North Providence boys basketball continues its impressive stretch with win vs. Pilgrim
WARWICK — North Providence boys basketball is having the season it envisioned.
The Cougars haven’t slowed down after winning back-to-back championships in Division III. They’re off to an 8-1 start, now playing in D-II, and it’s a similar core that paced their previous championship winters.
Senior Kyle Prete poured in 24 points in a 60-47 win over Pilgrim on Thursday night. Junior guard, Jeremiah Lenus, scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half as North Providence pulled away in the closing frames.
Prete is encroaching on 1,000 career points and Lenus could reach the mark over his final two seasons with the Cougars. But North Providence’s defensive effort, holding Pilgrim (6-2) to just 21 points in the second half and seven in the final eight minutes, is what could lead the Cougars to the dynasty they seek.
“We always say, it’s one championship a day,” Prete said. “We win that championship and then it’s the next one. One day at a time and we know what our end-goal is. It’s just how hard can we work and build up to that point in time.”
Prete splashed back-to-back 3s to start the second half and Lenus added a trey at the halftime horn. The 9-0 run that spanned the intermission pushed North Providence’s lead to 34-26. But Pilgrim is having a bit of a program resurgence this winter. The Patriots haven’t reached double-digit wins since 2019 and they’re well on their way to that mark.
A 7-0 run, capped by a wing 3-pointer from Jack Cirelli, and an inside bucket via Carter Clifton (team-high 14 points) pulled Pilgrim to a 34-33 deficit with 3:14 to play in the third quarter.
“This is a tough environment and that’s a tough team,” Prete said of Pilgrim. “We’ll see them again, semifinals or finals, but this is a very good win against a tough team. People might not see it, they’ll see just another win for NP, but this is a good, quality win for us.”
Lenus canned his second 3-pointer of the game, out of a timeout, to halt the Patriots’ run as North Providence went into the fourth quarter with a 44-40 advantage. The duo closed out the final frame with a transition layup from the guard and Prete’s corner 3 to lead 55-45 with 2:22 left.
“When [Prete] is going, he’s our shooter,” Lenus said. “It opens up the offense more and guys are just gravitating towards him. It opens up lanes for me, now I can get into the paint, I can hit the post. And I can hit guys backdoor, it just opens up the offense so much more.”
North Providence’s lone loss this season came in 61-36 final at South Kingstown just after the New Year. They returned with a 10-point win vs. Coventry before beating Pilgrim in Warwick.
“We had a tough loss against South Kingstown and that helped lead [to Thursday],” Lenus said. “But we’re still trying to, even though we won tonight, it’s just about what we do every single day.”
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
On X: @ByJacobRousseau
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