The friendly confines of Merrimack Valley High School have been kind to Abby Grandmaison and the rest of the Pride girls’ basketball team so far this season. MV has been good everywhere its played to this point, but the team has been untouchable at home at 3-0, including two wins by 15 or more points.
Home is always sweet, but for Grandmaison and the Pride, it’s just a little bit sweeter.
“I think it’s definitely a confidence-booster playing on our home court,” Grandmaison said. “We all come to play at home. We have a lot of time to prepare and I think being at home just gives us a sense of comfort.”
That comfort has translated well to the hardwood, and that meant trouble for visiting Coe-Brown on Thursday. Grandmaison led the charge with a game-high 20 points and Merrimack Valley (7-1) fired off a 16-2, game-changing run in the second quarter to take total control, knocking off the Bears, 62-35.
“I think MV was having a great shooting night,” Coe-Brown Coach Joe Vachon said after his team dropped to 5-3. “I thought our defense was decent. I thought we played hard and I thought we were actually shutting down the girls we planned to shutdown … Sometimes you just have to walk out to your opponent and say, ‘Hey, nice game. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen next time, but you got me today.’ ”
Grandmaison’s production was a big piece to a balanced attack that all came to a head in the second quarter. After both teams traded blows in an evenly matched first, the flip switched for MV over the next eight minutes.
Following six turnovers in the first quarter, Coe-Brown coughed it up four straight times to open the second and gave the Pride the opening it needed. Megan Johnston and Carly Huckins (15 points) both converted layups inside before Sara Osborne connected from deep on back-to-back 3-pointers that turned a two-point contest into 26-14 advantage for MV.
Coe-Brown wouldn’t get its first points of the quarter until nearly five minutes in, but by that time, the Pride were full speed ahead and took a 16-point lead into halftime.
“I think we worked well together and we saw the cuts that needed to happen,” said Grandmaison of MV’s second-quarter surge. “We really clicked and it was our defense feeding into our offense. We played solid defense that quarter and I think that contributed greatly to the speed of our offense.”
Coming off its first loss of the season at Lebanon (6-0) on Tuesday, MV Coach David Huckins was certainly happy to see his girls bounce back.
“We are in our toughest stretch of our schedule and were able to rebound from Tuesday’s game and get a win against a very good team tonight,” Huckins said.
While Grandmaison was the fall back option on offense almost every single trip up the court, it was another player’s performance that caught the eyes of Vachon.
“The one who really killed us was (Osborne),” Vachon said.
Osborne delivered a pair of daggers from deep en route to 13 points, but it was a healthy mix of timely shots from the entire roster that helped secure the victory.
“It’s crazy important for them to all be a part of it and I think we can rely on our good shooters,” Grandmaison said. “I think no matter who really comes in off the bench, we have a solid starting five out there and I think that’s super important so when key players that are in the newspaper from previous games are targeted, I think we come off and catch them off guard with our players.”
Battling through MV’s full-court press, Shannon and Kerry Riley both found success on the offensive end with 11 and seven points, respectively, while center Ahna McCusker was a force on the glass and finished with seven points.
“This is probably the first team that’s really pressed us,” Vachon said. “I think over the past years we’ve been a pretty good press-breaking team. So kind of the first time and that’s okay. No losses are really good, but this one I can live with because it felt like Merrimack Valley had their night.”
Both teams return to action Tuesday. Coe-Brown will look to rebound when it visits Kingswood on while Merrimack Valley leaves home for a road game against Portsmouth.
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3340 or at jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @jaymcaree.)
Conant 44, Hopkinton 31
Key players: Hopkinton – Taylor Signor (7 points, 5 assists), Amelia Thomas (10 points)
Highlights/key moments: Despite hanging with Conant for the majority of the game, the Hawks couldn’t overcome a 19 of 23 performance by the Orioles from the free-throw line.
