Concord boys rally, John Stark girls take control to claim Capital Classic hoops titles

By DAN ATTORRI

Monitor staff

Published: 12-30-2022 3:10 AM

The effort had been undeniable, but the results hadn’t been there for the Concord boys’ basketball team. At the Capital Classic, that hard work started to pay off.

Shots that were once rushed were set up naturally. Attempts from 3-point land that usually missed found their mark. Bodies that dove after loose balls resulted in forced turnovers and fast break points. 

The Crimson Tide rallied from a first-half deficit thanks to some clutch 3s and tenacious team defense as Concord topped Hopkinton, 65-59, in the Capital Classic boys’ championship.

While the boys’ title game was a wire-to-wire nail biter, John Stark took control early in the girls’ championship game, besting Merrimack Valley 49-29 to win the girls’ crown in the last of four Capital Classic games played at Bishop Brady High School on Thursday.

The three-day event was an effort by six area athletic directors - Concord’s Steve Mello, Hopkinton’s Dan Meserve, Pembroke Academy’s Fred Vezina, Bishop Brady’s Annie Mattarazzo, Merrimack Valley’s Kenny Edwards and John Stark’s Rodney Brown – to recreate and modify the Capital Area Holiday Basketball Tournament that was previously held at NHTI, but canceled for the past two years due to concerns with the pandemic.

It was designed to give their student-athletes more opportunities to play, but for the Concord boys’ basketball team, it might be just what the Tide needed to turn its season around.

“We went through the gauntlet in Division I to start the season,” Concord head coach Tim LaTorra said, referring to his team’s 0-3 start that included losses to Pinkerton (4-0), Nashua North (3-0) and Trinity (2-1). “To respond the way we responded this week, the positivity, the energy, the effort, it says a lot about their character and the direction of the program.”

The Tide reached the Capital Classic final via decisive victories over John Stark (75-35) and Bishop Brady (49-27), but the Hopkinton Hawks (4-0 in D-III) controlled the game early.

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Junior guard Marek Joppa (two rebounds, two assists) scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half, connecting on four 3-pointers, and senior forward Gavin Davies (six points, six assists, five rebounds) put Hopkinton up by as many as eight points (the Hawks led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter), but key buckets by the tournament MVP, junior guard Japhet Nduwayo (17 points), and fellow junior guard Logan Perkins (16 points) trimmed Hopkinton’s lead to 28-27 at halftime.

Sophomore guard Brett Tuttle (13 points) hit a 3 just 21 seconds into the third quarter to give Concord a 30-28 lead, its first of the game, and then sunk another on the next possession to make it 33-28 less than a minute into the second half.

“We obviously have some guys who can get to the basket and we have guys who can shoot from the outside,” LaTorra said. “They’ve always kind of forced it, not letting (the ball) come to them. The third quarter, you saw some of that start to go away and the ball finding them naturally and stepping into a rhythm. The big guys inside kept plays alive. When you make your shots the game changes for you.”

Perkins drained another pair of 3s (he connected on four in the game) to give the Tide a 41-34 lead heading into the fourth and the Tide started to play more freely, with Eli Bahuma (seven points), Tuttle and Nduwayo throwing themselves all over the floor, pouncing on loose balls, breaking up Hopkinton’s attempts to set things up on offense and setting up easy baskets.

“We talk about how we need to take about 60 shots a game. We just don’t have the shooting percentage right now to only take 40 shots,” LaTorra said. “So we try to speed things up as fast as we can. We have good athletes, we have unselfish guys who can move the ball in transition. That’s when we’re at our best, but it all stems from our defensive pressure.”

That fast-paced, at times frenetic, play on the floor gave Concord its biggest lead of the game, 56-40, midway through the final frame.

Junior guard Will Tanuvasa (17 points, four assists) and junior center Abram Standefer (12 points, seven rebounds) had key buckets to get the Hawks back into the game, and Tanuvasa connected on two free throws created by an Nduwayo technical foul to make it 58-53 Concord with 1:53 to go.

A Standefer 3 cut Concord’s lead to 59-56 with 1:25 to go and a Will Chehade free throw made it a two-point game, 61-59, with 27.7 seconds left, but Conner White went to the line with 6.8 seconds on the clock and hit a pair of free throws to ice the win.

Girls’ championship

While the boys’ final wasn’t decided until the closing seconds, the girls’ championship wasn’t so close.

The score was tied 10-10 after the first quarter and MV’s Kalee Keyser (eight points) and Kayla Smith (six points) helped the Pride take an 18-12 lead in the second quarter, but the Generals locked down defensively from there, ending the half on a 10-0 run to take a 22-18 halftime lead. 

Tournament MVP, junior guard Abby Duclos (eight points) forced a turnover and passed to Hayleigh Dennis (seven points off the bench), who scored a fast break bucket, drew a foul and scored the ensuing free throw to give John Stark plenty of momentum heading into the locker room.

“It was nice to get some energy going from that bucket heading into the locker room,” John Stark coach Mark Boucher said. “That’s what (Hayleigh) has been doing all throughout the tournament. When we push the ball we can be very dangerous.”

Junior forwards Eleanor Girardet (13 points) and Avery Geaumont (11 points), and Duclos kept that momentum going in the third quarter, as John Stark outscored MV 14-4 to take a 36-22 lead heading into the fourth.

A balanced scoring effort in the fourth helped the Generals extend their commanding lead to 49-29 by the final buzzer.

“The girls are really buying into the hard work and really sharing the ball on offense, but defense has really been the key for us,” Boucher said. “A lot of our offense is generated from our defense. The girls continue to unite, and I think that’s going to be important going forward.”

Boys’ third place

Merrimack Valley played aggressive, smothering defense and senior forward Brandon Dukette scored 21 points (including a pair of 3s and perfect 8-for-8 shooting from the foul line) to lead the Pride to a 47-29 victory over Bishop Brady in the third-place game.

Dukette scored nine points in the first quarter to help MV take an 11-2 lead and Trevor Simonds scored six of his nine points in the second quarter to help the Pride build a 26-11 halftime lead.

Nate Nelson scored 10 points to lead the Giants.

“It was nice to see the way we came out,” MV head coach Tim Mucher said. “The kids have always bought into what we’re trying to do and now we’re starting to see some of the results. All 14 kids played, which was good. The younger guys are starting to see that you have to play hard all the time. The seniors are leading us right now.”

Girls’ third place

The game was close early on, but a big third quarter allowed Hopkinton to pull away for a 51-35 victory over Bishop Brady.

After an 8-8 first quarter, the Hawks pulled away slightly for a 26-20 halftime lead, but buried the Giants by outscoring them 12-3 in the third.

Senior Maddie Carmichael (18 points) controlled the paint and around the rim, and sophomore guard Shaylee Murdough (17 points) scored and set up several baskets on the fast break, while Brady’s shots just weren’t falling.

Elise Miner added seven points for Hopkinton, while junior guard Mia Wagner (16 points) and senior guard Meg Pellerin (seven points) led Brady’s scoring.

“Today they put the work in and they did what they needed to do,” Hopkinton coach Skate Murdough said. “They always pride themselves on defense and fall back on that. Defensively they were strong today.”

All-Tournament teams

Boys: Concord’s Japhet Nduwayo (MVP) and Elia Bahuma, Hopkinton’s Abram Standefer and Marek Joppa, MV’s Brandon Dukette and Bishop Brady’s Michael Thresher.

Girls: John Stark’s Abby Duclos (MVP) and Eleanor Girardet, MV’s Kayla Smith and Kalee Keyser, Hopkinton’s Shaylee Murdough and Bishop Brady’s Mia Wagner.

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