HOPKINTON – Steve Signor wasn’t happy with his team’s defense over the first two quarters of its bout with Winnisquam on Tuesday night.
Because for a program that prides itself on its play without the ball, the Hopkinton boys’ basketball team wasn’t exactly playing like it early on.
But then came the second half.
Signor’s Hawks surrendered just four field goals over the game’s final 16 minutes as they rolled to a 49-30 victory, their seventh straight win to begin the season.
“We locked it down in the second half and only gave up 11 points over the last two quarters,” said Signor, who replaced longtime Hopkinton Coach Dave Chase prior to the season. “I told them at halftime, ‘That 19-19 is on us.’ But we got a nice run on them early in the third and that really helped us progress throughout the game.”
Hopkinton shot its way to a four-point lead early in the third after a rebound and put-back from Tucker Windhurst (six points), and continued to pour it on from there, utilizing a 12-2 run later in the frame to take an eight point advantage into the fourth.
Senior forward Henry Yianakopolos scored six of his game-high 17 points during that span, but it was his dominance on the glass that was perhaps most responsible for his team’s second-half turnaround. Yianakopolos pulled down four offensive boards in the third quarter alone, setting up easy buckets in the pain for teammates Kevin Newton-Delgado and Dustin Rose (eight points).
“Rebounding is a big thing for us,” Yianakopolos said. “We had more size against that team, so we needed to do a little better job rebounding than we did in the first half. And I think that was key to our success in the end.”
The Hawks kept pouring it on in the fourth as a 7-4 run to begin the frame had the home crowd celebrating a 43-28 lead with less than four minutes to play. And Winnisquam mustered just two more points from there, with Kyle Mann (five points) and Eddie Gallien each converting single buckets from the free throw line to round out their team’s scoring.
The Bears – who were led by an eight-point effort from Logan Morrison – fell to 4-2 with their second straight loss.
“I think the pressure got to us a bit, and certainly their rebounding was a big factor,” said Winnisquam Coach Kevin Dame, whose team will try and bounce back Friday at Monadnock. “We played a great first half, but we’ve just got to be able to put a full two halves together.
Yianakopolos, on the other hand, was quick to credit his team’s first-year head coach for making the transition from Chase – who had coached the program each of the past 15 seasons – as seamless as possible.
“Coach Signore came in and he didn’t want to change everything up,” Yianakopolos said. “He didn’t want to do a whole new thing – he wanted to keep us running because that’s what we do. We’re an athletic team. And we just took that to heart, went with it, and it’s worked so far.”
For his part, Signor said it’s the players who deserve the credit for buying into his new – albeit similar – system. After all, the Hawks have nine players from the team that made it all the way to the Division III semifinals a year ago.
“Credit to them because they did buy in,” said Signor, whose team will try to improve to 8-0 Friday when it travels to face Conant. “I’ve got 12 strong and all 12 of them are buying into what we’re talking about. We struggle at times with our offense, but our defense is what’s picking us back up. We’re still a work in progress and we’re not where we need to be yet, but it’s getting there. These guys come to every practice ready to work hard.”
Londonderry 55 , Concord 50
Key players: Concord – Matt Giroux (21 points), John Kalisz (9 points, 8 rebounds), Jacob Knowles (defense)
Highlights/key moments: The Crimson Tide cut the deficit to a single point late in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t convert enough free throws down the stretch to avoid a third straight loss.
Coach’s quote: “It was the little things that just kind of hurt us in the end. We’re being competitive in these games, we just need to take the next step.” – Concord’s Dave Chase
Records: Londonderry 3-2; Concord 1-4
Bishop Brady 67, Kennett 50
Key players: Bishop Brady – Matt Quirk (18 points), Bryce Johnson (18 points), Eero Myllymaki (9 points), Josh Leclaire (8 points), Matt Desmarais (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: Quirk and Johnson led the way as Brady took its second win of the season against a struggling Kennett team.
Records: Bishop Brady 2-1; Kennett 0-5
Hollis-Brookline 57, John Stark 33
Key players: John Stark – Isaiah Lovering (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: John Stark trailed by just 10 going into the fourth, but the final quarter was all Hollis-Brookline. Lovering played his best game of the year for the Generals, contributing at just the right moments at both ends of the floor.
Coach’s quote: “Hollis is very good, I think they’ll be playing at the end of the year. This game showed us we might have further to go than we thought.” – John Stark’s Mike Smith
Records: John Stark 2-3; Hollis-Brookline 4-0
Lebanon 63, Merrimack Valley 45
Key players: MV – Jake Hebert (12 points), Ryan Defina (12 points)
Highlights/key moments: Merrimack Valley was able to keep up in the third and fourth quarters matching Lebanon’s scoring, but a 31-13 first half put the game far out of reach for the Pride.