Coach’s quote: “We worked hard and hung with a good team. The effort was there and we continue to improve.” – Hopkinton’s Patrick Roye
Records: Conant 7-2; Hopkinton 3-6
Coe-Brown 60, Merrimack Valley 42
Key players: Coe-Brown – Sam Lupinacci (16 points), Shawn Spenard (8 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists), Scott Spenard (14 points), Brody Ashley (9 points), Dylan Andrews (5 points, 6 rebounds); MV – James Shattuck (12 points), Ben Davis (9 points), Jake Hebert (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Pride took a 13-12 lead at the end of the second quarter but the Bears took over from there, outscoring MV 18-8 in the second quarter to take a 30-21 lead at halftime.
Coach’s quote: “We just had too many foolish turnovers.” – MV’s Tim Mucher
“They were very scrappy and they played hard all night. … (The second quarter) was solid. Our defensive rotations were much better than they were in the first.” – Coe-Brown’s David Smith
Records: Coe-Brown 5-1; MV 1-6
Concord 4, Trinity 0
Key players: Conocrd –Matt Chorlian (goal), Andy Cole (goal), Ethan Donlon (goal), Devin Philbrick (goal), Colin Kastle (2 assists), Dan Lebell (assist), Cam Larivierre (assist), Andres Norton (assit), Griffin Gilbert (10 saves)
Highlights/key moments: The Tide dominated from start to finish and outshot Trinity, 60-10. Philbrick scored his first career goal on beautiful passes from Matt Hauschild and Norton.
Coach’s quote: “The team played well. It was good to get balanced scoring.” – Concord’s Dunc Walsh
Records: Concord 5-1-0; Trinity 1-5-0
John Stark-Hopkinton 6, Monadnock 2
Key players: Stark-Hopkinton – Noah Chapman (3 goals, 1 assist), Paul Molnar (goal, 2 assists), Brett Patnode (goal), Jameson Bourque (20 saves)
Highlights/key moments: Monadnock scored the first goal of the contest in the opening minute but the General Hawks responded with two unanswered for the early lead. Stark-Hopkinton went on to net three goals in the final period to pull away.
Coach’s quote: “Disappointing start but after the first shift we controlled most of the play throughout the game.” – Stark-Hopkinton’s Denis Kolehmainen
Records: Stark-Hopkinton 4-2; Monadnock 2-3
Bow 381, Bishop Brady 373, Hopkinton 354, Trinity 346, Hillsboro-Deering 329, John Stark 186
Key players: Bow – Ben Wachsmuth (3rd), Alex Magini (5th), Sam Selleck (7th), Jon Cook (8th), Tony Sampson (9th); Stark – Aiden Moser (1st); Brady – Garrett Cahill (2nd); Hopkinton – Zach Berliner (4th)
Highlights/key moments: It was a solid victory for Bow on the mountain as it placed six skiers in the top 10. Moser delivered a first-place overall performance for the Generals while Hopkinton’s Garrett Cahill played a big role in leading the Green Giants to second place.
Coach’s quote: “Nice victory for Aiden (Moser) on a very rough course.” – Stark and Hopkinton’s Bob Berliner
Hopkinton 384, Bishop Brady 380, Hillsboro-Deering 257, Bow, John Stark, Trinity
Key players: Hopkinton – Addie Locke (1st), Maura Zankel (4th), Elizabeth Berliner (5th), Bea Burack (11th); Stark – Samantha Innerfield (3rd); Brady – Olivia Crainich (2nd), Silvia Caldesi (6th), Sara Lopresti (7th), Kamryn Compton (9th); Bow – Megan Lavign (8th)
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks showed just how talented they are as Locke, Zankel and Berliner all finished inside the top six to lock up the first victory of the season for Hopkinton.
Coach’s quote: “This young squad was very happy with their first victory. Nice to have Addie (Locke) and Samantha (Maura) on the podium.” – Hopkinton and Stark’s Bob Berliner
Key players: John Stark – Anna Ishak (personal record in 200 IM), Sarah Ferguson (2:16.42 in 200 freestyle; 1:02.22 in 100 freestyle)
Highlights/key moments: In their second to last home meet of the season, the Generals held their own in a five-school meet featuring Merrimack, Goffstown, Inter-Lakes and Dover.