Category Archives: Pingree

January 18, 2013 · 9:59 pm

Pingree School cruises past Concord Academy 62-47 in EIL boys basketball

Kyle Lentini (17 points) blocks Malin Segal (21 points)

Sam Stogdon (14 points) and Kyle Lentini battle

(Hamilton) Pingree School gained twenty-point separation from Concord Academy early in the second half and cruised to a 62-47 win on Friday night in Eastern Independent League boys basketball action.

Pingree (10-3) combined a turnover-producing defense with segment of 6 ½ minutes of nearly unanswered offense to get the job done.

The visitors found themselves in double teams almost anywhere they had the ball. Steals and bad passes were frequent as CA registered, by my count, twenty turnovers in the first half and ten more in the second half.

If CA could have subtracted a certain 6 ½ minutes of this game, they would have been in a tight game (like last year) but unfortunately for Concord they couldn’t and had to live with the effects of a 19-2 Pingree run.

CA (6-3) made enough shots in the first thirteen minutes (Malin Segal has ten points including two 3’s) to trail by a very manageable two points, 23-21.

Griffin Beal gets in clean for two

What Pingree did to Concord over the last three minutes of the first half, and the first 3 ½ minutes of the second half, will not appear on any season-highlights video on the campus of Concord Academy.

Let’s take care of the final three minutes of the first half first. The Highlanders scored the last ten points of the first half despite missing five free throws. CA registered seven of their twenty first-half turnovers during this segment. CA also missed the front end of two one-and-one free throw attempts.

Kyle Lentini (17 points) hit a jump shot, stole a CA pass, and made a layup in the final twenty seconds.

Pingree had a 33-21 lead, as a result, at halftime.

Concord had the first points of the second half (Sam Stogdon layup) but then were victimized by another scoring drought. The next three minutes of playing time saw only Pingree points go up…….nine of them. At the end of it, what had been a competitive game earlier (23-21), became out of hand (42-23).

Justin Assad (13 points) floats in the lane

During the early second-half run of Pingree offense, Justin Assad (13 points) had a three and a layup, while Kyle Lentini converted a rebound, and Alonzo Jackson made two free throws.

Concord did score more points than Pingree the rest of the way but as they say in farm country, “The cows had left the barn.”

Malin Segal (21 points) and Sam Stogdon (14 points) reached double figures for CA. Many of their points came against the Pingree reserves in the second half.

CA employed a 1-3-1 half court zone. Pingree’s willingness to make extra passes turned up juicy shots for teammates closer to the basket. The Highlanders made just one three (Justin Assad) but didn’t need the long ball in this game.

Johnny Spears

The constant Pingree pressure forced CA to play a lot faster than I suspect they were comfortable with. Good defense is a team thing but Johnny Spears stands out in the Highlander defense. He is as capable of stealing the ball, even from good dribblers, as anyone I’ve seen this season.

The two teams meet again on February 1st at Concord Academy. If CA can upgrade their ball management that meeting could well produce a closer game than today’s was.

Those of us who like to chase the good matchups might want to get January 30th circled now. That’s when Beaver Country Day School visits Hamilton. Both teams are currently undefeated in EIL play. I saw Beaver defeat Pingree, 54-36, last February at Pingree.

Pingree boxscore

Concord Academy boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge considerably and get in better focus if you click on them.)

Alex Bernardi

Jack Anderson goes for the block

Johnny Spears surrounded

Malin Segal entertains Reese Fulmer

Kyle Lentini shoots over Sam Stogdon

Lucas Reeve

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Filed under Concord Academy, Pingree

Tagged as Johnny Spears, Justin Assad, Kyle Lentini, Malin Segal, Sam Stogdon

December 14, 2012 · 9:29 pm

Pingree routs Bancroft 79-32 in Eastern Independent League boys basketball

Luke Alley (14) heads for the hoop with Alonzo Jackson (3) closing fast

Lucas Reeve (14) in close

(Hamilton) Softball has the Mercy Rule. This basketball game was begging for a similar arrangement.

