It’s getting down to crunch time for the ConVal boys’ basketball team, and consistency will be key down the stretch as the Cougars fight for the final playoff spot in Division II.

ConVal (5-10) sunk themselves into a bit of a hole midseason when they skidded through a six-game losing streak. Since then, they’ve recovered, winning three of their last six games, including an emotional win over visiting Milford on senior night last Friday. And despite losing their past two against DII high seeds Hollis-Brookline and Oyster River, the Cougars could still claw their way into the postseason.

At this point in last year’s one-win season, playoffs were not even a consideration; this year, the Cougars are significantly improved.

“This year has been a much better year,” ConVal head coach Jay Starr said after Monday night’s 65-44 loss to visiting Hollis-Brookline. “There’s a much better vibe on the team than last year. We’re excited to try to end this season, sneak out a couple wins here, get in the playoffs and see what happens.”

ConVal has shown flashes of brilliance this year. With senior Ryan Close (14.9 ppg) leading the way with steady scoring and ballhandling, the Cougars have been in nearly every game. Junior Max Cail (14.6 ppg) has also had a great season, contributing rebounding and some explosive offensive performances, including a season-high 39 in a recent win at Lebanon. When senior Zach Collins is on from downtown, he’s a lethal outside shooter, and senior Hayden McAtee has made great strides to become a trustworthy defender and scorer.

The Cougars have been playing good defense, too; their issue has been getting enough offense together in enough games to win with regularity.

ConVal’s more successful recent teams, like 2022’s DII runners-up, were getting up about 25 threes per game, but this year’s team is not really built for that, Starr explained.

“We’ve done a decent job of getting to the basket, changed our offensive philosophies a little bit, but it’s just too up and down,” Starr said. “We’re not very consistent at this point.”

That inconsistency was on display on Monday in the Cougar Cave when ConVal hosted the third-seeded Cavaliers. Fresh off a packed-gym senior night win over former Cougar coach Leo Gershgorin’s Milford team, ConVal took the court Monday with a smattering of fans in attendance, and the excitement levels seemed low all around.

“The energy was just down,” Starr said. “We were kind of emotionally spent maybe from last Friday night, or whatever it was, but we just didn’t have the emotion. It just didn’t click, didn’t seem like we were clicking together.”

After an H-B flurry to open the game, ConVal recovered; the teams were tied at 15 in the second quarter before the Cavs went on a 10-0 run. ConVal was outscored 50-29 the rest of the way, with only a pair of late threes from senior James Healey to keep the final score as close as it was.

“Defensively we were OK, but we just couldn’t keep up with them,” Starr said. “They went on beginning-of-the-half and end-of-the-half runs that were kind of the end of it there for us.”

The Cougars are essentially in must-win territory the rest of the way. As of Wednesday morning, they have a slim grasp on the 14th and final playoff spot in DII by virtue of a tiebreaker with Milford (5-10).

The Spartans have three games left, all against the top three seeds in the division – Pembroke (14-1), Hanover (14-2) and Hollis-Brookline (13-3) – so they face more of an uphill battle than ConVal.

The Cougars play at No. 4 Pelham (12-3) Friday night and finish out with two games against two teams also fighting for their playoff lives – at Souhegan (7-9) Feb. 25 and home against Kennett (6-9) Feb. 28.

Conant boys fall in Division III tourney

The 14th-seeded Conant boys’ basketball team lost 57-38 Tuesday to third seed Kearsarge in the first round of the Division III tournament.

Conant’s girls, the 10th seed in Division III, were scheduled to travel to White Mountains, the No. 7 seed, Wednesday.