Scott Spenard had no idea how much time was left on the clock when the ball left his fingertips. But he remembered every detail of the Coe-Brown boys’ basketball team’s final play on Friday like the back of his hand.
“We were supposed to run this play where there would be a double screen for me going to the corner but I just passed it to one of the post guys and I faked going backdoor,” Spenard said. “I got the ball, checked the clock … and I just made a move to my strong hand, my left hand, and just put up a floater. It hit the back rim and it just bounced in.”
The shot – the eventual game-winner in a hard-fought 57-55 victory for Coe-Brown over Bishop Brady – was designed to be the final play of a wild fourth quarter, but it left the Green Giants with a few ticks on the clock for one final desperation heave.
“I honestly didn’t know there was that much time left,” Spenard added. “I thought the clock had expired but there were two seconds left.”
With those few precious seconds, Brady’s Eero Myllymaki tried his hand at being the hero with a toss from his own foul line, but the shot caromed hard off the backboard, allowing Coe-Brown (12-1) to finally celebrate its 12th straight victory in thrilling fashion.
“That’s what you practice for all the time,” Coe-Brown Coach David Smith said. “You don’t always make the plays that you want, but when it’s time to make a play, you hope you can execute it, and certainly, they did.”
The loss was another heartbreaker for Bishop Brady, which played undefeated Milford to the wire on Tuesday before running into the red-hot Bears. The Green Giants (6-5) erased a five-point deficit at halftime and rallied all the way back from down eight in the final frame – capped off by a game-tying 3-pointer at the top of the arc from senior Matt Quirk that tied the game at 55-all.
“It’s important that we keep doing what we’re doing well and anytime you lose, there’s obviously things you have to fix and that kind of starts with me,” Brady Coach Cole Etten said. “I have to get us in the right position in order to overcome these. We’ve had two close ones in a row now down the stretch and that’s my job to put them in the right spots to win.”
In a tough part of the schedule where the Giants have faced some of Division II’s best, Etten knows moral victories are only nice for so long.
“(Coe-Brown) is a terrific team so it’s good that we’re competing,” Etten said. “Obviously we don’t want to come and be losing at the end of the game, but it’s good that we’re competing. We just have to get over the hump now.”
For Spenard, he scored 12 of his 15 points in the final nine minutes of play and nine points alone in the fourth quarter. His brother, Shawn Spenard, was also quiet for most of the night, but connected on a huge pair of free throws during a one-and-one situation in the fourth quarter that gave the Bears a three-point cushion.
With 10.2 seconds left in the game, Smith designed the final play in hopes of getting a strong look inside the paint, hoping his players would be comfortable in the set and find a way to pull it out.
“We tried to run it off one of our regular offensive patterns and obviously we were hoping to get a shot going to the basket with it,” Smith said. “I wish I could say it was all ingenious diagrams and whatever, but we just tried to run it off something we do a lot.”
To the Green Giants credit, it was just the fourth time this season that Coe-Brown failed to win by 10 or more points, but even with nearly four players in double-figures and the Bears back on their heels late, Brady couldn’t hit that final bucket down the stretch to tilt the scales.
Myllymaki finished with a team-high 13 points for the Giants, followed by 12 points for center Matt Desmaris, 10 for Quirk and nine for Josh LeClaire off the bench.
“We expected a close game here, it’s usually tough here,” Smith said. “We made some critical mistakes at critical times, and every time that we could open up something, they came back. They hit big shots at the end and a very big one to tie it and the players for them that stepped up would be the ones that you would expect to step up.”
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3340, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)
Concord 39, Manchester Central 31
Key players: Concord – Matt Giroux (18 points, 5 rebounds), Tyler Bruns (13 points, 4 rebounds), Jacob Knowles (4 points, 3 rebounds, spark off bench), Collin Maloney (5 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: Concord trailed 31-23 at the end of the third quarter before taking off on a 16-0 run in the fourth, led by Giroux, who had 10 points in the final quarter. The Tide limited Central’s shooting to 13 of 47 through the game and 0-for-14 in the fourth. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Tide that dated back to December.
Coach’s quote: “We really needed this win, and we played some great defense in the fourth quarter.” – Concord’s Dave Chase
Records: Concord 2-9; Central 1-9
John Stark 61, Bow 49
Key players: John Stark – Troy Gamache (11 points), Chase patterson (7 points in first quarter), Joe Simeone (5 points), Adam Tower (5 points, 3 assists); Bow – Ryan Andrews (12 points), Nate Alford (10 points), Matt Scanlan (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: John Stark found scoring up and down its roster with 12 players getting on the board. The Generals took a commanding 40-16 lead in the first half and there was no looking back.
