BY CHARLIE ADAMS, TSM LEAD WRITER
(Cranston, RI) - The Lady ‘Bolts entered their senior night matchup against Prout High School with playoffs already clinched. Honoring their three graduating seniors, (Ranayjah Gomes, Aydan Gulliver, and Mikalyah Johnson) the Thunderbolts dominated, 63-51.
Cranston East was led by Mya Jiminez’s 22 points, and Aydan Gulliver pitched in with 11 points as well. Junior Samantha Vernancio also sparked the Lady Bolts with three 3-pointers, giving her nine points in their final regular season game.
The Lady ‘Bolts were fast starters. Among the three 3-pointers converted by the team, Mya Jiminez scored 7 points in the quarter. The team led 19-9 after one quarter of play.
The girls looked ready to run away with the game after the first few minutes of the quarter with Aydan Gulliver’s seven points leading the way. However, for the last 4:22 of the quarter, the ‘Bolts were held scoreless. They finished the first half leading 29-18.
Jiminez again led the team in scoring during the third quarter with 9 points, all from inside the paint as the Crusaders had no answer for the multi-talented junior. The team extended their lead to 14, leading 47-33 at the end of three periods.
Senior Ranayjah Gomes was able to get in the scoring column in the final quarter, knocking down two from beyond the arc and giving a boost of energy to the bench. The Lady ‘Bolts finished Senior Night on top, 63-51.
Prout was led by senior captain Morgan Verdi's 12 points, along with sophomore Ella Martin's 10 points and junior Molly Green's 9 points. The Crusaders wrapped up their season at 5-16, failing to qualify for the Division II tournament.
East now awaits their playoff seeding and matchup for the first round of the RIIL Division-II playoffs. The Lady Bolts will need to win at least two games in the division tournament to give themselves a shot to crack the top 18 in the statewide rankings, which would qualify them for the Open State Tournament.
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