Playoff Preview: Men's Basketball Preps for NEPSAC Tourney

A few winter athletic teams barely missed out on NEPSAC playoff bids over the weekend, leaving only the Men’s Varsity A Basketball as the lone postseason qualifier. The third-seeded Huskies will host sixth-seeded Bridgton Academy at 6 pm on Wednesday evening. The winner will face second-seeded St. Thomas More at Worcester Academy on Saturday in the NEPSAC Class AAA semifinal. Top-seeded Brewster is the favorite in the tournament, which closes on Sunday at Endicott College.

Seventh-year Head Coach Pete Hutchins ’01 is excited about his team's postseason prospects. The Huskies finished the regular season with a 20-7 record and a 5-5 mark in the NEPSAC AAA, one of the most competitive leagues in the country. The Huskies are on an eight-game winning streak after consecutive losses to Northfield Mount Hermon and Wilbraham and Monson.

“We’re really excited about the opportunity to compete in the postseason,” said Hutchins, who is also a graduate of the school. “This is one of the most enjoyable teams I’ve ever worked with in my time as a coach. If we can bring the necessary intensity and take care of the ball on offense, we could do something special.”

The Huskies have knocked off Bridgton Academy on two occasions this season. The Huskies eked out a 79-77 victory on the road in Maine in December and then followed it up with a 73-56 win at home three weeks ago. The Wolverines are coached by former NHS Head Coach Whit Leisure.

 

While a tandem of Ivy League-bound forwards Mike Auger ‘14 (Penn) and Mike LeBlanc ‘14 (Princeton) have provided valuable NEPSAC experience to this squad, the Huskies feature a balanced offensive attack. The frontcourt duo of Tory Miller (Colorado signee) and Tyler Lydon ’15 (Syracuse commit) will need to have standout performances for the Huskies to have success into the weekend. Miller is averaging 8.2 points per game while Lydon is averaging just under a double-double with 9.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per outing. Still, the backcourt will need to avoid the turnovers that have plagued the Huskies in two losses each to Brewster and St. Thomas More, respectively. The Huskies will lean on leading scorer Aubrey Dawkins ’14 of Palo Alto, California and Elijah Bryant ’14 of Braselton, Georgia. Dawkins is averaging 12.6 points per game and is shooting at a 52 percent clip from the field. Bryant, who starts at point guard, averages 8.7 points per game for the Huskies.

 

Bridgton’s return to Frederick Smith Gymnasium will feature another matchup between Lydon and his older brother Zach Lydon, a forward for the Wolverines. Follo all the action on Twitter @NHSHuskySports. Find out other NEPSAC updates and game time at www.nepsac.org or follow NEPSAC on Twitter.