Pingree routed Bancroft, 79-32, in an Eastern Independent League mismatch on Friday night at Pingree.

The Highlanders (2-2) ran off the game’s first thirteen points and never were seriously challenged by the team from Worcester. Pingree is now 2-0 in the EIL.

While Pingree rolled up thirteen points in the first four minutes, the Bulldogs (1-5) were registering seven turnovers. Two of the early Bancroft miscues led to John Spears’ (11 points) layups.

PJ Lidonde (12 points) surrounded by Highlanders

The Highlanders man-to-man defense forced twenty-nine turnovers during a game in which everyone in uniform played plenty.

Pingree had the long-shot available and made six (three by Reese Fulmer) but seemed content most of the game to make the extra passes to get teammates layups and high-percentage shots. It was classic unselfish basketball.

Dylan McDonough (4 points) broke the ice for Bancroft with a layup.

Later in the half Pingree had another string of unanswered points (nine) and were up, 32-6, with three minutes left in the half. Reese (11 points) had a three and a layup off a turnover in the run.

The home team put another run of nine together in the second half extending their lead to, 59-17. A layup and two free throws by Griffin Beal (8 points) were part of that run.

Pingree coach Steve Gibbs had his bench cleared in the first half and so there was plenty of PT for the Highlander reserves in the second half.

Justin Assad (24) draws a charge

PJ Lidonde led Bancroft’s scorers with twelve points. He also had one of the harder charges you’ll ever see when he ran over Justin Assad (13 points) in the first half.

Alonzo Jackson (11), Nino Leone (9), and Kyle Lentini (7) were other scorers for Pingree.

I was impressed with Pingree in my first look at them this season. Last year they were 19-6. This year’s team has added four excellent freshman – Alonzo Jackson, Griffin Beal, Justin Assad, and Nino Leone.

John Spears? I would like to know a player faster than this junior. He is definitely not someone the other point guards on the Pingree schedule look forward to facing.

Pingree’s next opponent is Berwick (EIL game) on Wednesday (4PM) at Pingree.

(The pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Freshmen Nino Leone (34) and Matt Zujewski (11)

Griffin Beal (21) gets a fancy pass from Reese Fulmer (0)

Freshman Griffin Beal in traffic

Freshman Justin Assad had thirteen points

John Spears (11 points)

Connor Reardon finds an opening

PJ Lidonde slices between Kyle Lentini (22) and Connor Reardon (15)

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Filed under Bancroft, Pingree

Tagged as Alonzo Jackson, John Spears, Justin Assad, Kyle Lentini, Nino Leone, PJ Lidonde, Reese Fulmer

February 16, 2012 · 12:16 am

Strong second half gets Beaver past Pingree (54-36) in EIL boys basketball

John Spears (14 points) caught in the air with 6-8 defender Jacquil Taylor looking to block.

Joe Connelly (14 points) shoots over John Spears

(Hamilton) The Pingree boys played a terrific half of basketball against Beaver Country Day School. Unfortunately, for the Highlanders, there was the other half.

Beaver defeated Pingree, 54-36, on Wednesday afternoon in Eastern Independent League boys basketball action.

This was a one point game at halftime (27-26) with the final outcome far from certain. Beaver had beaten Pingree (65-41 on February 1st) so you figured that they might get stronger in the second half.

Tied at 30-30, the visitors from Chestnut Hill displayed why they came in 18-2 and undefeated (11-0) in the EIL. They went on an impressive 13-0 run over the next 7 1/2 minutes and Pingree never recovered.

The Beaver 2-3 zone, with 6-6 Maurice Taylor and his 6-8 brother Jacquil on the inside, limited Pingree to long range attempts. That defense was less of a problem in the first half when Pingree connected on four triples. During the six minute drought the long ones weren’t falling.

Kyle Lentini (8 points) leans on driving Jeff Spellman (15 points)

Meanwhile, Beaver registered points from Jacquil Taylor (dunk on a rebound), Joe Connelly (a layup and two jumpers), and Jeff Spellman (a layup and an old-fashioned 3-pont play) to pull away 43-30 and have needed separation with 8:40 left.

