Derryfield lets first ‘W’ slip away at home

MANCHESTER, NH – After graduating the majority of a senior-laden 2023-’24 squad, the Derryfield Academy boys basketball team has experienced some growing pains this winter.

Not only are many of the Cougars seeing their first significant minutes at the varsity level this season, they’re also competing in Division-III for the first time after finishing last year as one of the top teams in D-IV.

That inexperience was on display Tuesday night at home when Derryfield let a sizable second-half advantage slip away late in the fourth quarter before losing, 58-55 to Somersworth, to fall to 0-10 on the season.

“This is what has been happening to us all season,” said longtime Derryfield head coach Ed Meade. “This was definitely a winnable game tonight.”

Both teams, he said, were dealing with injuries, but he felt his team could have, and should have, held on for the win after leading by more than 20 points in the third quarter.

“That’s pretty much their JV team. We lost to their JV team, pretty much,” he said. “We just get into these cycles where it feels like we can’t do anything right. You know, we were up by what, 24? 22? And then we let them right back in the game and make stupid fouls where there’s just not a lot of court sense. And that’s kind of what it’s been this year.”

Meade said his team has had similar inconsistent performances throughout the season, including in the season opener, a 53-40 home loss to Monadnock, and more recently, a Jan. 17 setback against Conant, where the Cougars fell, 62-39, after playing one of their better halves of the season during the first two quarters of that contest.

Meade acknowledges that the regular mistakes were likely due, in part, to the lack of varsity experience on his team because of the nine seniors on last year’s squad who ate up the majority of minutes.

With that in mind, he said he’s working on reframing the team goals for the remainder of the season.

“We’re looking at different things we’d like to accomplish between now and the end of the season,” he said. “I would have to say that this loss, though it probably shouldn’t have happened, I think, in the long run, it’s going to serve me a purpose anyway, so we’re looking at different goals and trying to improve ourselves.”

One of those goals, added Meade, is getting more consistent contributions out of his players.

“You know, each game someone will step up and someone will fall back,” he said, “and I guess that’s consistent of young teams, but I honestly thought we’d be further ahead of where we are right now.”

The Cougars look to get into the win column when they host 6-3 Newport on Friday at 6 p.m. before welcoming D-IV foe Profile (4-5) to Manchester on Monday at 6 p.m.

They close the month with back-to-back winnable matchups at 0-9 Winnisauam on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. and then back home against 1-8 Stevens on Jan 31 at 4:30 p.m.