Can anybody give these Conant girls a game? The Orioles are running roughshod all over Division III this winter, and after Wednesday’s 66-36 blowout at No. 2 Fall Mountain, the upcoming DIII tournament is starting to look like a foregone conclusion.
“As a group, we came out hungry,” said head coach Brian Troy Wednesday night. “We came out real focused tonight. We knew it was going to be a tough environment at Fall Mountain. We came out aggressive. As soon as we started getting layups, that seemed to start the ball rolling.”
Freshman Emma Tenters had a game-high 16 for Conant (17-0); sophomore Teagan Kirby and junior Elizabeth Gonyea scored 15 each, leaving Gonyea at 995 career points going into Friday’s home season finale against Campbell. The Orioles made it look easy against the Wildcats, so much so that you’d almost forget that Fall Mountain (14-3) knocked No. 1-seed Conant out of last year’s Final Four and have been terrorizing the rest of the division this season. Take away Fall Mountain’s two losses to Conant and their one-point loss to Division II Stevens, and they’ve beaten teams by an average of 37.6 ppg. Normally, a team like that would be a powerhouse, but against Conant, they were reduced to rubble.
The Orioles, themselves knocking off opponents by an average of 32.7 ppg, know how to win big; the question in late February and March is can they win a close one? Conant has only played two close games this entire season, one in the Central Christmas tournament and then a seven-point win at Hopkinton on Jan. 6 – six weeks and 11 games ago. How will they respond if they get in a close one on the big floor at Keene State in the tournament?
Troy is doing his best to replicate big-game situations to have his girls ready.
“We just keep honing in in practice, staying focus, staying the course, keeping our eye on the prize,” Troy said. “You can’t let up. The moment you let up, get complacent, is the moment things turn south for you. We’ve got to stay humble.”
Of course, the No. 1 seed, and even an undefeated season, don’t mean much in March, as the 2015-16 defending champion Orioles learned, but no one has a better shot at this year’s state title than Conant.
Conant (17-0) hosts Campbell (8-8) Friday night at 6:30 p.m.; it’s expected to be a festive night, as Gonyea is five points away from 1,000 career.
ConVal 53, Bishop Brady 36
The Cougars used a balanced attack and smothering third-quarter defense in Wednesday’s game with Bishop Brady to grab their 15th win of the season and stay undefeated atop Division II.
Mather Kipka had 11 points; Isaiah Michaels scored 10, Del Bonsu-Anane had eight and Connor Buffum scored seven.
ConVal (15-0) is at Manchester West (7-6) tonight.
Mascenic 71, Hillsboro-Deering 67
The Vikings were up 23 points at the half, prompting head coach Brandon Kear to play his bench for the entire second half against Hillsboro-Deering Wednesday night. The gambit worked – just barely – as the Hillcats caught fire and scored 37 points in the fourth quarter and had the ball with a chance to tie with seconds remaining before Mascenic put them away.
Trey Shaw hit six threes for 18 points to lead Mascenic; Zack Barthel scored 15 and Wyatt Duval had nine. Zach Coombs had 27 to lead the visitors.
Mascenic (15-1) hosts St. Thomas Aquinas (9-5) Friday night.
Kearsarge 51, ConVal 24
ConVal “took one on the chin” in the battle of the Cougars Wednesday night, head coach Kevin Proctor said, losing a tough one on the road.
Senior captain Emma Hixson had 12 points to lead ConVal.
ConVal (6-9) hosts Manchester West (8-8) Friday night in a game that would do wonders for the Cougars’ playoff hopes. ConVal currently holds a tiebreaker advantage over Stevens for the 16th and final playoff spot in Division II.
Hinsdale 66, Mascenic 50
The Vikings played well on senior night but fell to No. 3 Hinsdale 66-50.
Shelby Babin led Mascenic with 19 points in her final regular-season home game; Annika Martel had 16.
Delaney Wilcox led three in double figures for the visitors with 24 points.
Mascenic (10-6) is at Concord Christian (2-13) today and Portsmouth Christian (6-11) Friday.