{"id":10328,"date":"2024-02-03T06:51:01","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T06:51:01","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"Concord-Boys-Basketball-Winnacunnet-53857308\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=10328","title":{"rendered":"Boys\u2019 basketball: After 0-10 start, Concord finally has its first win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Concord
Concord forward Alain Twite outrebounds Winnacunnet forward Edgar Hansen (33)\u00a0during the second half on Friday night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Concord
Concord forward Alain Twite drives to the hoop as Winnacunnet guard Timothy Kollmorgen tries to defend him during the first quarter on Friday night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Concord
Concord guard Chase Lawler gets fouled from behind as he drives\u00a0to the basket during the first half against Winnacunnet on Friday night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Concord
Concord guard Chase Lawler gets fouled from behind as he drives to the basket during the first half against Winnacunnet on Friday night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Concord
Concord forward Alain Twite gets fouled by Winnacunnet forward Andrew Simmons at the buzzer ending the first quarter on Friday night. Twite went to the foul line for three shots after the foul.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Concord
Concord guard Japhet Nduwayo scores on a one-handed layup against three Winnacunnet players during the second half on Friday night.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>

CONCORD \u2013\u00a0The Crimson Tide trailed 9-0 just 2:07 into Friday\u2019s game against Winnacunnet\u00a0(2-10). Already 0-10 on the season, it was a familiar sight.<\/p>\n

What happened next wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Head coach Tim LaTorra called a timeout, and over the next 13 minutes of action, Concord (1-10) outscored the Warriors, 37-9. A 3-point field goal from junior guard Chase Lawler had given the Tide a 10-9\u00a0lead with 3:10 left in the first, and it never trailed again. Concord won, 60-48.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s relief,\u201d LaTorra said after the win. \u201cRelief, pride. I just told these guys in the huddle at the end of the game, you\u2019re 0-10, there\u2019s a lot of teams that fall apart at the seams, a lot of teams that go different directions, and we had the best week of practice we\u2019ve had all season long this week. Came out and showed tonight. To stay together, to keep battling, I\u2019m so happy, man.\u00a0Happy for these guys. They deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For an offense that entered Friday averaging just over 51 points per game, Concord had three players reach double figures in scoring. Senior forward Alain Twite led the way with 19 points, while senior guard Japhet Nduwayo had 12 and Lawler had 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the box score doesn\u2019t tell the whole story. There was a different energy on the Tide bench Friday night. Perhaps it was a belief that at 2-9, Winnacunnet was a beatable team. Perhaps it was the dozens of young kids in the bleachers for Youth Basketball Night filling the Concord High gymnasium with endless\u00a0excitement.<\/p>\n

LaTorra\u00a0attributed it to his team\u2019s effort in practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour days of competing, getting up in guys and pressuring them, getting in passing lanes, pressuring those. Really trying to make each other better,\u201d he said. \u201cI think a lot of times in practice, we don\u2019t do a great job simulating what other teams are doing. This week, every day was competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The play of Twite and Nduwayo encapsulated the intensity best.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Alain Twite does on the court, you can\u2019t put in the box score,\u201d LaTorra said. \u201cHe may get the rebound, he may get the tip, he may just be there and draw eyes everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nduwayo, meanwhile, started the second quarter by missing two free throws but snagging the offensive rebound off his second miss, dribbling to the corner and knocking down a 3-pointer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about competing every possession,\u201d LaTorra said. \u201cSo, he misses two free throws, he could\u2019ve just jogged back, but he went and got the rebound, extra effort. I\u2019m proud of him, too, everything that he\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt the 2023-24 season has been one of disappointment for the Tide after coming a win shy of a playoff berth last year, but Friday\u2019s win injects some new life into the locker room with seven games still left on the schedule.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0safe to say that all the kids in attendance were inspired by the play, too. LaTorra has spoken frequently about wanting to rebuild the Concord program from the ground up. That starts with so many of those who came to game, waved their CHS towels and stood in line for autographs from the players after the win. In a few years, some of them will be varsity players themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best, man. It\u2019s the best,\u201d LaTorra said as he looked over at his players interacting with the younger kids. \u201cThis is what we\u2019re about. I remember being a kid going to all the high school games, watching those guys, and I remember being a high schooler and having the little kids come to the games.\u00a0Just sharing those experiences being able to be in a position where I can help facilitate some of that stuff, this is what we\u2019re all about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an example of what Concord\u2019s really about. Couldn\u2019t be more proud to be a part of it with my guys.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CONCORD \u2013\u00a0The Crimson Tide trailed 9-0 just 2:07 into Friday\u2019s game against Winnacunnet\u00a0(2-10). Already 0-10 on the season, it was a familiar sight.What happened next wasn\u2019t.Head coach Tim LaTorra called a timeout, and over the next 13 minutes of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":188,"featured_media":10329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=188]Eric Rynston-Lobel[\/Author] Monitor staff","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,508],"tags":[91,24,505],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[533],"class_list":["post-10328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school-youth","category-top-headlines-cm","tag-concord-high-school","tag-facebook","tag-paywall","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/42838599-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10330,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10328\/revisions\/10330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10328"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=10328"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=10328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}