A Brendon Ashe triple narrowed the gap to 45-36 in the last three minutes but Beaver answered with a Jacquil hook in the lane and seven free throws to close out the scoring.

Exciting John Spears (14 points) had steals, assists, darts to the basket, and a triple and led the Highlanders to the front, 24-17, with five minutes left in the first half. The sophomore’s knack of getting open among players much taller than he is was very entertaining to the overflow home crowd.

However, the interior of the Beaver defense did a much better job protecting the inside after halftime. If John got by one shot blocker there was quickly another one ready to show some tall defense. Unable to get open space to the rim, John was held to just two points in the second half.

Junior Jeff Spellman (15 points) led all scorers. He proved to be more than capable of handling some very tight defensive pressure as the primary ball-handler for Beaver.

Joe Connelly blocks speedy John Spears in breakaway layup attempt

Joe Connelly tallied eleven of his fourteen points in the second half getting six in the surge that broke this game wide open. The highlight I took away from his game was his hustle in running down a streaking John Spears in the second half and blocking the speedster’s layup attempt.

Maurice Taylor led Beaver with ten rebounds while Isaac Carp grabbed twelve for the Highlanders.

Beaver is now 19-2 overall and 12-0 in the EIL with two more league games left. Don’t bet against them going undefeated. They have won the EIL the past two seasons. Their losses were to St. Mark’s and Brooks. Brooks is a team they could face in the NEPSAC Division B tournament late in February.

Beaver has won nine in a row and are 10-0 on the road. I did not see high-scoring Jherson Colon and assume that the Beaver guard re-injured himself.

Pingree is 15-6 overall and 10-2 in the EIL. They have won nine of their last eleven games.

The Highlanders have three games left starting with a home matchup with Wheeler School (RI) on Friday. The other two games are EIL games.

It would not surprise me to see Pingree face Beaver again in the EIL tourney final. That tournament starts on February 25th. After that tournament, Pingree will be competing in Division C of the NEPSAC tourney. I’m sure that they will be happy to get away from Beaver.

(All the pictures above and below enlarge if you click on them.)

Freshman Jordan Scurry (8 points) shoots over Connor Reardon

Beaver coach Juan Figueroa

Joe Connelly eyes shot. Connor Reardon eyes block.

Jeff Spellman gets off shot with John Spears defending.

Brendon Ashe hit two triples

Kenneth Adinkra and Jeff Spellman

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Filed under Beaver Country Day, Pingree

Tagged as Beaver, Brandon Ashe, Eastern Independent League boys basketball, Jeff Spellman, Joe Connelly, John Spears, Jordan Scurry, Pingree

February 11, 2012 · 7:39 pm

Kyle Lentini (21 points) leads Pingree past Bancroft 57-42 in EIL boys basketball

Kyle Lentini hits a triple over Peter Bovenzi

Connor Reardon (12 points) layup

(Hamilton) Pingree hit visiting Bancroft with a 14-2, four-minute segment in the first half and that separated them from the Bulldogs. The Highlanders went on to a, 57-42, victory on Saturday afternoon in Eastern Independent League action.

Pingree is now a lofty 15-5 and has a big showdown ahead at home against Beaver Country Day on Wednesday at 4PM. The Highlanders lone EIL loss was to the undefeated EIL squad from Chestnut Hill (65-41) on February 1st at BCD. Beaver is 17-2 overall. The rematch should be a good one.

Kyle Lentini (21 points) had a huge game for Pingree. During the breakaway, 14-2 run, Kyle converted two rebounds, hit a jumper, and assisted on Brandon Ashe’s layup. The run turned a 15-12 anybody’s game into a comfortable (29-14) Highlander advantage with 3 ½ minutes left in the first half.

The closest Bancroft (from Worcester) could get the rest of the way was eight (42-34) with 8:38 left in the game but Kyle Lentini answered with an old-fashioned three in heavy traffic in close. John Spears followed with a jump shot in the lane and a converted rebound and the Highlanders were quickly back to the fifteen point spread (49-34).

Pingree (10-1 in the EIL) led 34-23 at the half.