Local Roundup: Raiders Roll On, Rout Con-Val

Lebanon — Lebanon High’s Rebecca Wright came out hot on a cold, cold night.

The sophomore center piled all of her game-high 20 points into the first half on Friday night as the Raiders rolled to comfortable 61-19 win over Con-Val in an NHIAA Division II girls basketball game at Lang Metcalf Gym. Wright accounted for more than half of Lebanon’s first-half offense, the Raiders racing to a 37-9 lead by the break.

Wright jumped right into varsity basketball last winter, leading the Raiders with 14.48 points per game, ranking sixth in the Upper Valley as Lebanon motored to a D-II state championship. She’s hardly slowed down this winter: Friday’s tally gave Wright five 20-point games in 10 contests for the Raiders (6-1 league, 8-2 overall). Entering the weekend averaging 18.00 points per game, she trails only Windsor’s Olivia Rockwood (18.80 ppg) and Mount Royal’s Alexis Matte (18.57) in area scoring.

Wright’s opening salvo gave Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe plenty of playing-time flexibility the rest of the game. Nine of the 10 Raiders who played scored at least two points. Freshman Sally Rainey finished with nine points for Lebanon, and Anna Wolke and Megan Gradijan each had six.

“We gave a lot of kids a lot of opportunities to play in the second half,” Kehoe said.

Lebanon visits Merrimack Valley on Tuesday.

Littleton 48, Woodsville 42

Littleton, n.h. — The Crusaders upped their defensive play after falling into a 13-4 hole after one quarter, eventually overturning the Engineers (5-3).

“We jumped out to the lead, and we’ve done that the last three games, but weren’t able to hold it against good competition,” Woodsville coach Russ Wilcox said. “Littleton got us to turn the ball over, and those turnovers led to points.”

Woodsville’s Lily Kinder led all scorers with 16 points. Wilcox credited guard Molly Clough’s play at the point and McKenzie Dennis’ defense of Maddie Dumont, one of Littleton’s top scorers, for keeping the Engineers in the hunt. Laney Hadlock had 11 points, Fallyn Russell netted 10 and Dumont finished with nine for NHIAA Division IV-leading Littleton (6-0).

Woodsville visits Colebrook on Wednesday.

Brattleboro 49, Hartford 42

Brattleboro, Vt. — The Hurricanes (2-5) did well when it came to getting the ball to the basket, but they didn’t add accurate outside shooting or significant rebounding to the mix in a Marble Valley League loss.

Hartford went 22-for-39 from the free-throw line for the majority of its points. Brattleboro rallied from a 27-23 halftime deficit by committing to zone defense to challenge the Canes’ perimeter shooting while dominating play on the glass.

“We did a great job of getting to the hoop, but we really shot lousy when they went into a zone,” Hartford coach Troy Guerin admitted. “We didn’t play well on defense and we didn’t rebound at all. They got a lot of second and third shots, transition hoops, rebounds and putbacks.”

Michaela Ricker led a varied Hartford scorebook with 10 points. Morgan White and Jasmine Jenkins both had nine points, and Corey Lieberman finished with eight.

The Canes are off until hosting Mill River a week from today.

Conant 46, Mascoma 26

Jaffrey, n.h. — The Orioles pulled away from the Royals (2-5, 2-7) thanks to a 13-4 third quarter that extended a two-point halftime lead for the hosts.

Lizz Pelton led the way for Mascoma with eight points. Michaela Dowd added five.

The Royals are off until hosting Franklin on Friday.

Boys Basketball

Con-Val 40, Lebanon 37 (ot)

Lebanon — Connor Buffum nailed the last of his six 3-pointers at the buzzer in overtime to hand the Raiders (4-1 league, 5-3 overall) their first Lang Metcalf Gym defeat in nearly three years.

Buffum finished with a game-high 18 points in a contest marked by minimal scoring and patient offense. It resulted in Lebanon’s first home defeat since a 64-62 loss to Manchester West on Feb. 18, 2015.

“It was a great game, back and forth, a lot of lead changes, but neither team could really score,” Lebanon coach Kieth Matte said. “We’re having a hard time scoring. The other team had a lot of long possessions. They didn’t hold the ball, but they were very, very patient.”

Chris Nulty led the Raiders with 16 points, backed by 12 from Matt Eylander. Lebanon hosts Merrimack Valley on Tuesday.

Conant 62, Mascoma 46

West Canaan — The Orioles broke open a 10-point halftime lead with a 24-12 third quarter to drop the Royals (1-5 league, 1-8 overall).

Payton Springfield hit six 3-pointers on a 28-point night to lead Conant (3-2 overall). Dakota Decocq powered Mascoma with 17 points, while Killian Dowd contributed nine and Aidan O’Connell added seven.

The Royals take on Franklin on Friday.

