High School Basketball: Concord Christian girls a case of quality, not quantity
Feb. 8—CONCORD CHRISTIAN
Small team stands taller with every game —B3
----------
THE Concord Christian girls basketball team has a bit of a "Hoosiers" feel to it. Concord Christian has an enrollment of 106 students for grades 9 through 12, yet the Kingsmen play against much larger schools.
Watch the team warm up and you'd think several players were still in the locker room, since the Kingsmen have an eight-player roster. That's up from seven players last season.
None of this has prevented Concord Christian from winning, however.
Concord Christian finished 21-0 and won the Division IV championship in 2021-22, and went 21-1 and won the Division III championship last year. The Kingsmen, a Division IV school by enrollment, are competing in Division II this season, and are 13-0 entering Friday night's game against Milford.
"I'd be lying if I told you anything other than I felt like we could handle it (Division II competition) OK," Concord Christian coach Rebecca Carlile said. "We knew we were definitely gonna see some more competitive games than we've seen the previous two years, which is something that we were looking for."
Carlile said there was no master plan to build a basketball power at Concord Christian, and that the foundation for the program's success was largely a result of COVID. The Kingsmen went 2-16 in both 2018-19 and 2019-2020. The latter season was Carlile's first as the program's head coach.
"I don't really think there was a whole lot of strategy other than we had a new athletic director during COVID and we got kind of an influx of kids, which a lot of private schools did," she said. "You know you can't move up when you haven't done anything. That's not a great argument to take to the NHIAA, 'Hey, we think we're gonna be really good.' We had to kind of play it by ear.
"After the first year how we operated in Division IV ... I won't say we got kicked out, but we were kind of asked. And the same thing with Division III last year. The NHIAA did a really nice job helping us. They understand it's not fun for either team to play in blowouts."
Concord Christian basketball is largely a family affair. Twins Emma Smith and Kate Smith are daughters of assistant coach Matt Smith, and Lilli Carlile is Rebecca's daughter.
So how do the Kingsmen win? Well, they aren't particularly big. They have talent, but not to the degree they can just show up and expect to win. What they seem to do best is play fundamentally sound basketball at each end of the floor.
"I'd say we're best at moving the ball — sharing the ball," said Lilli Carlile, a Hudson resident. "Getting the best look on offense — that's what we're known for. Moving the ball and getting the best look. And then pressuring the ball on defense. Giving them no room. Giving them no shot that's easy."
In addition to playing Division II opponents, Concord Christian has played Division I Bishop Guertin twice this season. The Kingsmen won the first meeting 57-51 in overtime, and earned a 47-28 victory last Friday.
"I think the difference between the two (BG) games is the girls were a little more ready for this one," Rebecca Carlile said following Friday's win. "I think they got a little too hyped up (for the first game). People talk about them all the time because they won Division IV and they won Divison III. They're on the radar, and going against the (defending) Division I champs can be a little intimidating. I think they might have been a little too hyped up and didn't do the things the way we typically do."
This year's starting five all contributed to the team's championships the last two seasons, and Taylor Rioux is the only senior on this year's roster.
Rebecca Carlile said the program will compete in Division I for the next two seasons and then evaluate.
"We look forward to playing new teams, seeing new competition," Lilli Carlile said. "That's the excitement of moving up into a new division."
Point man
Manchester West's Max Shosa eclipsed 1,000 points for his high school career during Tuesday night's 66-61 victory over Kingswood. Shosa was 12 points shy of 1,000 entering the game, and finished with 23.
"It was a big relief for him to get that off his plate," West coach Rich Otis said. "I know he's very proud of that accomplishment. I feel fortunate to have him."
Shosa, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward, transferred from Trinity to West after his sophomore year. He entered Thursday's game against Pelham averaging 26.0 points per game this season.
"He's a shooter," Otis said. "I think that's his strong point. He's versatile and can do other things, but if he's open he's going to knock it down."
Big-game hunting
The spotlight will be focused on Division I tonight, when the Pinkerton boys and girls teams will both play Bedford.
The Pinkerton and Bedford girls are each 14-0 and will meet in Bedford. The Bedford boys (14-0) are the only unbeaten team in Division I and will play at Pinkerton (13-1).
Bedford beat Pinkerton in last year's Division I boys championship game.
Unified effort
The quarterfinals of the NHIAA Unified basketball tournament will take place today. The matchups: No. 8 Oyster River at No. 1 Keene; No. 5 Bedford at No. 4 Londonderry; No. 10 Nashua North at No. 2 Exeter; and No. 6 Dover at No. 3 Berlin.
