Durham, n.h.
For starters, there’s an obvious size difference. Simco, tall and lanky, is the Cavaliers’ go-to man inside, making his money on rebounds and easy layups. Short and speedy, Milliken is hard to keep up with, no matter where he is on the floor; primarily it’s on the outside, where the Raiders’ top scorer is a dual threat with a jump shot or a drive the basket.
Check out the box score from Wednesday’s NHIAA Division II semifinal between the Raiders and Cavaliers. You’d think the two had a score to settle.
Most of the game was the Milliken vs. Simco show, as the pair was responsible for a little less than half of all the points scored in the second semifinal game at the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gym. But top-seeded Lebanon (22-1 overall) had more weapons and came in with a better game plan, using both in a 50-36 victory.
“They’re good; that’s the thing. And we played well tonight to beat them,” Lebanon coach Kieth Matte said. “Simco, who’s a very good player, hurt us, but they needed more than him.”
The win sends Lebanon to the D-II final for the second straight season one year after falling to Portsmouth. But it also erases the Raiders’ only blemish; No. 4 Hollis-Brookline (15-5) handed Lebanon its lone loss, 61-51, on Jan. 20.
“We had our worst game of the year against them,” Milliken said. “That was our worst game of the season. We didn’t shoot well; we didn’t crash the boards.”
The Raiders, once again feeling perfect after avenging an earlier loss, will face No. 3 Coe-Brown in the championship game on Saturday, a team Lebanon defeated 74-58 just 17 days ago.
“It means a ton,” senior guard K.J. Matte said of Lebanon’s title-game return. “It really shows how our program has been working not just the past four years, but since I was a kid with all these kids growing up.”
Matte was 1-for-16 from the floor and finished with seven points, only the second time in 11 games he’s been held to single digits after missing the first 12 games of the season with a foot injury. The guard admitted he still, at times, feels rusty.
Luckily, Lebanon had Milliken, the D-II player of the year, to make up the difference.
“Ryan’s a good player, but you never know what is going to happen,” Kieth Matte said. “He had a bad game against Hollis (on Jan. 20, finishing with 18 points). He practices hard, he prepares hard. … This big floor, he just runs right by them. That extra space is just a difference to a quicker team, which I think was really the difference.”
Milliken finished with a game-high 21 points for the Raiders, including 11 of Lebanon’s first 18 points in the second quarter. He also had three rebounds, two steals and an assist on a give-and-go with Matt Eylander in the final minutes of the first half. Graham Chickering finished with nine points and Chris Nulty contributed six for the Raiders.
Simco did what he could for the Cavaliers, who were making their first trip to the D-II semis in a decade. He finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, but acknowledged that his team was thrown completely off its game.
“We didn’t really stick to our game plan,” Simco said. “They out-rebounded us, which has really been our strength this year, our size inside. We didn’t really stick to our strengths, and they exposed that.”
Added Kieth Matte: “You could see this was Hollis’ first time. They might be back, but all our kids have been here so many times. We were more relaxed.”
There’s a calmness about Lebanon heading to the D-II championship this time around. Perhaps it’s a sense of confidence. Portsmouth has moved up to D-I — where it’s playing for a state title on Saturday — leaving D-II undefended against the speedy Raiders. Unlike last year, Lebanon enters Saturday’s final as the favorite.
Now, the Raiders have a chance to give Lebanon its first boys basketball title since 1998.
“It is a different feeling (this year),” K.J. Matte said. “When we were going up against Portsmouth, we knew we were taking on the best team in the state. They’re about to win again. I got all my money on them winning (Division I) Saturday. I got all my money on both of us winning Saturday.”
“It’s crazy. I’m excited. I just want to win one,” Milliken said. “Portsmouth is a good team. I hope they win.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.