Conant’s path to a third straight Division III girls’ basketball championship got a little clearer Tuesday night, as the Orioles demolished back-to-back runners-up Fall Mountain 61-20. And while the Wildcats were expected to be the closest thing to a challenge Conant would face this year, the Orioles know that there’s plenty of work yet to be done.
“There’s no stopping now,” said senior forward Teagan Kirby. “We just have to keep working and keep putting in the effort to every practice and every game and just keep giving 100 percent to every game.”
Fall Mountain came into the Pratt Tuesday undefeated with senior scorer Avery Stewart just 16 points from hitting the 1,000-point milestone. As it turned out, that would have to wait, as Conant’s stingy defense barely let the entire Wildcat team hit 16.
“We knew going into the game that we had to hold them down to not a lot of points,” Kirby said, “and obviously we knew Avery had her 1,000th point soon, so we just knew to shut her down and then everything else will play out.”
The Orioles held Stewart to five points; Nora Dunnigan was the Wildcats’ top scorer with seven. After a low-scoring, 9-4 first quarter, Conant head coach Brian Troy pushed the Oriole press up, and with the second line lying in wait at halfcourt, Conant quickly turned over Fall Mountain three times in a row and the rout was on.
“We take pride in our defense,” Troy said. “That’s part of Conant basketball. Their effort was just so tremendous tonight – it’s a joy to see.”
On the offensive end, Conant’s junior center Emma Tenters continued her dominance, scoring a game-high 25 points and looking as unguardable as ever in the paint, even throwing in a three-pointer for good measure.
“We can put her down in the post,” Troy said. “We can throw her up on top of the key. She just plays confident and she’s playing so loose this year compared to previous years – she’s a whole ‘nother player what she’s doing. I’m proud of her growth, she continues to get better.”
Point guard Brynn Rautiola ran the show for Conant and finished with 15 points; Kirby had eight; Mylie Aho and Regan Despres did the defensive dirty work, and Bella Hart and Kendall Chamberlain contributed some key minutes.
“We just all know our roles on the team and then they’re all just placed together,” Kirby said, “because we’re all one team, we all have our separate roles and putting it all together is what makes us Conant basketball.”
The win was Conant’s 46th in a row. The Maddy Springfield-led 2015-16 Oriole team won 48 straight games, including holiday tournaments, before losing in the 2016 finals.
While a 40-point blowout of the supposed next best team might have Conant school staff doing some early banner shopping, there’s plenty of basketball left to be played, and some potential tough matchups, as 6-1 Stevens and still-undefeated Kearsarge come to town next week.
“I tell [the team] you just can’t be arrogant,” Troy said. “You’ve got to stay humble. There are so many games left, and coaches are gonna change up their strategy and stuff like that, and we’re going to see all that stuff. So we’ve just got to make sure we’re prepared and focused and we stay hungry.”
Conant (8-0) is at Campbell Thursday night
Conant 38, Fall Mountain 17
The Orioles have hopefully put their slow start behind them after snapping their five-game losing streak and winning two straight, most recently holding Fall Mountain to under 20 points in a road win Tuesday.
Conant (3-5) hosts Campbell Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.
Mascenic 68, Newport 41
The Vikings were on a four-game losing streak of their own going into Tuesday’s game vs. Newport, but Mascenic got a much-needed win and got up into the high-60s after some tough offensive nights.
Tyler Lowe scored a team-high 13 points; Joe Cocozella had 12 and Wyatt Duval and Dylan Barthel had nine each.
Mascenic (4-4) is at Somersworth Friday night.
Pelham 75, ConVal 62
The Cougars’ tough schedule continued Tuesday at Pelham, where the undefeated Pythons handed ConVal their second loss of the season thanks to 24 points from Division II Player of the Year candidate Jake McGlinchey.
Senior point guard Austin Knight once again led ConVal with 18 points; Joe Gutwein had 15 and Malachi Page 13.
ConVal (9-2) was set to host Merrimack Valley Wednesday night after press time and play at Coe-Brown Friday.
WLC 59, Sunapee 40
Wilton-Lyndeborough put a hurting on rival Sunapee Tuesday evening, playing their best game of the season in their first action since Jan. 4. Troy Brennan rained threes from the corner for a game-high 23 points; Sean Brennan had 22 and Zach Taylor had seven.
“Our best defensive showing of the season,” said head coach Wiley Billings. “Everybody contributed to this win.”
WLC (3-3) is at Farmington Friday.
Pelham 54, ConVal 44
The shorthanded Cougars played just six players Tuesday night, and fell victim to a bucketless third quarter on their way to a loss.
Morgan Bemont scored a team-high 16 points and Allie Burgess added 15.
ConVal (3-7) hosts Coe-Brown Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Newport 43, Mascenic 28
The Vikings have not won a game since the season opener against Raymond, and their losing streak extended to seven with Tuesday’s loss at Newport.
Mascenic (1-7) was set to host Somersworth Wednesday night and then Hillsboro-Deering Friday. The Hillcats knocked the Vikings out of the Division III playoffs last winter.
St. Thomas-Winnacunnet-Dover 8, ConVal-Conant 0
The Griffins were shut out in Dover Tuesday night. Francesca Ketola made 25 saves in net for ConVal-Conant.
The Griffins (1-6) are at Souhegan Saturday at 6:30 p.m.