This winter, the local sports scene has welcomed three first-year head coaches for varsity basketball programs, and each have been presented unique opportunities and different challenges.
The one who has seen the most success is Matthew Baird-Torney, who took over as the Fall Mtn. girls head coach this season after serving the last four years as the Stevens varsity boys head coach.
At Stevens, Baird-Torney led the Cardinals boys to the State Championship game in 2017 but fell to Kearsarge 51-46.
If Baird-Torney’s Wildcats continue at the rate they’re playing at, they’ll be competing for a D-III NH girls’ title just like his previous boys’ team did.
Baird-Torney came in and implemented a new system for the Wildcat girls, and it has paid dividends, as they are now 8-0 in NHIAA play through January 7, with wins over Raymond (55-29), Conant (53-50), Winnisquam (54-11), Newport (45-41), Newfound (45-30), Hillsboro-Deering (46-20), Stevens (50-41), and Hopkinton (38-35).
The Fall Mountain girls are currently the team to beat in D-III, with just one other unbeaten team in the division (Monadnock 6-0). They will host Monadnock on Tuesday night in Langdon.
When speaking to Baird-Torney in the preseason, he said his goal for the winter is to be playing the Wildcats’ best brand of basketball come playoff time. With the rest of the division looking to take down the top-seeded Wildcats, the competition will be tougher as the season progresses, starting with Tuesday’s showdown of the lone unbeaten teams.
The vacancy left by Baird-Torney at the helm of the Stevens boys program was filled by Dan Ryan.
Ryan has over three decades of coaching experience and three state title appearances while coaching at Inter-Lakes High School, but even that didn’t serve as much preparation as the Cardinals made the leap from D-III to D-II this winter after an NHIAA realignment.
The Cardinals boys are off to an 0-5 start, with losses to Laconia (37-65), Lebanon (21-70), Oyster River (22-71), Fall Mountain (52-54), and Merrimack Valley (42-63).
The two-point loss to Fall Mountain, who are 5-1 on the season, leads to the notion that the Cardinals would be very competitive if they still were a part of Division 3.
With that being said, coach Ryan knew what he was getting into when he accepted the job from Athletic Director Doug Beaupre, which he was extremely grateful to be offered.
Coach Ryan, during the preseason, described the move up to Division 2 “scary.” But, just five games into the 2018-19 season, Ryan has already seen progress in his team. On Friday, Stevens played their most competitive game in Division 2 in their loss to Merrimack Valley.
Speaking to Ryan post-game, he said, “With the amount of points that we scored… there was definitely great improvement.”
The Cardinals are still searching for their first win of the season, but the group is on their way to being a team that is able to compete in D-II.
The third coach with a fresh start this winter is Bill Page, head coach of the Newport boys varsity basketball program.
Page came over from being an assistant coach for the Windsor team under Harry Ladue, and is in his first year as a head coach for varsity basketball.
The Newport boys, much like Stevens, are off to a slow start (0-6) with losses to Conant (31-78), Fall Mountain (40-58), Hillsboro-Deering (34-53), Sunapee (58-62), Windsor (43-64), and Campbell (36-78).
After losing to Windsor on December 21, the Tigers will get another crack at them, this time on the road on Tuesday. Another notable game coming up for Newport is a home game against Stevens on January 15.
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