Lebanon
Note to self: Might be wise to test it against someone other than the Raiders next time.
Lebanon shook off some early perimeter-shooting jitters to build an eight-point lead after one quarter against Hanover’s zone. The Raiders then massaged the cushion the rest of the night, never trailing for a 45-37 win at Lang Metcalf Gym that halted their archrivals’ eight-game winning streak.
O’Rourke’s bunch did make it interesting. The Marauders (10-4 league, 11-5 overall) had the deficit down to two prior to a top-of-the-key 3-pointer from the Raiders’ Izzy Peress that secured a 21-16 halftime advantage. Lebanon (12-0, 15-1) used a 9-0 run early in the third to get the lead to double digits, and a team 9-for-13 performance at the line in the fourth clinched the victory.
“A lot of our girls aren’t comfortable shooting the ball,” said sophomore Lebanon point guard Maddie Hastings, who scored all of her team-high 10 points in the second half, six of them at the charity stripe. “We really just needed to take the shots, because we have good shooters out there. They just need to have the confidence. Once we started doing that, it was a lot better for us.”
The win cemented, at least for now, Lebanon’s spot atop the NHIAA Division II standings as the last undefeated team in league play. The loss did nothing to dent Hanover, which — for the second straight year — continues to set itself up for a deep tournament run with a roster dominated by freshmen and sophomores.
Marauder freshman Maddie McCorkle led all scorers with 14 points. Sophomore Diana Schwarz buried two late 3-pointers to make Lebanon supporters nervous. Although the defeat kept Hanover from slipping into D-II’s top four, such a fate remains possible.
“As young kids, it’s sometimes easy to get down on yourself or your teammates,” O’Rourke said. “This group, thankfully, has not done that. They’ve shown a special fight throughout the whole year. Every game this year we’ve been down a couple of digits, and every game this year we’ve come back to at least make it a game.”
The Raiders moved the ball well around Hanover’s first-quarter zone. It took a few minutes to gain the confidence to shoot over it.
Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe has a 6-foot-2 freshman in Rebecca Wright, but he doesn’t require the rookie to stay on the blocks, as good a shot-blocker as she is. Wright’s 3-pointer with 3:27 left in the opening quarter broke a 4-4 tie — the only other deadlock aside from 0-0 — and that snapped the Raiders’ early tightness. A Leah Mayes triple to close the period left Lebanon holding a 14-6 lead.
“Becky has a really good shot outside, so we can use it to our advantage to getting it inside, then getting some of our good shooters outside the opening,” Hastings said. “They can collapse on her when she’s inside. When she’s outside, she’s just as much of a threat when she can get that open 3.”
With key minutes from junior Emma Roy-Burwell, Hanover dropped the zone and upped the pressure at the start of the second quarter. Roy-Burwell and Schwarz harassed Hastings as much as possible, and the occasional Lebanon turnover — along with six points from McCorkle — enabled the visitors to close within 18-16 with 3:20 left in the half.
Peress’ bomb had the effect of settling Kehoe’s crew down again. Lebanon’s transition game worked much better to open the second half, with Wright scoring four points and Hastings the rest in the 9-0 run that gave the Raiders a 32-19 lead midway through the third quarter.
“I think we’re both different; I think it was two ugly games,” Kehoe said, referencing Lebanon’s 48-43 Wechsler Cup win at Hanover High in December. “But I think all of our younger kids have grown up a bit, and they’re playing a little stronger with the ball.”
And without it. Lebanon withstood a Hanover mini-rally in the fourth, forcing the Marauders to commit fouls and send the Raiders to the line. Mixed results through three period became more of a certainty in the fourth as Josie Brown, Hastings and JoJo Wainwright (eight points) combined to hit five straight free throws and eight of 10 in the last two minutes.
The Marauders tried to zone them out, but the Raiders stayed zoned in.
“We struggled tonight, but we’ve seen zone all year and we’re a pretty good shooting team,” Kehoe said. “I think we’re fine.”
Free Throws: Reinforcements are on the way for Hanover. Sophomore guard Lois Schwarz, who tore her right ACL playing AAU basketball last summer, has received medical clearance to return to the Marauders and took part in Wednesday night’s pre-game warmups. O’Rourke likely will give Schwarz her first game action soon, but the intensity of a Lebanon game didn’t seem like the right moment. “She’ll add to our depth,” O’Rourke said before the game. “Plus she’s been taking 500 shots a day. That’ll help us when teams play zone.” … Senior guard Meredith Melendy, Lebanon’s own walking wounded (torn ACL), is expected to play women’s basketball at Bates College in Maine next year, Kehoe said. … Buoyed by second chances from offensive rebounds, Hanover had 52 field-goal attempts to Lebanon’s 31 but only converted one more bucket (15-14). … The visitors also only shot 5-for-14 at the line compared to the Raiders 14-for-21 night. … Julia Golder added seven points for Hanover, which visits Plymouth on Friday. Lebanon plays twice in less than 24 hours at week’s end, hosting Manchester West on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Goffstown in a 2 p.m. Saturday makeup game. … The Lebanon and Hanover boys will play their rescheduled game from Tuesday right after Saturday’s Lebanon-Goffstown girls contest.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.