Conners Hoping to Make Tewksbury a Basketball Town

Tewksbury boys basketball coach Phil Conners is hoping to continue the team's recent success as his team exceeded expectations in making the playoffs this year.

Phil Conners has only been with the Tewksbury High School boys basketball program for two years. But he's already having a major impact on the Redmen. Tewksbury has made the playoffs in both seasons since Conners took over on the sidelines, including this year when the team clinched its spot on Friday with a victory over Dracut. Are you a big fan of the Redmen? You'll also want to see:

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Redmen Edged By Marblehead In State Tournament Overtime Thriller, 46-43

Tewksbury High boys basketball team is eliminated from the state tournament in the first round.

If nothing else, you have to give Phil Conners credit for putting the excitement back into Tewksbury High basketball. First-year coach Conners and his TMHS Redmen had a packed house full of fans sitting on the edge of their seats all night, putting on a spirited defensive effort for four quarters before suffering a heartbreaking, 46-43 overtime loss to Marblehead High in the first round of the MIAA Divsiion 2 North Sectional tournament Tuesday night in Marblehead. "It was our best defensive game of the year," said Conners afterward. "We just didn't do it offensively. We didn't attack their 1-3-1 (zone defense) the right way. We got a lot of good shots, but we missed them. That was a heartbreaker." The Redmen, who have shot the ball …

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Redmen Top Dracut, Qualify For State Tournament

Tewksbury High boys basketball team earns first MIAA state tournament berth in five years with 61-50 win over Dracut.

When first-year head basketball coach Phil Conners started talking about his Tewksbury High Redmen making the state tournament way back in November, there were more than a few people in Tewksbury who thought the new coach was aiming a bit high. After all, this was a program that was mired in a three-year home losing streak, and hadn't experienced post-season play since 2007. So pinch yourself if you have to, because the TMHS boys basketball team beat Dracut, 61-50, Friday night for their seventh win of the year, and in so doing qualified for a berth in the 2012 MIAA Division 2 state tournament. Sophomore guard Kevin Dick tossed in 15 points and senior forward Sean Foley had 13 as the Redmen broke open a tight game with 20 fourth quarter …

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Chelmsford Turns The Tables On Redmen

Lions avenge earlier loss with 64-55 win over Tewksbury

_The Tewksbury High boys basketball team _learned a lesson about home court advantage Tuesday night, as a red hot Chelmsford High team burnt the Redmen from long distance _and avenged an earlier, 15-point loss to TMHS,_ this time taking a 64-55 victory. "They shot great," __said TMHS head coach Phil Conners.__ "We gave them good looks and that's a good shooting team, they're gonna make them. Every time we made our run they seemed to make a huge three." Unlike the first meeting, Chelmsford gained the early advantage by riding the hot hand of senior guard Corey Everleigh, who scored 15 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. The Redmen, meanwhile, came out looking like they were still shaking off the affects of Friday's 93-45 loss to …

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Two Big Wins For Tewksbury High Basketball Teams [VIDEOS]

TMHS girls get first win of the season; TMHS boys win back-to-back games for the first time in years.

This winning thing is starting to get a little contagious. Just four days after the Tewksbury High boys basketball team ended a three-year home losing streak with a convincing win over Chelmsford, the Tewksbury High girls basketball team responded by picking up their first win of the 2011-2012 season, topping Notre Dame Academy, 47-19 Tuesday night. Not to be outdone, the TMHS boys went up to Haverhill and earned their fourth win of the season,  knocking off the Hillies, 63-56, on Tuesday. For the boys, it was the first time in at least three years that Tewksbury High has won back-to-back games. GIRLS GET FIRST WIN Junior forward Nicole Chaet led all scorers with a season-high 19 points as the hard-working Redmen pressed Notre Dame all …

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Methuen Downs Ice Cold Redmen, 50-32 [VIDEO]

Tewksbury High boys basketball team falls to 1-3.

