Derryfield boys suffer first loss, prepare for city clash
When the Derryfield School boys basketball team took the court Monday night, it had yet to experience the taste of defeat.
MANCHESTER, NH – When the Derryfield School boys basketball team took the court Monday night, it had yet to experience the taste of defeat.
Less than two hours later, the Cougars discovered it was bitter indeed.
Playing up a division against 11-1 St. Thomas Aquinas, the D-IV Cougars battled throughout the contest and, despite the 62-48 setback, proved, at the very least, they weren’t outclassed against the D-III foe.
After the contest, Derryfield head coach Ed Meade credited his athletes for playing hard and encouraged them to keep working.
“I told them it’s really difficult to go through an entire season without losing a game,” he said. “You’re going to come out some nights and face a team like that, or you’re going to have an off night.”
Meade said he and his coaching staff have long known that the St. Thomas contest would serve as a litmus test for where his team stood in its quest for a D-IV championship.
“I think there were definitely some defensive lapses, and playing a team like that really reveals what your weaknesses are so, in a way, it was a wakeup call for us to be able to adjust to different things on defense.”
Still, St. Thomas head coach Dave Morissette said he’s seen the Cougars take significant strides, even since last February, when Derryfield visited St. Thomas and fell, 54-47.
“They look for each other more,” he said. “Last year, I thought they were a one-man team. Tonight they found guys and they moved the ball around, so that’s going to bode well for them (in the D-V postseason).”
It’s also a good sign for the program’s future.
“They’re going to be in our league next year, so I thought this was the perfect way to play them these last couple years,” said Morissette, “one, to get to know them and two, to challenge us, because we know they’re a good team. They’d be top five or six in our league right now.”
Seven Cougars contributed to the team’s scoring Monday with Alex Comire leading the way with 12 points, and Jack Krasnof and Zach Martin contributing 10 and 9 points, respectively.
“I think we could have played better offensively,” said Meade. “I give (St. Thomas) credit because every time we’d get close, they’d hit a big shot to pull back ahead, but offensively, we just never found our rhythm.”
The Cougars are averaging over 60 points a game but were outscored by the visitors, 23-14 in the first quarter and 20-12 in the fourth. Those bookends proved to be the difference in the contest.
The Cougars now look to rebound against a familiar foe when they make the short trek to Manchester’s west side to face city rival Holy Family Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff.
“Holy Family doesn’t have (St. Thomas’) size, but they’ve done really well this year,” said Meade. “You know, they’ve lost four starters and they gave us a really tough game here earlier in the season, so we’ll go out and give it everything we’ve got and see what happens.
“This one was a tough one for us, so hopefully it’ll be a different story for us Thursday,” he added.
The Holy Family clash represents the first of three-straight road matchups. for the Cougars, who play at home once ( Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m. against Mascenic) in their next five games before closing the regular season at home on Feb, 12 at 6:30 p.m. against Newmarket.
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