Prout Jolts Johnston, Advances to Finals

WARWICK – The Prout School boys knew that they were going to need their A-game if they were going to beat the number one boys' basketball team in Division III.

Led by John King with a game-high 26 points, the Crusaders graded out a straight-A performance, combining just the right blend of aptitude and attitude to get past the top-seeded Johnston Panthers, 51-44, in the second of the two semifinal matches played Friday night at CCRI's Vin Cullen Field House.

"This is probably the best win that we have had in the program's history," Prout head coach Eric Simonelli said. " I am just proud of our team."

After some initial stumbling by both teams, Prout took the opening lead, and slowly extended it throughout the first half. At intermission, the Crusaders were up by 13, 30-17.

"We scored 17 points at the half, that is not indicative of how we can play," Johnston head coach Steve DeMeo Sr. said. "That is the credit for Prout."

What Prout did was to take Johnston's two star players, McDonald's All-American nominee Isaac Medeiros and sharpshooter Ryan Anderson, out of their respective games.

"Our game plan was to lock down Ryan Anderson, and double-team Isaac," Simonelli said. "We did a great job executing the game plan, [and I] give all the credit to the guys on the court. Ben [Thompson] did a great job doubling in the post, forcing them to take shots, tough shots in the paint, and he really rebounded for us, which was key. And Justin [Bristol] with his length frustrated Isaac and forced him to get into foul trouble.  Without him [Isaac] on the floor, they are a different team."

The assignment of locking down Anderson fell to Prout sophomore Eric Rameika, who was basically joined at the hip with Anderson all game. 

"They did a tremendous job on Ryan, we were trying to set screens and trying to free him up," DeMeo said after the game. "Rameika did an outstanding job."

For the season, Anderson averages 15 points per game. Last night he had zero.

Even up by 13 at the half, the Prout coach knew that continuing to contain Johnston would be a challenge.

"This team [Johnston] is 17-1 for a reason, they weren't going to go away, we weren't going to win this game by 30," Simonelli said. "They obviously were playing for their season as well."

In the second half, the Panthers came back like wildcats with a full-court pressure. 

Prout was a bit shaky against Johnston's press, which enabled the Panthers to claw their way back in, eventually tying things up at 38 at the 7:40 mark. While Johnston hung close down the stretch, Prout did just enough, from the field and from the foul line, to hold on for the win.

"We just needed to weather the storm, control the tempo, and get the ball in the hands of the guys that can make plays, and obviously John [King] just torched them tonight," Simonelli said.

The losing coach agreed with the last part of that assessment.

"If John King is going to be on the free throw line then you know, it is money in the bank," DeMeo said.  "John King, if I had a vote, he would be an All-Stater."

Next up

In defeating Johnston, Prout earned the opportunity to continue their tournament journey and their quest for a championship banner.

In Friday's other semifinal, East Greenwich edged Sanchez, 53-49.

Prout will play East Greenwich at the CCRI gym Sunday at 8:30 p.m. for the Division III title.

"They have five guys that can all play," Simonelli said in reference to his East Greenwich adversaries.  "They have about five guys that all average about 12 points a game, so it's really just going to come down to controlling those five guys, beating their press. They are pretty long and lanky and they do a good job in their 2-2-1 pressure and their diamond press."

DeMeo had his own thoughts on the subject of the only two Division III teams that have beaten his team this season.

"It will be a joy to watch East Greenwich and Prout match up because they are very similar, size-wise," DeMeo said.  "I seen the game at Prout, the East Greenwich game at Prout, and Prout played a super game.  They match up very well. I would imagine it will go down to the end. It always comes down to free throws."

The winner of Sunday evening's match-up takes home the title of division champion, and also gets the invitation to the state tournament to be held the following week. Despite their loss, Johnston is locked into a state tournament game with Division I Bishop Hendricken, thanks to the Panthers’ regular season title win.

They said it, Friday Night

• "This is definitely our best performance of the season by far. We are just playing out of our minds right now. Against Warwick Vets we did very well and now tonight it carried over, and we just played really well. Tonight our heart was into it. Eric played fantastic, he killed Anderson, [holding him to] zero points.  Ben played really well. Justin defended Isaac like out of this world, so it was overall a team effort."
    --  Prout senior and co-captain John King, regarding the semifinal win over Johnston
• "I think we played very well.  In the second half we had a little bit of a let down, but at the end we stepped it up and hit some clutch free throws that really put us into victory."
    --  Prout senior and co-captain Ben Thompson, regarding the semifinal win over Johnston
• "Offensively in the first half I thought we were exceptional.  We really ran our stuff and we were able to attack the zone and make shots.  We kind of broke down the second half, they pressed us more and we kind of rushed things, missed a couple of shots, but I thought our defense throughout the game was tremendous. Eric Rameika locked down Ryan Anderson to zero points,  Justin Bristol in the low post, double teaming, I thought it was definitely a team effort.  Clearly, offense was not picture perfect but all told it was a great effort."
  --  Prout senior and point guard Holden Bussey, regarding the semifinal win over Johnston
• "We all worked together, King shot the ball really well. Justin, Ben shut them down inside.  I was fortunate enough to lock up Anderson, he is a good shooter.  We controlled the game basically the whole time."
    --  Prout sophomore Eric Rameika, regarding the semifinal win over Johnston

Box Score

1

2

Total

The Prout School

30

21

51

Johnston High School

17

27

44

_

Player Stats 

Prout School

Pts

FGM

3PM

FTM

FTA

John King

26

6

3

11

16

Justin Bristol

7

1

0

5

6

Eric Rameika

6

3

0

0

0

Ben Thompson

4

2

0

0

0

Doug Buonanno

3

1

1

0

0

 Joseph Bove

2

1

0

0

1

Holden Bussey

2

0

0

2

2

Jeff Lamendola

1

0

0

1

2

TOTAL

51

14

4

19

27

Johnston High School

Pts

FGM

3PM

FTM

FTA

David Bubar

13

5

3

0

0

Isaac Medeiros

12

3

0

6

8

Chris Fagbote

9

2

1

4

6

Bret Simas

8

4

0

0

0

Chris Pistacchioi

2

1

0

0

0

 TOTAL

 44

 15

4

10

14

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