Thetford's Dylan Thorburn (13) shoots over the defense of Rivendell's Isaac Martel in the third quarter of their game in Thetford, Vt., on Dec. 11, 2017. Thetford won, 74-61. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Thetford's Dylan Thorburn (13) shoots over the defense of Rivendell's Isaac Martel in the third quarter of their game in Thetford, Vt., on Dec. 11, 2017. Thetford won, 74-61. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Geoff Hansen

Concord — Pinch hitting apparently applies on the golf course as well as the baseball diamond.

The New Hampshire Golf Association announced on Monday that Hanover Country Club would serve as fill-in host for next summer’s New Hampshire Amateur championship. The need for a replacement course came about when North Conway Country Club sustained enough damage from an Oct. 29 storm that it had to abandon plans to play host to the tournament.

“The storm damage at North Conway really created a unique situation for us,” NHGA executive director Matt Schmidt said in a news release. “Where we usually identify state amateur host sites years in advance, we were left trying to find a site just eight months before the start of the championship. … I was able to speak with (Hanover head pro Alex Kirk), who expressed a strong interest in having Hanover host the event and, after that initial conversation, it was really just a matter of working out the details.”

This will be HCC’s first state am since 1986. The course has hosted a number of other NHGA events over the years and has also been active in entertaining the New Hampshire Women’s Golf Association state am as well.

Dartmouth College confirmed in August that it would consider closing the 118-year-old course and selling the land on which it sits to help reach cost-shifting goals. The school is in the midst of a four-year plan to move $17 million in spending from administration to academic programs.

The 2018 New Hampshire Amateur will run July 8-13.

— Greg Fennell

Boys Basketball

Thetford 74, Rivendell 61

Thetford — The Panthers dropped five 3-pointers in the first quarter and 45 points in the first half to grab the season opener for both teams.

Lawson Ouellette buried four of his game-high five trifectas in the first stanza, part of a 21-point night for TA (1-0). Dylan Thorburn provided the other opening-period 3 and finished with 16 points. Thetford outscored the Raptors, 45-30, in the opening half.

“Our defense got us some serious turnovers and got us going for some easy buckets,” Thetford coach Jason Gray said. “We just played hard-nosed defense, even in the half-court.”

The Panthers also picked up 10 points from Alex Emerson and nine from Tony Pippin. TA is off until a Dec. 21 visit to Windsor.

Zach Gould posted 16 points, Owen Pelletier netted 14, Isaac Martel provided nine and Noah Martel contributed eight for Rivendell (0-1). The Raptors host Oxbow on Thursday.

Woodsville 60, Lisbon 38

Lisbon, n.h. — The Engineers (2-0) used a prolific outside game to put away the Panthers.

Billy Green, Brendan Walker and Garrett Olsen combined on 10 3-pointers as Woodsville took control early. Green finished with five triples and a career-high 19 points for the Engineers.

Walker pumped in 12 points, Cooper Davidson had eight and Olsen finished with seven. The Engineers have a matinee at Blue Mountain on Saturday.

Monadnock 50, Stevens 43

Swanzey, n.h. — The Cardinals (0-1) couldn’t keep up the momentum of a 20-point first quarter, nor could they slow down Monadnock’s Tim Santaw in a season-opening loss.

Santaw scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter, which the Huskies owned by a 19-6 margin. That helped counter the visitors’ big start, built with a big assist from senior swingman Luke Come (team-best 17 points).

Damon Roy added seven points and Drew Grenier finished with six for Stevens, which visits Gilford on Friday.

Girls Basketball

Woodsville 48, Lisbon 17

Lisbon, n.h. — Olivia Sarkis pounded the offensive glass on a 13-point night as the Engineers improved to 4-0.

Sarkis led a well-rounded Woodsville assault. Fellow forward Lily Kinder provided 11 points in the frontcourt, while guards Molly Clough and Morgan Wagstaff both netted eight.

The Engineers are at Blue Mountain on Friday night.

Conant 44, Mascoma 33

West Canaan — A slow start doomed the Royals (1-2).

Mascoma netted just five points in the opening quarter and spent the rest of the night playing catch-up. Michaela Dowd had the big game for the hosts, scoring 12 points. The Royals visit Monadnock on Friday.

Women’s Basketball

Dartmouth 81, Colorado 75

Boulder, Colo. — Cy Lippold delivered a 24-point performance as the Big Green (7-2) knocked off the Buffaloes (7-2) on the strength of a 29-16 fourth quarter.

Lippold scored 17 of her points in the final period as Dartmouth rallied from a 59-52 deficit through three quarters. Kate Letkewicz finished with 16 points and Isalys Quinones had 12 for the Big Green.

The victory kicked off a five-game road trip for Dartmouth, which will continue at Ohio State on Friday night.

Men’s Basketball

Knight Ivy Rookie of Week

Hanover — The Ivy League selected Dartmouth freshman Chris Knight as its rookie of the week on Monday.

A native of DeForest, Wis., Knight helped the Big Green earn its first road win of the season in a 73-66 decision at Maine. The 6-foot-7 forward was 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from the line for 13 points over 17 minutes of play.

All three of Knight’s four shots came in the final 32 seconds to lock down the victory.

Dartmouth visits Illinois-Chicago on Friday and Notre Dame a week from today to conclude a five-game road swing.