The only thing colder than the December temperatures the last couple of days was the shooting touch of the Tewksbury High boys basketball team on Tuesday night. In spite of a valiant defensive effort, the Redmen could not find the range with their outside shooting, and suffered a 50-32 loss to Methuen High at the TMHS gym. "We held them to 17 points in the first half. Our kids did what we asked them to do defensively. But our (shooting) skills weren't there," said a disappointed Tewksbury coach Phil Conners after watching his team go 3-for-22 from three-point range. "If we had hit even a third of our shots we would have been fine. But when you only score 32 points in a high school basketball game, that's not good enough." Tewksbury's …

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Danvers Drops Redmen, 61-39 [video]

Tewksbury High basketballers can't contain 6-foot-8 George Merry, fall to 1-2.

The Danvers High Falcons traveled up from the North Shore on Sunday afternoon and brought with them a dose of reality for the Tewksbury High Redmen. "This is why I wasn't too excited after beating Dracut (Friday night)," first year TMHS coach Phil Conners said after the Falcon's 6-foot-8 center George Merry scored 24 points and led Danvers to a 61-39 romp over the Redmen. "This just shows that we've still got a long way to go." Conners' Redmen, none of whom stand more than 6-foot-2, just didn't have an answer for Merry, who scored 17 of his team's first 22 points. Merry did most of his damage in the first 10 minutes of the game, staking Danvers to a 22-7 lead just two minutes into the second quarter. Senior guard Bobby Lombard hit back-to-…

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Redmen Roundup: Conners, Redmen Get First Win [video]

TMHS boys basketball team drops Dracut, 63-59; Girls lose to Dracut 48-40.

It wasn't Phil Conners' first time in the winner's circle, _so forgive the Tewksbury High's new boys basketball coach_ if he wasn't jumping up and down and giving out high fives after his TMHS Redmen traveled to Dracut and came home with a 63-59 win Friday night. "It feels good, but it's only one win," said Conners, who coached Lowell High to a 12-7 record two years ago before coming to Tewksbury. "And winning programs don't celebrate single victories. It's a start, but I'm not excited. It's what I expected us to do if we worked hard in practice." Senior guards Bobby Lombard and Mike Doucette scored 18 points each to lead the Redmen to their first win of the year and Conners' first win as Tewksbury's head coach. The Redmen overcame a four-…

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Lowell Shows Redmen They've Got A Long Way To Go [video]

Tewksbury High boys basketball team loses season opener, 78-40

It had all the makings of a great story. "New Tewksbury High boys basketball coach Phil Conners leads the Redmen to an opening night victory over his old Lowell High team, ending a three-year home winless streak in the process." Alas, Tewksbury High basketball fans will have to wait another day to write that fairly tale, as reality set in at the Tewksbury High gym Tuesday evening and the visiting Red Raiders rolled to a 78-40 win over TMHS in the Merrimack Valley Conference opener for both teams. "Their pressure just wore on us and wore on us and our guys aren't used to handling that pressure," Conners said after Lowell's full court press created multiple turnovers that resulted in a 38-18 halftime lead for the visitors. "They showed us we…

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Tewksbury High Winter Sports Previews

Conners Takes On The Task Of Building A Winner

New TMHS boys basketball coach aims to turn the program around.

If you bump into Phil Conners down at the Tewksbury High gymnasium anytime soon, don't expect to meet a guy who paints rosie pictures or looks for silver linings. If nothing else, Conners, the new TMHS boys basketball coach, is a realist. And he knows he's got his work cut out for him if he's going to turn the Tewksbury High program into a winner this year. "We've got a long way to go and a lot of work to do," said Conners, who inherited a team that hasn't won a home game in over three seasons. "We're asking these guys to make an adjustment as far as the level of intensity that they'll have to play at to be an effective team. We're not anywhere near that yet. We've shown glimpses of it, but we're at a point right now where if we let down …

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