Records: MV 1-4
Franklin 55, Prospect Mountain 54
Key players: Franklin – Corey Nelson (19 points), Jayden Torres (14 points) Ray Girtman (defense)
Highlights/key moments: Nelson scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and Girtman grabbed four rebounds off the bench (and went 2-for-3 from the line) to help the Golden Tornadoes pull out the win at home.
Coach’s quote: “We were up 11 at the half and then Prospect Mountain outscored us 18-4 in the third, but the boys didn’t panic.” – Franklin’s Mike Donnell
Records: Franklin 3-3; Prospect Mountain 0-6
Monadnock 79, Hillsboro-Deering 41
Key players: Hillsboro-Deering – Zach Rowell (8 points), Bradnon Rodier (8 points, 5 rebounds), Bryson Blanchard (7 points)
Highlights/key moments: A tough first quarter put the Hillcats behind 25-8, a deficit they could not make up. H-D’s best quarter came in the third scoring 13 points to Monadnock’s 18, but a 21-8 fourth quarter run by Monadnock sealed the game.
Coach’s quote: “They were a bigger team and killed us inside. We hope to bounce back against Raymond on Friday.” – H-D’s Kevin Fowler
Records: H-D 0-5
Kearsarge 59 , Mascoma 43
Key players: Kearsarge – Tayler Mattos (27 points, 15 rebounds), Tom Johnson (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), Noah Tremblay (7 points), Joe Storozuk (7 points), Kyle Hernon (defense, 8 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: The Cougars turned things around after a lackluster first half to pull away for good on their way to a fourth straight victory.
Coach’s quote: “Mascoma is a tough, hard-nosed team and it was an honor being there on the night when they dedicated the floor of their gym to former girls Coach Ed Kehoe.” – Kearsarge’s Nate Camp.
Records: Kearsarge 5-2; Mascoma 1-4
Londonderry 54, Concord 29
Key players: Concord – Ashley Kelley (10 points), Jada Duvert (5 points, 9 rebounds), Lyra Canabano (4 steals)
Highlights/key moments: The Crimson Tide trailed big at halftime, 27-12, and wound up shooting just 21 percent from the floor for the game.
Coach’s quote: “We had some good looks on offense but the shots weren’t falling for us tonight.” – Concord’s Mike Achilles
Records: Concord 3-3; Londonderry 2-3
Bow 50, ConVal 35
Key players: Bow – Lea Crompton (16 points), Taylor Darrell (15 points)
Highlights/key moments: Crompton and Darrell led the Falcons to a win in the second of a four-game road stretch.
Coach’s quote: “Sarah Martin, Megan Remick and Emma Conley made great contributions off the bench.” – Bow’s Bill Vermette
Records: Bow 4-2; ConVal 0-6
Bishop Brady 70, Kennett 53
Key players: Bishop Brady – Sam Will (17 points, 6 rebounds), Riley Bennett (15 points, 4 rebounds), Sofia Riccio (13 points), Sarah Doherty (12 points, 4 assists), Cait Mallahan (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: Lily Rivera’s defense and rebounding sparked some big runs for the Giants as they earned their fifth straight win.
Records: Bishop Brady 5-1; Kennett 1-5
Hollis-Brookline 56, John Stark 49
Key players: John Stark – Emily Patten (game-high 12 points, 10 rebounds), Autumn Nelson (11points)
Highlights/key moments: A close game through three quarters began to unravel as Hollis-Brookline outscored John Stark 12-7 in the fourth.
Coach’s quote: “The Lady Generals are still looking for that season changing victory as we continue to improve at practice and now in games.” – John Stark’s Don Poitras
Records: John Stark 1-5; Hollis-Brookline 7-1
Coe-Brown 39, Pembroke 37
Key players: Coe-Brown – Ahna McCusker (15 points, 8 rebounds), Kerry Riley (8 points), Chelsea McCallion (6 points, 6 rebounds), Shannon Riley (5 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Bears took the win and avoided overtime on a missed layup by Pembroke as time expired. Pembroke outscored Coe-Brown in the third and had a two-point lead to begin the fourth quarter.
Coach’s quote: “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.” – Coe-Brown’s Joe Vachon
Records: Coe-Brown 5-2; Pembroke 2-5
Monadnock 52, Hillsboro-Deering 21
Key players: H-D – Hannah Grimes (6 points, 7 rebounds), Kiersten Clough (6 points), Nicole Mooney (5 points)
Highlights/key moments: Mooney and Grimes led the team to outscore undefeated Monadnock 12-4 in the fourth, but the Hillcats had to walk away with their eighth loss as they continue to search for their first win of the season.
