With seconds left in the first half, Stevens' Drew Grenier glances at the clock as Hillsboro-Deering's Trajan Davis, left, and Zach Rowell give chase during their game on Feb. 2, 2018, in Claremont, N.H. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
With seconds left in the first half, Stevens' Drew Grenier glances at the clock as Hillsboro-Deering's Trajan Davis, left, and Zach Rowell give chase during their game on Feb. 2, 2018, in Claremont, N.H. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Jennifer Hauck

Claremont — Ryan Hoyt may have slipped under the radar a bit as a Stevens High School athlete. None of the teams he was on went terribly deep in the postseason, but as an individual he did quite well: all-state selections his sophomore and junior years in soccer and an honorable mention as a tight end after switching to that sport.

Now a 28-year-old, Hoyt returned to Claremont on Friday night as Hillsboro-Deering High’s junior varsity boys basketball coach as well as assistant to varsity coach Carl Doucet.

The Stevens varsity sent Hillsboro-Deering to its 10th straight loss, 42-27, on Friday, after Hoyt’s junior varsity was a 43-39 winner to improve to 7-4.

The difference between the schools basketball-wise is huge. H-D has been down for many years, while Stevens constantly turns out competitive teams.

“We just have to work on fundamentals more than other schools,” Doucet said.

Doucet recruited Hoyt to his staff after the two got to know each other at a men’s basketball league in Manchester, and both had the trip to Claremont circled on his calendar.

“I absolutely loved growing up in Claremont, and walking into Carr Gym is always exciting,” Hoyt said. “It’s just that I’ll be sitting on the opposite bench,” he said on Thursday in a phone conversation. “It’s going to be great.”

Hoyt, who lives in Nashua and works for a moving company, said playing in front of those crowds in the Carr balconies, “You get an excitement that you don’t get anywhere else.”

“You know it is like Hoosiers. Just the acoustics makes it a special place. A crowd of 200 can sound like 800.”

Hoyt graduated from Stevens in 2008 and played basketball for Bill McIver, football for Skip Miller, baseball for Paul Silva and soccer for Nick Marro. Of the four, only Silva remains in the same capacity.

Doucet and Hoyt are trying to enhance the talent level of basketball in the Hillsboro area and know that there is a long road ahead.

“If you understand Hillsboro basketball, you know what a difficult task lies ahead,” Doucet said.

“We’ve got a summer program going, and we’re constantly working on the basics,” Hoyt added.

Hoyt added he wouldn’t be against coaching some other sports at Hillsboro-Deering. Why not? He certainly has played them all.

Stevens improved to 7-6 in NHIAA Division III play with the varsity victory. The Cardinals started the day in the 13th spot in D-III, with the top 16 making the postseason.

It was also the start of a four-game homestand for the Cards, with Fall Mountain, Con-Val and Kearsarge coming to Claremont before the Cardinals have their last road game at Hopkinton.

Stevens coach Matt Baird-Torney has always looked at his team as a defense-first squad. On Friday night, his defenders limited the Hillcats to just nine field goals and only three regulation baskets.

“Defense is our identity,” Baird-Torney said.

Stevens’ defense had a lot to do with the game’s snail-like offensive pace at the start. The hosts held just an 18-8 lead through the first half. It gave the Hillcats encouragement.

“We only had eight points at the half, and we were still in the game,” Doucet said.

Rebounding was also a big part of the Stevens victory. Luke Come had a team-high 12 boards, and Tanner Durkee grabbed 11 caroms.

“We also had a lot of second-chance points,” Baird-Torney said.