Portsmouth High School boys hockey wins Division II title; Rogers loses in D-III championship series

Portsmouth beat Cumberland 3-1 on Saturday to sweep their Division II best-of-three championship series at Providence College's Schneider Arena.
Aaron Towers and Ben Peckham scored in a 16-second span in the second period for a 2-0 Patriots lead.
The Clippers closed within 2-1 early in the third period before Cam Harrigan's empty-net goal with less than a minute remaining sealed the championship for Portsmouth.
Mt. Hope of Bristol beat Rogers 8-5 here earlier in the day in the opening game of the Division III best-of-three championship series.
Conner Gunning and Luke Leys scored two goals each for Rogers. Kraig Paquette added the Vikings’ other goal.
Game 2 is scheduled here for Sunday afternoon at 1.

It's all over

NCAA basketball at the Dunk is all over, at least until Providence College starts playing again next fall.

Tennessee on the verge of advancing to the Sweet 16 with a win over Ohio. The Vols have had a little dunk fest the past few minutes and built a 20-point lead over the upstart Bobcats.

The end of this game will mark the end of Providence's run as an NCAA tournament host. But fans were treated to six pretty entertaining games here on Thursday and Saturday. It's been fun to watch.

Some assistants, please

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl has almost as many assistants on his staff as he does players on his team. I'm sitting right behind the Volunteers bench, and I count 12 assistants, 13 players. Pearl has so many assistants there's no room on the bench for all of them, so a few have overflowed into the media seating.

I've always wondered why basketball coaches in particular need so many subordinates. You'd think that would be too many voices in your ear. Not to mention more hotel rooms and plane tickets for these road trips. If I were the Tennessee athletic director, I'd insist that Pearl fire at least six of them.

Go Gaels

St. Mary's is going to the Sweet 16 after beating No. 2 seed Villanova 75-68 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in the first tournament game of the day. On national TV, the Gaels looked worthy of the spotlight, none of them more than Omar Samhan. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but damn, that kid is good.

After the game, Villanova coach Jay Wright said St. Mary's would get a lot more respect if they played on the East Coast, instead of in California. He also said they could play with anybody in the Big East. I guess we know that now.

Now the Gaels head to Houston to face the Old Dominion-Baylor winner. Samhan said his mom booked a flight to Houston on Selection Sunday, opting to skip Providence. Samhan said the way she put it was, the Gaels just had to win two games and meet her in Houston.

"I'm glad we'll be there, too, because she was going either way," Samhan said. "That's where we get our confidence from, my mom."

Samhan, who seems like a pretty funny guy, was asked where Saturday's win ranks in St. Mary's basketball history.

"You're supposed to be diplomatic with questions like this. Best win ever. Omar Samhan said best win ever," he said.

Exciting finish coming up?

It sure looks like we're heading for a trademark exciting finish in an NCAA tournament game. With 2:49 left, St. Mary's leads Villanova 64-63. Every possession is huge at this point, and the Wildcats just got a key stop on St. Mary's last possession.

Despite the fact that his pick to win it all is down, Scott maintains that he is not nervous.

Tied up

Villanova's Antonio Pena just hit a layup and got fouled. He hit the free throw and we're tied at 51. The Villanova fans are definitely back, and the Wildcats have some momentum for a change.

This is a time when a lot of wannabe Cinderellas disappear. The next few minutes are big for St. Mary's. If the Gaels can answer this Villanova run, they'll be fine. If not, they're in trouble.

St. Mary's 45-40

With five minutes gone in the second half, St. Mary's still leads Villanova, 45-40. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Wildcats can't handle Omar Samhan. Not only does he have a cool name that no one on this coast had ever heard before Thursday, the dude can play ball.

Villanova's right in it, though, and if they can hit some shots, maybe, they can easily get right back in this.

St. Mary's 38-31 at half

St. Mary's leads Villanova 38-31 at halftime at the Dunk. Villanova has no answer for Gaels big man Omar Samhan, who has 15 points. Samhan stopped an 8-0 Villanova run with a three-point play with about a minute to play in the half. Samhan, who had been on the bench with two fouls, came in when a loose ball went out of bounds to the Gaels. He scored, hit his free throw and checked back out.

Solid substitution from SMC coach Randy Bennett.

