Anthony Brock ripped off his jersey shortly after he slapped hands with Connor White, who whispered a message of reassurance to the senior captain.
Tyler Clark Toy had his eyes closed for a few seconds before he wiped the sweat off his brow, ran his hands through his hair and placed a white towel behind his neck.
Brett Tuttle and Max Leahy quietly gathered their belongings and headed down the steps that lead to the locker room underneath the floor in which they had just spent the last hour on trying to make a course correction in their season.
But as of Friday, the Concord High boys basketball team remains on its downward trajectory after a seventh consecutive defeat, this time a 62-45 bout to Goffstown.
It’s been a season of mental toughness and lessons learned through loss for Concord. After starting the season 2-1 with back-to-back wins over Keene and Spaulding, the Tide have washed away against some of the top programs in Division I.
There have been flashes where they’ve displayed basketball brilliance, but only flashes. In its game against the Grizzlies (7-2), Concord again had those moments.
Clark Toy opened the game with two driving layups and a midrange jumper. White hit a corner three-pointer with his back toward the Goffstown bench, and the Tide (2-8) were in a groove that led to a 13-point first quarter.
But it was just that – a moment.
And when the moment was gone, the Grizzlies took over. They outscored Concord, 27-14, in the second and third quarters, going 6-for-13 from the charity stripe with two three-pointers to add. The reeling Tide had no answer on either end of the floor until the fourth quarter began, when Brock took it upon himself to narrow the growing score gap.
The senior forward scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter through a mix of layups and threes from the wings. Brock kept calling for the ball and he delivered as the Grizzlies shifted their zone defense onto the surging forward, who even drew a foul that granted him an and-one opportunity that he converted.
While the late-game heroics were admirable, Brock saw the bigger picture.
“We wanted to feel good about something at the end of the game and not have the whole second half feel destroyed,” he said. “We’ve got to work on not playing scared and being able to punch back.”
In the coming week, Concord has good chances to earn itself a check mark in the win column. A minor road trip to Manchester Central at the top of the week should provide a solid chance for a win, as the Little Green (2-2) haven’t played since Jan. 3.
Following that game, the Tide have two home games against Dover and Exeter. They’ll have a rare three days of practice before Dover visits on Jan. 14 and two more workouts before Exeter’s visit on Jan. 17.
With the losses stacking up, it would be easy to look inward, point fingers or keep heads down. But Concord coach Jim Thorpe had a simple message for his team in the locker room following Friday’s game. The kind of message that may not hit on impact, but one that takes a night’s worth of sleep to sink in.
“I want them to know that I’m here and that I’m going to continue to try to get better,” Thorpe said. “I’m not giving up, and trying to stay positive to bring the guys up through these losses against these really tough teams.”
A coach who stands in front of the losses and lets the players stand in front of the wins makes for a program that is trending in the right direction in the long run, even if in the moment it seems downhill.
Sunday, the team will reconvene in the weight room with the music blaring and jokes being tossed around like no-look passes before they head to the court for practice.
But most importantly, with Friday’s loss behind them.