Sporting their “back from the graveyard” warmups, the Hillsboro-Deering boys put a scare into Conant Friday night before the Orioles buried them.
The Hillcats jumped out to an early six-point lead in the second quarter behind solid scoring from Zach Coombs, who finished with a team-high 20 points. But Conant pushed back with a pair of Colson Seppala threes that had them up 24-20 at the half.
The whistles got worn out in the second half – 30 fouls were called in the game – and a situation like that is always going to benefit Conant’s Anthony Gauthier, Division III’s best in terms of penetration into the lane. Gauthier got aggressive, got to the line for ten free throws (he’d go 6-12 on the game) and scored 18 of his game-high 26 in the second half. Connor Hart got his work done down low, got the line five times (3-5) and finished with 13.
The Orioles pulled away for good and won the game 54-38.
Conant (7-6) is at Mascenic (13-1) Monday as part of a difficult stretch to close the season; they’ll finish out against Campbell, Fall Mountain, Somersworth and Belmont.
Mascenic 52, Winnisquam 49
The Vikings shot extremely well from the line Friday night and they needed every one of those free throws to escape playoff rival Winnisquam with a win.
Mascenic hit their first 14 free throws in a row and would go 18-20 for the game, with big man Gabe Turner (18 points, five rebounds, 6-6 FT) leading the way. Zack Barthel (nine points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks) and Sammy Stauffeneker (seven points, eight rebounds, eight assists) stuffed the stat sheet, and Trey Shaw added 10 points.
Philip Nichols scored 26 for the Bears.
Mascenic (13-1) hosts Conant Monday night.
ConVal 67, Stevens 24
Austin Knight had a big night for the Cougars at Stevens Friday, scoring a game-high 26 points, outscoring the Cardinals by himself as ConVal stayed undefeated in Division II. Mather Kipka added 13 points.
With Hanover’s loss to Hollis-Brookline, ConVal is now the only undefeated team remaining in Division II.
The Cougars (12-0) host Kearsarge (5-6) Monday and Bishop Brady (2-11) Wednesday.
WLC 53, Concord Christian 52
Jack Schwab, Kyler Tremblay and Sean Brennan made big plays down the stretch Wednesday night to help Wilton-Lyndeborough snag a win against Concord Christian.
Schwab scored 23 and Tremblay had 16. WLC was down 14 at the half before coming back to win.
Portsmouth Christian 70, WLC 45
The Warriors didn’t fare as well against PCA on Friday, though Schwab (24 points), Tremblay (15 points) and Brennan (six points) still got it done.
Sunapee 79, WLC 61
Sean Brennan had the best night of his truncated season on Saturday, scoring 18 points in WLC’s loss at Sunapee. Jack Schwab scored 25 and Kyler Tremblay added 16.
At 5-10 WLC still has a good shot at the final spot in Division IV’s 15-team playoff. They’ll close out the season with three home games, hosting Derryfield (8-6) Monday, Nute (6-8) Tuesday and Pittsfield (12-4) Friday.
ConVal 43, Stevens 38
The Cougars fought to a victory Friday night as a slew of ConVal players made big contributions. Senior Emma Hixson played the entire game and iced the win with two free throws; she finished with 11 points. Julia Donovan led ConVal with 15 points, and Makenna Proctor and Morgan Bemont showed tremendous poise in the fourth quarter, head coach Kevin Proctor said.
Maddy Faber held Stevens’ top scorer Alyssa Paquette to nine points despite being outsized.
ConVal (6-8) has won their past two games and travels to Kearsarge (6-7) Tuesday.