Claremont
On Wednesday night, a few more fans could have been squeezed into Carr Gym. Still, there were a lot of folks on hand to see a pair of New Hampshire Division III games that went the way of the favorites, as the Fall Mountain girls and Stevens boys pretty much had their way.
The Stevens girls gave Fall Mountain a scare for one period, then the Cardinals went cold from the floor and turned the ball over in Fall Mountain’s 45-26 win.
The Stevens boys are blessed with speed and depth and led by as many as 18 in the third quarter before settling for 60-48 victory.
Fall Mtn. 45, Stevens 26
It was the 10th victory in 12 games for the Wildcats, who used a 29-5 rampage in the middle two periods to carve out the win.
Stevens coach Ivy Condon has been looking for consistency all season from her Cardinals (4-9), who are slipping out of postseason range.
“We play good for a while, and then we go cold,” Condon said.
They certainly got the chills on Wednesday. Leading 12-10 after one period, the Cardinals had nightmare back-to-back periods, scoring just two points in the second period and three in the third.
The second quarter was the game-changer, as the Cardinals turned the ball over nine times and went into the break down, 23-14. It didn’t get any better in the third, as the Wildcats outscored the Cardinals, 16-3.
“Once we settled down, we were OK,” Fall Mountain coach Jon “Boomer” Aumand said. “We were not running like we can in the first period, but we can do a lot of different things. You have to remember we’re in February now, and the tourney is not that far away. Every game is important. We know what’s at stake.”
Fall Mountain displayed the ability to get points from several people, something that Condon is looking for.
“We’ve got people that like to pass, what I like is some people to score.” she said. “There were times tonight that we would just pass the ball around until we turned it over.”
Only four Cardinals scored, with Sydney Miller having 14 points and no one else getting more than five.
Fall Mountain sophomore poing guard Ella Stewart, who was pegged for stardom while in middle school, didn’t tarnish that forecast on a 16-point night. She got help from junior Zoey Loupa (13 points).
Stevens 60, Fall Mtn. 48
Stevens’ Noah Spaulding was concerned about his 3-point shooting, which he felt was about 25 percent going into Wednesday night’s game. But that percentage is going up, as he was 4-for-8 from downtown as part of a 19-point night for the junior, who showed that he’s more than an all-state soccer player.
While Spaulding had the big night and was a major contributor, it was overall defense that keyed the victory.
“When we play defense like that, we are tough to beat,” Stevens coach Matt Baird-Torney said.
Added Spaulding: “We like to get those transition baskets.”
Stevens (9-2) is on a roll and has won five straight, while Fall Mountain dropped to 4-8.
“Too big and too strong,” Fall Mountain coach Jason Bardis said of the Cardinals.
Bardis also blamed himself a bit for a stretch in the second quarter when the Cardinals used a 14-8 edge to pull into a 33-21 lead at the half. “That was my bad,” Bardis said. “I didn’t have my shooters in there.”
Zach O’Brien will have to share some of the spotlight with Spaulding not only for his 13 points, but his seven rebounds and eight assists.
“We had a couple of games last week and that were not really testers, so I was wondering how we were going to do tonight,” Baird-Torney said. “We were really moving the ball and were unselfish with our possessions. We got some clean looks, and we’re really playing good right now.”
Fall Mountain was still in the battle down 19-13 after one period, but the Wildcats could not put a run together. The Cardinals just kept nudging farther and father ahead until the game got to 48-33 after three quarters.
Fall Mountain got a solid outing from sophomore Owen Marandino, who had a 16-point night.
Both teams have girls-boys doubleheaders on the road on Friday with Stevens going to Hillsboro-Deering and Fall Mountain to Winnisquam.