Short-handed and mired in its longest losing streak of the season, the Pittsfield boys’ basketball team was in desperate need of a boost on Thursday night.
With injuries keeping junior forward Spencer Strouth (ankle) and junior guard Tyler Prentice (wrist) out of action, the Panthers were forced to look elsewhere for production in a Division IV clash against Derryfield.
They found it in senior Cory Gilleney and sophomore Jesse MacGlashing.
Gilleney (11 points, five rebounds) handled the heavy lifting in the opening half, picking up the slack for a few of the injured players before handing the baton off to MacGlashing, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half to lift Pittsfield past Derryfield, 57-48.
“Being down two guys tonight and for those other guys to step up and play in roles they’re not used to was really big for us,” Pittsfield coach Jay Darrah said. “I think Gilleney stepping up and really filling that void early energized the team. MacGlashing, he does all the little things people don’t notice, and tonight he did that and also scored some big baskets for us.”
The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Panthers (9-4) and dropped Derryfield to 5-6 in D-IV.
Pittsfield started fast with a 17-6 advantage after the first few minutes of the opening quarter, but Derryfield quickly caught up and trailed by four (19-15) entering the second before overtaking the Panthers for a 28-27 lead at halftime.
“All of the stuff we do is about controlling the pace of the game,” Darrah said. “We did a good job of that in the first five minutes, but at the end of the half (Derryfield) did a good job of knocking down some shots and taking that control away from us.”
The Panthers, though, never lost control completely.
Behind MacGlashing’s second-half scoring spurt as well as 10 points and six assists from junior guard Devin Bedell, Pittsfield outscored Derryfield, 30-20, over the final 16 minutes,
“You don’t want to be playing your best basketball in January. You want to be doing that in February,” Darrah said. “So as much as we arrived early and as well as we’re playing, there’s room for improvement. There’s things we need to get better at if we’re going to have a tournament run.”
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)
Hollis Brookline 58, John Stark 55
Key players: Stark – Christian Barr (33 points, 10 rebounds), Noah Gamache (6 points, 4 assists, 3 steals), Kayden Easter (6 points)
Highlights: On a terrific night from the field for Barr, John Stark held a narrow advantage for much of the contest, but lost the lead at the start of the fourth quarter. Trailing by three with 30 seconds left, Stark inbounded the ball and converted the shot through contact, but missed the potential game-tying free throw.
Records: John Stark4-8; Hollis Brookline7-4
Souhegan 63, Kearsarge 45
Key players: Souhegan – Matt McCool (19 points), Jeff Boenm (15 points), Jeff Kieswetter (11 points); Kearsarge – Noah Tremblay (18 points, 4 rebounds), Ben Carl (8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists), Adrian McCarthy (8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists)
Highlights: Kearsarge came out of the gate playing very well with a 17-15 lead after the first quarter, but went ice cold over the next two frames, getting outscored, 32-11, combined in the second and third quarters. The Cougars came back and played well in the fourth, outscoring Souhegan, 17-16.
Coach’s quote: “We missed shots we’ve made all season. You can’t have long scoring lapses against good teams like Souhegan or anyone in Division II for that matter. We have to bounce back in less than 24 hours and show some resilience, especially defensively against a very good Hanover team.” – Kearsarge’s Nathan Camp
Records: Souhegan 8-3; Kearsarge 5-5
Campbell 61, Hopkinton 25
Key players: Campbell – Brendan Rice (17 points), Joaquin Heller (11 points), Justin Furlong (9 points) Hopkinton – Kevin Newton-Delgado (19 points)
Highlights: Hopkinton came out strong and led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter. But Campbell went on a 26-5 second-quarter run and extended its lead each quarter to pull away.
Coach’s quote: “Despite a tough loss, I saw some good things throughout the night that we can build upon.” – Hopkinton’s Stephen Signor
Records: Campbell 10-2; Hopkinton 8-4