Sports
Sports Brief: Johnston Girls B-Ball Squad Defeats Narragansett, 56-35
The victory moves the Lady Panthers one step closer to a sixth divisional title for coach Dan Mazzulla.
The Johnston High School Lady Panthers varsity basketball team secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the Division II tournament on March 3 with a victory over visiting Narragansett High School, 56-35.
With the win, Johnston cleared the first hurdle in its quest to secure a sixth divisional title for outgoing Coach Dan Mazzulla, who has helmed the squad since 1999. The local squad is scheduled to face West Warwick High School on Sunday, March 6, at 1 p.m at Rhode Island College, after the Lady Wizards defeated Tolman, 63-54, on March 2.
Thursday's contest was the first meeting between the Lady Panthers and the Mariners this year; the match-up against the Lady Wizards will likewise mark the first game between Johnston and West Warwick.
Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Early in the first half Thursday night, the Lady Panthers secured a 7-2 lead and continued to open a wide margin over the visiting Mariners. With 3:16 left in the first half, Johnston held a 21-6 lead and capped off the first stanza with an 8-2 run for a 29-8 advantage at the break.
Senior captain Gianna Mazzulla, daughter of the coach, led Johnston scorers with 13 points at the half. Four Mariners scored 2 points each.
Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Narragansett started the second half by keeping pace with the Lady Panthers, 4-4, to bring the score to 33-13 with 13 minutes left in the game. But the home team extended the lead to 25 with an 11-6 run, resulting in a 44-19 tally with just over 8:30 to go.
Johnston capped off the game with 12 more points to Narragansett's 16, resulting is a 56-35 final score.
Mazzulla finished the night with 23 points, while senior captain Alaina DeNoncour added 18 to Johnston's side of the scoreboard. For Narragansett, Maggie Salomone had 18 to lead Mariners scorers.
Watch for Stephen Greenwell's re-cap of the game tomorrow at 10 a.m. here on JohnstonPatch.
Reports for this game were provided in-progress by Stephen Greenwell, Local Editor of NarragansettPatch.
Additional information on top scorers was added after the initial report was filed.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
