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Billone hits game winner

Thursday, January, 30 By Jeff Hamrick

PLAISTOW – It can be difficult finding confidence being the third person off the bench in a seven-man rotation, but that has been Chris Billone’s lot through the season’s first half.

It was more of the same Thursday night as the Windham sophomore didn’t take his warmups off until the third Jaguar fouled out with 77 seconds remaining and trailing by two.

A mere 22 seconds later, Billone found himself alone on the wing about 21 feet from the hoop. Taking a pass from Matt Logue and shooting without hesitation, his three-pointer found nothing but net with what proved to be the winning points in Windham’s 45-40 victory over the Owls.

“I knew we were getting in foul trouble and knew I was going to probably get an opportunity at the end eventually, so I was kind of ready,” said Billone, who scored his first points since a six-point performance in a win over Trinity on Jan. 3. “When the opportunity comes, I’m ready. Sometimes I get a little passive, but I guess I have to have more confidence in myself and shoot the ball when I’m open. I wasn’t really thinking. I was in the moment and just shot it. It’s pretty exciting.”

The clutch shot provided the Jaguars (6-5) a one-point lead that Windham turned into the final score with four free throws down the stretch.

“For Billone to do what he did is unbelievable,” said Windham coach E.J. Perry, whose squad won only four games last year. “He hasn’t been on the floor but he steps in and sticks a three. Those are the kind of guys I like.

“Now he’s shown he can get more minutes, and he’ll keep getting more minutes. The biggest thing he showed me tonight is he had the gumption to take the shot.”

It was the third time Windham has won by five points or fewer while winning six of its final eight games – with four of the victories coming on the road.

“It doesn’t happen very often when I’m coaching,” Perry said of winning with limited offense. “But we’re getting after it with defense. What I keep telling the guys is they have to relax. We’re missing three’s that are wide open. We’re missing layups … But we’re just starting to hit a good stride.”

Thursday’s game had several turns in it as Windham opened an eight-point lead late in the first only to watch Timberlane (4-7) roll off a 12-1 run and take an eight-point lead of its own midway through the second en route to a 26-23 halftime advantage.

The fourth quarter began with Timberlane holding a 34-32 edge, but a bucket by Matt Logue and a three from Joey DaSilva with 5:38 left pushed Windham back into the lead 37-34.

As they did earlier, however, the Owls responded with back to back field goals from Bob Olson and Kyle Ventola to take a one-point lead at the midway mark. Each team managed only one free throw apiece for more than three minutes until Billone’s winner.

Timberlane was once again led by Olson, who scored 14 of his game-high 18 in the first half, and Ventola, who had 10.

“I thought this might be a grind of a game if we played it the right way,” Timberlane coach Jeff Baumann said. “I think it was a physical battle and hard to get shots either way. We had some chances with looks late but they didn’t go.”

DaSilva, a Bishop Guertin transfer who was averaging a team-high 16.5 points had 11 for Windham, while Westin Lippold grabbed 13 rebounds.

“Silva has meant everything,” Perry said. “We play BG (7-1) next Tuesday, so we’ll be ready to go and he won’t need to be motivated.”