Hendricken seeking sixth state title in a row; LaSalle, Barrington aiming for third.
All six of the 2008 boys and girls state championship squads will get a chance to defend those titles at the Ryan Center on the University of Rhode Island campus.
Division 1 Boys
Bishop Hendricken will face Mt. Pleasant, the only in-state opponent to defeat the Hawks during the regular season.
Mt. Pleasant avenged an earlier 17-point defeat to Cranston East with a pulsating 71-68 semifinal win over the Thunderbolts behind 26 points by Billy Soriano and 23 by Frank Robinson. In the last 43 seconds, Robinson hit a baseline jumper and Soriano made three free throws.
For the Thunderbolts, Mike Juarez had 22 points, including four 3-pointers while Kevin Caberera added 19 and Richard Jean-Baptiste 17.
Billy Baron had 24 points and four 3-pointers in the Hawks' 82-39 rout of Cranston West. Matt Barboza added 18 points and Ricky Ledo 15 for the Hawks (19-1), in quest of their sixth straight state title.
The Falcons' high scorer was Ethan Smith with 11 points followed by Bryan Yarce with 10.
Division 1 Girls For the fourth straight season LaSalle Academy and rival Bay View will meet in the finals.
The Rams, two-time defending champions, overwhelmed North Kingstown, 62-29, as Jameilia Dillon tallied 18 points and Torey Jones 12. The Rams have beaten each of their last two playoff opponents by more than 30 points.
Taylor Bastien and Soyria Giraud led the Skippers with seven each.
In a dramatic semifinal win, Bay View drilled 11 3-pointers to beat South Kingstown, 49-48. Bryar Botelho hit five of those treys to account for all 15 of her pointns. But in the Bengals' comeback from a seven-point halftime deficit, it took a 10-foot jumper with 10 seconds left by Nicole Vargas to seal the win.
Allie Jones led the Rebels with 16 points followed by Annie Lawler with 12 and Meg Morrissey 10.
Division 2 Boys
The tourney's two top seeds - defending state champion Classical and Narragansett - both received scares before winning its semifinal games.
Classical was extended to overtime by Scituate before prevailing, 53-49, on late clutch shooting by Michael Palumbo (17) and key plays by Ashton Watkins (14 points, 18 rebounds, 5 blocks and 5 steals).
The Mariners received solid performances from Jared Hanson and Zach Caron, whose 3-pointer tied the score in regulation. Watkins blocked two shots to send the contest into overtime and scored the go-ahead basket in the extra session. Palumbo scored 8 of the Purple's 11 points in overtime.
Narragansett trailed, 32-21, at halftime, then began forcing turnovers and charged back behind Jay Jeannotte (16) and contributions by Austin Shephard (12), Nate Patterson (10) and Brendan Kenny (9).
The Oakers had three players in double figures, led by Trevor Dimicco with 14, Matt Willard 12 and Adam Cloutier 10.
Division 2 Girls
Barrington will be trying for a three-peat after wrangling a 57-51 win over Portsmouth in overtime. Kelly Mannix dominated play with 29 points and 18 rebounds but it was Lisa Kwolek's game-tying, 15-foot jumper with 1.6 seconds in regulation left that gave the Eagles a chance to pull it out in the extra session.
Sarah Ethier had 16 points and Michelle Senteio 14 for Portsmouth.
Woonsocket had a balanced scoring attack and held Prout to just 15 points in the second half to pull away for a convincing 64-38 win. Koko Olowookere had 15, Ashley Dubois 14, Brooke Coderre 11 and Kailey Fugere 10 for the Villa Novans who qualified for their first-ever state finals berth.
Kellie Welsh paced the Crusaders with 10 points.
Division 3 Boys
The same squads who met last year in the state finals will match up again.
Five starters in double figures helped Central Falls win for the 19th straight time, 74-60, over Mt. St. Charles. Antonio Pena had 20, George Carle 15, Rob Alers and Luis Pena 13 each and Angel Gonzalez 11 for the Warriors seeking their first state title in 22 years.
The Mounties' Ryan Pangborn led all scorers witjh 23.
Moses Brown relied on 24 points by Anjuwon Spence to outlast North Smithfield, 51-45, in overtime. Spence scored six of the Quakers nine points in overtime
Matt Chiccarelli had 19 points for North Smithfield.
Division 3 Girls
Top seed Central Falls will meet up with Hope for the third time this season after overwhelming Mt. Pleasant, 44-15. Central Falls allowed just three field goals in a romp over the Kilties with Valarie Biasconchea leading the Way for the Warriors with 11 points
Hope will be defending its title after Mikaela Garvin scored 14 points for the Blue Wave in a 31-23 win over Fatima. Meaghan Welford led Fatima with 11 points.
