The Bishop Brady High School girls’ basketball team has been steadily building their own story all season long. With each play, each quarter and each game, the Green Giants try to take away a lesson or learning moment that they can apply to improve going forward.
Monday night’s lesson: How to keep their guard up and put a team away.
“We try and take a lesson from every game, that’s our whole story approach to our season,” Bishop Brady Coach Annie Alosa said after the Green Giants’ win streak reached nine games following a 62-50 home win over Merrimack Valley. “Today’s game was learning how to not let down and build our mental toughness a little bit and I thought the girls took that challenge and ran with it very well.”
Thanks to a combined 43 points from junior guard Sam Will and senior Riley Bennett, the Green Giants (9-1) held off several late runs from the Pride (8-4), including a 5-0 spurt to start the final quarter that pulled MV within seven. That mental toughness that Alosa wanted to see? Well, that showed up all game, especially in the second half where Brady refused to let MV turn the contest into one that would come down to the final moments.
“Honestly, they do all the hard work and I love every minute,” said Alosa, who has Brady on track to finish as one of the top teams in Division II in her first season at the helm. “They deserve every piece of credit they get. They are a very talented crew, both mentally and physically, and I think the only thing I do is remind them of that.”
For the Pride, it was its fourth loss in six games after starting the year out 6-0. MV has been battling the injury bug of late during a brutal stretch of its schedule where, including Brady, it has faced four of the top six teams in the division.
“The girls played hard and they’re a good team. Brady’s a top four team for sure,” MV Coach Dave Huckins said. “We thought we could maybe get in that mix but it looks like we’re going to be outside of that a little bit. The girls are working hard and we just have to get through our injuries and hopefully be healthy come tournament time.”
MV opened the contest by scoring the first five points, but quickly watched that lead disappear as Will (18 points) and Bennett (25 points) led the Giants to a 10-3 run at the end of the first quarter to go ahead 18-11. With 20 team fouls in the first half, both sides took advantage of some free points at the line as Brady shot 8 of 13 and MV went 8 of 14, and the Giants took a six-point lead into halftime.
While MV’s Carly Huckins was up to her usual tricks with a team-high 17 points, teammate Abby Grandmaison had a rare off night at the offensive end with 11 points, making it harder for the Pride to engineer a comeback.
“As a coach you can never get upset with an offensive performance because that kind of comes and goes with your shot,” Coach Huckins said. “As far as defensive and rebounding and hustling and stuff like that, (Grandmaison) gives it her all every night. So as far someone saying she has a bad night, I don’t think she did … I think she played very hard and did well, she just didn’t score as much as she normally does.”
Grandmaison` connected on a pair of free throws midway through the third to make it a five-point game, but as was the story all night long, Brady found a way to answer back.
Lily Rivera (five points) knocked down a jumper, Will coasted through the lane for a layup and Bennett, left all alone in the corner, swished home a 3-pointer and just like that, the lead was extended to 12.
“I think everyone plays a huge role for us in different ways,” Alosa said. “We kind of find our hot shooters depending on the night, and (Will and Bennett) both went in kind of streaks, which is great, we love when they can both go together.”
As for where the Green Giants’ story goes next, nobody knows for sure, but Alosa is confident this team will be ready for whatever the next obstacle is.
“What’s really great about this team is they always want to know what’s next,” Alosa said. “They want to know what we just did and what we can do on the next play. In the locker room it’s nice because there is an excitement for a victory, but also a desire to learn and to take from games to get better.”
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3340, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)
John Stark 50, ConVal 22
Key players: John Stark – Laura Martin (13 points), Autumn Nelson (8 points), Sarah Clark (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Generals limited ConVal to three points in the second quarter to build a 12-point lead. Stark’s Chelsea Woodsum and Emily Patten combined for 13 points while leading the defense.
Coach’s quote: “It is always good to see a strong performance at home after a two week absence. We look forward to playing some of the stronger teams in our division to see if we belong.” – John Stark’s Don Poitras
Records: John Stark 5-6; ConVal 1-9
Laconia 60, Manchester West 41
Key players: Laconia – Hannah Dow (16 points), Delia Cormier (10 points)
Highlights/key moments: Laconia used full-court pressure and outscored West 17-8 in the third quarter to gain a lead after being down by four points at halftime.
Coach’s quote: “The kids did a great job identifying Emily Keefe (13 points) in the second half on the offensive end. Keeping the ball out of her hands allowed us to be able to capitalize in the full court by causing turnovers, which convert to easy buckets.” – Laconia’s Jeff Greeley
Records: Laconia 3-9; West 4-6
Sanborn 43, Belmont 34
Key players: Julianna Estremera (10 points), Sarah Chase (6 points), Jordan Sargent (6 points), Taylor Yelle (defense), Mariah Watson (defense)
Highlights/key moments: The Raiders trailed 20-11 at halftime but managed to cut the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter against one of the top four teams in Division III. Sanborn was able to pull away again with a couple takeaways and made free throws by the final horn to deal the loss to Belmont.
Coach’s quote: “We’re making strides. The kids worked really hard to get us back in this game.” – Belmont’s Mark Dawalga
Records: Belmont 6-6; Sanborn 11-1
Bishop Brady 55, Merrimack Valley 43
Key players: Brady – Bryce Johnson (34 points, 7 rebounds), Matt Desmarais (4 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists), Eero Myllymaki (9 points); MV – James Shattuck (team-high 22 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Giants led by four points at halftime before extending their lead by 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Pride responded and outscored Brady 20-16 in the fourth, but it was not enough to take a lead.
Records: Brady 5-2; MV 2-9
Lebanon 61, John Stark 48
Key players: Stark – Cooper Gorski (14 points), Drew McQuarrie (11 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists), Isaiah Lovering (5 steals), Joe Simeone (5 points), Shawn Lavigne (6 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Generals fought back after being outscored by eight in the first quarter, but couldn’t quite get over the hump in the second half as Lebanon pulled away down the stretch for the double-digit victory.
Coach’s quote: “We didn’t take care of the ball early, which against Lebnaon, puts you at a disadvantage.” Stark’s Mike Smith
Records: Stark 5-5; Lebanon 6-1
Conant 64, Hillsboro-Deering 24
Key players: H-D – Zach Rowell (17 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Hillcats have another chance tonight at Conant.
Coach’s quote: “Zach Rowell came to play. I hope we all show up tomorrow night.” – H-D’s Kevin Fowler
Records: H-D 0-11; Conant 7-3
Plymouth-Kearsarge 9, Laconia-Winnisquam 5
Key players: L-W – Cole Reid (3 goals), Noah Wirth (goal, assist), Josh Shevlin (goal), Nick Luther (assist), Noah Smith (assist)
Highlights/key moments: Plymouth-Kearsarge led 2-0 in the first period, but Reid cut into the deficit with his first goal of the evening on Saturday in Laconia. Plymouth-Kearsarge took control again, extending its lead to five goals. Reid interrupted the Cats’ scoring with his second goal. He added a third in the third period for his first career hat trick.
Coach’s quote: “Plymouth-Kearsarge is a stronger team than their record would suggest, but we got some better chances that we’ve been getting and it was fun to see our guys take advantage of opportunities and bury their shots.” – Laconia-Winnisquam’s Kent Finemore
Records: Kearsarge-Plymouth 3-7; Laconia-Winnisquam 0-9