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Haverhill controls Methuen

Friday, January, 17 By Jeff Hamrick

METHUEN – In an age when many offenses live – and die – from long range, the Haverhill boys are more than willing to go old school.

Friday night, the Hillies made their living inside, dominating the lane and the boards in a 61-52 victory over Methuen.

With five players at least 6-foot-3, Haverhill (5-3 MVC, 7-4 overall) made good use of its size advantage over Methuen, which used only three players taller than 6-foot and none taller than 6-3.

Of Haverhill’s 27 field goals, 20 of them were made within five feet of the basket, including eight on put backs as the Hillies had 24 offensive boards among their 46 rebounds – 24 more than the Rangers.

“It’s understanding what we have inside,” Haverhill coach Souleymane Wane said. “We have (6-foot-3) Jeremyah Phillips, who’s very athletic and one of the best bigs in the league. And we have the freshman also (Jeremy Valdez), who’s 6-6, 6-7 and a big boy. We’re a very big team, and sometimes we like to play inside.

“That’s one of our strengths. We have big boys underneath and they’re very athletic. Our bigs have been doing a good job the last few games attacking the glass and protecting the rim. We work in practice on being an inside out team.”

Haverhill took the lead for good with 2:22 left in the second quarter when Phillips backed down his defender for a layup that provided a 28-27 lead.

But after falling behind by as many as seven early in the third, Methuen (3-5, 5-6) closed its deficit by holding Haverhill scoreless the final 4:30 of the quarter. However, a Mitchell Crowe three that made the score 40-38 with 3:25 remaining would also be the Rangers final points of the stanza.

In the crucial fourth, Valdez came up big. The freshman began the quarter with back-to-back layups and controlled the boards the first three minutes when he hauled in seven of his 11 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Valdez, who scored 14 the previous game against Dracut, finished with eight of the 36 points provided by bench players on Friday.

“He played in the first game, but then he and his family had a trip to the Dominican Republic,” Wane said. “Now he’s back. This is his second game back with the team, and he’s improving every day. He was big for us tonight.”

The Hillies opened their biggest lead with 1:55 left when a put back by Phillip Cunningham capped a 9-0 run and provided a 56-43 lead. Cunningham (nine) was one of six players with at least six points for Haverhill. Phillips and sixth-man Elijah Haas led the way with 12. All of Haas’ points came in the first half.

Haverhill also took care of the ball, committing only 11 turnovers, including one in both the second and fourth quarters.

“If you can limit the turnovers and get more field goals, it’s a recipe for a good win,” Wane said. “I’m proud of our guys tonight for taking care of the ball, which is kind of unusual for us. But we’ll take it.”

Methuen, which led by nine midway through the first period, did most of its damage from the perimeter. The Rangers had 12 threes – 10 more than the Hillies – among their 18 field goals. Crowe and Isaac Allen tied for game-high honors with 15 points.

“I have to watch the film, but I think it was our rebounding that hurt us more than anything else,” Methuen coach Anthony Faradie. “We just got killed on the glass. I don’t know if we’re completely missing block outs or what. They went completely big to start the game, and we weren’t expecting that.”