From assistant to head coach: Harrigan looks to lead Nauset boys basketball to success
NORTH EASTHAM — After five years as an assistant coach at Nauset Regional High School, Kevin Harrigan took over the helm as the boys basketball team's head coach this season.
After a 65-62 loss to Old Rochester in the final minutes on Monday, the Warriors are now 5-7 on the season.
“I love these guys. It's a really special group of guys that really plays for one another. Again, 5-7 is not acceptable and not what we want, but that’s not what our record is going to be at the end of the year,” Harrigan said.
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Harrigan has some big shoes to fill. Former Nauset head coach John McCarthy had over 100 career wins in his 10 seasons. At this time last season, the Warriors were 10-2, and finished 17-5.
“We have two guys who played varsity minutes last year, and the rest of the team didn’t play, and I’m a new coach,” Harrigan said. “If you look at the games we have played, it's not the record we want, but we have been competitive in all but one against Martha’s Vineyard. I believe in my guys and I believe in what we do. When we hit this stretch right now in the league, I think we’re going to look pretty good by the time the tournament rolls around.”
Outside of a 68-43 loss to Martha’s Vineyard in the second game of the season, the Warriors six other losses have come by average of 6.6 points.
In their Monday's loss to Old Rochester, the Warriors led the entire game but saw a fourth-quarter lead slip away.
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“We tried our best, but the same issues keep happening with turnovers in the backcourt, and playing a little bit too fast,” Harrigan said. “It’s a tough one to swallow right now, but I’m proud of the way the guys competed and played most of the game. Unfortunately, you have to play for the full 32 (minutes), and that seems to be a running issue with us.”
Senior Dillon White had 17 points in the loss.
"I feel like they hit shots and we didn’t hit shots,” White said. “We had a couple of turnovers that were costly. We play three quarters, but we have to play the fourth. I think we’re a good team, but we just have to finish games.”
White has been on the varsity team for four years and has played under Harrigan since the beginning of his high school career.
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“He’s just a great coach overall and knows his stuff, and is always there for the team and his players,” White said.
The game against ORR comes just two days after Nauset played Cape Cod Academy at TD Garden. Although the Warriors lost 64-55, it was an experience they won’t soon forget.
"It was amazing. I’m a director of an AAU program over there with ‘The Sims’ (SIMS Basketball Academy) and a lot of the guys on CCA are my guys too,” Harrigan said. “It's a one-of-a-kind experience for these guys now that the tournament games aren’t at The Garden any more. It was a really positive experience.”
For White, it was a nice moment for his senior season.
“That was a really cool experience. I played once at halftime before (at TD Garden), but playing an actual game there was sick. Seeing all the locker rooms and backstage stuff was pretty cool,” White said.
The Warriors have seven games left in the regular season before the postseason starts. Nauset was No. 55 in the latest MIAA Division 2 tournament power rankings. Teams that finish inside the top 32 or with a .500 or better record qualify.
“I think if we played like we did today, with that sense of urgency, eventually the basketball gods are going to reward us with a few more bounces here and there. I think if we take care of the ball a little better, we’ll be in better shape.”
Bulldogs Stay Hot
ORR trailed the entire game and did not have their first lead until there was 3:15 left in the fourth quarter. Down 62-60, senior captain Liam Geraghty caught a pass in the left corner, lined up his feet up behind the line, and hit a 3-pointer that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
“It was huge. I wasn’t shooting that great to start the game, but coach (Steve Carvalho) and my teammates were just telling me to keep shooting the ball,” Geraghty said. “So, I hit a couple in a row, and I was feeling it, so when I got that (pass), I let it fly. It felt good off the stroke and it just went in. That was huge for us, and a big moment, because we didn’t lose the lead after that.”
The Bulldogs trailed 38-30 at halftime, but never gave up.
"Our motto was to defend and rebound, and let the offense take care of itself. They were stronger than us physically,” ORR head coach Steve Carvalho said. “We just had to have everyone on the glass and get possession of the ball. We made a couple big free throws in the end, but we did have three or four possessions where we had nothing, so we kind of left the door open a little bit too. Being disciplined in the half court set when we needed to at the end was helpful.”
With that win, the Bulldogs have now won three in a row, and seven of their last eight to improve to 9-3.
“Today’s game, my guards were solid. We want to force people to get into a man defense against us. I think the key for our success is playing together, making each other better, and being a true team, and we have to continue to rebound,” Carvalho said.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Kevin Harrigan the new head coach for Nauset High boys basketball
