WEARE – Sometimes losing one player can change the complexion of a game. That’s what happened to the John Stark boys’ basketball team on Monday night against Bishop Brady, and it happened quickly.
Shortly after tip-off, Brady’s Matthew Desmarais knocked down a jump shot to put the Giants ahead by two. Stark missed on its first chance at the other end, but Isaiah Lovering, the Generals’ dynamic point guard, tipped away a Brady pass and scooped the ball up for two easy points to bring the game back to even.
But something went wrong during the play or shortly after. Lovering left the floor moments later and walked behind the Generals’ bench, shaking out his right leg.
He didn’t return for the rest of the night as the Giants built an eight-point lead in the first half and held on to beat John Stark, 46-37, in Division II action.
“We never plan to play without Isaiah Lovering,” Stark Forward Drew McQuarrie said. “We didn’t realize how valuable he was to the team. We didn’t realize the wheels would fall off that much without him. I think that’s all of our fault.”
Stark Coach Mike Smith said the Generals (9-6) were missing a spark off the bench to step in for Lovering.
“This is the worst we’ve played all season,” Smith said. “I think we’ve been believing our press clippings a little bit and this is maybe the dose of reality we need before the tournament. I guess that’s the only positive spin I can put on it.”
“Isaiah is certainly very valuable to us,” he added. “Losing him is very difficult, but we’ve had great bench play all season … and all that stuff, we just threw it out the window tonight.”
The Giants (8-5), earning their third win in four nights, made themselves at home in the Stark gymnasium as the Generals’ offense tried to regain its footing. After Lovering left the floor, Brady went on a 12-7 run and closed the first quarter with a 14-9 lead.
“John Stark is a good team, so we wanted to come here and do business and stick to our gameplan,” Brady Coach Cole Etten said.
The Giants kept going in the second and held an eight-point lead at halftime. Matthew Quirk and Bryce Johnson scored for Brady off back-to-back turnovers by the Generals in the quarter. By the end of the night, Stark had let loose 23 turnovers and Brady turned most of them into points.
“That was probably one of the key points of the game,” Brady guard Eero Myllymaki said. “We got a lot of steals. Matt Quirk and Bryce Johnson got two really important steals for us at the end, clutch plays.”
McQuarrie still turned in a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds. His brother, Parker, chipped in with seven. Nobody else on the roster scored more than five points.
Brady was led by Johnson with 15 points and Myllymaki followed with 11. Matthew Quirk, someone McQuarrie pointed out as one of best guards in the division, had a quieter night scoring with seven points – all in the first half. What Quirk couldn’t do scoring the basketball he made up for quarterbacking the Giants in the offensive end while spreading out the Generals’ defense.
Brady knocked down four 3-pointers in all from four players – Quirk, Myllymaki, Johnson and Johnny Skehan. Stark made two with Adam Tower and Cooper Gorksi hitting from deep range as the Generals made a final push in the fourth quarter. They outscored Brady, 14-13, in the final eight minutes, but the margin was too narrow.
Each bench burned two timeouts in the fourth. Stark tried to gameplan its way back into striking distance while Etten told his players to keep focus, stay calm and don’t give the ball away. With a 10-point lead entering the final period, all Brady had to do was defend and look for high-percentage shots.
“Just calm down, we’ve got the lead and we’ve got nothing to lose,” Myllymaki said. “It’s a really good win for us. John Stark is a very good team.”
Tower hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth, cutting Stark’s deficit to seven points. Myllymaki answered with a two-point basket and Johnson scored 2 of 2 from the foul line, reestablishing Brady’s 10-point lead.
Smith called a timeout with 3:44 on the clock, but the Generals watched their deficit grow by five points when they stepped back on the floor. Myllymaki scored from the paint and Johnson stole the ball, hit a layup and was fouled. Johnson scored the extra shot and the Giants led 42-29 with less than two minutes to play.
“Defense was a huge key for us,” Etten said. “I thought we were pretty successful on defense, we accomplished what we wanted to and kept the momentum going the whole game.”
Brady is back in Concord on Wednesday to host Pembroke at 5:30 p.m. John Stark is at home Friday to face Lebanon at 6:30 p.m.
“We have to look in the mirror on this one – it was all sorts of bad,” Smith said.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3339, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)
Pittsfield 72, Sunapee 41
Key players: Pittsfield – Cam Darrah (22 points, 6 assists, 6 steals), Casey Clark (20 points), Dylan Bocash (13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists)
Highlights/key moments: Sparked by a 20-3 run in the game’s opening quarter thanks to 13 points from Darrah, the Panthers cruised to an easy win. Pittsfield recorded a season-high 22 assists in the victory.
Coach’s quote: “I was very happy to close the regular season out on a positive note. The way we shared the ball and played unselfish, getting everyone involved, is exactly how we want to enter the state tournament.” – Pittsfield’s Jay Darrah
Records: Pittsfield 16-2; Sunapee 4-11
Hollis-Brookline 44, Bow 42
Key players: Bow – Patty Nordin (13 points, 13 rebounds), Taylor Darrell (12 points), Lauren Goyette (8 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals)
Highlights/key moments: The Falcons lost a tight one at home to snap their three-game winning streak.
Records: Bow 10-6; Hollis-Brookline 12-4