Tim Mucher didn’t like what he was seeing through three quarters.
The fourth-year head coach for the Merrimack Valley boys’ basketball team wanted more energy, more passion and more fight from his players as they entered the final frame trailing by one to Laconia on Thursday night.
In its last game before the holiday break, the Pride answered the call. With Mucher lighting the fire and big man Kyle Dube providing the offensive punch, the Pride outscored the Sachems, 18-6, in the fourth quarter and left Laconia High School with a 55-44 win.
“We need better consistency because we’re not good enough to flip the switch on and off. The switch has to be on all the time,” said Mucher after the Pride improved to 2-1 on the year in Division II. “(Laconia) played harder than us all night until the fourth quarter when we woke up and held them to six points. We were just going through the motions. Laconia played harder than us tonight and we were lucky to win.”
After losing in the opener to ConVal, the Pride has now won two straight games due in large part to the work of the 6-foot-4 junior Dube.
Asked to fill a bigger role after the departures of Second Team All-State selection Ryan Defina and Honorable Mention Jake Herbert, Dube has responded in a big way and fueled the Pride – especially late – with a game-high 26 points against the Sachems.
“He carried us all right. He was a man amongst boys at times and he’s our go-to guy right now,” Mucher said. “He’s been with the program, he got minutes as a freshman and now he’s coming into his own this year as a junior. He put us on his back tonight and carried us.”
Returning senior starter Dillon McCarthy followed Dube in scoring with nine points, while sophomore Griff Wheeler chipped in with six for MV, which led by three at halftime (29-26), but found itself trailing, 38-37, as the fourth quarter began before pulling away.
The Pride won’t see the court again for a regular-season game until Jan. 4 when it visits Stevens, but will be featured in the annual Capital Area Holiday Basketball Tournament hosted by NHTI beginning Dec. 27.
Other local teams playing in the tournament include Concord, Bishop Brady, Pembroke, Kearsarge, Bow, John Stark and Hopkinton.
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)
John Stark 49, Sanborn 48
Key players: Stark – Christian Barr (19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals), Noah Gamache (11 points), Peyton Marden (5 assists)
Highlights: Barr collected 8 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter where the Generals outscored Sanborn, 16-10, for their first win of the season. Despite Sanborn connecting for nine 3-pointers, Stark stayed within striking distance and finally took the lead when Marden stole the ball and converted a layup on the other end with 15 seconds to play.
Coach’s quote: “Talk about stealing a game on the road. From the first quarter on they were up and I don’t think we took the lead until right at the end.” – Stark’s Mike Smith
Records: John Stark 1-2; Sanborn 0-3
Hopkinton 62, Belmont 47
Key players: Hopkinton – Kevin Newton-Delgado (18 points), Caleb Yianakopolis (16 points), Michael Baer (7 points), Tyler Allen (6 points), Shepard Murdough (4 points), Luke Reidy (4 points); Belmont – Nate Sottak (16 points), Jackson Ruelke (8 points), Matt Thurber (6 points), Keith Landry (6 points)
Highlights: After a slow start in the first quarter, Hopkinton locked down its defense in the second and won each of the last three quarters to hand the Raiders their first loss.
Coach’s quote: “It was nice to see some other guys step up and contribute tonight. I was very happy with our defense as we held some of their key offensive guys in check.” – Hopkinton’s Stephen Signor
Records: Hopkinton 4-0; Belmont 4-1
Gilford 61, Franklin 54
Key players: Gilford – Adrian Siravo (11 points); Franklin – T.J. Laramie (23 points), C.J. Gaslin (19 points), Ben Lafrance (7 points)
Coach’s quote: “If we could continue what we do in the first half, we would be a pretty scary team, but we play four quarters for a reason. Gilford is a well coached, disciplined team. ” – Franklin’s Michael Donnell
Records: Gilford 2-1; Franklin 1-3
Laconia 41, Merrimack Valley 38
Key players: Merrimack Valley – Miah Boucher (12 points), Carly Huckins (9 points), Jadyn Holmes (8 points)
Highlights: Laconia led 11-9 after the first quarter before MV came back to tie the contest at 16-all at halftime. The Sachems retook the lead in the third and held on for the narrow win over the Pride.
Coach’s quote: “Laconia outplayed us tonight. Credit to them because they wanted this game more than we did. If we don’t rebound the ball on the defensive end we are not going to beat a lot of teams. Laconia got to many second chances and it really hurt us tonight. We need to do a better job rebounding the ball on the defensive end and that will be a focus in practice moving forward. ” – MV’s Bob McNutt
Records: Laconia 3-2; Merrimack Valley 2-2