Hanover
Kieth Matte and the Raider boys haven’t lost to Tim Winslow’s Marauders since the NHIAA Division II tournament in 2012. Wednesday’s 63-36 victory at Hanover High marked the ninth straight win over their rivals, though the final score made the game seem closer than it appeared.
Hanover’s girls team, as inexperienced as it might be in recent seasons, has had more luck. The Marauders defeated Lebanon in the preliminary round of the D-II tournament two years ago, ending the Raiders’ 35-year streak of reaching at least the state quarterfinals. On Wednesday, Hanover turned it on in the second half but couldn’t keep up with Lebanon’s offense, falling 48-43 in a game that took more than two hours to complete.
Both Raider teams are undefeated (boys 2-0, girls 4-0) early this season, despite injuries to key players that have put preseason game plans into uncertainty. Dan O’Rourke’s Hanover girls are 1-1 one season after making an appearance in the D-II finals. Hanover’s boys are 0-2.
Two hours and 20 minutes of stop-and-go basketball saw Hanover give up a whopping 39 free throws and Lebanon surrender 20. But in the end, Tim Kehoe’s Raiders were able to outlast Hanover’s second-half surge.
Lebanon, with senior captain Meredith Melendy out with an ACL tear suffered on Dec. 13 against Bishop Brady and point guard Maddie Hastings dealing with a sprained back suffered late last week against Kennett, jumped out to a 25-14 lead at halftime as Hanover’s offense struggled to find its groove.
The Raiders learned on Wednesday morning of Melendy’s diagnosis, with the expectation that the Lebanon senior will likely miss the rest of the season.
“It was an emotional day for us,” Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe said. “For us to win this game was pretty big. We had some different kids playing in different positions today, but they’re going to have to get used to it. In a lot of ways, we weathered a storm. We’re pretty banged up.”
Hanover, with eight underclassmen, figured things out in the third quarter as its full-court pressure finally created some turnovers. The Marauders outscored Lebanon, 16-8, in the quarter and took their first and only lead of the quarter off of a long-distance, step-back field goal from freshman Maddie McCorkle, who finished with a game-high 17 points.
“I think, in the first half, we didn’t have ball movement. The kids did a lot of standing around; we tried a lot of high-ball screens, but we didn’t have the driving lanes (to the basket). We just didn’t get the ball moving,” O’Rourke said. “In the second half, we got the ball moving, we got a few steals and that gave us momentum.”
The Marauders’ foul trouble hurt them down the stretch, but mistakes in Lebanon’s transition helped Hanover cut its deficit to three points within the final minute. Anna Wolke made her free throws at the end to secure the victory for the Raiders, their fourth straight to start the season.
Lebanon’s Hastings and Hanover’s McCorkle and Diana Schwarz all fouled out of what was a physical game. Hastings finished with a team-high 14 points for the Raiders, and freshman center Rebecca Wright added 12 points. Schwarz had eight points for the Marauders.
O’Rourke said he was pleased with a close result this early in the season.
“I was very impressed with the fact that this team, down 11 at half to what many people are saying is one of the top teams in the state, never gave up and just played,” O’Rourke said. “This lineup has a lot of potential. We’re just going to get better.”
Hanover hosts John Stark on Friday. Lebanon will participate in the Manchester Central Holiday Tournament next week.
Raiders head coach Kieth Matte was expecting a low-scoring affair with his team’s top scorer, K.J. Matte, out for at least four weeks with a broken bone in his right foot suffered during the recent Coaches for a Cause jamboree exhibition game against D-I’s Winnacunnet. What he got instead was an offensive explosion that took even the Lebanon coaching staff by surprise.
Ryan Milliken, the Raiders’ top offensive weapon in Matte’s absence, scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half as Lebanon, which led 38-12 at halftime, pulled away and never looked back. Junior Chris Nulty scored 13 points for Lebanon, including three 3-pointers. Matt Eylander added nine points. Graham Chickering and Paul Slabinski contributed seven points each.
“Ryan and Graham played great tonight,” Matte said. “They could have shot it better, but they couldn’t have played any harder. So often people evaluate performance by, ‘How you shoot is how you play.’ We try not to do that.”
For Hanover, the loss was disappointing, more so for the margin of Lebanon’s victory than the final result. Charlie Adams led the Marauders with nine points.
“I thought Lebanon really came to play,” Hanover head coach Tim Winslow said. “I thought they came out with a passion and a mission. It was impressive to see what they could do.”
K.J. Matte will have another X-ray on his right foot in four weeks, though the Raiders fear their dynamic senior guard with college basketball hopes could miss the season.
Until then, Kieth Matte gets a unique chance to look at his team, a perennial favorite in NHIAA D-II, from a different perspective.
He likes what he sees so far.
“Tonight makes me feel a lot better,” Matte said. “This group played so well. … We have a lot of the same guys; we have a lot of the guys back. And then when K.J. went down, when we lose a player that we’ve relied on for so long, it changes everyone’s role. Everyone’s really stepped up.
“Everyone was sad (when K.J. went down),” he added. “But it also opens up more opportunity.”
Lebanon travels to the Manchester Memorial Holiday Tournament next week. Hanover hosts the Connecticut River Shootout starting on Tuesday.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.