LEBANON — Wearing a navy blue blazer, white dress shirt and light gray pants, Kieth Matte paced the sidelines of Lang Metcalf Gymnasium on Friday night for the first time in almost two years.
The Lebanon High boys basketball coach took last year off for a sabbatical of sorts, watching his daughter, Alexis, play her senior year of hoop at Mount Royal Academy in Sunapee. It also allowed for him to watch his son, K.J., compete in his first season with the Bowdoin College men’s basketball program.
But on Friday night, the coaching nerves were back. Facing Kearsarge, coached by 1994 Lebanon alum Nate Camp, the Raiders rode a first-half surge to a 46-32 victory in front of a near-sellout on opening night.
“Before the game, it kind of hit me. It was crazy, but it was a lot of fun tonight,” said Matte, who’s starting his 22nd year leading the Raiders. “We had a great crowd tonight; it was really cool. Felt great to be back.”
Added Camp: “I said to him, ‘It was really good having you back on the court.’ I really respect what he did, because you’re not going to get that time back. He’s a good mentor, and he’s a good coach.”
After trading missed shots for the first two minutes of play, Lebanon started to find its stride. Junior Calvin Bates hit a jumper, then on the next possession drove into the paint and executed a three-point play.
The lift from Bates turned into a 15-0 run. The Cougars didn’t score their first points of the contest until the 1:42 mark in the first quarter.
“I got that and one; that was pretty cool,” said Bates, who finished with 13 points. “Crowd’s going wild, the whole team came up to me and gave me a fist bump. Great experience.”
In the second quarter, Lebanon outscored the visitors, 12-5. The Raiders went to the free-throw line five times and walked away with six points. Jon Willeman (11 points) and Braeden Falzarano (four points) each had baskets to put Lebanon up 29-10 at the break.
The Cougars allowed Lebanon to take a 33-12 advantage with more than six minutes to play in the third on a Tommy Berthasavage 3-pointer, but using a mix of three sophomores and former Sunapee guard Brady Grzanna, Camp’s offense found momentum.
Chris Stanchfield scored 10 of Kearsarge’s 14 points in the third and cut the deficit to 11 with 2:41 to play in the quarter. Then, with two seconds left, Bates responded with a jumper to stretch the lead back to 14 for the start of the fourth.
Any hopes of a Kearsarge rally in the final quarter were put to rest when Wade Rainey ripped the ball from a Cougar player at the top of the key and was fouled on the fast break. The senior then coolly sank both his free-throw attempts to make it a 12-point game with three minutes to play.
“They’re very good,” Camp said. “They’re a team that runs their offense; they play good team defense. Credit to them. Part of our struggles in the first half was they were very good and we couldn’t throw it in the ocean.”
Along with the nerves and fun that came with his return to the hardwood, Matte was also putting a team on the floor short on depth and with little time in the gym.
The Raiders were without starting point guard Logan Falzarano, who has a hand injury and is expected back sometime in January. Forward Jackson Stone was also getting over an injury, but is expected back for the Queen City Basketball Invitational in Manchester next week.
Partnered with depth issues, Lebanon’s soccer and football teams went deep into the postseason. Matte said he is happy to coach a team full of winners but knows the lost time in the gym hurt a little. For now, however, he’s excited to get back on the NHIAA Division II basketball grind.
“We played a great first half; they played a great second half. That’s basketball,” he said. “It was a great feeling to be back on the sideline. The kids were in great shape, but we didn’t get as many shots up as we would’ve liked.
“We got a lot of easy baskets in the first half and that’s a lot to Dave Faucher’s tutelage over the last year. We look great on offense. We didn’t have a giant preseason, but we’re fine because of what they did last year.”
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Notes: Lebanon starts the invitational on Thursday at 3 p.m. against Salem. … Matte, who has two state titles, is now 333-137 all-time at Lebanon. … In Camp’s senior season, the Raiders fell in the state title to Con-Val. Every time he returns to Lebanon, his bench is right in front of the Langdon F. Metcalf Gym logo. … Caleb Smith added nine points for Lebanon. … Faucher won’t be an assistant coach this year due to his son leading the Assumption men’s basketball program as well as his duties with ESPN+ for Dartmouth games.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com.