Weekly Rewind: Pittsfield's psychological advantage

Ben Hill provided the Pittsfield Middle High School boys basketball team with a dominating presence last Friday's 55-44 win at Wilton-Lyndeborough.

And that was before either team stepped on to the court.

At 6-foot-9, Hill stood out whenever he walked around the gym before the start of the boys game. With only one player - Steven Heck - close to Hill's size, the Warriors were talking about Hill prior to tip-off and again at halftime.

"Everyone (in the locker room) was talking about Ben this and Ben that, and we were telling them to stop," W-L coach Sean Young said. "Guys put him on a pedestal. He’s a real nice player, but we don’t need to put him on that pedestal."

The Warriors' defense was able to hold Hill to just seven points, but it was when W-L had the ball that Hill made the biggest difference. While the Pittsfield senior was able to block a handful of shots, there were plenty more that he altered, and that was even if the Warriors got a shot off at all.

"He completely changed the complexion of the game," Young said. "If a guy went within eight feet of the hoop, they weren’t shooting because they were afraid. I kept telling them I don’t care if it gets blocked. We had guys settling for outside jump shots."

Pittsfield coach Jason Darrah is used to seeing that.

"Any time Ben Hill is on the floor, he doesn’t get enough credit for what he does," Darrah said. "When he is out on the floor, he changes the way other teams run their offense. He changes the way teams go into the post. He’s a force down there. He just changes the way things happen. A lot of times, just him being out there means the world. It causes us to be in a rebounding position because they’re falling away. That’s one of the things people don’t consider."

The Warriors will be looking for the first Division IV win when they head to Derryfield Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. start.

Up and down

The W-L girls basketball team opened the season on a high after beating Sunapee on Dec. 3, but the Warriors followed that up with a disappointing loss at Hinsdale, 44-39, on Dec. 6. In last Friday's win over Pittsfield, coach Denny Claire felt his team's third game was somewhere in between the first two.

"We had so many opportunities today that we didn’t take advantage of," he said. "We stole the ball umpteen times today and didn’t score off them. I think we played better the first game than the second game and the third one was in between the two. That might have had to do with the opponent."

Part of that inconsistency has to do with how the Warriors have played down low. Against Pittsfield, W-L tried to work the ball into the post, but only senior Kalie Randlett had any success. Randlett led the team with eight points, but all of those were scored over a four-minute stretch in the second quarter.

"She catches it and goes up and puts it in, but she doesn’t do it … the rest of the game, she didn’t score," Claire said. "The other game (against Hinsdale) she had 16 points and in the fourth quarter against, she didn’t score. She has the height, she just has to use her body more. I’ve got to get the other two post players involved, because they’re big enough and strong enough."

W-L (2-1) faces another tough task on Tuesday, when it hosts Derryfield (3-0) at 7 p.m.

Division I underway

The Division I girls basketball season got going on Friday, and there were two games between local teams that went down to the wire.

Bishop Guertin went on the road and held off Merrimack for a 36-33 victory. The Cardinals got a layup in the final seconds from Jamie Sherburne and a big defensive stop late in the game from Jenny Fallon to preserve the victory. Fallon had a team-high 12 points for BG, while Meghan Green added 11 points and 14 rebounds. Merrimack got 15 points from Rachael Carter.

Alvirne had just enough to hold off Nashua North, 45-44. Deanna Purcell (17 points) and Kathryn Donovan (11) led the way for the Broncos, who led by four going into the fourth quarter. Paige Parkison led North with 14 points, including four 3s, and Lauren Wingate added 13.

Wrestling opens up

The area wrestling teams all opened their seasons with dual meets last Wednesday, but only Alvirne was able to pull out a win. On Saturday, both Bishop Guertin (fifth at Con-Val) and Hollis/Brookline (fourth in Vermont) placed well at their respective tournaments. Milford also swept a pair of dual meets from Newfound and Campbell, while Nashua North's Joe Chimelski turned in a 4-0 performance in a quad meet at St. John's Prep in Danvers, Mass.

This week's matchups

Division II girls basketball starts on Tuesday with a clash between two area teams, as Bedford heads to Souhegan for a 6:30 p.m. start. Also on Tuesday, the Wilton-Lyndeborough boys head to Derryfield for what should be another early-season test for the Warriors.

Boys hockey gets started on Wednesday with South and North meeting at Conway Arena at 6:10 p.m. Alvirne and Merrimack both start their seasons on the road, while Bishop Guertin and Souhegan are both at home on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Merrimack wrestling heads to Milford and Souhegan goes to Alvirne, as the teams will meet for the first time as Division II opponents.

On Friday, Division I and II boys basketball gets underway. North and South both open the season on the road, while Merrimack heads to Alvirne and Bishop Guertin hosts Manchester Central in Division I. In Division II, defending-champion Milford travels to Kearsarge while Souhegan is at Laconia and Hollis/Brookline hosts Coe-Brown.