I've decided that I talk a little too much when I give interviews. If I were more Bill Belichick-like, I'd probably recognize what I say when I read my quotes from the newspaper. But since I overtalk, I think writers have to boil me down to fit into their pieces. I wasn't misquoted in the following article, but the writer filtered what I said to the point that I'm not sure it conveys exactly what I wanted to get across, or that it accurately reflects the way I talk.
For instance, I'm quoted as saying "I thought Megan Jones played very well, her shooting has shown great improvement." I think what I said was more like, "I thought Megan Jones played very well. She has worked hard in the offseason to improve her game and her hard work is really starting to pay off." The quote in the paper isn't wrong, in the sense that it's a distillation of what I said, it's just not the way I talk. Not that anyone is clamoring for a detailed dissertation on this team...
Below is the portion of the Item article that deals with our game.
Tahanto boys, girls best SLA Crusaders
By Bill Marsh
ITEM STAFF
SOUTH LANCASTER -- It was a busy week for the Tahanto Regional High School boys and girls basketball teams. After a 48-27 loss to Bromfield last Wednesday, and a nail-biting 52-47 defeat to Littleton on Friday, the Lady Stags bounced back with a 57-28 victory over South Lancaster Academy (SLA) here on Saturday night in a non-league game.
The Tahanto boys lost 73-58 to Bromfield, before beating Littleton 59-33 and SLA 76-38.
The Tahanto girls' overall record is 4-5, and they are 0-2 in the Midland-Wachusett League D Division. With 11 games left on their schedule, the Lady Stags are just one victory away from bettering last year's four win mark.
With the two victories and the loss, the Tahanto boys are 5-3 overall, and 1-1 in the loop.
In the girls' victory over SLA, senior co-captain Kalli MacKinnon turned in her best effort of the season. MacKinnon led all scorers with 19 points.
Junior forwards Nikki Johnson and Nikki Scott, who were both in double figures, netted 17 and 11 points respectively.
For the Lady Crusaders, sophomore forward Megan Jones had a team-high 10 points, and sophomore guard Amber Manning added nine.
"After playing back-to-back (Littleton and SLA) games it was tough," Tahanto coach Kim Dufresne said. "We were tired and understandably some of our shots weren't there, but with heart and intensity we were able to win it."
SLA coach Lance Harris was pleased with his team's effort, especially compared to the first time the two teams met.
"We played much better offensively than the first time (a 39-22 loss), especially in the first half," Harris said. "We were more aggressive on offense. We are a young team, and it is going to take a while to gain confidence.
"I thought Megan Jones played very well," he added. "Her shooting has shown great improvement."
The Lady Stags opened the game by going on a 12-2 run. After Scott made a free throw, Johnson drove to the hoop for a basket. Scott then followed with a successful drive and two free throws.
After MacKinnon got three points the old fashioned way, she nailed an eight-foot jumper.
Two minutes later, with Tahanto leading 16-5, the Lady Crusaders put together a 7-2 run. Sophomore center Anny Cunha fired in a hook shot for a basket that was followed by a jumper from Manning, and a 3-point field goal from senior Beth Kalmansson.
That narrowed the Lady Stags' lead to 18-12, but Tahanto went on to outscore SLA 15-7 for the rest of the first frame, taking a 33-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Tahanto, led by MacKinnon and Johnson, came out strong in the second half, going on a 16-2 run to put the game away. MacKinnon and Johnson both scored eight points in that second half spurt.
I talked with Tom Flanagan of the Times and Courier for a season-preview that should appear tomorrow. It was a phone interview and I'll be interested to see how he distills what I had to say. As you'll note in the article I posted last week, he has a thing for small schools playing out of their league, and he had a couple of questions for me about the new conference, the challenges of being a small school, etc. I wonder how my answers will fit into his approach.
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