Windham Varsity Boys Basketball vs. Portsmouth 2/9/22

And so it ends…

The fact that it ends this way for every team but one each year makes it no less disappointing. The Windham boys team exited the DI tournament in the first round with a loss to Portsmouth in a score of 57-39. The loss dropped Windham to a record of 9-10 on the year.

The loss really came down to two factors—the largest being an inability to score inside or put any real pressure on the interior defense. As a point of note…Windham did not go to the line a single time in the game and drew only a couple fouls (literally). You can’t compete if you can’t impose your will and draw contact. This has been a consistent issue for Windham the past two years. In the prior season they posted a record of 8-5 under then coach EJ Perry but again bowed out in the first round of the DI tournament. Last year they had the dynamic scoring of Joey DaSilva to bail them out at times and while the team this year had some great outside shooting, it was not of a nature that could create its own shot like DaSilva could. Spot up and open shooting off skip passes or defensive lapses this team had down…it just was not able to put a player one on one and beat the other team.

The second factor in the game that came to the forefront was a lack of cohesive defense on backdoor cuts and pick and rolls. While Windham had throughout the years shown an ability to effectively double team ball handlers and switch on open players appropriately, they struggled here against the slashing and cutting Portsmouth team leading to numerous easy layups.

All in all it was not a bad season. 9-10 isn’t a bad showing for a team that lost its leading scorer and numerous starters from the year before and also switched coaches. The style they play however, regardless of the coach, will always be subject to letdowns, cold streaks, and ineffective play if they can’t develop an inside presence both offensively and defensively and multiple ball handlers who can break the press on their own. Being completely absent in the former (perhaps a bit by choice and style) and possessing only a single one of the latter leaves them subject to more physical, aggressive teams.

Oh…and the lighting and gym in Portsmouth? Wow…how horrid is that place? Its like playing in a dungeon…almost as bad as Timberlane. You can’t hardly see your hand in front of your face at times its so dark, the lights are literally from about 1920 and cast these weird shadows and sickly pall over everyone. And the rims? I’ve never heard a ball come off the metal that way before…it sounded like the ball was bouncing off a tin shanty out on a local pond…No wonder Portsmouth isn’t an outside shooting team…they can’t see the basket and there is zero chance of the ball getting a fair bounce off those hoops…just…wow….

On to the spring sports!

Windham Varsity Boys Basketball vs. Spaulding 01/25/22

I’ll be honest and say I felt sorry for Spaulding in this game. Eventually losing by 20 behind solid all around Windham play underneath (Jack Runde returning to form with key rebounds and putbacks and inside scoring after two pointless games) and timely shots from long distance, Spaulding was outmatched from the start. Now 0-17 on the year Spaulding looked dejected coming off the floor at the end. Meanwhile Windham was ebullient having had a chance to play some teammates that do not often see the court allowing them their moments to shine and have the crowd cheer behind them.

What I truly felt bad about was the decisioning of some schoolboard admin or athletic director with no actual education who sits watching the View and MSNBC mainlined into their grey matter, forcing the poor kids and Spaulding staff to wear masks. As if its not bad enough to be outmatched by a decidedly middle of the road (about .500 on the year) Windham team, they had to pretend that masks hung around their ears and over their throats while playing or in some half assed semblance of compliance while on the bench, were actually doing anything for what are healthy, vaccinated, young adults that see more of them die on ski slopes each year than at the hands of an octogenarian targeting virus. They looked like fish out of water…as if they had been left behind when everyone else has moved on…like I felt in second grade when my mom made me wear hand-me-down, plaid cotton pants that went out in the mid 70s and never seen again but I was begrudgingly wearing circa 1983…

On the other hand, rules or not, Windham has dispensed with the idea of complying with bureaucratic, do nothing, hacks…for the most part... Sure, sprinkled among the crowd here and there was a mask or two. But overall it was a maskless environment with everyone going about their lives. Even a number of parents with whom I have had significant disagreements with over the past two years appear to have come around and were now running around the court now sans-mask. Just takes people a while to get where they need to go sometimes I guess…

With Windham finishing out the year against some weaker opponents they should be able to target a winning season as an overall goal. They won’t lose a ton of players between ‘21 and ‘22. But what they will lose is size with Chris Billone (their leading scorer as well) graduating. It will fall upon Jack Runde to take on an even more physical, post presence in the next year because they will continue to be undersized. I’d like to see the year finish out with a two guard operation of Brian Desmarais and George Fortin on the floor for extended periods as even in last night’s game, with just the slightest of full court pressure from Spaulding, there were too many turnovers and silly passes. Having two individuals who can deftly handle the ball and smartly break the press is going to be a huge need. We’ll see how many more games I get to!

Windham Varsity Boys Basketball vs. Manchester Central

A close fought loss (79-74) it was also high scoring for a high school basketball game but without Windham’s typical bombing away from 3.

The high scorer for the night was once again Jack St. Hilaire with 27 who maintained his ability to do damage from deep while the rest of Windham’s deep threats were generally quiet. Supporting Hilaire was Jack Runde who funneled in 20 of his own, mostly from near the hoop, physical play.

Windham could have taken the game and had fought back from some seven down in the second half to take a three point lead with under three minutes to play but a series of extremely costly inbounding turnovers and difficulty in breaking a half-hearted press by Manchester Central, caused the loss and dropped the team to 3-6 on the year.

Windham Varsity Boys Basketball vs. Merrimack 12/23/21

Well, that was close…after being up 14 at the half and double digits well into the tail of the third quarter, the Windham boys found themselves down three with under two minutes left. They are most certainly a live by the three and die by the three team. Consistently out rebounded (but not out efforted) and outscored in the paint, Windham had just enough deep shooting to claw back to a 61-58 win. Much like last year Windham has the opportunity to step up and bite nearly any other team if they aren’t locking down on outside shooters but could also lose to potentially any team. Led by Chris Bilone and Jack St. Hilare bombing away from three and with Jack Runde providing the bulk of the dirty work underneath, they are less one dimensional than they were in ‘21, but are still going to be subject the highs and lows of outside shooting that can go cold for long stretches. A very good win here against a taller, more physical, Merrimack team, which makes it two in a row. Well done.

Windham JV Basketball vs. Pinkerton 02/25/21

Well, this was the last game of the year for the JV team. It was a loss as was the prior away game at Pinkerton who is just too big a team for Windham to deal with. Out rebounded and outskilled down low, this was a tough matchup. Unlike the prior away game vs. Pinkerton this one went Windham’s way for the first half when they brought more effort and passion than they have brought all year. But a short let down from their top energy was all that Pinkerton needed to cut the deficit and return to a leading spot from where Windham could not fully recover. JV finished the year with an 8-4 record and should be very happy with the result. In truth I think they should have finished 8-2 as the only team they were outclassed by was Pinkerton. The other losses were a matter of focus and effort. Something they will have to work on as many of these players move on to Varsity next year.