, Kris Dunn has as good of a basketball body as any lead guard in the country. Correa doesn’t have nearly the same size or length, but has a strong core and a good knack for how to create space. That will help, but ultimately he’s going to be fighting an uphill battle in this department as the size and length disparity would be enough to give anyone problems.
Advantage – Dunn

Quickness & Athleticism: Dunn has tremendous end to end speed with the ball in his hands, and is an absolute blur in the open floor. The length of his strides supplements what is already an explosive build to allow him to cover an incredible amount of ground exceptionally quickly. Correa’s explosiveness is based more off quick starts and stops. He varies his speeds to perfection, is quick out of his stance on both ends of the floor, and is shifty enough to maximize his tools in the quarter court. Dunn’s size and length advantage is only magnified by superior vertical athleticism, as he consistently plays above the rim while Correa’s game comes under the ten foot barrier.
Advantage – Dunn

BALL SKILLS

Passing: Both of these guys are scorers by nature. That’s not to say they aren’t capable of seeing the floor and making those around them better –- they can and do. But when the game is on the line and it comes time to show their bread and butter, both guys are going to look to make a play for themselves and allow instinct to take over depending on how the defense reacts to their penetration. Both are versatile enough to make interior shovel passes to their big men, kick out to shooters, or hit a cutter on the move.
Advantage – Draw

Shooting: Dunn’s three-point range is much improved in the last year, but on the surface this is the most notable advantage Correa has going into Saturday’s match-up. He’s an old-school sniper who can’t be left unchecked from behind the three-point line, knows how to utilize screens to get his shot off, and has the rare ability to make tough shots while squaring in the air or firing off his back foot. If the two were competing in a three-point contest, Correa would likely win easily, but within the context of the game, Dunn’s length will help to neutralize Correa’s advantage as it will allow the future Providence guard to shoot over the top of his defender while forcing Correa to speed up his release in order to get his shot off.
Advantage – Correa

Ballhandling: Ultimately, ballhandling comes down to two things –- the ability to make a play with the bounce, and the ability to handle the ball against pressure to make decisions. When it comes to playmaking, these guys go about it in different ways. Dunn is more of a straight line driver, while Correa is a little flashier with his handle. When handling against pressure, both can be sped up at times; and while Correa looks to flatten pressure more often than not, Dunn is able to see and pass over the top of it.
Advantage – Draw

DEFENSE AND REBOUNDING

On the Ball: Both players look to utilize their quickness and other physical tools to their advantage. Dunn’s going to pressure the ball and attempt to use the length of his strides to keep the man in front, and the length of his arms to poke at the ball and get deflections. Correa can turn his smaller frame into an asset by getting into the ball-handler and utilizing his lower center of gravity to stand up the dribbler, giving him ideal position to get steals. The difference maker is Dunn’s motor, as he never lets up on this end of the floor.
Advantage – Dunn

Off the Ball: There may not be a better passing lane defender in New England than Dunn. New London’s calling card is their press, and often times they let Dunn play the second line in order to utilize his anticipation skills to pick off passes and create subsequent transition opportunities. In fact, I would estimate that close to 50 percent of his offensive production comes in the open floor as a result of some type of defensive play. This is one area that really separates Dunn from his peers, as most high school players -- Correa included -- have a tendency to rest when on the weak side of the floor defensively.
Advantage – Dunn

On the Glass: Dunn may be a guard, but his rebounding numbers are among the CIAC’s best through the first three weeks of the season. His size and athleticism allows him to rise up to rebound above traffic, while his nose for the ball enables him to rebound well outside his area, both inside and out. This is another area where Correa’s physical tools don’t give him the same potential ability as Dunn, but it’s also not as much of a focal point for him.
Advantage – Dunn

INTRINSIC FACTORS

Experience: Dunn is far more battle-tested on the national level. He’s played on center court at all the country’s biggest stages, from the NBA Camp to the Adidas Super 64 to AAU Nationals. But when it comes to strictly high school basketball, Correa is just as proven. He led his team to a state title as just a sophomore, and has battled New England’s best throughout his AAU career. Don’t discount the unofficial home-court advantage in this one, as Correa and Saint Raphael are likely to have more fans and familiarity with the arena at CCRI Warwick than Dunn and New London.
Advantage – Draw

Motivation: New London has been taking on all challengers to start the season, including matchups with perennial Connecticut powerhouses like Hillhouse, Trinity Catholic, and St. Joseph’s. With a matchup against one of New York’s best -- Queens powerhouse Cardozo High School -- on tap for later this month, this is just another blip on the radar. But for Correa and St. Raphael, this might as well be the Final Four. The game is an opportunity not just for the team to prove itself, but also for them to legitimize RIIL basketball on the whole. For Correa, a match-up with the second-ranked point guard in the country is the biggest stage he’s going to have to prove his worth to evaluators and college coaches.
Advantage – Correa

