LEBANON — It’s on to the NHIAA Division II quarterfinals for the Lebanon High boys basketball team after Monday’s 65-44 victory over visiting Milford. The Raiders led by a point at halftime before senior guard Jon Willeman asserted himself, en route to a game-high 22 points.

“They were overplaying him all night, which is exactly what you should do,” said Lebanon coach Kieth Matte, whose sixth-seeded team visits third-seeded Pelham on Friday. “Everyone’s thinking Jon, Jon, Jon, but then we slipped a couple screens and other guys got baskets.

“Jon lets the game come to him. He doesn’t force anything, and once they’ve been hurt by overplaying him, he gets looks and he put the game away.”

The Raiders led, 23-22, at intermission but Willeman sank one of his three 3-point baskets to give the hosts a 32-25 advantage midway through the third quarter. He then put back the rebound of his own miss and was fouled, with the free throw making it 35-25. Then was on the receiving end of an overhand pass from Logan Falzarano that led to a breakaway layup and a 39-28 score.

“At halftime we told Jon he had to take more shots,” said Matte, whose squad is 16-3. “But there’s not a selfish bone is his body and you almost have to poke him a little bit to get him to be more assertive.”

Lebanon’s Jackson Stone had 14 points, Wade Rainey had seven and Falzarano had six. The student section erupted in cheers when reserve Logan Sanchez entered late and promptly sank a long, 2-point bucket. On a down note, Matte said junior guard Karsten Hansen is out for the rest of the playoffs with a knee injury.

The hosts played seven players evenly, while Milford (9-10) had three competitors who barely came off the floor. Matte is anticipating dogfights the rest of the way. The Raiders beat Pelham, 61-49, at home on Feb. 22, but started that game trailing, 13-2. The Pythons (16-3) have won four consecutive contests while Lebanon has captured eight of its last nine.

“It took us a long time to put them away and they’re going to be a different team in their own gym,” Matte said. “Our quarterfinal game will be just as hard as our semifinal game and just as hard as the state championship game. We’ve got six teams at the top that are really good.”

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com