Holderness, n.h.
The second-seeded Engineers (20-3 overall) lost to No. 3 Groveton, 48-38, in the semifinals of the NHIAA Division IV tournament. The Purple Eagles played relentless defense, forcing Woodsville into 21 turnovers, while committing only 10 themselves.
“We went into the game knowing that we had to keep the game in the 40s to win,” said Woodsville coach Jamie Walker. “They like to press you, get turnovers, get it going up and down. We knew we had to slow it down and we did. We just didn’t make enough shots.”
An intense, back-and-forth game provided an exciting atmosphere for some 1,100 fans at John C. Foley Gymnasium. The score was tied 10 times and there were six lead changes.
Engineer point guard Garrett Olsen drew plenty of attention from the Eagles during a first half in which he scored 12 of his game-high 18 points. Groveton responded in the second half by switching into a box-and-one defense designed to contain Olsen. The concerted pressure on the junior seemed to disrupt a Woodsville offense that went idle down the stretch.
Olsen, who was able to routinely break down the Groveton defense off the dribble in the first half, had some trouble with the increased pressure.
“They had one guy in my face,” he said in reference to Groveton’s defensive adjustment. “I passed it and tried to (run) off some screens, but I couldn’t get any screens, couldn’t get open for any shots or any drives. It was a rough second half.”
Olsen finished 7-for-16 from the field and 5-for-7 at the free throw line. He also contributed six rebounds, three assists and a steal.
The Engineers closed out the third quarter with baseline jumpers from Sam Pushee, Adam Cataldo and Cooper Davidson, but Groveton’s Austin Lesperance hit a running floater from inside the left elbow to beat the third-period buzzer. The swished shot gave the Eagles a 34-32 lead and momentum heading into the final stanza.
Woodsville mustered just three hoops in the fourth quarter — layups by Spencer Guilmain, Olsen and Cataldo — en route to being outscored 14-6. Walker’s squad surrendered two turnovers during the final two minutes as the comeback bid fell apart. Groveton went up by nine points after converting at the end of a lengthy possession around the two-minute mark and never looked back.
“We were all putting in the effort; it was just heartbreaking at the end,” Pushee said. “When we saw (the lead) got to 10 with about a minute left, it was like: ‘What can we do now?’”
Pushee, who finished with eight points after averaging around 14 throughout the season, hopes to play basketball next season at Colby-Sawyer College.
Woodsville was trying to overcome the loss of starter Billy Greene, who rolled his ankle the day before his team’s quarterfinal win over Colebrook. Guilmain and Jason Turner were both tapped to help fill the void.
“We were doing stuff this week that we did back in November” to get new starters into the right spots both offensively and defensively, Walker said. “They did a good job of bringing in that fifth player and kept us going even though we were losing starters.”
Notes: Groveton (18-2 in NHIAA) will advance to face No. 1 seed Littleton (53-47 winners over Derryfield) in Friday’s championship game at PSU. … Woodsville, which fell to Portsmouth Christian in last year’s semifinal round, last appeared in the D-IV finals in 2007, losing to Lisbon. … Both teams hauled in 22 rebounds on Monday. Groveton’s bench outscored Woodsville, 10-2. … Davidson had six points, two blocks, two assists, two rebounds and two steals for the Engineers.