Sunapee 54 Newport 50
SUNAPEE – The Lakers and Tigers entered Sherburne Gymnasium Monday night looking to put on a show, and did not disappoint, as Sunapee outlasted Newport to win 54-50.
While the final score was tight, the first quarter started out lopsided in the Lakers’ favor. Sunapee took advantage of many Newport turnovers, jumping out to a 13-6 lead before a Tigers timeout with 33 seconds remaining. On top of the turnovers, they could not buy a bucket around the rim, as they missed multiple shots from the paint.
Newport closed the gap to end the quarter, as the Tigers’ Ethan Houde shook off some confusion, pulled up from halfcourt and drained a three to put the game at 15-9.
If the first quarter was all Sunapee, Newport put their footprints all over the second. The Tigers went on an 11-4 run to start the period, as they awoke the well traveled Newport student section. At this point, the Lakers struggled to get good looks on offense, and committed a few terrible turnovers to give the Tigers momentum. Newport’s ball movement was very impressive on offense. “They have always been good passers,” said Tigers’ Head Coach Ethan Jean. “So much better than last year, they really know where the ball needs to go.” After the second quarter, Sunapee was clinging to a 27-26 lead.
The most impressive thing for Newport, was their shooting from behind the arc. Houde, who led all scorers with 23, drained seven shots from three point land. “They were shooting lights out,” said Sunapee Head Coach Tim Puchtler. However, this was not in the Tigers’ gameplan. “It never is,” laughed Jean. “They love shooting threes. I prefer to work inside out and get shots in rhythm.” The two squads entered the final frame locked at 40.
Scoring was at a premium in the fourth, as both teams stepped up their defensive intensity. As Newport began to get in foul trouble, the momentum swung in favor of the Lakers. Around the midpoint of the quarter, Cody Turgeon fouled out for the Tigers, and with him left their offensive rebounding. “Cody fouling out was tough, that is a lot of athleticism missed,” said Jean.
Jordan Chappell came up huge in the final minutes for Sunapee, scoring many of his 20 points in the final quarter and going seven for eight from the free throw stripe. The team seemed to slow down, and try to find quality shots. “I keep preaching settle down, it is not about the number of shots we take, it is about the quality,” said Puchtler.
Not only were they taking more quality shots, with Turgeon off the court, they got rebounds on almost every shot they missed. On one possession with under two minutes left, they grabbed five offensive boards before reaching the free throw line. “I was wondering if we were working on our rebounding stats, wished we could have just put one in the hoop,” said Puchtler.
A travel from the Tigers with 37 seconds remaining was the Tom Brady-esque late game turnover the Lakers needed, sending the home crowd into a frenzy, and Sunapee home with a win 54-50.
“It has been an issue all year, we cannot finish down the stretch,” said Jean. Puchtler was impressed with his team’s composure in the closing minutes. “I tell our team to keep the game manageable. Early in the season teams would get up 10 or 12 points on us. It was impressive with a young group, I think at the end I had three sophomores in there.”
The Tigers will hope to bounce back tomorrow at Mascoma, while Sunapee will welcome Mount Royal on Wednesday night.
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