Souhegan basketball looking to build off success

Basketball is back at Souhegan High School.

After some down years, which included missing the playoffs for two straight seasons and going through five coaches in four years, the Sabers made their return to the grand stage a year ago, advancing to the Division II semifinals. Souhegan was a buzzer-beater away from knocking off Portsmouth and reaching the final.

Even with the success, Sabers coach Mike Heaney knows there is still a lot of work to do.

“I’ve heard a million coaches say they’re no smarter after they win a championship, and I’m no smarter with a final four under my belt,” Heaney said. “The parents know who I am and the kids know my style, what I like and what I don’t like. Winning cures a lot of ills. We’ve been fortunate the last couple of years that we’ve won our share of games.”

To do so this year, Souhegan will have to find a way to replace Seth Cordts and Ryan Reynolds, who both graduated, and Devin Gilligan, who transferred to Kimball Union Academy.

The Sabers return two starters in Brandon Len and Jake Kennedy, and there are several seniors – including Shawn McKenna and Zach Simmonds – and juniors that Heaney expects to step up.

“This is going to be a fun year,” he said. “We’re almost at a 50-50 split of seniors and juniors. We’re kind of young. We’re going to have a bunch of juniors playing a lot of minutes, but a lot of them were sophomores who got to go to UNH last year and experience that. That’s invaluable.”

What Souhegan has also gained for this year is team speed. When he took over as head coach four years ago, Heaney wanted his team to be able to run the floor, and this year, he believes the Sabers will finally be able to run that kind of system.

“We’re faster than we’ve been the last couple of years,” he said. “I think that allows us to do different things. We’ve always said we want to be a running team and I think this year we will be. We won’t be as much of a grind-it-out, physical team. This year, we have a lot more pure basketball ability and speed.”

Heaney wouldn’t put his team among who he thinks will be the favorites in Division II this season, but he hopes to surprise a few people and see Souhegan near the top of a large group of challengers.

“I still think everyone is talking about the same four or five teams,” he said. “It’s my fourth year, and again, it’s the three Ps – Pelham, Portsmouth and Pembroke. That’s true, they are really tough teams. You put Bedford and Lebanon in there, and every coach I’ve talked to, that’s the five they pick. What’s fun is the rest. Almost any team could say they’re sixth, or seventh, or eighth. We hope we’re in that mix.”