Local Roundup: State Track Champs Pick Up Where They Left Off

Hanover — Lebanon High thrower Marcus Roper and Oxbow distance specialist Izzy Giesing both earned event wins at Thursday’s New Hampshire winter track league meet at Dartmouth College’s Leverone Field House, which featured a total of 25 Vermont and New Hampshire schools.

Last season’s NHIAA Division II outdoor shot put champion, Roper’s heave of 46 feet, 8 inches traveled 11 inches farther than runner-up Kaleal Cerafici of boys team winner Pinkerton Academy. The Raiders placed seventh.

Giesing, owner of a multitude of indoor and outdoor individual distance titles, finished the 1,000-meter run in 3 minutes, 4.6 seconds, nearly 2½ seconds faster than Bishop Guertin’s Caroline Fischer. Oxbow’s girls were eighth, adding fifth-place scores in the 55 hurdles (Emily Carson) and the 4×200 relay.

Hanover’s girls placed fourth, led by podium finishes in both the 4×400 relay (second; 4:33.5) and 4×200 (third; 1:54.71), a 4-5 showing by Ella MacLean and Peiper Thomas in the 300 and a third-place result for Kira Smith (1:47.55) in the 600 run.

Thetford’s girls placed 10th, with Meaggie Balch taking fourth place in the 1,000 and Macy Lawson and Grace Clement placing fifth and sixth in the high jump, respectively. Lawson was also sixth in the long jump, two spots behind teammate Morgan Lavoy.

Lebanon’s girls came in 11th, with Kath Merchant placing second in the shot put and sister Kim Merchant in fourth.

On the boys’ side, Zach Petrin placed third in the long jump (19-3.5) for seventh-place Lebanon, while ninth-place Hanover received scoring performances from Kyle Doucette (fourth in 300 dash), Sam Pych (sixth in 55 dash) and Colm Seigne (fourth in 1,000 run).

Boys team scores (top 10): 1. Pinkerton 82; 2. Concord 43; 3. Merrimack 30; 4. Keene 28; 5. Coe-Brown 25; 6. Trinity 24; 7-T. Lebanon and Manchester Memorial 12; 9. Hanover 9; 10. Londonderry 8.

Girls team scores (top 10): 1. St. Johnsbury 67; 2. Bishop Guertin 36; 3. Pinkerton 34; 4. Hanover 27; 5. Coe-Brown 26; 6. Nashua South 25.5; 7. Merrimack 17; 8. Oxbow 12; 9. Mount Anthony 10; 10. Thetford 9.5.

Boys Basketball

Lebanon 70Manchester West 59

Manchester — Matt Eylander led the way with 26 points and Chris Nulty added 21 as the Raiders (3-0 NHIAA Division II) improved to 4-2 overall with a win at the Queen City Invitational.

Caleb Smith added 10 points for the Raiders, who withstood a 27-point night from the Blue Knights’ Gob Gob.

The Raiders, last year’s D-II champ, return to the court on Jan. 6 to face 2016-17 D-III champion Kearsarge, coached by Lebanon native Nate Camp. The game is at Kearsarge.

Woodsville 51, Mascoma 45

Hanover — Cooper Davidson knocked down 24 points as the Engineers (5-1; 4-0 NHIAA D-IV) beat the Royals in the Connecticut River Shootout consolation game.

Garrett Olsen added eight points for the Engineers.

Tyler Warner scored 12 points and Dakota Decocq had nine for the Royals (1-7; 1-4 NHIAA D-III).

Mascoma hosts Conant next Friday.

Thetford 54, Rivendell 52

Orford — The Panthers (2-1) earned their second win of the season over the Raptors (0-3).

Thetford led 11-4 after the first quarter, but Rivendell outscored the Panthers during the middle quarters and tied the game in the fourth before fading down the stretch.

Rivendell shot 15-for-29 from the free throw line; Thetford went 8-for-28 from the stripe.

“We were bad from the line — not as bad as they were, which is what kept us in the game,” Rivendell coach Jeff Huntington said. “If we made a few more of our free throws, we would have been in a much better position.”

Rivendell hosts Sharon Academy tonight, while the Panthers host Windsor on Saturday.

Mount St. Joseph 83 South Royalton 47

Rutland — The Royals trailed 52-23 at halftime and never recovered, falling to 0-2.

MSJ’s Maddox Traynor, a freshman, had 24 points and five 3-pointers, both game highs. Lauren Montilla added 22 points.

South Royalton’s Troy Walker, a Rochester transfer, finished with 21 points and had the Royals’ only 3. Jake Hewitt had 11 points, Dominick Small had seven points and Conner Lambert had four.

The Royals host Twinfield next Friday.

Con-Val 69, Newport 58

Keene, n.h. — Con-Val’s Mather Kipka led all scorers with 31 points, dropping Newport (3-2) at the Keene State Holiday Tournament.

Cameron Gillespie scored 20 points for the Tigers, who were outscored 27-13 in the second quarter. Login Barry scored 13 points and Ethan Houde finished the game with 11.

