Souhegan boys battling through growing pains

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Ask anyone to name the Class I boys basketball team of the last decade, and a few teams jump immediately to mind. There was Hanover, which played in three title games and won two championships. There was Pelham, which began the decade in Class M, but ended it with its third championship game appearance in three years.

And there was defending champion Portsmouth, which played in its second title game in three years last March after starting its decade in Class L.

By the end of the decade, it was easy to forget about the only team to win back-to-back titles, which Souhegan did in 2003-04.

The Sabers ended the decade with their fourth coach in four years, four years many Souhegan fans would just as soon forget.

It’s 2010, and the Sabers have a coach, Mike Heaney, who plans to stick around. They also have more raw talent than they’ve had since the glory days.

But rising back to the Class I elite is a sometimes slippery slope, as the Sabers proved Tuesday night in a 44-36 loss to a similarly young Pelham team.

It was the third straight loss after a 4-0 start, and Heaney knows his team is in the midst of a critical character test.

“Tonight was a sign of our youth and our inexperience at the varsity level,’’ Heaney said. “One of the things that’s interesting is the last couple of years, the jayvees have been so strong the kids are used to 20-point wins.

“Now that they’re under the bright lights, it’s a little different.’’

That inexperience can manifest itself in a number of ways. The Sabers are a good free-throw shooting team – in practice. In their last three games, they’ve failed to shoot 50 percent from the line.

At one point early in the second quarter on Tuesday, the Sabers had 10 turnovers, just three points and were shooting 1-for-13 from the floor.

But they kept battling. Trailing by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, they got to within one point with just over six minutes left in the game.

Then, with a chance to complete a nice comeback, they watched Pelham go on an 8-1 run to put the game away. Heaney had a long debriefing session with his team when it was over and made a few things clear.

“We try not to fall in and out of love with lineups,’’ Heaney said. “But we have starters who got two points tonight, starters who got two rebounds.

“So we challenged them that in the next two days of practice some starting spots are up for grabs.’’

Not that Pelham coach Todd Kress was thrilled about his team’s performance. He called his team lackadaisical on offense and they were just as off-target as Souhegan from the free-throw line.

But the Pythons were able to snap their own two-game skid because of the one thing Kress can normally depend on: a solid effort at the defensive end.

Kress’ team was at least partly to blame for Souhegan turning the ball over 26 times and shooting just 29 percent (14-for-49) from the floor.

Still, Kress sees a different Souhegan team than he’s witnessed in the last few years.

“They are more athletic than they’ve been,’’ Kress said. “They had kids who played hard, who dove on the floor, but when push came to shove they struggled to score.

“This year they have a couple of kids who look like they are ready to step up. Young kids who need to mature but will get better as the year goes along. And a coaching staff who will do a good job.’’

To say Souhegan basketball is back is probably a little premature. But it seems to be headed there, one small step at a time.

Gary Fitz can be reached at gfitz@nashuatelegraph.com or 594-6469.