The Bishop Brady girls’ basketball team is familiar with John Stark’s style of play.
The Generals eliminated Bishop Brady in last year’s Division II quarterfinals and coach Annie Mattarazzo knew that Sunday’s Capital Area Holiday Tournament semifinal would be competitive, but her Giants squad also knows the style of play that works for them.
Despite trailing in the first quarter, Bishop Brady (2-1 in Division II) adjusted gradually throughout the game, using its up-tempo offense to open space in John Stark’s zone defense to secure a 61-56 victory and a spot in Tuesday’s championship game against Merrimack Valley.
The Generals (3-0 in D-II) led 15-10 after the first quarter, but a strong second quarter – sparked by three 3s from Halle Laramie (23 points, eigt rebounds) – gave Brady a 30-26 lead at halftime and the Giants didn’t trail again for the rest of the game.
“I think we are a mixture of seasoned, experienced players from our seniors, to juniors, to sophomores,” Mattarazzo said. “There is a lot of experience in our offense. Adjusting on the fly comes a lot more easily on offense. They have more confidence this year to score are good at finding space and passing in transition.”
Ami Rivera (24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, four steals) was huge in the transition game and up-tempo offense, while fellow starters Libbey Hicks (five points, five steals), Marissa Payne (six points, four rebounds) and Riley Marsh (four rebounds, two steals, two assists) had strong two-way games to lead the Giants.
“We missed eight uncontested layups in the first half and from the second quarter on we allowed Bishop Brady to control the tempo of the game,” Generals coach Bruce Johnson said. “Tonight was a great learning experience for us. That is exactly what a Christmas tourney is for. Hopefully, we get healthy soon and are ready for the regular season to continue.”
John Stark was led by Chelsea Woodsum (17 points, 12 rebounds), Lilli Stogner (15 rebounds, seven points), Anna Stenger (13 points, six rebounds, six steals) and Brady Johnson (11 points, five rebounds, three assists).
The Generals came up short despite outrebounding the Giants (44-41) and shooting 34 percent from the floor, compared to just 25 percent for Bishop Brady, something Mattarazzo knows will need to improve in the championship game against a tough MV squad.
“MV is a great team. They play very structured and they play well together,” Mattarazzo said. “Both teams will play their style. I think it will come down to who executes better, who can play their system more confidently. We need to hit some early buckets and stay true to who we are and I think (MV) will do the same.”
The girls’ championship game will tip off on Tuesday at noon at the NHTI Crocker Wellness Center, followed by the boys’ championship between Bishop Brady and Bow at 2 p.m.
Both games were originally scheduled for Monday, but postponed to Tuesday due to the weather forecast.
Girls’ Basketball
Merrimack Valley 44, Concord 38
Key players: MV – Alyssa Woodman (10 points, 4 steals), Hayley Kenney (7 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds), Aislinn McDonald (8 rebounds, 3 steals), Lauren Pettingill (7 points), Macy Gordon (6 points, 2 steals); Concord – Ava Woodman (10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, block), Kylar Buchholz (14 rebounds, 5 points), Jordyn Lengle (11 rebounds, 7 points, 2 steals, block), Jessica White (8 points, 7 rebounds)
Highlights: The Pride trailed, 18-15, at halftime, but outscored Concord in the third quarter, 14-7, to secure a spot in the Capital Area Holiday Tournament championship. MV advanced to the finals despite getting outplayed on the glass by the Tide, 46-26. The Pride will play against Bishop Brady in Tuesday’s final, which tips off at NHTI’s Crocker Wellness Center at noon. Concord got into foul trouble early and couldn’t recover in the second half, while the Pride took advantage of its opportunities at the free throw line.
Coaches’ quotes: “I thought our girls played real well. We had a game plan defensively that we stuck to and we executed down the stretch offensively. I think our bench provided a huge boost for us vs. a tough Concord team on a big floor. They have a lot of size and I thought our bigs did a good job limiting offensive possessions for Concord. Good team win and the girls look forward to the challenge vs. Brady.” – MV’s Bob McNutt
“We faced quite a bit of adversity today. Our girls did a nice job of keeping their composure and focusing on the things that we could control – attitude and effort. With all of our foul trouble we were never really able to get into a rhythm offensively. This game will be a good lesson to learn from moving forward.” – Concord’s Tim LaTorra
Records: MV 1-1 in D-II; Concord 1-0 in D-I
Bow 59, Hopkinton 57
Key players: Bow – Matt Lamy (21 points, 4 assists, 2 steals), Shaun Lover (13 points, 6 assists), Nick Kiah (11 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, block), Steven Guerrette (6 points, 6 assists), Ben Harris (8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals); Hopkinton – Kevin Newton-Delgado (18 points, 10 rebounds), Shepyrd Murdough (6 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals), Michael Baer (8 points)
Highlights: The Falcons shot 47 percent from the floor to overcome an 18-13 first-quarter deficit, outscoring the Hawks in every frame the rest of the way to punch a ticket to Tuesday’s Capital Area Holiday Tournament championship game. Hopkinton held a slim 26-25 lead at halftime, but Bow outscored the Hawks 15-9 in the third quarter (Lamy scored nine of those 15 points) and 19-12 in the fourth. The Falcons will play Bishop Brady in the championship game on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
Coaches’ quotes: “Hopkinton’s zone frustrated us early and we lost some intensity on the defensive end. But, we were able to turn things up in the second half with great defense by Lover and a huge offensive half by Lamy.” – Bow’s Frank Moreno
“I am proud of how hard we played on defense holding Bow to their lowest offensive output of the season. The energy and effort were there tonight, we just have to find a way to knock down big shots in key moments.” – Hopkinton’s Stephen Signor
Records: Bow 1-1 in D-II; Hopkinton 2-1 in D-III
Bishop Brady 47, John Stark 43
Key players: Bishop Brady – Ismael Rivera (19 points, 5 rebounds); John Stark – Christian Barr (18 points, 9 rebounds)
Highlights: The Generals trailed 22-13 at halftime and came back to take a lead with 4:12 left in the game, but the Giants went 6-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to secure the win. Barr connected on a 3 with 4:12 left to give John Stark a 41-39 lead. The Generals outscored Brady 22-12 in the third quarter to get back into the game.