“We hadn’t seen a full-court press all season long,” Newport head coach Greg Pickering said of his team’s second quarter. “We got a little rattled.”

Newport takes on Fall Mountain today in the third-place consolation game at 4 p.m. at Keene State.

Portsmouth Christian 52 Mount Royal 48

Farmington, n.h. — Alex and Andrew Normandin combined for 37 point as the Knights (3-3) fell in the Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash at Farmington High.

“It was a real sluggish start,” Mount Royal head coach Matt McMenaman said. “We came on too little too late in the second half.”

Portsmouth Christian outscored the Knights 31-18 in the first half. Mount Royal hosts Pittsfield on Wednesday.

Girls Basketball

Hanover 47Roswell (Ga.) 21

Charleston, s.c. — The Marauders put forth what coach Dan O’Rourke called their most complete outing of the season in the Carolina Invitational Tournament.

“We had a season-low 11 turnovers, moved the ball really well and our defense was phenomenal,” he said.

Maddie McCorkle scored 12 points and Diana Schwarz had nine for Hanover, which faces Wyoming (W.Va.) High this afternoon.

Lebanon 48Manchester Central 42

Manchester — Becky Wright scored 24 points to help lift the Raiders over the host Little Green in the Manchester Central Christmas Tournament.

Leah Mayes and Sally Rainey added seven points each for the Raiders, which hit 18 of 22 free throws.

Lebanon (6-3; 4-1 NHIAA D-II) hosts Kearsarge on Tuesday.

Stevens 37, Newport 35

Langdon, n.h. — The Cardinals (2-2 NHIAA D-III) improved to 4-3 overall with the narrow win over the rival Tigers in the MG Sports Holiday Tournament.

Stevens had a big advantage drawing fouls, attempting 22 free throws to three for Newport.

The Cards went 6-of-11 from the stripe in the fourth quarter to help clinch the win.

Sydney Miller had a game-high 16 points and Greysan Beaulieu had 10 for Newport (4-3; 3-1), which plays at Newfound on Tuesday.

Epping 41, Mount Royal 38

Epping, n.h. — A 26-point night from Alexis Matte wasn’t enough as the Knights fell narrowly in the Epping Holiday Classic.

The hosts pulled down 19 offensive rebounds to aid in the win.

Mount Royal faces Derryfield today.

Thetford 55, Windsor 45

Windsor — On Wednesday, a 25-point night from the Yellowjackets’ Olivia Rockwood wasn’t enough for Windsor as the Panthers earned a split in the season series following last winter’s come-from-behind win over the Jacks in the Vermont Division III title game.

Four players tallied at least eight points for Thetford: Emi Vaughan (12), Kate Vaughan (11), Grace Davis (9) and Danielle Robinson (8).

Rockwood knocked down three 3-pointers for Windsor (2-2).

Thetford visits Hartford tonight.

Boys Hockey

Hanover 4, Concord 2

Manchester — The Marauders scored three goals in the second period to win their bracket and advance to tonight’s Manchester Christmas Tournament championship game against Bedford.

Sophomore Cameron Woods scored his first career goal and David Lehmann scored twice for Hanover. Owen Stadheim and Matty Gardner netted one goal apiece. Braxton McNulty had two assists. Sylas Oberting and Elias Zinman finished the game with one helper each. Harris LaRock made 19 saves.

Hanover is 6-0-0 to start the seasin.

Kimball Union 6, Millbrook 3

Belmont, Mass. — The Wildcats rallied for four third-period goals to upend Millbrook in the opening round of the Nichols/Belmont Hill hockey tournament.

Senior forward Thomas Samuelsen led the way with a short-handed goal and two assists for KUA. Fellow senior Andranik Armstrong had two goals, while Sullivan Mack, Drew Bennett, and Zach Whitehead had one goal each.

Devan Newhook and Logan Cash each had two assists for the Wildcats, while senior Sean Dynan earned the win in net.

Diving

Hanover Sweeps

Durham, n.h. — Kai Renshaw earned a team-record 430.75 points as the Marauder boys and girls both prevailed at the University of New Hampshire’s Holiday Invitational.

Amelia Wallis won for the girls, posting a score of 354.70, followed by teammate Nika Renshaw (303.75).

Ben Hoffer (fourth; 276.40) and Christopher Onyango (sixth; 235.20) trailed Renshaw on the boys side.

Skiing

Storrs Hill Set for Season

Lebanon — An electrical issue with its lift resolved, Lebanon’s Storrs Hill Ski Area will officially open for the season today.

Hill managers discovered the problem with its Poma surface lift on Tuesday, what should have been the start of vacation week public skiing. Instead, Storrs Hill was forced to bring in someone from Poma to identify and fix the issue over the past two days.

Cory Grant, the president of the Lebanon Outing Club’s board of directors, said in an email that Storrs Hill will open for public skiing from noon-4 p.m. and again from 6-9 p.m. today. Storrs Hill’s normal public schedule is Fridays from 6-9 p.m. and weekends from noon-4 p.m., with ski lessons, race teams and jump training taking up the rest of the week.