This team is fun to watch. They play hard, they shoot the ball well, move without the ball, set screens. They're fundamentally sound. Hopefully they can keep this up in the second half and knock off Scott Barrett's predicted national champion.

Gael force

St. Mary's is leading Villanova 27-19 with 6:44 left in the first half. The Gaels look good, as they did on Thursday in beating Richmond. Villanova does not look particularly good, which is also rather similar to what we saw at the Dunk on Thursday.

Scottie Reynolds is 0 for 5 from the floor. Perhaps he's waiting until crunch time so he can hit 15 of 16 free throws and save the day again.

Villanova-St. Mary's under way

The first game of the afternoon is under way at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence. No. 2 seed Villanova and No. 10 St. Mary's just started. Obviously anything can happen in the tournament, but I like St. Mary's chances in this game. Villanova, as previously reported, has not played well of late, and their performance Thursday against Robert Morris wasn't exactly a confidence builder.

Should be interesting, regardless.

Big East hurting

The Big East is one of, if not the best conference in the country, and yet three of the four teams who played yesterday lost. And the one to win, Villanova, was pushed as far as it could be pushed.

It made me think that, although facing tough competition throughout the season prepares you for the tournament, it might actually wear you down. There are no easy nights in the NCAAs, and even the teams that didn't make the NCAAs (Seton Hall, South Florida) are no pushovers.

I think by the time March rolls around, these teams were a bit exhausted. And that's why they'll be watching the rest from the same place I will: the couch.

Stop fouling!

One thing I absolutely cannot stand in basketball is teams fouling at the end of a game they have no chance to win.

If it's close and you can conceivably come back if the other team misses a foul shot or two, fine. I don't like it, but I understand. But why on Earth would Richmond foul St. Mary's players with a minute left and St. Mary's up by 11. Stop that! You're going to lose, why do you want to drag that out any longer?

Luckily, the last 60 seconds went pretty quickly and St. Mary's is an 80-71 winner.

And that wraps up the afternoon games at the Dunk. Now we get a couple hours to stop watching basketball before we regroup for the night games.

Name that tune

Based on the countless hours I've spent watching college basketball games in the Dunkin' Donuts Center, I've arrived at the conclusion that the average college pep band knows only about three songs.

In my time here today, I've heard the same damn songs I heard all season long from Providence College's band. There might be a different note here and there, but it's the same irritating song.

We need some fresh material.

I love this St. Mary's team

They pass well and play technically sound basketball, a high school coach's dream. Only they're a very good Division I team. Looks like the Gaels will be moving on to face Villanova, which has me a bit scared after this afternoon.

Also, I was lost for an hour to a nap, and I wake up and see that No. 4 Vanderbilt has lost to No. 13 Murray State? Goes to show that you can't sleep on anyone in this tournament. ZING!

The NCAA tournament, defined

When the NCAA passed the rule that players had to spend at least one year in college, I figured the rich would get richer and the George Masons of the world would become a thing of the past. And I know it's early, but through the first few games here today, the little guys have been giving the top teams a run for their money.

Villanova was tested, Sam Houston State is all over Baylor and Murray State leads Vanderbilt. Good games all around, which is what this tournament is supposed to be.

On another note, CBS really needs to come up with something better than one channel and regional coverage. We have one game, and while I'm very interested in what's happening in Providence, I'd like to see other games, too.

CBS should do what NBC does with the Olympics and put games on all sister stations, if they have any. Not sure on that one.

Nova survives

Time to take a break, and a breath. Robert Morris took too long to set up their last shot, and it wasn't a good one. Mezie Nwigwe (don't ask me to pronounce that) hoisted one up between two defenders at the buzzer that missed long.

Villanova prevails, 73-70 in overtime. What a game.

Thanks for playing, Robert Morris

The Colonials made a nice run, but it's all over. Villanova has scored the first six points in overtime and leads 64-58 with 2:56 left. Certainly that's not an insurmountable lead, but the Wildcats have all the momentum, and my guess is the RMU players no longer believe they can win.

Too bad.

How can you not love tournament time?

We're three games into the first round, and we have a one-point win, an OT game and a double OT game. Insane!

Overtime!

Robert Morris won't go away, mostly because Villanova refuses to put them away. But regardless, RMU's upset hopes are not gone yet.

