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# Goffstown girls basketball had to adjust before success would come
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/goffstown-girls-basketball-adjust-success-come/
- Published: 2016-03-15T12:00:10.000Z
- Updated: 2016-03-15T12:00:10.000Z
- Description: MANCHESTER - Every season is different and it's hard to predict what a team's chemistry will be like after spending an offseason doing other things. The Goffstown High School girls basketball team learned that at the start of this year. Coming off a surprise runner-up finish in Division II in 2015,
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, championship, girls basketball, Goffstown, playoffs, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

MANCHESTER - Every season is different and it's hard to predict what a team's chemistry will be like after spending an offseason doing other things.

The Goffstown High School girls basketball team learned that at the start of this year.

Coming off a surprise runner-up finish in Division II in 2015, the Grizzlies came into the new season with only two players gone from that second-place team. It wasn't out of the question for Goffstown to pick up right where it left off.

Except, that wasn't entirely the case.

The Grizzlies split their first six games of the year, and through 11 games, were 6-5 and in the middle of the pack in Division II. But what started as team bonding at the end of 2015 blossomed into a stretch run that saw Goffstown win 10 of its last 11 games, including wins over Pembroke, Lebanon and Souhegan in the regular season, and Merrimack Valley, Lebanon and Hanover in the playoffs.

"We had a lot of bonding over Christmas break, and because of that, we gelled together as a team and had a lot of chemistry," Goffstown senior Kathryn Howe said. "Because of that, it helped with us on the court. We knew it was going to be really hard to get back here after last year. That was on our minds the whole season. We worked hard on accomplishing our goals."

Returning to the championship game - and winning it - was a goal that the Grizzlies set for themselves, and Friday's 37-31 win over Hanover in the final was the culmination of that. But things almost never go the way you plan them.

"Not the way we planned, but all I care about is peaking at the end," Goffstown coach Deanna Goodwin said. "Everybody kept sticking with the plan and kept working, stayed together. We knew this was the ultimate goal, getting to March 11 and putting a banner up. As long as we kept our eyes on that as a team and a program, that's what our focus was. Whatever it took to get us here, it doesn’t matter now. We're here."

Even the way that Goffstown won Friday's game was unconventional for a championship tilt.

The Grizzlies won despite shooting 27.5 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from the free throw line. Goffstown was 4 of 15 at the line, and that included seven straight misses in the final 3:22 of the game.

"That will be the big suggestion," Goodwin said with a laugh when asked if free throws would be a focal point in the offseason. "Normally, we don't get a lot of free throws, but normally, we're a higher percentage. I guess this venue kind of hurt us."

In the end, the Grizzlies did what they had to do in order to win. They forced Hanover into 24 turnovers and held the Marauders to 2 of 16 shooting in the second half.

"All year long, we've been a team of runs," Hanover coach Dan O'Rourke said. "We never could get in that flow. We got the ball low and had travels. We missed some inside shots.

"They played good defense. They extended their defense to try to slow us down. They weren't really pressuring us, they were just trying to slow the tempo down."

While Goffstown had the leadership of five seniors, and several other players who participated in last year's championship game, to fall back on, Hanover had just two seniors who were major contributors to its playoff run. With so many players returning, the Marauders could be the team that ends up back in the final for another shot.

"I told them, you can't define your season by one game," O'Rourke said. "Obviously, we all wanted to win that game, but we exceeded my expectations. If someone had told me in the preseason, we'd be playing for a championship, would you take that, I probably would."