Last year the Tide might have let this one get away, but this year’s edition of the Concord boys’ basketball team remained calm under pressure.
Freshman guard Ivan Yen had a big 3, a steal and sunk a pair of free throws after Merrimack Valley (2-1 in D-II) took a lead with 3:13 to go, turning a two-point deficit into a three-point lead and sparking a 10-0 Concord run to secure a 53-45 victory in Saturday’s Capital Area Holiday Tournament semifinal.
The Tide (1-0 in Division I) will play Pembroke (3-0 in D-II) in Sunday’s championship game at 3 p.m. at NHTI.
The Pride led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter, but the Tide led 26-21 at halftime and 37-30 after the third quarter, leading by as many as 11 points (34-23) with 2:54 remaining in the third frame.
MV, led by Kyle Dube (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Dillon McCarthy (10 points), fought back in the fourth quarter, cutting Concord’s lead to one point (40-39) with 4:01 left in the game and taking the Pride’s first lead (42-40) since the first quarter with 3:13 remaining.
“Last year this was a game we would’ve lost, but the guys did a great job keeping their composure,” Concord head coach Dave Chase said.
Chase was particularly impressed with Yen (15 points, three steals, three assists), who was a big part of the Tide’s effective press.
“We threw him into the fire and he’s been responding for us,” Chase said of the first-year guard, who also dropped 16 points in Concord’s opening-round victory over Kearsarge.
Point guard Rylan Canabano scored 11 points and had four assists, but most importantly, committed zero turnovers, while Concord forced the Pride to turn the ball over 16 times.
“I thought we did a good job pressuring the ball,” said Chase. “(Canabano) was key in putting pressure on (MV’s) guards.”
Max Van Fleet also had a strong night defensively, grabbing three steals and a pair of big rebounds, in addition to scoring four points in 13 minutes off the bench.
Scott Lampron led the Tide in scoring (17 points, six rebounds, four steals) despite his long-range game being slightly off. Lampron was 6-for-11 from 3-point range and scored 28 points against Kearsarge on Friday.
“Scoring 17 points without his best night shooting the ball shows that he can take care of business pretty well,” Chase said.
Tyler Bruns (eight points, eight rebounds) was 6-for-7 at the free-throw line and connected on a pair of late free throws, helping the Tide ice the game after a 10-0 run put Concord up 50-42 in the final minute.
The Tide had contributions from many sources, “a good team win tonight,” according to Chase, and Concord will need all those pieces again to top a Pembroke team that beat Bow, 60-50, and Hopkinton, 55-40, en route to the championship.
The Spartans (3-0 in D-II) had a 34-28 lead at halftime over the Hawks (4-0 in D-III) and exploded for 21 points in the third quarter to take a 55-38 advantage heading into the final frame.
Hopkinton scored the only bucket of the final quarter, but didn’t guard Pembroke’s ball-handlers closely, allowing the Spartans to hold onto the ball and run out the remaining 5:30 on the clock.
Shea Shackford (18 points, four steals) and Noah Cummings (17 points, seven assists) led Pembroke, while Caleb Yianakopolos (16 points, nine rebounds) and Kevin Newton-Delgado (nine points, 11 rebounds) led Hopkinton.
Boys’ basketball
John Stark 64, Kearsarge 44
Key players: John Stark – Jayden Sheppard (11 points), Christian Barr (11 points, 8 rebounds), Ben McKean (10 points), Tyler Hazzard (7 points off the bench), George Lord (6 points off the bench); Kearsarge – Ben Carl (12 points)
Highlights: The Generals (1-2 in D-II) overcame a slow start, trailing by nine points in the first quarter, but used a balance attack to control the second half en route to a consolation victory over the Cougars (2-1 in D-II) at the Capital Area Holiday Tournament at NHTI.
Bishop Brady 65, Bow 49
Key players: Bishop Brady – William Spencer (18 points), Ismael Rivera (14 points), Tommy Fraser (12 points, 8 rebounds), Billy Fraser (12 points); Bow – Shaun Lover (18 points), Ben Harris (9 points, 13 rebounds)
Highlights: The Falcons (0-3 in D-II) opened the game with a 7-0 lead, but it was the Giants (0-3 in D-II) who had a 29-23 lead at halftime. Bow opened the second half on a tear, tying the game, 30-30, but Brady pulled away to secure the consolation victory in the Capital Area Holiday Tournament at NHTI.