Coach’s quote: “The girls fought for the entire game and started to see things a little better. We are continuing to grow and I look forward to see what these girls can do in the next few games.” – H-D’s Tiffany Lewis
Records: Monadnock 9-0; H-D 0-8
Kearsarge 41, Mascoma 34
Key players: Madisyn Brayshaw (15 points), Meg Roy (11 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Cougars were behind at the end first, second and third quarters, but tightened up their defense and outscored Mascoma 16-5 in the fourth to take the win.
Coach’s quote: “It’s a good experience to have a game like this, to be honest. Mascoma played their hearts out, and we hadn’t been in a position like this all season.” – Kearsarge’s Keth Roberts
Records: Kearsarge 8-0; Mascoma 2-6
Souhegan 45, Laconia 39
Key players: Laconia – Helen Tautkus (18 points), Hannah Dow (5 points), Delaney Ross (5 points); Souhegan – Mia Len (14 points), Elizabeth Greenwood (13 points)
Highlights/key moments: Laconia trailed big at halftime before clawing back in the second half, but Souhegan’s 16-0 advantage in free throws attempted hurt the comeback bid.
Coach’s quote: “I continue to be proud of our effort through this tough stretch. We compete for 32 minutes and the ball hasn’t bounced our way. If we continue to fight and work towards cleaning up the small details the ball will start to bounce our way.” –Laconia’s Jeff Greeley
Records: Laconia 1-6; Souhegan 4-3
Lebanon 55, Merrimack Valley 29
Key players: Carly Huckins (8 points), Megan Johnston (7 points), Miah Boucher (4 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Pride tried to battle back from a 10-point deficit to start the fourth, but Lebanon hit its free throws and pulled away to remain undefeated while dealing MV its first loss.
Records: Merrimack Valley 6-1; Lebanon 5-0
Gilford first, Bow second
Key players: Gilford – Josh Valentine (12:06, first), Mark Young (12:42), Seth Valpey (13:32), Sander Valpey (14:18); Belmont – Zach Ennis (13:38); Bow – Sully Blair (14:11), Robby Ciotti (15:18), Christian McDonald (15:30), Michael Perry (15:45); Kearsarge – Michael Salo (14:28), Hunter Burns (14:46), Trevor Pauling (14:48); Hopkinton – Simon Doneski (14:34)
Highlights/key moments: On a fast course at Proctor Academy, Gilford swept the podium and Kearsarge narrowly missed second place falling just short of Bow in a nine team, 5K race.
Coach’s quote: “I was happy to see how close our boys came to Bow. We know that we’ve got some strong athletes and new skiers, so seeing how we measure up to Gilford and Bow gives us something to work towards.” – Kearsarge’s Kevin Lee
Kearsarge first, Bow second
Key players: Kearsarge – Maggie Lee (16:11), Maddie Cook (16:57), Marliese Baer (17:33), Hayden Keene (19:14); Bow – Sohani Demain (16:23), Isabella Urbina (17:06), Brianna Boone (19:10), Gwen Mollind (19:52); Hopkinton – Emma Rothe (17:35), Carley Kanter (18:11)
Highlights/key moments: In a very close race, Kearsarge managed three in the top five and Bow placed four in the top 15, two teams that will battle for the state championship come March.
Coach’s quote: “We know we have three very strong skiers in Maggie, Maddie and Marliese and we’re trying to find out who will be our fourth. Hayden Keene has really come on strong this season and she’s set her sights on placing well come states.” – Kearsarge’s Kevin Lee
Moultonborough/Inter-Lakes 4, Sanborn 1
Key players: Moultonborough/Inter-Lakes – Mike Dalzell (2 goals, assist), Brett Burns (goal, assist), Garrett McCarthy (goal, assist), Drew Dunlap (2 assists) Nick Spicuzza (40 saves)
Highlights/key moments: Dalzell led the Renegades with three points Monday night to help snap a three-game skid and bring their record back to even.
The team scored three goals in the second period and were backed up by Spicuzza between the pipes.
Records: Moultonborough/Inter-Lakes 3-3; Sanborn 0-5
Brady/Trinity/West 14, Man. Central 2
Key players: Maddie Beliveau (3 goals, assist), Riley Hollenberg (2 goals), Brianna Brack (goal, 3 assists)
Highlights/key moments: Brady/Trinity/West took a 5-0 lead in the first period and didn’t look back. Central’s goals came in the second and third periods after the Tide shut out the Little Green in the first.
Records: Brady/Trinity/West 3-1