AMHERST – There were a phrase and a single word that Mike Heaney used described the Souhegan High School boys basketball team’s loss to Oyster River.
The phrase was laid an egg, which the Sabers literally did from the field for the first 12 minutes of the game.
The word was ‘disappointment,’ and that in itself is big news.
First the egg – Souhegan shot 2-for-20 from the field in the first half and trailed 28-11 at halftime. The Sabers got as close as 11 early in the third quarter, but the Bobcats were too much for them in pulling out a 60-39 victory in Class I action.
After a 3-3 start, Oyster River (9-3) has now won six in a row and put itself back in a familiar spot as one of the contending teams in the class.
For the Sabers (8-4) to feel disappointed after a loss to a team in that category had Heaney putting things in perspective.
“We’re disappointed because we expected to beat a good program,” he said. “The last two years, it would have been ‘I hope we can hang in and make it worthwhile.’ The disappointment is a sign we’re going in the right direction. We don’t hope to beat a good team, we expect to.”
But no matter what the Sabers expect, there aren’t many teams they’d beat after missing their first 14 shots of the game. Souhegan trailed 13-2 after one quarter, the points coming off a single free throw each by Jack Nelson and Ryan Redmond.
The first basket of the game came off an Oyster River turnover and subsequent fast break. Sam Protzmann scooped a loose ball and found Devin Gilligan streak down the court for a layup. That made it a 20-6 game with 4:01 left in the first half.
“We told them at halftime, its good it wasn’t a 40-point spread,” Heaney said. “I’m disappointed with how we competed tonight.”
First-half slumps haven’t been anything new to Souhegan in the last six games. In the Sabers’ last loss, to Pelham on Jan. 19, they fell behind in the first half and made a comeback.
During the four-game win streak that proceeded Tuesday’s loss, the same was the case in each game.
“Maybe that’s the sign of a young team, that they’re in a fog for a half,” Heaney said. “The last four games in a row, we’ve blistered them at halftime for not playing with maturity and heart, and we went out and beat people, including a really good Kingswood team (on Feb. 2).
“I told them I wasn’t raising my voice at halftime, that they’re going to have to do that without me yelling. And they did it for a couple of minutes. Oyster River is really good, but I’m disappointed we didn’t make it a competitive ball game. You can’t go down 11 or 12 to start the game against a team that’s probably going to be in the final four.”
The Sabers opened the second half with an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 11 points with 4:11 left in the third quarter. But the momentum didn’t last, as the Bobcats responded by going on a 9-2 run in less than two minutes to make the lead 18 points.
“I’m disappointed with how we competed tonight,” Heaney said. “We thought they annihilated us on the glass. They manhandled us outside and I don’t think we processed it well.”
Souhegan was outrebounded, 25-12, in the first half, including 15-4 in the second quarter. Oyster River had almost as many offensive rebounds (11) in the first half as the Sabers did total rebounds.
Still, there were positives to take from the game.
“The biggest positive was that they left the locker room knowing that they laid an egg,” Heaney said. “There’s no yelling, there’s no demonstrative speeches. As soon as I walked into the locker room, their heads were down. This should hurt.”
Souhegan continues its tough stretch, heading to Bow on Friday before hosting Milford on Feb. 16.