Epping boys basketball speeds up pace to beat Derryfield in D4 semifinals

PLYMOUTH – After the Epping High School boys basketball team dropped its second game of the season to Derryfield, coach Sean Young went to watch the Cougars play another opponent with a similar style.

Watching Derryfield slow down the game in a win over Wilton-Lyndeborough let Young know everything he needed for his Blue Devils to win if there was a rematch.

There was Monday night in the Division IV semifinals, and this time No. 3 Epping came out on top, 70-52, by picking up the pace and scoring more points against No. 2 Derryfield than anyone had this season.

“What they did a very good job of was that both those games were in the 40s,” Young said. “They dictated pace and I was so frustrated. We decided we were going to create the tempo of the game. We were going to pressure full court and not allowing them to walk up court and we were running full court all night.”

And in doing so, the Blue Devils (17-4) scored 70 points against a team that had allowed an average of 41.7 during the regular season. In fact, the 37 points Epping had at halftime was more than the Cougars (19-2) had allowed total in six games.

Jackson Rivers led the way for Epping with 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field while Colby Wilson had 19 points, including 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Dylan Derosier, despite being in foul trouble in the first half, was also in double figures with 14.

The Blue Devils shot 49 percent from the field and outrebounded Derryfield 36-27.

Sam Anderson led the Cougars with 15 points and eight rebounds before fouling out while Rob Rizos had 13 points.

Anderson was the focal point of Epping’s game plan on offense, and Young figured if the Blue Devils could get him away from the basket, they’d have more success scoring.

“We felt like we could use the mismatches they had,” he said. “We were going to try to get Anderson out of the paint so he wasn’t able to go shot block. What we did all night long was we were working to try to get the ball into whoever Anderson was covering, and then attacking.”

After falling behind by 17 points with 3:42 left in the third, Derryfield went on a 7-1 run to get within 11 points on a layup by Anderson. The Epping lead was 12 points going into the fourth, but the Blue Devils opened the quarter with a 10-4 run to go up 18 points and put the game away.

Epping will go for its second championship in a row at noon on Saturday against Wilton-Lyndeborough, Young’s former team. The last time the Warriors were in the championship game was 2008, when Young was the head coach.

“Wilton has always been home and always will be home, and to get a chance to go play against my former school, nothing would make me happier,” he said.