The Bishop Brady boys’ basketball team was hoping to work on its defense during this week’s Capital Area Holiday Tournament at NHTI. After Tuesday’s game against John Stark, it appears Brady is getting that work done.
The Giants (1-1 in Division II) outplayed the taller Generals in the paint on both ends of the floor, had 11 steals (from nine different players) and did not allow a single John Stark field goal in the second quarter as they rolled to a 52-31 victory in the opening round.
“We stuck to the game plan,” said junior Bryce Johnson, who scored a game-high 21 points. “We played good team basketball…I feel like, as a unit, we played defense really well. We try to work on that every day.”
The defensive battle started early, with neither team getting on the board until nearly halfway through the first quarter. Stark actually scored first (a free throw from Chase Patterson and a jumper from Cooper Gorski) and the Giants didn’t get their first points until 2:19 remained in the quarter when Johnson found the net. Brady went on to score six unanswered points and a 3 from senior guard Matt Quirk (12 points) at the buzzer gave Brady a 10-5 lead after one.
The Giants played on-the-edge defense in the second quarter, sending the Generals to the line 12 times. Stark connected on eight of those freebies, but did not hit a single field goal in the frame. The Generals shot 2-for-19 from the field in the first half.
“It takes a whole team in order to defend (John Stark’s) height,” Bishop Brady Head Coach Cole Etten said. “The other important thing is we have to box out and rebound.”
“We made sure we fronted the post and had help over the top,” Johnson added.
Johnson, who seven rebounds and two steals to go along with his 21 points, scored five points in a 7-0 run to end the first half. Senior Matt Desmarais (eight points, seven rebounds, steal, block), Quirk (12 points, two steals) and senior John Skehan (strong defense off the bench) played well on both ends of the court as Brady took a 25-13 halftime lead.
The Giants extended their lead to 40-21 through three quarters after the defense continues to frustrate John Stark’s big targets, 6-5 senior forward Drew McQuarrie (11 points, 10 rebounds) and 6-6 sophomore center Parker McQuarrie (5 rebounds).
The Generals were also hampered by 20 turnovers, while collecting only three assists and shooting 26 percent for the game.
“We didn’t really come to play tonight. I think that was pretty obvious,” Stark Coach Mike Smith said. “We have a lot of height and (Brady) beat us in the paint. That speaks to our preparedness and our toughness and we’ve got to get better. I don’t think we helped ourselves out with our execution. I don’t want to take anything from (Brady), but very clearly we didn’t move the ball well, we dribbled without a purpose. We can certainly play a lot better than we did tonight.”
The Generals cut the deficit down to 13 points in the fourth with around five minutes left thanks to some buckets from Drew McQuarrie, Isaiah Lovering (four points) and junior forward Joe Simone (six points, three rebounds), but the Giants closed the game with a 9-2 run.
Simone played well off the bench and was one of the lone bright spots for John Stark.
“He played some of his best minutes of the year for us. That’s a nice sign,” Smith said.
The Giants will play Kearsarge in today’s first semifinal at 7 p.m. The Generals will take on Merrimack Valley in a consolation game at 11:30 a.m.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Concord 50, Pembroke 42
Key players: Concord – Matt Giroux (16 points, 8 rebounds), Tyler Bruns (11 points, 9 rebounds); Pembroke – Sean Menard (16 points, 5 rebounds), Jake Sherman (11 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Tide advanced to the Capital Area Holiday Tournament semifinals with a victory over the Spartans. Concord built on a three-point halftime lead, extending its lead to 14 points in the third quarter. The Tide play in the second semifinal game today at 8:30 p.m against Hopkinton. The Spartans will play in a consolation game against Bow today at 1 p.m.
Coach’s quote: “From a coaching standpoint, it was holiday slugishness for both teams and nobody got into the rhythm until the second half. TJ Celestin had some big buckets in the third quarter to help build our lead, that was a difference maker.” – Concord’s Dave Chase
Kearsarge 52, Merrimack Valley 51
Key players: Kearsarge – Tayler Mattos (25 points, 8 rebounds), Tom Johnson (12 points); MV – James Shattuck (14 points, 4 assists), Jake Hebert (12 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Cougars overcame an early 11-point deficit and trailed by one with 15 seconds left in the game. Mattos connected on a free throw to tie the game and a huge offensive rebound from Kyle Hernon led to another free throw attempt for Mattos. Mattos connected again to give the Cougars the lead with 9.1 seconds left. Hernon collected another offensive rebound, but the Pride eventually stole the ball for one final chance to win in the closing seconds. MV’s layup attempt rolled around the rim and out as time expired. The Cougars will play Bishop Brady in the semifinals today.
Coach’s quote: “Everybody played extremely well, I take my hat off for how (MV) played. But our guys never went away.” – Kearsarge’s Nate Camp
Hopkinton 56, Bow 29
Key players: Hopkinton – Cam Cyr (10 points, 4 rebounds); Bow – Nate Alford (10 points, 7 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks used a balanced attack to take a 29-16 halftime lead and continued to build on it in the second half.
