Griffins slam door on Hinsdale

MANCHESTER, NH – A year removed from its last deep postseason run, the Holy Family Academy boys basketball team began its latest chapter of playoff success with an exclamation point.

Hosting 11th-ranked Hinsdale (10-8), the sixth-seeded Griffins (14-4) made quick work of their visitors, cruising to a 79-43 victory Monday night.

That, after nearly falling same foe just nine days earlier.

“The last time we played these guys it was a five-point game,” said Holy Family head coach Keith Lacasse. “So they smelled blood in the water. They’re a good team, they played hard and I remember in the preseason … their goal was to get a first-round playoff win, so we expected them to come out and play real hard and we knew we had to match it and come out hard.

“In the locker room, we talked about every single minute of the 32, we need to treat it like it’s the last minute, so the boys did it, they came out and played real hard,” added Lacasse.

Senior big man Sean Peterson led the effort with plenty of rebounds and 28 points, including 13 during Holy Family’s 26-point first quarter.

That performance propelled the Griffins to a 20-point lead heading into the second frame where they increased their advantage to 43-16 before extending it to 61-22 after three.

Gabe Lacasse produced 17 points, including five three-pointers, and Yves Mugiraneza offered 14. Sean Sullivan, Jack Vicinanzo and Joe Depuydt rounded out the big scoring night for Holy Family with contributions of 10, 9 and 4, respectively.

Depuydt also stood out on defense said Lacasse, who also credited Simon Rouillard for being the last player into the game and yet made a quick impact in the fourth quarter, stealing the ball and then getting an assist by dishing it to Mugiraneza.

“It’s good to see some of these guys get out there and starting to get prepared because next year is going to happen quick, and we’re losing four seniors,” said Lacasse.

Despite the convincing victory Monday, Lacasses said his players still have work to do if they’re to advance to the state semifinals and beyond.

“(We) still need to box out, still need to communicate better on defense,” he said. “Hopefully they get that in the next game. We can’t be satisfied. We have to keep pushing to get better everytime.”

Now the Griffins advance to play third-ranked Farmington, which was nearly upset at home but managed to squeak by with a 49-48 victory following a questionable officiating call that may have prevented the game from going into overtime.

The winner of that matchup advances to the state semifinals to play the victor of No. 7 Derryfield (13-6) at No. 2 Concord Christian (18-1), a game that is also scheduled to be played Thursday night. Derryfield earned a big win of its own Monday.

“I think the records don’t tell the whole story. You know, we lost to (12-6) Mascenic by one (at home), and then we went into their gym and we beat them, so I think some of those teams (with 4-7 losses) probably went one-and-one with the teams they played twice, so on any given night, if the shots fall, any team can beat anyone (in D-IV). I don’t think there’s going to be many blowouts after the first or second round.”