By BRANDEN MELLO

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BARRINGTON — Maybe’s tonight’s clash for Pawtuxet Valley bragging rights comes a little early for West Warwick boys’ basketball head coach Richard Grenier and his counterpart from Coventry, Bill Tarvis, but the game gives Valley fans their first opportunity to feast on a meaningful basketball game since March 5 when 3,500 fans descended upon CCRI-Warwick for the Oakers and Wizards Division II semifinal showdown.

Both teams come into tonight’s game undefeated, but the Wizards are fortunate to have a 0 in the loss column after escaping Barrington with a 63-60 victory thanks to 3-pointers from Max Motroni, Sam Williamson and, most notably, Richard Lizotte.

But, even though they won the game, the victory exposed a few weaknesses the Wizards have and one of them is interior defense. The Wizards struggled to rebound the ball and that could be a big problem tonight against Coventry’s 6-foot, 8-inch center Matt Willard. The Oakers also boost Adam Cloutier and Dan Struebing on the front line.

“I think Coventry’s a very good team and we have a mismatch problem with the big guy, Matt Willard,” Grenier said after the pulsating win over the Eagles Saturday afternoon. “He really got himself in great shape and he poses a really big problem for us.”

Willard is one of three returning starters the Oakers will have on the court tomorrow night. Seniors Brandon Dipaola and Trevor DiMicco return from last year’s semifinal team. The Oakers depth goes well beyond the senior class, as Sean Finnegan, Brad Auger and freshman Garrett Douglas have given Tarvis some important minutes during the Oakers’ 2-0 start to the Division II season.

Tarvis, whose team hasn’t hit on all cylinders in wins over Cranston West, Westerly and Mt. Hope, wants his team to pound the ball inside against West Warwick’s Cesar Ortiz and Charlie Parent.

“One of the things we need to do as the season goes on and we need to do Tuesday is work our offense to the low post to balance off what they have for height,” Tarvis said Sunday after his team’s tournament  championship game with Chariho was cancelled. “I think that defensively, we are going to give them more problems than the teams they faced so far because we do pack it in so well and we do play the 2-3 and 3-2 (zone defenses) pretty good.”   

The Oakers, because of the talent they return, might seem like the favorite going into the game at West Warwick High. But, just ask the Wizards, being the favorite in this series isn’t always the best thing. Three years ago, when the Oakers were languishing at the bottom of Division I, current Oaker assistant Marc Bellville, when he was a senior captain, hit a 3-pointer to beat a talented West Warwick team at Coventry High

Coventry made the move down to Division II the next season and they upset the Wizards in West Warwick early in the season. Last year, the Wizards were also upset on their home court, but Grenier benched a few starters for disciplinary reason. Later in the year, however, when West Warwick brought its complete team to Coventry, the Oakers built a 20-poitn lead and we were forced to sweat over a Lizotte 3-pointer to win the game.

And, everyone remembers what happened on March 5 when the Wizards throttled the Oakers 64-44 to reach the Division II title game. So, the Oakers may be the favorite, but that counts for so little in this border war.

“It doesn’t really matter when West Warwick has the edge or Coventry has the edge, it’s always a great game,” Grenier said. “I think we have a lot of speed and I think if we play within ourselves, we’re going to give the Valley a great game right before Christmas, because I think it’s going to be a great game.”

If Coventry has a massive advantage in the post, the Wizards advantage clearly is on the perimeter where Reuben Paygai is a difficult match-up for Dipaola, Finnegan or DiMicco because of his speed. Ryan Lawton, a freshman forward, also might be a problem because he is a big man who likes to meander along the perimeter and that could draw Cloutier or Struebing away from the basket and away from defensive rebounds.

“I went to their game against Cumberland and they have a really good inside-outside game,” Tarvis said. “Lawton adds something to them and where they get you is they’re multi-dimensional. When you have a team that can shoot from the outside and play on the inside, that’s a team the poses problems for anyone. And, that’s where Coventry and West Warwick are similar; we both can go inside and outside.”

Yes, it’s still extremely early in the seconds and most teams haven’t even played a league game, but first place in II-South will be on the line and that can only add jet fuel to the already red-hot fire that will take place at 7:00 p.m. tonight.