Belmont 47, Winnisquam 39
Key players: Belmont – Trevor Hunt (21 points, 16 rebounds, 7 steals, 3 blocks) Matt Pluskis (9 points, 4 assists), Matt Thurber (first varsity points); Winnisquam – Logan Morrison (15 points), Kyle Mann (11 points), Mike Lowrey (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: Belmont led 13-10 after the first quarter and then tightened the defensive screws in the second quarter at the Lakes Region Holiday Tournament in Gilford. The Raiders allowed just two points in the second, holding Winnisquam scoreless for the final six minutes of the frame, to take a 20-12 lead into halftime.
Coach’s quote: “It was a nice team win, we did a lot of nice things, shared the ball well, and were able to get everyone some playing time.” – Belmont’s Jim Cilley
“They outworked us. they beat us to loose balls and did a better job on the glass. If we can fix that and hit a few more shots we’ll be okay.” – Winnisquam’s Kevin Dame
Smithfield, R.I. 57, Coe-Brown 53
Key players: Coe-Brown – Sam Lupinacci (19 points, 6 rebounds), Brody Ashley (15 points), Mike Mulligan (6 points), Dylan Andrews (6 points), Scott Spenard (5 points), Jacob Snow (8 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: The Bears were eliminated in the semifinals of the Keene State Holiday Tournament in a narrow defeat. Coe-Brown trailed by three at halftime and led by one entering the fourth quarter of a back-and-forth contest. The Bears trailed by a point with 30 seconds to go, but Smithfield made its free throws down the stretch.
Concord 59, Hopkinton 31
Key players: Concord – Gabby Evans (16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks), Ashley Kelley (11 points, 6 assists), Jada Duvert (11 points), Kasie Maloney (5 steals); Hopkinton – Abby Houston (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks took an 8-0 lead to start the game, but the Tide went on an 11-2 run to end the first quarter. Concord used a strong inside game to control the game from there taking a 26-14 halftime lead and went on a 12-3 run in the third quarter to win a consolation game in the NHTI Capital Area Holiday Tournament.
Coach’s quote: “I liked our intensity and focus tonight. Everyone on the team contributed and both ends of the floor.” – Concord’s Mike Achilles
John Stark 45, Kearsarge 35
Key players: John Stark – Jillian Douzanis (18 points), Chelsea Woodsum (7 points), Laura Martin (6 points); Kearsarge – Madisyn Brayshaw (14 points), Maicy Hansen (10 points)
Highlights/key moments: John Stark led 26-15 at halftime of an NHTI Capital Area Holiday Tournament consolation game.
Coach’s quote: “The team got a great spark off the bench to (hold) the lead.” – John Stark’s Don Poitras
Dover 38, Coe-Brown 35
Key players: Coe-Brown – Shannon Riley (7 points), Kerry Riley (7 points), Chelsea McCallion (7 points), Catie Langdon (6 points), Ahna McCusker (6 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Bears fell in a defensive battle in a consolation game at the Queen City Holiday Tournament. Dover led 20-13 at halftime, but Coe-Brown battled back and nearly tied the game with a Shannon Riley 3 with 1.3 seconds left hit the rim.
Coach’s quote: “This Holiday Tournament we have been looking at our team in all kinds of ways. Today we took some real positive steps on what we need to do to win.” – Coe-Brown’s Joe Vachon
Belmont 45, Gilford 32
Key players: Belmont – Sarah Chase (15 points), Julianna Estremera (12 points), Taylor Yelle (6 points, 10 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: The Raiders earned a semifinal spot in Gilford’s Lakes Region Holiday tournament with a solid first half, opening up a 27-13 lead at the break. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 31-29 after three quarters, but Belmont hung on and will play Prospect Mountain today at 11:30 a.m.
Coach’s quote: “They put a little pressure on us (in the third) but we were able to make some adjustments going into the fourth quarter and hit some key foul shots down the stretch to put it away.” – Belmont’s Mark Dawalga
Franklin 54, Pittsfield 41
Key players: Franklin – Anna Doherty (8 points), Zoe Kaplan (8 points), Mackenzie Weatherbee (8 points); Pittsfield – Lindsey Massey (17 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Golden Tornadoes ran the ball well and scored some easy baskets in the first half to build a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Coach’s quote: “We have to convert on the foul line. We hit a few key ones at the end of the game to ice it but we were only 14-for-40 (in the game) so that must improve.” – Franklin’s JJ Winters
BOYS’ ICE HOCKEY
Bow 3, Concord 1
Key players: Bow – Doug Champagne (goal), Austin Beaudette (goal), Ryan Tobeler, (goal, assist), Alex Killion (assist), Brendan Ulrich (assist); Concord – Alex Marceau (goal), Spencer Burgess (17 saves)
Highlights/key moments: With the score tied 1-1 through two periods, Beaudette scored with 2:41 left in third period and Tobeler added an empty-net goal to give the Falcons the win at the Manchester Holiday Tournament.
Coach’s quote: “Bow played well. We at times had good pressure, but not consistent. Scoring is coming hard (for us).” – Concord’s Dunc Walsh