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PUTNAM — The Putnam Science Academy Prep Boys won all four games this past week to run their winning streak to seven games and improve to 32-1 on the season. PSA, which was recently ranked second in the National Prep Basketball poll from Prep Circuit, began the week at home versus Upper Room Christian Academy and the outside shooting was red hot. UMass commit John Buggs III was 7 for 9 from deep and finished with 23 points in the win that saw Dan Porcic show off his 3-point skills adding 21 points and 8 different Mustangs finished in double-figures in a 137-8o blowout.
PSA then hit the road to take on Brimmer and May and walked away with an 88-77 win thanks in large part to Bryant commit Charles Pride. “Chuck” did it all for the Mustangs scoring the ball with 11 points and making a ton of hustle plays recording 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.
With a short turn-around, Head Coach Tom Espinosa and crew would then take part in a fund-raiser event for the Tourtellotte Memorial High School Alumni Association competing in two games, one at home Feb. 15 and the other at Tourtellotte Feb. 16. Home cooking was kind to the Mustangs erupting for their most points in the season in a 139-75 win over Shawinigan College. Putnam’s own Dan Porcic once again shot lights out for the Mustangs leading PSA with 24 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Texas Tech-commit Russel Tchewa posted a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Pride answered with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.
It came down to the wire between Putnam Science and Thetford Academy. The Mustangs ultimately held on for an 81-78 win but it was a back and forth game all the way through. When PSA was in need of energy or a basket, they turned to a familiar face in guard Hassan Diarra. The junior guard, who was a part of the National Championship team last year, stepped up down the stretch helping hit two big free throws to seal the win. Diarra had a game-high 25 points and chipped in 8 rebounds and 5 assists. The road doesn’t get easier for the Boys Prep team with a big week ahead — three road contests against St. Thomas More, Redemption Christian Academy and nationally ranked Brewster Academy Feb. 24.
Lady Mustangs
PSA Lady Mustangs went into last week going through an up and down stretch but seemed to have turned the corner and getting back on track. The Mustangs swept all three games this past week and find themselves at 19-6 with the Independent School National Championship right around the corner later in the week (2/22-2/24).
PSA defeated Bradford Christian 66-52 after Abby Robinson and Trinasia Kennedy scored 16 points each then had two convincing wins over St. Andrews School (77-49) at home before running away with a victory in a 66-49 win at Tourtellotte Memorial High School over Proctor Academy. Abby Robinson continues to be a dominant force in the paint for the Lady Mustangs as she powered PSA with a 13-point, 16-rebound game against St. Andrews. “Abby has grown so much since the beginning of the year” Derek Marchione said after the St. Andrews win. “She has really improved from last years’ team after not really playing to becoming a starter for us and her effort on the glass has helped us in so many ways.” Robinson leads PSA with 7 rebounds per game but has surpassed that total in 3 out of her last 5 games.
Fatima Lee has also had her fair share of success in her second year under Marchione. The point guard and Providence College-commit Lee leads the Mustangs with 15 points per game along with having multiple 30+ point games this season. Lee ended up being in the difference maker in the Feb. 16 win over Proctor Academy leading all scorers with 18 points. Ariana Koivisto added 9 points while guards Trinasia Kennedy and Niya Fields scored 8 points each.
Two weeks ago the Prep Girls Basketball team beat the #1 ranked team in New England, Worcester Academy. The Hilltoppers featured the #3 ranked player in the class of 2019 Aliyah Boston. The 6-4 wing/forward made her way to the town as a member of the #1 ranked Hilltoppers, who came into the contest with a perfect 16-0 record. The Mustangs, after suffering three losses in the last four games previously, knew they could turn it around for the Worcester Academy game. “We had a chip on our shoulder with Worcester Academy coming to PSA,” guard Lee said after that game. “We were the under-dog on our home-court and it was a real wake-up call for a lot of us.” Lee and company responded forcing overtime and holding on for a 70-67 victory that saw Lee record a game-high 33 points and add 9 rebounds. Niya Fields got it going in the second half scoring 10 of her 13 points. The back and forth game come down to the wire. Providence commit-Lee knocked down a three-pointer with under a minute remaining from the wing and would knock down another three-pointer from the same spot just 23 seconds later that would seal the win for PSA. Boston fouled out one minute into the extra period after scoring a team high 24 points. “Fatima is special and she’s not afraid to hit the big shot,” said Marchione. “She’s been a huge part of our success as a program the last two years and being able to coach a player like her has been such a pleasure, I can’t wait to see her play at the next level.”
PSA has two games at the start of the week before they begin National Tournament play Feb. 22. Top teams include: Riverdale Baptist (Md.), Westridge Academy (N.C.), IMG (Fla.), DME Academy (Fla.), Montverde (Fla.) and Blair Academy (N.J.).
Up and Down Varsity
The varsity boys have not had many issues when it comes to scoring the basketball this season. With guards Tyler Henry averaging 20 points per game and his fellow guard Justin Rodriguez averaging over 19.5 points per game, the Mustangs have had quite the 1-2 punch.
But what’s been said for decades in multiple sports is “defense wins’ championships.” Case in point Feb. 11, the Mustangs were riding high on a seven- game winning streak and found themselves up 15 at halftime before blowing the lead and losing to Upper Room Christian Academy 92-89. Rodriguez led with 31 points and running mate Tyler Henry scored 30 but it wasn’t enough. The Mustangs couldn’t hold the lead and dropped a winnable game at home.
The Mustangs hit the road and crushed Capital Prep Harbor 68-46 thanks to Jaiden Rivera, who has stepped up as a third option on the team, with his 3-point shooting ability. Rivera finished with a game-high 16 points. The Mustangs knew they were in for a tough matchup at home versus Thetford Academy and tough it was. Thetford dominated the glass and had too much size for PSA winning comfortably 113-73. Justin Rodriguez had 19 points and Tyler Henry had 17 points. A significant change in effort in the Feb. 16 game where the Mustangs (18-9) found their stride before half and coasted to an 89-76 win at Tourtellotte Memorial High School. Tyler Henry had 18 first half points before ending his day with 27 points. Jaiden Rivera off the bench hit four threes’ and finished with 21 points and Justin Rodriguez again reached his season average with 20 points. PSA will have over a week off before playing its regular season finale on the road in a revenge match against Upper Room Christian Academy.
Girls’ Varsity Wins Big
The varsity girls’ program has had plenty of success against Rectory School and they kept it up this past week with a big 88-45 win, their fourth win over the Wolves this season. The Mustangs in the process broke out of their funk snapping a four- game losing skid with the win as Nasserine Williams had a break-out game posting a monster double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, all season highs. Four other Lady Mustangs would finish in double figures as PSA moved to 9-8. The girls host MacDuffie School Feb. 23.
Varsity 2 Splits Week
The varsity 2 team began the week with a road victory over St. Thomas More 63-55 winning their sixth straight game. Guard Travis Mangual had 20 points to lead all scorers and Amir Sanders had 15 points. A good sign for the Mustangs was Zach Boulay, who made his return from ankle injury, to post 14 points in the win. The week would end on a sour note as for the fourth time this year, the Mustangs couldn’t solve the Rectory School riddle as the Wolves beat PSA 73-58. Zach Boulay led the Mustangs with 17 points as the team dropped to 15-6.
Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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