By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

WOONSOCKET – It may be mid-December, but for “Junior” Francois, Ryan Pangborn and the rest of their Mount St. Charles teammates it might as well have been early March and the postseason.
That’s how important the Mounties felt Tuesday’s Division III league opener with Central Falls was on their home court.
With a vivid memory of last year’s semifinal loss to the same Warrior squad still fresh in their minds, Mount St. Charles returned the favor with a 76-73 victory. Pangborn scored a game-high 32 points and ripped down 18 rebounds, while Francois (six points) played a pivotal role as the point guard, dishing out seven assist and also adding five steals to lead the Mount attack.
But it was more than the two star players that made the difference. The Mounties were able to withstand a very athletic CF squad with a dominating defensive effort.

“We reacted early in the game, down 7-0,” MSC head coach Scott Colantonio said. “We didn’t go run and hide. We stood up, weathered it and answered it. That’s what I’m most proud of – a total team effort, a total team effort. Some guys scored more than others, but defensively it was the entire team that did it for us.”
Defensively, the Mounties were able to cool down two strong runs by the Warriors, once in the first half and another late in the second half. The second of those defensive stands appeared to be the most crucial. With Mount holding a 47-35 lead with about 11 minutes remaining in the game, Central Falls scored 14 unanswered points to take its last lead of the game at 49-47.
Shortly after the Warriors’ Robert Alers (team-high 24 points) banged a 3-pointer to finish off the run, Mount’s Nick Bowen responded with a three of his own to give his teammates a lead it would not relinquish. The Mounties picked up their defense another level after Bowen’s shot, including a dominating presence from Josh and Ryan Pangborn under the boards, to hold off the Warriors the rest of the way.
The match-up between the two teams was the first time they’ve been on the court together since last year’s playoffs when Central Falls defeated the Mounties, 75-64. The Warriors eventually lost to Moses Brown in the title game.
That game was a primary motivating factor for the Mounties on Tuesday.
“That was a pain that didn’t go away,” Francois said. “We were so close. We worked so hard all year…This year, as seven seniors returning, we all said to each other we are not losing to CF again. They are not going to be a roadblock in our championship dreams this year. We came here motivated.”
CF certainly had the hot hand early. The Warriors jumped to its 7-0 lead just a minute into the game. It built it advantage to as much as eight in the game, the last at 18-10. The Mounties then began to slowly chip away with its defense forcing the Warriors into a number of missed lay-ups and short jumpers.
The Mounties went into halftime with a 31-26 lead. Ryan Pangborn was the top offensive threat for Mount with 14 points. Alers scored 11 by the break to lead the Warriors.
“We have a few rotations and we had a few guys that weren’t put in those situations before being the first (league) game of the year,” said CF coach Brian Crookes. “We didn’t make as many shots as I thought we would. We didn’t finish around the basket. We didn’t get to the line nearly as much as they did.”
The Mounties were able to maintain their momentum at the start of the second half, out-scoring the Warriors, 16-9, in the first five minutes. It was then that CF made its final run, rattling off 14 straight points for its 49-47 advantage. Alers had seven points and teammate George Carle (16 points) scored five points during the stretch. The Warriors also had nearly a half dozen thefts.
“We have a press and then we have a full-court pressure,” Crookes said. “Our pressure, we just want to force them to go fast. The press, we want to get feels. We put on everything we have, and we did get them to turnover the ball quite a bit and we did get to the basket.”
Louis Pena with 16 points and Angel Gonzalez added 11 for CF, which had four players in double figures.
The two teams return to the courts this Friday. The Mounties visit Davies Tech and Central Falls plays host to North Smithfield.
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MOUNT ST. CHARLES (76) - Trap Yates 0 0-0 0, Sean Calman 0 1-2 1, Ryan Pangborn 11 10-11 32, Josh Pangborn 2 4-6 8, Mike Condick 0 0-0 0, Derek Maron 2 0-0 5, Mark McKenna 0 0-0 0, Junior Francois 1 4-10 6, Nick Bowen 2 5-6 10, Colin Russell 5 3-5 14. Totals 23 27-40 75.
CENTRAL FALLS (72) - Rob Alers 8 6-9 24, Louis Pena 6 3-6 16, George Carle 7 2-5 16, Angel Gonzalez 3 5-7 11, Antonio Menna 1 4-5 6, Cassamas 0 0-0 0, Fiurido 0 0-0 0, Londano 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 20-32 72.
Halftime - MSC, 31-26. 3-pt. goals - MSC 3 (Russell, Bowen, Maron). CF 3 (Allers 2, Pena). JV - MSC, 65-62.