C.K. wins D-2 boys’ regionals

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

It wasn’t as easy as it might have been, but the Central Kings Gators are once again regional Division 2 boys’ basketball champions.

The Gators survived a scare in the regional final against the host Bridgewater Vikings, overcoming early foul trouble and a 10-point halftime deficit for a 77-67 win.

Senior co-captain Jason Shepherd had 24 points in 24 minutes to lead the CK offense despite taking a pair of fouls in the first two minutes. Mark Pyle added 17 points and Logan Palmer and Dustin Poirier 10 each.

In semifinal action, Central Kings, with a first-round bye, scored a 79-63 decision over a surprisingly tough Kings-Edgehill squad.

Jason Shepherd with 21, Poirier with 16 and Pyle with 12 reached double figures for the Gators. Sam Hsaio led a balanced Kings-Edgehill attack with 17, Aaron Lohr and Seamus Dubuss had 14 each and Marshall Dunn 12.

The NKEC Titans ended up fifth overall, losing their opener 73-59 to Kings-Edgehill before defeating Middleton 85-78 in the fifth-place game. Kings-Edgehill then topped Barrington 52-43 to claim third place.

Gators’ head coach Stan MacVicar was pleased with the win, even if the final was more of a battle than expected. “We made some bad decisions and had some turnovers in the first half, but made up for it with our second half performance.”

With the win, C.K. advances directly to provincials March 1 to 3 in Amherst. MacVicar expected Bridgewater, Kings-Edgehill, Barrington and NKEC would play in provincial qualifiers this weekend.

In D-2 girls’ action, host Middleton won the regional championship with a fairly easy 72-34 win over Liverpool as Megan MacNeil (12), Maggie Woodworth (11) and Sam Elliott (10) all reached double figures.

Central Kings topped West Kings 51-42 for third place, with Trish Rafuse leading all scorers with 21 points for C.K. and Callista Coldwell topping West Kings with 17.

NKEC claimed fifth place overall with a 62-39 win over Barrington. Emma Young led the Titans with 13 points and Jolene MacIntyre had 11, while Arielle Cunningham had 20 for Barrington.

In the preliminary round, Central Kings nipped NKEC 49-48, West Kings topped Barrington 62-48, Liverpool edged CK 46-45 and Middleton beat West Kings 53-25.

The participants in D-2 girls’ qualifiers this weekend had not been finalized at press time; however, it appears Central Kings, West Kings and NKEC will attend.