Coach’s quote: “We played very well in the first half, moved the ball well, but had poor execution in the second. I was very proud of our first half.” – John Stark’s Mike Smith
“The first half, we just weren’t ready to play and they were. Credit to them because they hit some shots. We just have to be more consistent and rally down the stretch here.” – Bow’s Chris Gaudreau
Records: John Stark 7-5; Bow 3-9
Pembroke 72, Pelham 64, OT
Key players: Pembroke – Jake Sherman (30 points), Sean Menard (21 points), Noah Cummings (12 points)
Highlights/key moments: Pembroke’s Brandon Linscott hit a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. Jack Lehoullier was solid on defense to help the Spartans secure the win.
Coach’s quote: “Proud of the fight these young men continue to show. We are looking forward to a tough matchup Sunday at Bishop Brady.” – Pembroke’s Shannon Sciria
Records: Pembroke 6-5; Pelham 7-4
Hopkinton 67, H-D 20
Key players: Hopkinton – Tyler Allen (14 points), Kevin Newton-Delgado (11 points), Kevin McGrath (9 points), Liam Flanagan (8 points), Cam Cyr (7 points); H-D – Bradnon Rodier (6 points), Billy Dubuque (4 points)
Highlights/key moments: Hopkinton led 18-2 after the first quarter on its way to its 13th win.
Coach’s quote: “It was nice to see many different players step up and contribute tonight. Hats off to H-D as they played hard to the last whistle.” – Hopkinton’s Stephen Signor
Records: Hopkinton 13-0; H-D 0-14
Kearsarge 67, MV 51
Key players: Kearsarge – Tayler Mattos (33 points, 12 rebounds), Tom Johnson (21 points, 4 assists), Ray Critch (6 points), Noah Tremblay; MV – Ryan Defina (14 points), Jake Hebert (12 points), Ben Davis (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Pride had no answer for Mattos, who scored nearly half of Kearsarge’s points. The Cougars led by 19 at the half and received strong defensive efforts from Joe Storozuk, Jordan Bryk and Kyle Hernon.
Coach’s quote: “MV didn’t go away, they hung tough. … Credit to them because they played hard tonight.” – Kearsarge’s Nate Camp
Records: Kearsarge 11-2; MV 3-10
Franklin 60, Raymond 50
Key players: Franklin – Jayden Torres (27 points), Matt Hennessy (12 points, 13 assists), Corey Nelson (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Golden Tornadoes rebounded their way to a third straight win, this one coming on the road. Torres’s 27 points brought him to 244 for the year and Hennessy’s unselfish play helped Franklin offensively.
Coach’s quote: “Really happy with the boys. Raymond did not play like a winless team. They battled throughout. For our boys, it’s three wins in a row. We came in with a game plan and stuck with it throughout.” – Franklin’s Michael Donnell
Records: Franklin 6-8; Raymond 1-11
Belmont 68, Monadnock 52
Key players: Belmont – Doug Price (20 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds), Trevor Hunt (18 points, 15 rebounds), Dylan Gansert (9 points, 12 rebounds), Matt Pluskis (7 points), Derek Stevens (7 points)
Highlights/key moments: After a sluggish start to the game, Belmont turned up the defensive pressure to rattle the visiting Huskies and it worked.
Coach’s quote: “I thought Dylan set the tone for us with his energy and the way he ran the floor in transition and it opened quite a few driving lanes for Doug. Without a doubt the two players of the game. Love the way this team steps up and plays together. Have to build upon it with some tough ones left.” – Belmont’s Jim Cilley
Records: Belmont 12-2; Monadnock 8-7
Kearsarge first, Bishop Brady second, Bow third, Belmont fourth
Key players: Kearsarge – Justin Norris (2nd slalom, 2nd GS), Isaac Braun (7th slalom, 12th GS), Alexander Hauk (9th slalom, 5th GS), Daniel Jagr (8th GS); Brady – Danny Bryck (3rd slalom, 3rd GS), Garrett Cahill (4th slalom, 7th GS), Matteo Ticli (9th GS); Bow – Alex Magini (8th slalom, 6th GS), Ben Wachsmuth (10th slalom, 10th GS); Belmont – Lars Major (6th slalom), Adam Sojka (11th slalom), Nolan Gagnon (4th GS); Gilford – Tyler Hanf (5th slalom, 13th GS); Laconia – Thomas Tuprin (1st slalom, 1st GS)
Highlights/key moments: Kearsarge skied away with a big victory on Friday at Gunstock, scoring 751 points. Brady (729), Bow (705), Belmont (695) and Gilford (666) rounded out the top five. Laconia (598) finished seventh, while Newfound and Hillsboro-Deering were also among the 11 teams that competed.