Manchester
Senior twins Zach and Nick O’Brien scored 17 points each and Noah Spaulding had 10 of his 16 in the final 4½ minutes as the No. 3 Cardinals knocked off second-ranked Hopkinton, 61-45, at the Southern New Hampshire University Field House.
Stevens (21-3; 18-3 D-III) outscored the Hawks by a total of 41-16 in the first and fourth quarters — shooting a combined 17-for-21 in those periods — and held a 34-23 rebounding advantage to clinch its first trip to a state title game since 1939.
The Cardinals will vie for their first hardwood title on Saturday back at SNHU against top-ranked Kearsarge, a 50-39 winner over No. 5 Somersworth in Wednesday’s late semi. Saturday’s tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“Wow, 1939. It’s been a long time,” said third-year Cards coach Matt Baird-Torney, whose team shot a stellar 60.5 percent from the floor (23-for-38) while holding the frontcourt-heavy Hawks (18-3 league) to just 17-of-53 shooting. “That’s pretty good. We’ll take that.”
Stevens thrived from the opening tip, jumping to a 13-0 lead in the game’s first five minutes behind nine points from Zach O’Brien, who scored both inside and out. As Stevens’ fans roared, the Cards’ dominance shocked a Hopkinton team that was without starting point guard Zach Signor during a narrow loss to the Cardinals in Claremont on Feb. 20.
“That’s always the goal — you’re looking to start strong,” Baird-Torney said. “But I can’t remember a time we’ve executed it that well. We got into the post early, and it opened up some outside shots. It was a super first quarter.”
Henri Bourque sank a 3-pointer after rebounding his own miss as Stevens built a 24-8 lead early in the second quarter, its largest advantage until the final minutes.
“Their run came fast; I think we were a little nervous on the big floor, and we just didn’t come ready to play,” Hopkinton coach Steve Signor said. “Stevens played with a lot of heart.”
A 3-pointer by Zach Signor capped a 7-2 Hopkinton run to bring the Hawks within 26-19, but Stevens finished the first half strong with free throws by Parker Smith (eight points, seven rebounds) and a layup by Spaulding to lead by nine, 31-22, at halftime.
The Hawks outscored the Cardinals, 15-10, in the third quarter, pulling within 40-37 late in the period. Hopkinton finally started penetrating the interior, with bulky 6-foot forward Henry Yianakopolos (13 points) and Kevin McGrath (four points, seven rebounds) driving for layups during the run. Yianakopolos also hit a pair of outside jumpers.
“We knew a rally was coming. It was just a matter of whether or not we could weather it,” Baird-Torney said. “We have some veteran players on this team who decided we weren’t going to lose this game.”
The fourth quarter was a near-repeat of the first, Zach O’Brien and Smith driving for layups before it turned into a Spaulding scoring clinic.
The athletic junior had the benefit of consecutive spot-on plays by Bourque, first when the sophomore — who quarterbacked Stevens’ state champion football team last fall — scrambled for a loose ball in the corner and found Spaulding with an outlet pass for two.
Bourque did the same thing following a steal in the Stevens end, setting up a streaking Spaulding once more to make it 51-39 with 4:02 to play.
“He’s the quarterback; of course he’s going to pass the ball like that,” Baird-Torney said with a smile. “The best thing about Henri is you can put him anywhere on the court, no matter the circumstance, and he can make plays for you.”
Spaulding wasn’t done, scoring again on a feed from Richard Bell (three assists) and sinking a pair of free throws down the stretch.
“We’ve been talking since the beginning of the season about getting to SNHU,” Spaulding said. “Obviously, we showed we deserved to be here.”
Nick O’Brien also contributed late, posting for a layup and hitting two from the line with 50 seconds left to match his brother’s 17 points.
“It was definitely a team effort late in the game, which is what we needed,” Nick O’Brien said. “That’s what got us here.”
Free Throws: It was still several months prior to the start of World War II when Stevens reached the 1939 final. The Cards fell to Portsmouth, 41-30, in their third Class L title-game loss since 1935. … Both programs brought full-costume, feathered mascots to help rally an announced attendance of 873. … Stevens finished 13-of-19 from the free-throw line, Hopkinton 7-for-13. … It was Stevens’ first semifinal appearance since a 2009 loss to Conant. … The leading scorer on Stevens’ boys soccer team, Spaulding gained a measure of revenge against Hopkinton, which four months ago beat the Cards, 1-0, at SNHU in the D-III soccer final. … Coached by Lebanon native Nate Camp, Kearsarge (19-2 league) will also be in search of the program’s first state title on Saturday. The Cougars lost to Pelham in last year’s final. … Kearsarge and Stevens split a pair of regular-season meetings, the Cardinals winning, 71-66, on opening night in Claremont before the Cougars’ 58-41 win last month in North Sutton, N.H.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.