Lebanon
With only one starter each on the floor from last year’s concurrent state championship teams, the Raider boys beat the Marauders, 45-37, and the Lebanon girls won, 45-33, in the annual Jim Wechsler Cup doubleheader at Lang Metcalf Gym.
It was the 11th straight win in the overall series for the Raider boys, who improved to 3-0 to start the year without injured center Matt Eylander (knee). Lebanon’s girls beat Hanover for the fifth straight time and the ninth time in 12 meetings.
Lebanon 45, Hanover 37
On a poor shooting night for both teams, Lebanon senior Chris Nulty finished with a game-high 18 points with 12 rebounds, and sophomore Wade Rainey had a career-best 14 to propel the Raiders.
Rainey — whose previous career-topper was five points — had a baseline layup on a back-door feed from Jonathan Willeman to stake the Raiders to an early two-point lead and drained a floater to make it 14-9 in the middle of the fourth quarter, Lebanon’s largest lead at the time.
“Rainey definitely provided us with a spark,” Lebanon coach Kieth Matte said. “That’s the most he’s ever scored, and his versatility really helped us on defense. We had him guarding four or five different guys, and he did a great job both against their bigs and their quicker guys. Especially with Eylander out, we need guys like Wade to step up.”
Hanover (1-1) pushed the ball more effectively in the second half and briefly took the lead early in the fourth quarter. A Martin Paulsen 3-pointer, a Charlie Adams dish to Caleb Putnam and baskets by Adams and Lincoln Adam gave the Marauders a 30-26 edge.
“We came out running with a little more speed, which didn’t really give (Lebanon) time to set up on defense,” Hanover coach Tim Winslow said. “But it’s not easy to sustain that against Lebanon. They’re very aggressive with their hands and have a way of making you do things you don’t want to do.”
After Willeman found Nulty for the Raiders’ lone 3-pointer and Rainey put back his own miss, Putnam converted a three-point play for Hanover to forge the fifth and final tie of the evening, 33-33 with 3:33 to play.
The Raiders finished the game on a 12-4 run, converting another back-door pass to the baseline from Rainey to Willeman and going 8-for-8 from the line down the stretch. Lebanon shot 14-for-17 from the charity stripe for the game.
“Someone mentioned our winning streak against Hanover, but to me, it’s like, well, these guys are 0-0 against them because of how young of a team we are,” Matte said. “Now they’ve gotten that taste of the rivalry, they know what it’s all about, and they played well.”
Lebanon 45, Hanover 33
Rebecca Wright scored 20 points with seven rebounds and senior Leah Mayes contributed a career-best 11 points as the Raiders prevailed despite the absence of No. 2 scorer Anna Wolke, who is overseas on a family trip.
Playing its fourth game in seven days, Lebanon (4-1) built 10-point leads in each half and finished the game on a 17-8 run.
Lebanon worked to break a persistent Hanover press. Mayes assisted Wright and Caroline Laramie to help set up an 11-1 Lebanon advantage early in the second quarter.
Hanover finally found some offensive rhythm, reeling off a 7-2 spurt featuring a putback by Willa Parkins (10 points, eight rebounds), a floater by Maddie McCorkle and a steal by Lois Schwarz (10 points) with a dish to twin sister Diana Schwarz for two.
Mayes responded for Lebanon with a jump shot at the buzzer to make it 17-11 at halftime.
“Our guards, Megan (Gradijan) and Leah, did a great job breaking their press,” Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe said. “I thought it was some awesome basketball.”
Hanover outscored Lebanon, 14-11, in the third to make it a one-possession game entering the fourth. Diana Schwarz found Lois Schwarz for a 3 to spark a 7-1 run to make it 26-25 before a pair of Mayes free throws made it 28-25 for the hosts after three.
“It was a battle of wills out there, because they wanted to slow the game down and we wanted to speed it up,” Hanover coach Dan O’Rourke said. “We were able to do that a little bit in the third quarter to keep it close.”
Hanover had seven team fouls entering the fourth but stayed aggressive on defense. That didn’t stop Wright from scoring seven points in the final period, including a huge momentum play when she stuffed back her own miss and drew a foul, celebrating with a yell and fist pump as Metcalf Gym got loud. She converted the three-point play and had another layup off the glass on Lebanon’s next possession to make it 37-27.
“(Wright) is just really hard to guard in the post,” Kehoe said. “She’s one of the best you’ll see one-on-one.”
Lois Schwarz sank a 3, but Lebanon freshman Sally Rainey, celebrating her birthday, hit a fall-away jumper and was subsequently serenaded with Happy Birthday by the Raiders’ student section.
The Raiders went 4-for-5 from the free throw line in the final minutes to ice it.
“It’s a great win for us against a Hanover team that was 15-3 last year and is one of the best teams we’ll play all year,” Kehoe said. “Early in the season when we’re still discovering ourselves, and playing without Anna, I thought we played really well.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.