Memorial girls take care of business at home

MANCHESTER, NH – Following a tough-luck loss in the regular-season opener and a shorthanded setback to arguably the top team in the state, the Manchester Memorial girls basketball team has gotten back on track the last two games.

And with a 53-22 home victory over winless Merrimack on Thursday evening, the Crusaders now sit at 2-2 on the young 2023-’24 season as they head into the Queen City Holiday tournament next week.

Unlike years past, when the Crusaders have been able to rely on a standout player to spearhead the team, this year’s unit is finding its rhythm with a balanced attack.

“Last year, we had a really elite scorer that could just takeover games. This year, the girls know they have to do it by committee,” said Memorial head coach Greg Cotreau,” and it could be a different girl every night.”

“(NyAsia) McKelvey is awesome. She’s gotten so much better from a year ago, and Torle (Adumene) is a beast. You know, she’s up and down (the court), flying around. She’s one of the better athletes in the whole league,” said Merrimack head coach Bryan Duggan. “And then, obviously, (Cotreau) has got some steady girls like Payton (Moran), so I can see them, for sure, being a competitive playoff team this year.”

Moran, who Cotreau labeled a “grizzled veteran,” paces the team on both ends of the court after gaining invaluable experience as an injury replacement as a sophomore and then developing into a difference-maker as a junior.

Adumene led the team in scoring against Merrimack with 12 points, while McKelvey produced 8 markers and freshman Avery Jenkins came off the bench to drop three three-pointers.

“That’s really big, for a freshman to come into a game where maybe a couple other kids are struggling to see the ball go in, and be able to steppe in a crucial moment at home,” said Cotreau.

In total, nine Crusaders contributed to the final score.

“We saw a lot of girls step up in lots of places tonight,” said Cotreau, who noted progress has been noticeable on the court, even in the first four games.

In the first contest of the season, a 34-26 road loss to Nashua South on Dec. 26, Memorial lost senior starter Jocelyn Eosue to a fluke injury in the first two minutes of the contest.

“We learned some things about ourselves during our first game against South,” said Cotreau. “So these kids were put to the test pretty much right from the jump. It was a close game and we kind of had to reinvent ourselves on the fly, but with young kids who are still kind of gelling together, you have some uncharacteristic turnovers that you won’t have later in the season … our girls feel pretty good that if we had to see them again, we could fix everything that kind of went wrong in that game.”

Despite falling to 0-2 in the next game, a 71-22 home loss to Bedford, Cotreau said the final score didn’t tell the whole story, noting the team was still without Eosue in that rivalry matchup.

“You look at the score and we lose by 49, but our girls actually felt pretty good about the way they play,” he said. “Bedford’s guard play is really good and they turn you over, so they scored about 40 or so points just on fast-break layups. But we felt when we were able to slow their transition and get them into a half court game and really setup our D, they had a really hard time and I think the numbers from that game support that.”

Despite the sizable setback, the Crusaders have held their heads high and rebounded now with back-to-back wins over Winnacunnet (47-23 on Dec. 19) and now Merrimack.

“The message to the girls was pretty simple: ‘beat the teams you’re suppose to beat on paper,’ and then you’ve got to surprise a couple along the way,” said Cotreau. “Now that you’ve lost to South, a game our girls felt they should have had, now the mission is you’ve got to upset another team to make up for it.”

The last few seasons, Memorial has been able to keep up with some of the top scoring teams in the state. This year’s bunch has taken more of a defensive approach, holding three if its first four opponents to 37 points or less.

“We’ve just got to keep this group working together and I think we’ll be there,” said Cotreau. “Our girls are proud girls. They’ve realized defense is what’s going to be what kind of get them there. So now the question is, can the scoring come along.”

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