The Vikings were done. Buried. Monday’s night’s rivalry game against Conant was all but over, and Mascenic faced a 12-point deficit that seemed sure to snap their 11-game win streak and drop them out of the No. 1 spot in Division III. But somehow, the Vikings found it in themselves to dig in defensively, force overtime, and win it at the buzzer.
“As seniors, this is one of the biggest games of the season aside from playoffs,” said Mascenic’s Zack Barthel after the game. “It’s a rivalry game, it’s so huge to us. We beat them at their court and they wanted revenge, and we didn’t want them to have the last laugh, so deep down, senior year, we can’t let that one get away from us.”
Conant took a 26-20 lead into the half, with Connor Hart (nine points), Colson Seppala (five points), Hayden Ketola (nine points) supplementing the scoring output of Anthony Gauthier (game-high 25 points). Sammy Stauffeneker had 12 of his team-high 20 in the first half, but fellow seniors Dylan Vaillancourt, Trey Shaw and Barthel were all held scoreless.
The Orioles extended the lead to 10 in the third quarter, where Gauthier scored nine points on his own.
“He imposed his will in the paint,” said Mascenic head coach Brandon Kear. “I think I said that after last game and it happened again.”
Midway through the fourth, that 12-point lead like it could be enough for Conant to knock off their rival.
It all turned around on one Trey Shaw shot. Shaw, scoreless in the game, fired one of his trademark three-pointers from the baseline in front of the Mascenic student section; Seppala closed out, fouled him, and Shaw watched from the floor as his shot dropped. He converted the four-point play, and the Vikings had life yet again.
Now down eight, the Vikings got aggressive on defense.
“We went to try and trap the ball, jump the passing lanes,” Kear said. “If you see a passing lane, jump it and hopefully have them turn the ball over a little bit, which we did, and then we knocked in a few shots.”
Barthel hit a three to cut the lead to 49-44, then made a steal in the open court and broke away for a layup. Mascenic, down three, stole the ball again, and it found its way to Blaine Krook. Krook generally comes off the bench, but with Vaillancourt and Stauffeneker under the weather, he’d started Monday’s game, though he’d been sitting for quite some time before reentering in the fourth.
“He came in ice cold,” Kear said, “and he just came in with confidence.”
Krook launched a three from the wing, good, and the game was tied with 48.1 on the clock. Much like last week’s game against Hopkinton, the Orioles’ lead over a top team had slipped through their fingers.
“Up 12 two-and-a-half minutes to go? No excuses,” said Conant head coach Eric Saucier after the game. “We’ve got to find a way to close out games. I told the guys, you’re tough enough physically, but mentally, we’ve got to get tougher.”
Neither team could finish it out in regulation, and it went to overtime, where Stauffeneker converted an and-one and Gauthier tied it up with a three. The game was tied at 52 apiece as time ticked down. Mascenic got a timeout with nine seconds left, set their play up, and ran it. Kear said he considered going away from Stauffeneker, since the Orioles knew he was the Vikings’ best hope, but in the end, it had to be Sammy. Vaillancourt inbounded to Shaw, who drove right and then looked back left; Barthel screened Gauthier on the wing, and Stauffeneker streaked for the elbow and drained a jumper with two seconds left, and the clock hit zeroes as the Viking fans stormed the court.
“We’re dogs,” said Barthel, who scored all 16 of his points in the second half during Mascenic’s comeback. “We’ve always been dogs, but in the past, we haven’t shown it, but we’re showing it now. I’m excited to see as we keep going, how we play. This whole team is grinding, this whole team is all together all the time, we support each other to no end, we’re all family on the court, off the court.”
Mascenic (14-1) is still king of the hill in Division III; they’re in line for a home playoff game and will have to play like they did in those final minutes Monday if they want to exorcise the playoff demons of the past three years (would you believe Stauffeneker and the rest of the senior class have exactly zero playoff wins in their careers?). The win was a step in the right direction, but Kear – now 11-0 as head coach – said they aren’t done growing yet.
“It means a lot that they grinded their way back in it,” Kear said. “It showed me that they have that temperament and that playoff makeup, but we haven’t gotten to where we want to.”
Mascenic hosts a much-improved Hillsboro-Deering team Wednesday afternoon and then hosts St. Thomas Aquinas (9-5) Friday night.
Conant (7-7) is currently the 13th seed in DIII out of 14 playoff teams; they’re at Campbell (8-6) Friday and Fall Mountain (2-12) Tuesday before hosting Somersworth (10-3) and Belmont (9-5) to finish the regular season.
ConVal 67, Kearsarge 58
The Cougars won a tough one on senior night, holding off Kearsarge in what coach Leo Gershgorin called a total team effort. Wyatt Davis scored a game-high 14 points, including two fourth-quarter threes, to lead ConVal. The Cougars (13-0) are still the No. 1 team in Division II and are 33-2 in their past 35 games, including 29 straight regular-season wins.
ConVal hosts Bishop Brady (3-11) Wednesday and travels to a tough Manchester West team better than their 7-6 record implies on Thursday.
Derryfield 64, WLC 55
The Warriors looked much better against Derryfield Monday night then they did in their earlier 50-point loss to the Cougars, but couldn’t quite put it away.
“We did a great job fighting,” said head coach Malin Segal, “and just came out with great energy.”
Jack Schwab scored 23 points and Sean Brennan added 19.
WLC (5-11) hosts Pittsfield (12-4) Friday night.
Conant 65,
Somersworth 19
The Orioles held their opponents under 20 for the second straight game, rolling past Somersworth on the road Monday night to improve to 16-0. Elizabeth Gonyea had a game-high 17; Teagan Kirby had 15, and Silas Bernier and Brynn Rautiola scored 10 each.
Conant, the No. 1 team in Division III, will now play at Fall Mountain (14-2) Wednesday night and then conclude the regular season at home against Campbell (8-8) Friday.