Records: Bishop Brady 0-1 in D-II; John Stark 0-1 in D-II
Concord 65, Merrimack Valley 52
Key players: Concord – Ivan Yen (14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Tyler Clark Toy (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks), Angelo Gray (11 points); MV – Eli Grove (15 points, 6 rebounds), Caleb Heath (13 points), Ethan Drapeau (10 points, 6 rebounds)
Highlights: The Tide led 19-8 after the first quarter and 31-15 at halftime to win a consolation game at the Capital Area Holiday Basketball Tournament at NHTI.
Records: Concord 0-0 in D-I; MV 0-1 in D-II
Kearsarge 65, Pembroke 36
Key players: Pembroke – Mike Pitman (32 points); Kearsarge – Nick LeBlanc (22 points, 5 assists), Tyler Skidmore (16 points, 10 rebounds)
Highlights: The Cougars led 16-2 after the first quarter and 27-9 at halftime for a decisive consolation victory over the Spartans at the Capital Area Holiday Tournament, despite a great offensive effort from Pitman.
Records: Kearsarge 0-1 in D-II; Pembroke 0-1 in D-II
Pittsfield 71, Franklin 41
Key players: Pittsfield – Devin Bedell (16 points, 8 assists), Quinn Bissonnette (14 points), Gavin Bedell (10 points)
Highlights: The Panthers jumped out to a 43-16 halftime lead and the bench players kept things going in the second half. All 12 Pittsfield players scored in the consolation victory at the Mike Lee Holiday Bash hosted by Farmington High School. The Division IV Panthers were eliminated by D-III St. Thomas in a 64-56 loss on Saturday.
Coach’s quote: “We were able to come out and set the tone in the first half, which allowed us to work on different looks and utilize the entire roster during the second half.” – Pittsfield’s Jay Darrah
Records: Pittsfield 2-1 in D-IV; Franklin 0-2 in D-III
Bishop Brady 77, Kearsarge 49
Key players: Bishop Brady – Tommy Fraser (21 points, 10 rebounds), Ismael Rivera (18 points, 5 steals), Billy Fraser (19 points, 8 rebounds), Connor Raposo (15 rebounds); Kearsage – Ben Carl (11 points), Nick LeBlanc (11 points)
Highlights: The Green Giants took an 18-7 lead after the first quarter and led 36-20 at halftime to put away the Cougars in a late opening-round Capital Area Tournament game on Saturday night.
Records: Bishop Brady 0-1 in D-II; Kearsarge 0-1 in D-II
Concord 3, Bedford 2, 2OT
Key players: Concord – Matt Hauschild (goal, assist), Ryan Philbrick (goal, 2 assists), Noah Drew (goal), Zach Drew (assist), Alex Forward (assists), Ryan Doherty (assist), Parker Taylor (29 saves)
Highlights: After breezing through group play, the Tide faced a stiff challenge in the Brian Stone Memorial Tournament championship needing 4-on-4 overtime and 3-on-3 double overtime, but Tournament MVP Noah Drew netted the game-winner to give Concord the title. Hauschild scored a power-play goal 4:49 into the game to give Concord a 1-0 lead, but the Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead with a goal seven seconds into the second period and one late in the frame. Philbrick forced overtime with a goal with 4:52 left in regulation and assisted on Drew’s game-winner. Doherty also had a helper on the winning goal. Forwards Joey Ala and Hauschild, defenseman Philbrick and netminder Taylor were named to the All-Tournament team after routing Bow, Manchester Memorial and Manchester Central-West by a combined score of 24-0.
Coach’s quote: “It was was an exciting win playing 3-on-3 in overtime. Very entertaining game. The 3-on-3 was fun for players and spectators. Good win for our guys. We played hard and deserved the win.” – Concord’s Duncan Walsh
Records: Concord 2-0 in D-I; Bedford 3-1 in D-I