Leadership: Dunn’s return for his senior season has been cause for celebration in New London, and by spurning the bigger stage of prep school basketball in order to return home he has only helped to solidify his role as this team’s unquestioned leader. The fact that Dunn is also his team’s best defender and rebounder makes him all the more "follow-able" by his teammates’ standards. By contrast, Correa has his teammates’ faith on the offensive end and they rely on him to make big plays down the stretch of games, but whether or not they look up to him with the same wide range as New London does Dunn, remains to be seen.
Advantage – Dunn

BOTTOM LINE

While recruiting may have nothing to do with Saturday’s match-up between Kris Dunn and Charles Correa, ultimately the methodology may prove to be somewhat similar. Dunn’s size, length, and versatility are at the heart of what helped to propel him atop the national rankings this summer. This weekend, it could be those same tools that prove to be the deciding factor in his match-up with Correa. The St. Raphael guard may actually have a slight edge in terms of sheer offensive skills, but when those skills are put to the test in the context of a full court game, Dunn’s total package could prove too much to handle.

Adam Finkelstein is the founder and editor of the New England Recruiting Report and also covers recruiting in the northeast for ESPN Scouts Inc. Adam has the rare distinction of having coached or scouted at the high school, NCAA, and NBA levels, having worked as a Division I assistant at the University of Hartford and spent three years under the NBA's director of scouting Marty Blake.

Choose your cliché:

The clock struck midnight and Cinderella turned into a pumpkin.

The air went out of the balloon.

The ceiling caved in.

Each of the above is applicable when describing the improbable run tiny Tiverton High made to the finals of the first open boys’ basketball tournament since 1966.

No. 5 seed and long-time Division I power St. Raphael Academy annexed the seventh state championship in school history when it beat No. 11 seed and long-time Division II / Division III member Tiverton, 58-47.

It also prevented the Tigers from writing a “Hoosiers-like” ending to what could have been a Hollywood script.

But, first, credit must be paid to coach Tom Sorrentine’s Saints, who also beat No. 9 North Providence, 66-48 in the semifinals and No. 13 West Warwick, 68-60 in the quarterfinals, and won their first state title since 2002.

Tiverton built a 24-19 halftime lead before SRA rallied behind sophomore point guard Charles Correa, who poured in a game-high 21 points and was voted tourney MVP honors.

Defense also played a key in SRA’s win as the Saints played a box-and-one defense on Gunnar Bjornson, who led the state in scoring. Bjornson did score 15 points but that was 10 below his average. And he was held to zero three-point baskets.

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For those of a certain age, it was the equivalent of the U.S. Calvary coming to the rescue in an old John Wayne movie. But there wasn’t anything “entertaining” about the facts leading up to the crisis.

As February dawned on the calendar, the Cranston School Committee was on the verge of eliminating all sports at the city’s two high schools – Cranston East and Cranston West. The move would have been part of an attempt to eliminate a projected $3.7-million deficit in the proposed school budget for the 2011-12 academic year.

But nearly at the last moment, the New England Laborers/Cranston Public Schools Construction Career Academy’s board of directors opted to transfer a $79,928 surplus from its budget to restore all varsity sports. (The latter is a joint effort of the New England Laborers Union and the Cranston Public Schools). Otherwise, the School Committee would have been left with few options and varsity sports like football, basketball, hockey and baseball would have become a distant memory.

As it is, funding is still lacking for freshman football, basketball and baseball. That was the case last year at this time but private donations enabled the School Committee to restore freshman football. But at the moment, any word of similar donations is still lacking.

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St. Raphael Academy bused to Johnston High on Nov. 12 for a football game and a basketball game broke out.

How else to explain the fact SRA out-gunned the Panthers, 56-50 –- in overtime, no less?

First, as a means of explanation.

Due to the quirky nature of Rhode Island Interscholastic League football, the top four teams in Division II-A and II-B commenced quarterfinal play last weekend -- while teams in the other three divisions were still jockeying for berths in their respective tournaments.

Quarterback Trevor Vasey, son of one-time SRA head coach Todd Vasey, did his best Tom Brady impersonation as he riddled the Panthers for 295 yards and five touchdowns.

Despite his aeronautic proficiency, the Saints trailed 42-28 in the fourth quarter before Andrew Pognon forced overtime by reeling off a 36-yard touchdown run.

Johnston quickly went four-and-out before SRA won it on a 12-yard run by Charles Correa.

The Saints thus advanced to the semifinals on Nov. 30 against cross-town rival Tolman.

The Tigers, who captured the II-B title with a 7-0 record, eked out a 6-0 victory over Westerly on a 35-yard touchdown run by quarterback Joselito Knapp in the fourth quarter.