Monadnock 41, Stevens 36

Claremont — Joe Minson accounted for four of the Huskies’ six 3-pointers in a 22-point second quarter and finished the night with five trifectas for a team-best 15 points, beating the Cardinals (2-4 league, 3-5 overall).

Monadnock’s outside explosion opened a 29-19 fissure at halftime, one Stevens tried to close with airtight defense. Holding the Huskies to just 12 points after the break, the Cards closed to within 39-36 late in the game and watched two 3-point attempts miss the mark before Monadnock clinched the game at the line.

Drew Grenier led the way for Stevens with 11 points, backed by seven from Derrick Stanhope. The Cardins visit Conant on Tuesday to kick off a six-game road swing.

Littleton 73, Woodsville 61

Littleton, n.h. — Behind 39 points from Danny Kubkowski, the Crusaders pushed back against a Woodsville team that spent the night chasing the hosts.

In addition to Kubkowski’s big night, Littleton profited by lax defense around the perimeter by Woodsville (5-1 league, 6-2 overall), which surrendered seven 3-pointers in the second half and eight for the night.

“We fell asleep on defense on their shooters,” Woodsville coach Jamie Walker said.

The loss overshadowed a 30-point effort from senior Garrett Olsen, his second 30-point effort of the season. Cooper Davidson added 18 points.

Woodsville visits Colebrook on Wednesday.

H.S. Postponements

Frigid Weather Forces Changes

West Lebanon — Today’s below-zero forecast has led several Upper Valley high schools to call off games scheduled for this afternoon and tonight.

The list includes:

Boys basketball: Whitcomb-Rochester at Northfield; Richford at Oxbow; Williamstown at Thetford; Windsor at Newport; Arlington at Sharon.

Girls basketball: Blue Mountain at South Royalton.

Girls hockey: Stowe at Hartford.

Bowling: South Royalton home match with Windsor, Brattleboro and Essex at Randolph’s Valley Bowl.

Consult school scheduling websites for other cancellations and information on makeup dates.

Women’s Hockey

Dartmouth 3, Union 2

Schenectady, n.y. — Caroline Shaunessy and Christina Rombaut produced two-point nights as the Big Green nipped the Dutchwomen at Messa Rink.

Rombaut and Shaunessy scored in a 2½-minute span of the first period to counter a goal from Union’s Haley Shugart for a 2-1 lead. Shugart struck again 37 seconds into the middle stanza, but Shaunessy notched the eventual game-winner with 4:59 left in the period. Goalie Christie Honor then knocked aside 13 shots in the final period to preserve the win.

Rombaut earned an assist on Shaunessy’s winner and Honor finished with 25 saves. Dartmouth (2-7-0 league, 4-10-0 overall) visits Rensselaer today.

Men’s Basketball

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New London — Dana Bean recorded his third double-double of the season as the Chargers (4-0 league, 7-3 overall) rolled past Maine-Farmington in North Atlantic Conference play.

The Franklin, N.H., native notched a game-best 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting and added 10 rebounds for Colby-Sawyer. Patrick Coffey and Jourdain Bell each netted 15 points for the Chargers, who jumped to a 10-2 lead out of the gate and held a 28-point advantage during the first half.

Women’s Basketball

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New London — Senior Emmani Robinson produced the first triple-double in Colby-Sawyer women’s basketball history, posting a line of 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 steals in a North Atlantic Conference rout of Maine-Farmington.

Robinson hit eight of her 12 field-goal attempts and led all players on the scoresheet. The 14 boards and 10 swipes were career highs, and the steals tied a single-game program record dating back to 1983. Sunapee High’s Lexie Hamilton contributed a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebunds, and Tianna Sugars did the same with 12 points and 15 caroms.

College Football

Dartmouth Pair MakesAll-Academic Team

Hanover — Dartmouth quarterback Jack Heneghan and linebacker Jack Traynor joined a 49-athlete lineup on the Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Directors Association’s academic all-star team on Friday.

Heneghan made the team for the second straight year, holding a 3.79 grade-point average as an economics major as he guided the Big Green to an 8-2 record last season.

Traynor made his first FCSADA academic team with a 3.73 GPA in engineering following a 98-tackle season that ranked second in the Ivy League.

Alpine Skiing

Dartmouth’s Peterson At Olympic Qualifier

Kranjska Gora, Slovenia — Dartmouth senior Foreste Peterson will compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team today during an FIS World Cup giant slalom in Slovenia.

This is Peterson’s second World Cup start of the winter, having debuted at Soelden, Austria, in October. She and American teammates Mikaela Shiffrin and A.J. Hurt are among 73 skiers scheduled to compete starting at 9:30 a.m. local time today.

Peterson, a first-team NCAA all-American each of the last two years, won three giant slalom carnival races last year for the Big Green. She owns six carnival wins in her career to go with 11 total podiums.