CLAREMONT — Victory at last.
The Stevens High boys basketball team opened Friday’s game with Newport on an 11-2 run and never looked back for a 62-33 win over the visiting Tigers at Carr Gymnasium, giving Ray Curren his first win as the Cardinals’ coach.
The win improved the Cardinals to 1-5 on the abbreviated season. Clayton Wadsworth led Stevens with 21 points, 15 of which came in the first half as Stevens opened a 33-17 lead by halftime. Brady Moote and Hunter LaRocque each added nine points.
Stevens and Newport will face off again on Saturday, this time in Newport.
KEENE, N.H. — The Blackbirds held on to avenge a Wednesday night loss to the Marauders (7-2).
Max Galbraith had 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, for Hanover. Will Cahoon added eight points. Mason Gantrish and Indigo Coylewright each had six points. Keene scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to fend off the Marauders’ comeback attempt.
Hanover closes the regular season with a pair of games against Lebanon, at home on Tuesday and at the Raiders on Friday.
WINDSOR — The Yellowjacket (2-0) put four players in double figures to overpower the Hurricanes (2-1).
After earning a 19-11 lead through one period, Windsor put the game with a 21-5 second. Reese Perry had six of her game-high 19 points for the Jacks in that stanza. Elliot Rupp had 17 points, Karen Kapuscinski added 14 and Ashley Grela contributed 12.
Beth Dobrich topped the Hartford scoresheet with nine points, followed by seven from Grace Gardner. The Canes host Woodstock on Tuesday, the same night Windsor visits Bellows Falls.
SUNAPEE — The Lakers went on a 20-4 run in the fourth quarter to pull away in what had been a tight game with the Cardinals.
Zahna Rice had nine points to lead Stevens (2-3). Kiley Bundy added eight points, Abi Faro had seven and Tara Sullivan had six points.
The Cardinals will host Newport on Saturday.
HANOVER — The Marauders (10-0) routed the Blackbirds for a second straight game, getting 15 of Stella Galanes’ game-high 25 points in a 34-15 first half.
Hanover hit 30 field goals on the night, including five 3-pointers. Melissa Whitmore scored 15 points for the Marauders, who also received seven points each from Amina Ajwang and Caroline Adams.
The win sets up Hanover for an NHIAA Division II showdown at Bow (10-1) on Saturday afternoon.
WEST LEBANON — Sage McGinley-Smith drew and converted a penalty shot with 6:46 to play, the middle goal of a three-goals-in-three-minutes run in the third period that kept the Marauders (8-0-0) perfect.
Hanover erased a 1-0 deficit on Natalie Morhun’s unassisted strike at 7:11 of the final stanza. McGinley-Smith notched the game-winner 63 seconds later after being hauled down on a breakaway. Maeve Lee provided the clincher at 10:13 on passes from Danielle Rudd and McGinley-Smith.
Katie Smith stopped 20 shots in the Marauders’ net. Hanover hosts Brady-Trinity-West for senior night on Saturday at Campion Rink.
WEST LEBANON — The defending NHIAA state champion Crimson Tide used goals 10 seconds apart early in the third period to expand on a 1-0 lead and pull away from Lebanon-Stevens-Kearsarge (3-5-0), ending the Raiders’ three-game winning streak.
Makayla Maccioli provided an unassisted goal for Lebanon, which also received 37 saves from goalie Paige Hoegler. Maria Armaganian had a pair of goals for Concord.
“We battled hard but made a few too many mistakes against a good team,” Lebanon coach Mike Sheehan said. “Paige was a rock in goal for us, and even though we gave up a lot of shots, we did a good job keeping them to the outside in our zone. Hopefully, we can bring that same effort when we play them again.”
The two teams meet again on Saturday at Everett Arena.
WATERVILLE VALLEY, N.H. — Lebanon-Stevens-Mount Royal (7-3-0) used three goals in the middle stanza to record their second win over Kearsarge-Plymouth in three nights, this time at the Waterville Valley Ice Arena.
Cesar Salcedo tied the game at 1-1 early in the second period on a Griffin Auch assist. Liam Ouellette broke the Raiders back level again after the Cats retook the lead. Andrew Dannehy got the game-winner with 5 seconds left in the stanza, converting an Andrew Duany pass.
Goaltender Toby Cromwell picked up the win in goal for Lebanon, which hosts Berlin-Gorham on Wednesday in the first of two meetings to close out the regular season.