Karon Abraham

Kid is amazing. Tiny little guard for Robert Morris just hit a tough shot in the lane to put RMU up 58-56 with 1:03 to play in the second half. I stand by my prediction Robert Morris will lose, but wow. This has turned into a hell of a game.

Tie game

Robert Morris is in trouble. They're tied, and Villanova is coming on strong. The Colonials look to be wilting under the pressure. Can't say I blame them, but there's no way they're winning this game now.

It took all of one game

And my perfect bracket is over.

But I have more pressing issues right now. Damn you Robert Morris, damn you.

Wildcats waiting to pounce

This is starting to look like one of those games that's exciting because the little guy is winning, but the big dog (or big Cat in this case) is just lying in wait for its opportunity to take over. Robert Morris is simply outplaying Villanova right now, but I still have no confidence the Colonials will pull off the upset. Although RMU's Karon Abraham just hit a 3-pointer and was fouled. If he completes the four-point play, the Colonials will be up 42-34 with 11:05 to play.

Should be an interesting 11 minutes. Worried yet, Scott?

If Villanova wins ...

... it will be with little contribution from Scottie Reynolds, who is supposed to be the senior leader of this team. He's struggling against a No. 15 seed, which is mind-boggling. I think he's 1-for-10 from the field.

Not worried one bit

As I sat at my desk at The Daily News yesterday, I pondered over who to pick to the championship: Kansas or Villanova. I wanted to be a bit different than Josh Krueger, who picked the Jayhawks, so I went with the Wildcats, a Final Four team a year ago.

I figured their late-season slide would wake them up for the tournament, but things aren't looking good. They're down six at the half. Still, this has been a second-half team all season long, and my champs WILL get out of the first round.

After that, no promises.

Robert Morris hanging tough

Robert Morris is beating Villanova 28-22 at halftime. Neither team has played particularly well, but maybe we can chalk that up to first-round jitters. At least in the Colonials' case. For Villanova, I'm chalking it up to the funk the Wildcats have been in lately. They better snap out of it in the second half or a lot of people's brackets (including the one from Scott Barrett, who has Villanova winning the title) will be in shambles already.

Villanova stays cold

Villanova has been playing pretty poorly the last few weeks, including the end of the regular season and their brief run in the Big East tournament that ended with a loss to Marquette. Apparently the Wildcats still haven't fixed whatever is broken, because they're losing to Robert Morris right now. It's 17-11 RMU and Villanova is shooting 29.4 percent (5 for 17) from the floor.

Not that Robert Morris is lighting it up. The Colonials are 6 for 16 (37.5 percent) in what, so far, is a pretty ugly game.

Let the games begin

Villanova and Robert Morris are underway in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. No. 15 seed Robert Morris is well represented in the stands, as hordes of Colonials fans made the trip out from Pittsburgh to see their team get smacked by No. 2 Villanova. Good for them. Villanova fans probably figured they can wait to go see the Wildcats in the Sweet 16.

Villanova guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher didn't start the game. Coach Jay Wright made the decision to teach them a lesson of some sort, according to ESPN.com. Not sure what they'll learn from sitting out the first few minutes of a game they'll win by 20, but hey, I'm no coach.

Westmoreland begins road to recovery

Highly regarded Boston Red Sox minor league prospect Ryan Westmoreland underwent successful brain surgery Tuesday in Arizona to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain.

The team made the announcement Tuesday night, saying a five-hour procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Spetzler at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.

A brief team statement said Westmoreland remains in the intensive care unit, "but has come through the surgery well. It added that because of the complexity of the surgery, the 19-year-old outfielder will "face a difficult period initially before beginning his recovery."

"It sounds like very encouraging news," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We're obviously thrilled about that and thankful."

Westmoreland, a former Portsmouth High School star, is one of Boston's top prospects. He left minor league camp on March 4 after suffering from headaches and numbness and was diagnosed the following day at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A cavernous malformation, or cavernoma, is a cluster of abnormal or dilated blood vessels that affects the central nervous system. Symptoms can include bleeding in the brain, seizures and headaches.

Francona received an update on the surgery from general manager Theo Epstein. Dave Ulmschneider, who coached Westmoreland at Portsmouth, received a text message from Ron Westmoreland, Ryan’s father, Tuesday afternoon indicating that the surgery "couldn't have gone any better."

