Boys' Basketball Captures Fourth Title in Five Years

In a classic showdown at Patrick Gymnasium, Rice Memorial High School's boys basketball team captured the Division I state championship on February 29th. The Knights had to fend off a relentless rally by rival Burlington to secure the thrilling 66-63 victory. The win marked Rice's fourth title in five seasons, and nineteenth in program history. 

Rice was paced by Abdi Sharif, who had 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. His consistency at the free-throw line proved to be a major difference in the game with an impressive 8-for-10 effort in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Senior captain, Drew Bessette, contributed nine points, nine rebounds, seven blocks and a monster dunk that many would argue was the turning point in the game. The team-first mentality that Drew displayed over his entire four-year career couldn’t have been highlighted any clearer than with his performance in his final game. He knew that in order to win, he needed to focus on locking down defensively and facilitating the offense, which ultimately resulted in him narrowly missing out on a personal milestone of 1,000 career points by just two points, a tradeoff he would take 100% of the time.

The Knights also had strong performances from Owen Eaton (12 points), Grant Cieplicki (10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks), Evan Eaton (6 rebounds) and Dallas St. Peter (7 points) 

The championship win represents a culmination of hard work and dedication for the Knights this season and an evolution from a more individual style of play early on to much more of a team effort down the stretch. Coach Pecor (10th title) emphasized the importance of incremental growth throughout the season, and credits the players with buying into the system to recognize their ultimate goal. 

Congratulations on hanging another banner boys!