Cut, drive, pass, shoot, score.
It was simple as that for Concord High girls’ basketball team on Monday night in its home opener. The Crimson Tide had every shot in their arsenal fall into the net, and with a defensive intensity that was the driving force, it was a win to both remember and build upon.
Concord’s 72-39 victory over Keene showcased the identity that the Tide want to establish this season – a suffocating defense that closes in on passing lanes, quick afoot and forcing turnovers. The hope is that those turnovers cause fast breaks and easy layups.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
With the addition of senior captain Elizabeth Blinn, who was back in the lineup after missing the season opener because of an injury, the Tide’s formula was executed flawlessly as they opened up with a 26-7 lead after just the first quarter.
Buckets were coming with ease, too. Whether it was Blinn or sophomore Sofia Payne in the post or any of Concord’s guards shooting from midrange to the 3-point-line, the Tide had it all working.
“The mentality is to play defense,” Blinn, who had a team-high 16 points, said. “We just want to keep up with the aggressiveness, keep up with deflections and steals. We want to keep capitalizing and getting better and better throughout the season.”
Concord’s defense eventually switched the strategy up and tried out a full-court press, and the Blackbirds struggled to inbound the ball. When the visiting team was able to get a shot off, the Tide defense quickly swooped in for the rebound and had a guard already down on the other end of the floor ready to score.
“We wanted to come out and play much harder than we did Friday night,” Concord coach Tim LaTorra said. “I think Friday we did not rebound well, we had a ton of turnovers, missed a ton of free throws and played very tight in spurts. We just wanted to let loose.”
In their season opener, a 66-38 loss at Pinkerton, the Tide struggled to find ways to both score and defend. That struggle turned into release with nearly the entire varsity roster scoring at least a point Monday night and four players netting seven or more.
With such a high-tempo game plan and the desire to want to play like that every time, LaTorra knows that with the new condensed scheduled there’s only one flaw with minimal practice time.
“I think it’s going to teach kids some different lessons than it has in the past; sometimes you’ll have to make a decision on the spot,” he said. “More importantly, with this condensed schedule I think we’re going to have to be in shape, and whoever is healthy at the end of the year is going to have a chance to do something special.”
LaTorra, who earned his 200th career win Monday, noted that with a roster of just 12 girls, there could be some difficulties depth-wise, but as long as Concord’s formula keeps up with the execution, it’ll allow him to sit his key players.
Concord (1-1) will close out the week with two home games that both tip off at 6:30 p.m., starting with Spaulding on Wednesday followed by Alvirne on Friday.