BY SAPNA PATHAK
Outside the girls locker room at Southern New Hampshire University, Corey Boilard stood wondering what he could possibly tell his players after a devastating, 54-41 loss in the Class I girls basketball quarterfinals.
After Boilard took the head coaching position for the Bow High girls basketball team this year, he led the team to 13-4 record and two postseason games, the last culminating on Sunday, Feb. 21.
“As a player or coach, not every season have I won the last game, so I know the emotions they’re feeling,” said Boilard. “But I wasn’t prepared to go in there. It was probably the toughest part of the job trying to find the right words to tell them.”
The third-seeded Falcons faced No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas but couldn’t get their offense going as the Saints took a quick 13-7 lead after one quarter.
In front of a crowd of more than 500 fans, Bow fell behind, 24-18, at halftime.
Since the team hadn’t led at halftime in more than a month, Boilard simply huddled his players around him during intermission and reminded them, “We’re a second-half team.”
However, the Falcons grew tired inside the unfamiliar gymnasium. Playing on a larger court challenged Boilard’s defense in executing their well-known zone press.
“I hate to say it, but the bigger court played a role in our defense,” said Boilard. “It took a toll on our zone press and the girls were kind of out of gas in the end because they were running around all over the place.
We’re a slow-starting team, so we were confident going into the second half.”
Entering the final frame down nine points, the Falcons couldn’t stop St. Thomas guard Marie Girard, who scored a game-high 25 points. Bow was outscored, 19-15, in the fourth quarter, leaving seniors Katie Seraikas and Sherry Darrell in tears as the final buzzer sounded.
Seraikas led the Falcons with 16 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Junior Kaitlyn Hinck scored 12 points, while Darrell added five points, two rebounds and three assists.
Brittany Gripp finished with five points, five rebounds and two steals while teammate Meghan Faretra netted three points and grabbed two boards.
Before putting a comforting arm around Seraikas, Boilard sat in silence on the bench with his head in his hands.
“The fourth quarter’s been our quarter all year,” said Boilard. “Even as it was happening, we didn’t think we were out. These girls were fighting for loose balls with 11 seconds left, and we’re 10 points down. I hope we don’t let this game define our season.”