Woonsocket, who finished second to Tolman, maintained its chances of retaining the Division II championship by beating Central, 34-14.

The game wasn’t anywhere near as close as the final score might indicate because Woonsocket built a 27-0 lead after three quarters on a 35-yard touchdown run by Jalen Evans, a 37-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Reyes to Jesse Charette, a 39-yard run by Orlan Thomas and a 35-yard run by Edwin Jones.

Woonsocket will tackle Chariho in the other semifinal game on Nov. 30.

The Chargers beat Mount Hope in the teams’ quarterfinal game as Coltan Place ran for touchdowns of 22 yards in the first quarter and 21 yards in the fourth.

EXTRA POINTS
Hendricken’s Hawks displayed the mettle last week that, again, stamped them as the team to beat in the Division I Tournament.

The fact Hendricken belted Barrington, 38-14, to clinch its first undefeated league record in 15 years at 8-0 (the Hawks are 10-0 overall but play a non-league game against Toll Gate on Thanksgiving), only told part of the story.

Head coach Todd Croft missed virtually all of practice leading up to the Barrington game because his four-month-old son was recuperating from brain surgery.

In addition, Hendricken was minus All-State running back Ethan Ferreira whose season came to an end the previous week when he fractured a leg.

Quarterback Mike Maloof gave the Hawks a lead they wouldn’t relinquish when he threw first-half touchdown pass of nine yards to Zach Pacula and 45 yards to Rob Manning.

The Eagles, who captured the 2009 Division I Super Bowl, could be on the outside looking in since they also lost their previous game 28-21, to East Providence as Townie quarterback Rob Delgado accounted for three touchdowns.

Barrington (5-3) has completed its league season while the Townies (5-2), who belted winless South Kingstown 28-7 last Saturday (Delgado ran for 135 yards and two scores, has its Thanksgiving Day clash against La Salle (4-3) remaining.

Should La Salle win, it would create a three-way tie for the last two playoff berths in Division I, which means tiebreakers will determine which teams will join Hendricken and Portsmouth (6-2) in the tournament.

Elsewhere:

• Division III champ Rogers (7-0, 8-1) tuned up for the playoffs by routing Division I North Kingstown, 34-6, thanks to three touchdowns by Chris Savage.
• Mount Pleasant (8-0) clinched the Division IV title by beating Exeter/West Greenwich, 43-23 behind Tevin Dale’s 150 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

GETTING THEIR ‘KICKS’
Barrington, Smithfield and Classical emerged as the state’s three boys’ soccer champions.

The Eagles captured the 11th Division I title in school history by edging Shea, 2-1, on a pair of goals by Jeff Craven. Despite the loss, the season was memorable for the Raiders who were playing for the first time in the state’s top division.

East Greenwich entered the Division II finale riding a 38-game unbeaten streak which dated back to the 2008 season. Smithfield made that streak history by edging the Avengers, 3-2, behind the play of tourney MVP Alex Bedrossian who scored two goals.

Classical capped a season for the ages by beating Exeter/West Greenwich, 3-1, due in large part to the play of defender Jose Zarraga who was voted the tournament’s MVP. En route to winning their first state title since 1984, the Purple compiled an 18-1-1 overall record.

All wasn’t lost for the Scarlet Knights since their girls’ team nipped Lincoln, 2-1, for the Division II crown – the first in the 19-year history of girls’ soccer at the school.

Freshman Kara Shaw scored with barely eight minutes left in regulation to give EWG the title.

La Salle maintained its dominance in Division I by blanking East Greenwich, 1-0, in the finals – Mackenzie Meehan scoring the game’s lone goal with two minutes left in regulation.

For the Rams, this was their third consecutive Division I state title as well their eighth in the last 10 years.

Narragansett, meanwhile, won its first state title since 1988 when it annexed the Division II crown by blanking Middletown, 1-0, in the Division III finals. Carla Porras’ goal midway through the second half proved to be all the scoring the Mariners would need.

RUNNING WILD
Cranston West’s Bob Allen wrote his name in the Interscholastic League’s record book by posting a cross-country version of a “double double.”

Allen captured the state championship on Nov. 7 by touring the 3.1-mile course at Ponaganset High in 15:30.86.

In the process, Allen became only the second runner (male or female) in school history to win the state cross-country title.

Then, one week later, Allen journeyed to Thetford, Vt..and won the New England Championship in a time of 16:28.5.

La Salle’s Molly Keating retained her title in the girls’ state championship race.

Hendricken’s boys won a third consecutive team title while the Rams extended their streak of consecutive team titles to four.

Mike Scandura has been covering high school sports, college basketball and hockey and minor league baseball in Rhode Island since the early 1970s. A native of Oswego, N.Y., he’s a member of the Words Unlimited Hall of Fame, which is the statewide organization of sportswriters, sportscasters and sports publicists.