The Pittsfield boys’ basketball team got the result it needed heading into the holiday break.
The Panthers came charging at Concord Christian right out of the gate, taking a double-digit first-quarter lead and holding on for a 53-36 victory over the Kingsmen to improve to 2-1 in Pittsfield’s final regular-season game of 2019.
Pittsfield jumped out to a 17-5 lead after the first quarter and held on to a double-digit lead the rest of the way, thanks to a double-double from Quinn Bissonnette (23 points, 11 rebounds) and a well-rounded effort from Devin Bedell (12 points, eight rebounds, five assists).
That being said, it was far from the Panthers’ best effort.
“We played an energetic first quarter but unfortunately couldn’t get into any type of rhythm after that,” Darrah said. “A lot of that credit goes to the coach and the effort from the boys from CCA.”
Shaddy Fleurant (14 points), Isaac Jarvis (10 points) and Aidan Duffy (five points) led the scoring for the Kingsmen, who drop to 1-2 with the loss.
Pittsfield now directs its attention to tournament play – the Panthers are playing in the Mike Lee Holiday Bash hosted by Farmington.
The Division IV Panthers open the tourney with a game against D-III Inter-Lakes Lakers (1-2).
Boys’ Basketball
Hanover 69, Bow 61, OT
Key players: Bow – Nick Kiah (24 points), Ben Harris (16 points); Hanover – Nolan Gantrish (21 points), Charles Adams (16 points)
Highlights: Harris connected on a free throw after getting fouled with 1.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, but the Marauders were a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in overtime to secure the win. The Division II Falcons open the NHTI Capital Area Holiday Tournament on Saturday against Division I Concord at 5 p.m.
Coach’s quote: “We didn’t play well tonight. We missed a lot of easy shots and didn’t make our free throws.” – Bow’s Frank Moreno
Records: Hanover 2-0; Bow 1-1
Hanover 52, Bow 48
Key players: Bow – Madison Speckman (12 points), Alex Larrabee (8 points, 11 rebounds), Ellie Pingree (7 points, 7 rebounds), Taylor Burnham (7 points)
Highlights: The Falcons came back from 10-point deficits two times to tie the game, but couldn’t quite overtake the Marauders. Bow defended its basket well, keeping up its energy and never giving in to Hanover defense.
Coach’s quote: “Bow struggled on the foul line during the game, but its offense and defense was high energy throughout.” – Bow assistant Al Douglas
Records: Hanover 2-0; Bow 2-1
Concord Christian 34, Pittsfield 31
Key players: Pittsfield – Haylee Gilleney (17 points, 4 rebounds), Cora Lemay (7 points, 8 rebounds); Concord Christian – Calleigh Connelly (10 points), Caroline Clark (10 points)
Highlights: Pittsfield came out strong in the first quarter taking a 12-8 lead, but the Lady Kingsmen cut the lead to 17-16 at halftime and narrowly took the win in an evenly-played second half.
Coach’s quote: “We had a very good first half on both sides of the floor. If we had carried that through to the second half we would have taken the win.” – Pittsfield’s Heidi Hall
Records: Concord Christian 1-2; Pittsfield 0-6
Boys’ Indoor Track
Concord 2nd
Key players: Concord – Manny Feliz (1st long jump in 19-8¾, 3rd 55 hurdles, tied 3rd high jump), Brayden Kearns (1st 1,500 in 4:13), John Murphy (2nd 3,000), Rovanee Nickson (3rd 600), Vose O’Sullivan (3rd 1,000), Matt Lavoie (6th 600), Sam Hilts (6th 1,000), 4×200 (2nd), 4×400 (3rd)
Highlights: Feliz and Kearns each won an event to lead the Tide to second place in a 13-team meet on Sunday at Dartmouth. Feliz also ran on the second-place 4×200 and Kearns also ran on the third-place 4×400. Pinkerton (71 points) won the meet, followed by the Tide (52), Bishop Guertin (43), Keene (34) and Hanover (28) in the top five.
Concord 6th
Key players: Concord – Sarah Waite (2nd 55), Nydia Lane (3rd 300), Gabriela Pimental (tied 5th high jump), 4×200 (4th), 4×400 (5th)
Highlights: The did especially well in the sprints and relays in Sunday’s meet at Dartmouth. Bishop Guertin (61 points) won the 14-team event, followed by Keene (55), Pinkerton (53), Hanover (35), St. Johnsbury, Vt. (35) and Concord (20).