DURHAM, NH – Legendary Winnacunnet boys basketball coach Jack Ford was known for reminding his players that any season concluded in Durham is a successful season.
Current Winnacunnet head coach Jay McKenna, who played and coached under Ford before succeeding him in 2005, reflected on his mentor’s observation following the Warriors’ semifinal matchup against Trinity High School Wednesday night.
You see, the University of New Hampshire’s Lundhom Gymnasium has for decades hosted the NHIAA High School Boys Basketball semifinals and championship game, and while this year was a departure for the norm, the Division I semifinals still ended up being hosted in Durham, this time across town at Oyster River High School.
With that reality in mind, this season was certainly a success for the Trinity High School boys basketball team (14-3), which reached Durham but fell to McKenna’s Warriors, 61-48.
“I’m so proud of the guys just to get this far,” said Trinity head coach Keith Bike. “They were very enjoyable to coach this year and, you know, a lot of them have bright futures ahead of them.”
Trinity senior guard Royce Williams almost single-handedly kept the Pioneers in the game, scoring 31 of his team’s 48 points, including four second-half three-pointers.
“He’s led the state in scoring the last two years for a reason … we knew he’s highly skilled, and we had the challenge that we haven’t played (Trinity) for a couple years, so we’ve never faced him,” said McKenna. “You see him on tape, but to get out there and go toe-to-toe with him, to see how good he is, he’s just a tremendous player, a tremendous talent.”
Williams helped the Pioneers keep pace with Winnacunnet’s strong second-half scoring, but it was team defense that kept the game close early.
The Pioneers limited the Warriors to 17 first-half points, but the favorites came out of the second-half gate hot, matching their first-half total with 20 third-quarter points to open a nine-point lead.
Trinity made things interesting with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to three early in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors kept pushing the ball inside to force fouls and pull away for good.
“I thought when Royce hit a couple (three-point) shots there, I thought ‘we got this,’ but credit them, they must have hit 10 or 11 out of 12 free throws (late in the game) …,” said Bike. “We tried to battle, you know, we tried to make it a full-court game, but in the end it came down to the paint.”
Winnacunnet junior big man Sam Andreottola dominated inside for much of the game, leading his team with 21 points, while senior forward Brett Marelli hit seven of his last eight free through attempts, including five in the fourth quarter, to finish second for the Warriors in scoring with 13 total points.
“It was just a matter of figuring out what was going to work for us, and we figured it out, and fortunately we came out on top,” said McKenna.
For Trinity, graduating Williams, as well as fellow seniors Nathan Meeker, Louis Rosenthall, Ryan Stultz and George Acuil will undoubtedly sting, but Bike noted he has plenty of talent expected to return next year.
“I’m very excited about the young kids we have in our program,” he said. “Obviously, the freshmen that come out here on the semifinal stage and are able to play well … that speaks volumes to them being ready.
“You know, we didn’t win many games last year, and even our JV and freshman teams didn’t win many games last year,” said Bike, “but we improved this year and had a lot more energy, which I love.”
Freshman guard Tyler Bike finished second in scoring against Winnacunnet with nine points, while classmates Mark Nyomeh and Devohn Ellis contributed six and two, respectively.
