The Concord boys’ basketball team was in unfamiliar territory on Tuesday night, playing in its first playoff game since 2014 and hosting its first playoff game since 2001. And the No. 8 Crimson Tide seemed befuddled by the new surroundings during the first half.
Concord’s leading scorer, Scott Lampron, was scoreless. Its big man, Tyler Bruns, had to leave the game with an injury. And No. 9 Alvirne had built a 13-point halftime lead.
The Tide found its way in the second half as Lampron found his shooting touch and Bruns battled through injury. Concord also erased that halftime deficit, but the Broncos made enough stops and free throws in the final two minutes to pull out a 63-57 win. Alvirne will now face No. 1 Exeter (18-0) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
“I told them you can lose two ways, you can lose by quitting, or you can lose by battling and giving everything you have,” Concord coach Dave Chase said. “And we had chances to quit, but I thought we came out and played pretty inspired in the second half.”
In the first half, the Broncos (12-7) were the inspired ones. Davonte Mckoy-Sophos stripped the ball from Lampron on Concord’s first possession, beginning a half of defensive harassment as Mckoy-Sophos, Cole Zimmerman and Jamie Bertrand all took turns harassing Lampron into his scoreless first half.
“They were trying to get in my grill, trying to be a pest and get in my head,” Lampron said.
The Tide (11-8) kept itself in the game thanks to hustle from Max Van Fleet (six points, six rebounds), the energy of Rylan Canabano (17 points, three assists, three steals) and the leadership of Bruns, who scored nine of his 15 in the first half and didn’t look overwhelmed by the moment. So after Bruns went to the floor in pain and grabbing his ankle in the final minutes of the second quarter, the 31-18 lead Alvirne took into the locker room felt like more than 13 points. Although the Broncos weren’t taking anything for granted.
“The Bruns kid, I knew he wasn’t going stay out of the game, even when he sprained his ankle,” Alvirne coach Marty Edwards said. “That kid has so much guts, he’s a warrior that kid, he’s been great all four years here at Concord.”
While Bruns was finding his warrior strength at halftime, Lampron was getting some helpful words of advice.
“One of our assistant coaches, coach (Adam) Tuttle, came up to me and said it’s your time, this is your gym,” Lampron said. “So I just settled right in and went to work.”
Van Fleet scored the first four second-half points for Concord, but Lampron scored nine of the next 11 points on three 3-pointers as the Tide went on a 15-5 run to open the third quarter.
“I just needed to see one go in,” Lampron said.
On the other end, Bruns managed to block three shots in the third quarter playing on one good leg and Alvirne’s lead was down to six, 42-36, headed into the fourth. Lampron cooled off in the final frame, but Canabano scored 10 of his 17 in the fourth and when he converted a fast-break layup off a steal and pass from Zack Gamble (four points), the game was tied, 52-52, with 2:12 left.
That’s when the Broncos turned up the defensive pressure again, but this time they used a zone to do it. The change threw Concord out of its rhythm for the final minutes while the Broncos made the most out of their offensive opportunities, going 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the last 2:02 to seal the win.
“That (high percentage free-throw shooting) is not normal for us, but I think the kids just wanted to win so badly,” Edwards said.
The same was true of the Concord kids, who may have wanted to win too badly.
“We may have got caught up in the moment in the first half, that’s as poor as we’ve played in a while,” Chase said. “It was the first time these kids have been in the playoffs, it was a big crowd, but they battled back and I’m proud of them. Getting 11 wins in the season and getting a home playoff game, I think those are all big positives for the program.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20)