Momentum from last season's playoffs has ridden into this winter and East Greenwich has shown its chemistry could be key to big season in Division II.
EAST GREENWICH - Luke Scaramella might have to trade his whistle and clipboard in for spot in the East Greenwich High School science department.
Because right now, you’re going to have a hard time finding anyone who teaches chemistry better than the Avengers' boys basketball coach.
East Greenwich has taken momentum from last year’s postseason right into the 2025-26 season with the type of basketball teams hope to play with at the end of the season, not the beginning. Friday was another example, as the Avengers had four scorers in double figures and used a second-half push to run past Division III Prout, 81-67.
“We feel really good, especially coming off some slow starts,” East Greenwich’s Aidan Glynn said. “It’s good to come off with a fast one. Shots were hitting today.”
The win evened EG off at 2-2 on the season and while that might not sound like a world-beater of the start, the quality of play and opponent says otherwise. Here’s what happened on Friday night against the Crusaders.
This team was built last winter
Last winter East Greenwich was the No. 10 seed in the Division II playoffs and promptly blew out No. 7 Cranston West and then upset No. 2 South Kingstown on the road in the semifinals before falling to eventual champ Moses Brown.
That run could end up being the foundation to something a little more fruitful.
“Off season, we’ve been working our tails off, working hard every day,” said EG’s Quinn Scaramella, a junior and son of the head coach. “We’re in the gym, we’re working out every day. That’s what’s built.
“[Last season] really taught us how to win and close out games.’”
The Avengers opened the season with a bang, winning on the road against D-II favorite North Providence. They lost a tough game on the road to South Kingstown, 74-70, on Dec. 15, then lost on the road to Division I Westerly, 54-43.
EG was frustrated with the results, but not with the play. It could see things were coming together. The Avengers weren’t going to over look Prout and took lessons from their opening-night win and consecutive losses and applied them to Friday night.
“We’re taking that energy and trying to put it to the whole game,” Glynn said. “Our team chemistry is off the charts this year too.”
Call them the scientists
Glynn wasn’t kidding about the chemistry. Friday night, EG did an incredible job moving the basketball. It wasn’t making the pass for the sake of making the extra pass, it was making the pass to set up the shot the team needed.
There wasn’t an Avenger on the court looking to get theirs. They routinely found the open shooter and were marvelous getting into transition. At times it looks like they could have played with their eyes closed, because they knew where each other were the entire night.
“We know our strengths for each player,” Quinn Scaramella said. “We’ve been playing with each other since second, third grade. We’ve been building up year by year.”
Scaramella ate in the first quarter and his teammates made sure he remained fed. The junior scored 12 points, putting EG head 21-14. In the second quarter, Jacoby Basler hit two huge 3-pointers and Glynn scored five points, giving the Avengers a 41-35 lead at halftime.
In the third, it wasn’t one player - it was all of them. EG saw seven different players put points on the board, with the biggest shot coming on a half-court, banked-in buzzer-beater by Harry Verrett that gave the Avengers a 64-50 lead.
After Verrett’s heave, it seemed like EG couldn’t miss.
“I feel like I could have made every single one,” said Glynn, who hit four 3-pointers in the game on his way to a 16-point night. “After Harry Verrett made that halfcourt shot the momentum shifted to our side and the ball in the hand felt good.”
Scaramella led the way with 19 points, Glynn and Dante Desmarais scored 16 and Basler joined them in double figures with 11. Cole Bianco added seven in the win and in total, nine different Avengers scored.
“That works with this team,” Glynn said. “Last year we were a team that didn’t share the ball too much. This year, especially driving and kicking and getting open shots, everybody on our team can shoot.”
The Crusade isn’t over
Prout opened the season with a 67-52 road loss to Scituate, but got back on track with a 64-30 home win over Paul Cuffee. Friday was a good opportunity to challenge itself against a Division II opponent and earn some RPI points that could prove to be useful come playoff seeding time.
Michael Brugnoli is the Crusaders’ engine. He’s fast, quick and gets up the court in a hurry and led the offense with 22 points. Ryan Antonucci was a steady stream of offense, putting up 18 and Christian Pachis was also in the mix all night, dropping 16.
Prout can and will play fast, but it will need to find a some other options outside of its Big Three. The Crusaders struggled against EG’s size, but there’s not a ton of bigs down in D-III. Prout showed its strengths, but having its weaknesses exposed is only going to help it get better.
Last year the Crusaders had their season end in the quarterfinals of the Division III tournament, but after Friday its clear they have the talent to be better this winter.
What’s next for Prout, East Greenwich
Prout scheduled like a good mid-major college basketball team, challenging itself with tough, out-of-division opponents. After playing D-II East Greenwich on Friday, the Crusaders next game will be at home Monday against Westerly, a Division I opponent.
East Greenwich will be back at home on Monday, December 22, to face a Coventry team that will be hungry after dropping its first three games of the season.
The Avengers goal is simple - continue to play like they did on Thursday. They know how to and know what they need to do moving forward to ensure they keep things going this season.
“If everyone does their job,” Quinn Scaramella said, “we should win most games.”
“It starts at practice,” Glynn said. “We have to have a good practice, come out with fast starts, heat, up, keep sharing the ball and i think we’ll win a lot of games this year.”
East Greenwich 81, Prout 67
PROUT 67
Michael Brugnoli 6 6-6 22; Avery Martin 0 0-0 0; Ryan Antonucci 6 5-6 18; Cooper Sweeney 1 1-2 4; Christian Pachis 8 0-2 16; Dylan Couto 1 0-0 2; Ethan Osenkowski 1 0-0 2; Lucas Proia 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 24 12-16 67.
EAST GREENWICH 81
Quinn Scaramella 8 0-0 19; Jacoby Basler 3 2-2 11; Cole Bianco 3 0-0 7; Aidan Glynn 6 0-0 16; Dante Desmarais 7 1-2 16; Spencer Padula 0 1-2 1; Owen Lehne 1 0-0 2; Harry Verrett 1 0-0 3; Diale Nichols 1 0-0 3; Patrick Dargon 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 31 4-6 81.
HALFTIME - East Greenwich, 41-35. 3-pointers - Prout 7 (Brugnoli 4, Antonucci, Sweeney, Proia); East Greenwich 15 (Glynn 4, Scaramella 3, Basler 3, Bianco, Verrett, Nichols, Dargon, Desmarais).
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score from Prout at East Greenwich boys basketball on Friday December 19
Category: General Sports