After the surgery, Westmoreland remained in an intensive care unit at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.

The Dunk will be rockin'

Serious college basketball fans likely are excited to see what matchups will be coming this way for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. Well, now that Selection Sunday is upon us, here's who you can expect to see in the Ocean State.

Midwest Region
No. 3 Georgetown (23-10) vs. No. 14 Ohio (21-14)
No. 6 Tennessee (25-8) vs. No. 11 San Diego State (25-8)

South Region
No. 2 Villanova (24-7) vs. No. 15 Robert Morris (23-11)
No. 7 Richmond (26-8) vs. No. 10 Saint Mary's (26-5)

Three of these teams are no stranger to this neck of the woods, with Georgetown and Villanova playing Providence in the Big East and Richmond facing Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10. The first round is Thursday, and the second round is Saturday.

State champs

Portsmouth just defeated Scituate 60-54 in the Division II state championship game at the Ryan Center. Andrew Chrabascz had 30 points and is undoubtedly going to be named the game's MVP.

Congratulations, Patriots.

1 minute to play

Portsmouth is clinging to a three-point lead (55-52) with 1:09 remaining in the second half. Luckily for the Patriots, Scituate doesn't seem to have any shooters capable of knocking down a 3-pointer. But this lead is far from safe. Portsmouth has to stop turning the ball over if they want to take home the title.

Galvin puts Pats up 10

Kevin Galvin just came up with a steal and was fouled on a layup. He hit the free throw for a three-point play and a 10-point Portsmouth lead with 5:46 to play. Now there's 5:17 left and the Patriots lead 51-39.

Portsmouth up three

With 9:49 left, Portsmouth's lead has dwindled to 35-32. With Fagan out, the offense and defense suffered. The rest of the Patriots just seem to be looking to Chrabascz to do it all, and when he tries to do everything, Portsmouth is not at its best.

Portsmouth still leading

Portsmouth is up 35-28 with 11:19, but coach Mike Lunney apparently is not pleased with the way his team is playing. It's hard to make out what he's saying, but he just laid into his players during a timeout. Pat Fagan just committed his third personal foul and is on the bench, which could be bad news for the Patriots.

Portsmouth 31-21 at half

The first half just ended with Portsmouth leading Scituate 31-21. Andrew Chrabascz and Pat Fagan again are leading the Patriots, at both ends. Chrabascz has 12 points and six rebounds. Fagan has 10 points, has been clutch in breaking the Scituate press and is playing inspired defense.

You can't argue with the results of the Portsmouth defense. After all, allowing just 21 points in a half isn't bad. But the Patriots have given up a lot of easy layups because of slow-to-arrive help on Scituate drives.

Division II state final update

The Division II state championship boys basketball game between Portsmouth and Scituate is underway. With nine minutes gone in the first half, Portsmouth leads 16-8. Sophomore superstar Andrew Chrabascz has eight of the Patriots' points so far.

The crowd at URI's Ryan Center seems to be heavily in favor of Portsmouth. There's a lot more Portsmouth red than Scituate blue in the crowd and, aside from one idiot behind me and Rick McGowan who wants a call against Portsmouth on every single play, the PHS faithful are much more audible.

Westmoreland to undergo brain surgery

Ryan Westmoreland, the No. 1 prospect in the Boston Red Sox farm system, will take a medical leave of absence after he was diagnosed with a "cavernous malformation of the brain," the team announced Saturday. The former Portsmouth High School star will undergo surgery on Tuesday.

Westmoreland, who left the team's training facility on March 4, began feeling a tingling sensation, numbness and headaches, and he was diagnosed not long after at Massachusetts General Hospital. According to a report on ESPN.com, he is with his parents, Ron and Robin, in Arizona, where Dr. Robert Spetzler of the Barrow Neurological Institute will perform the surgery.

"The entire Red Sox organization stands in support of Ryan as he courageously deals with this issue," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said in the statement released by the team Saturday night.

"Ryan is a remarkable kid and a talented player, and we understand that many will be concerned about his health. He is getting the best medical attention the world has to offer, and we will have more information soon. Until then - out of respect for Ryan's privacy and at the request of the Westmoreland family - we will not have any further comment."

Check back for updates and read Monday's edition of The Newport Daily News for a full report.