Smithfield, R.I. 68, Coe-Brown 52
Key players: Coe-Brown – Cayden Donoghue (14 points), Albert Lapiejko (11 points, 6 rebounds), Keegan Paradis (7 points, 4 assists), Cole Hodgdon (6 points), Mason Winiarski (5 points), Spencer Murphy (5 points, 3 assists)
Highlights: The Bears closed out the Keene State Holiday Tournament with a loss in their second consolation game.
Franklin 59, Lin-Wood 41
Key players: Franklin – Ben Lafrance (16 points), TJ Laramie (14 points), Harrison Clark, Taishi Chiba
Highlights: Lafrance, Laramie and Clark played well offensively, while Chiba took care of things on the defensive end as the Tornadoes won their final consolation game at Farmington’s Mike Lee Holiday Bash. Franklin opened the tournament with losses to Portsmouth Christian, 65-47, and Newmarket, 61-55. Lafrance and Laramie were the top scorers for the Tornadoes throughout the tournament, scoring 42 and 35 points, respectively, over the three games.
Concord 3rd
Key players: Concord – Eli Boesch-Dining (1st 1,500 in 4:19), Manny Feliz (3rd 55 hurdles, 5th high jump, 5th long jump), Jackson Wilkes (4th 600), Ryan Ciesluk (6th 1,500)
Highlights: The Tide won the 4×800 (Forest MacKenzie, Eben Bragg, Aidan O’Hern, Brayden Kearns), finished second in the 4×160 (Kyle Hill, Nick Richards, Sam Nichol, Zackary Jenks) and came in fourth in the 4×400 (James Sarrette, Nicolas Snyder, Eaton Tarbell, Wilkes), helping Concord finish third out of nine teams in a meet at UNH. Pinkerton (104 points) dominated the meet, while Exeter (51) and Concord (46) were a distant second and third.
Pembroke 6th
Key players: Pembroke – Christian Army (1st 55 hurdles, 5th long jump, 6th high jump), Jacob Marden (4th 55 hurdles), Elija St. Pierre (5th 55 hurdles), James Dupuis (5th high jump)
Highlights: The Spartans finished sixth out of 10 teams in a meet at UNH against some of Division II’s best programs. Army won the 55 hurdles in 9.34 seconds and the Spartans were also supported by their third-place 4×800 (Alex Chiarvaras, Devon Peabody, Oscar Gamache, Shawn Tremblay) and fourth-place 4×400 (Army, Marden, Dupuis, Michael Harris). Oyster River (56), Pelham (49) and Trinity (48) were the top three teams.
MV 1st, Belmont tied 6th,
Winnisquam 8th, Bishop Brady 9th, Franklin 12th
Key players: MV – Camden Donovan (1st high jump, 2nd long jump), Christian Oglesby (1st 600, 3rd 55 dash), Dylan Lessard (1st shot put), David Reynolds (1st 1,500), Ethan Dodenhoff (2nd 1,000), Tomey Valenti (6th 600), Matt Reynolds (6th 1,500); Belmont– Joey Spinale (4th shot put), Zack Duclos (5th shot put), Jared Whitcomb (5th 1,500), Micah Edgren (4th long jump), Eddie Mann (5th long jump), Brandon Robichaud (6th long jump); Winnisquam – Evan Griffin (2nd 600), Dylan Robert (3rd 1,500), Sheamus Dunn (4th 600); Bishop Brady – Mark Galvin (1st 55 hurdles in 9.36, 3rd long jump); Franklin– Kyan Graves (3rd shot put)
Highlights: The Pride won six of 12 events to top a 14-team meet at Plymouth State with 77 points. Lessard won the shot put (39-2), Oglesby won the 600 (1:40), David Reynolds won the 1,500 (4:22) and Donovan won the high jump (5-10), while the 4×400 (Cam Butt, David Reynolds, Oglesby, Lessard) and the 4×800 (Reynolds, Reynolds, Oglesby, Dodenhoff) both won. The 4×200 of Butt, Lessard, Valenti and Donovan finished third. Milford (52) and Souhegan (41) finished second and third, respectively, while Belmont tied with Sanborn at 13 points for sixth. Winnisquam (12), Bishop Brady (11) and Franklin (4) were the other local teams that competed.