On a Monday in mid-November, Putnam Science coach Tom Espinosa met his team for a film session, and the mood was not jovial.
“We weren’t happy, I wasn’t happy, and we were making changes after that weekend,” Espinosa said.
The Mustangs had just dropped back-to-back games during the NEBL’s opening weekend at the Track at New Balance in Boston, where they fell to Newman and New Hampton for their first two losses of the season. Sure, those are two of the best teams in New England. And sure, they weren’t blowout losses. Putnam had led most of the New Hampton game, and the difference was Mason Blackwood’s game-winning 3-pointer with seconds remaining. Against Newman, the Mustangs took a late lead before letting it slip.
But the performances were not near the standard that Espinosa has built at Putnam, where the Mustangs are annually one of the best prep teams in the country and have won four national prep championships since 2018. He demanded better. Espinosa isn’t typically a coach who overreacts to one or two results, but he knew changes were necessary.
