LINCOLN
-- There were two upsets in the preliminary round of the Division II playoffs. Yesterday in the quarterfinals at CCRI, there was yet another.
Barrington knocked off Shea, 67-63, in a down-to-the-wire affair to keep its Cinderella season alive. The 13th-seeded Eagles made fifth-seeded Shea their latest victim, and are peaking at just the right time -- in the playoffs.
"That's an understatement," Eagles coach Jim Dickinson said. "We've been trying to get seven guys to play since the beginning of Febuary and we have finally found a rotation that works. The kids are starting to believe that they can do it."
There were eight lead changes in the second half alone, and when Mark McAndrew made it 61-61 with 1:13 left on the clock on a 3-pointer that brought the Eagles' fans to their feet and spelled doom for the Raiders.
Shea turned the ball over on its next possession and Barrington made the Raiders pay as Trevor Chaloux connected on a layup with 27 seconds left. Shea answered on an Emmanual Joia layup that made it 63-63.
Barrington then got the ball to center Rob Pearson, who was fouled on a short shot with two seconds left.
After Shea called a timeout to ice the 6-foot-6 center, Pearson hit the first free throw but missed the second and Shea called a timeout with two seconds left. Shea attempted a full-court pass, but Evandro Vaz's pass hit the rafters, giving Barrington the ball back. Barrington got the ball in to Pearson, who hit a jumper and was fouled with one second left. Pearson put the game out of Shea's grasp when he hit the free throw.
Barrington will take on top-seeded Mt. Hope on Thursday at 7:30 in the semifinals.
Unlike the Eagles, who are on top of their game in the playoffs, the injury bug has hit Mt. Hope. The beat-up Huskies were able to pull off a 61-49 victory over Mount St. Charles.
"Dennis (Coelho) has a bad back and two bad ankles," Mt. Hope coach Domenic Raiola said. "Harry Goff has shin splints and Kyle Cimbron has a bad wrist."
All three start for the Huskies, who normally only go seven deep. Coelho, who was limping up and down the court, led Mt. Hope with 22 points.
It was a tale of two halves when second-seeded Ponaganset battled Scituate, the seventh seed. Ponaganset held Scituate to just 3-of-20 shooting from the field in the first half and led 26-13 at halftime, but the Spartans came roaring back in the second half, only to suffer a heartbreaking 49-45 loss to the Chieftains.
Tim Clemente's 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining cut the Chieftains' lead to 47-45. Ponaganset had several chance to put the game away in the final 20 seconds, but couldn't.
First Matt Pezzulo, then Justin Bergeron missed the front ends of 1-and-1's. Both times the Chieftains got the rebound. Bergeron missed with 14 seconds left and the Chieftains were able to run off 11 seconds before the Spartans fouled Brad Winsor with three seconds left. Winsor hit both free throws.
"I was very pleased," Ponaganset coach George Jacques said. "We didn't panic. We kept the ball away from them. We did what we had to do with the amount of time we had to do it in. We showed poise at the end."
Ponaganset will face Portsmouth in the semifinals on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
The sixth-seeded Patriots jumped all over Central Falls, the 14th seed, right from the opening tip. Portsmouth sprinted to a 24-7 lead midway through the first half and cruised to a 66-41 victory.
"I think we worked the game plan to perfection," Portsmouth coach Rick Pascoe said. "Absolute perfection."
Portsmoth shot 14-of-23 from the field in the first half, with only two turnovers, and led 41-24 at the break.
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