HANOVER — Lebanon High boys basketball coach Kieth Matte shook his head Monday evening. Then he rubbed the top of his pate for emphasis. His team had just staged its second comeback victory over archrival Hanover in six days, and the veteran bench boss was reeling from the Raiders’ high-wire act.
“That was a trip to the dentist,” Matte said of the 50-40 overtime affair. “We were a little rattled at halftime. You can’t always control how you shoot, but you can control your composure and how you defend, and we did those things better after halftime.”
Lebanon trailed its NHIAA Division II foe, 23-19, at the break and 36-30 after the hosts’ Max Galbraith drained a three-point shot with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Galbraith had a game-high 18 points, but that trey was his only scoring after intermission.
Lebanon’s Braeden Falzarano scored nine of his 15 points following halftime, and teammate Cole Fabry had seven of his 13 points starting in the third quarter. The Raiders’ Jack Stone had four points during the first quarter, none during the second and third frames and 10 of his final 15 points beginning in the fourth quarter.
Stone sank a casual three-pointer with a minute remaining in the fourth quarter to put the visitors up, 40-38. Hanover point guard Jacob Kubik-Pauw drove the lane 25 seconds later, but his scoop shot hit the rim’s underside before teammate Blake Hooper-Goetinck put back the rebound for a 40-40 deadlock.
Lebanon’s Falzarano received an inbounds pass with 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and allowed the clock to run down to five seconds before attempting a shot that didn’t fall. That was the Raiders’ last difficulty, however, as they scored all 10 of overtime’s points, hitting five of six free-throw attempts during extra time.
“I thought the refs did a great job, but it was physical, very physical,” said Matte, whose 13-1 team played the first of four games in five days that will conclude the regular season. “Not many fouls were called, so there was no reward for going to the basket, except for getting whacked. That’s like playoff basketball, and we needed some of that.”
Hanover (4-12) received eight points from Kubik-Pauw, who suffered an apparent injury midway through overtime and did not return. Lebanon won the teams’ Jan. 26 matchup, 47-35.
— Tris Wykes
WRV 71, Mill River 50
NORTH CLARENDON, Vt. — Dominic Craven had 28 points and five steals, Weston Trombly had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Dylan Slack added eight points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (8-1).
WRV has won seven consecutive games and is second in the Vermont Division IV standings. The Wildcats visit top-ranked Rivendell (12-0) on Thursday.
WEST CANAAN — Ben Seiler had 26 points to help the host Royals (10-3), NHIAA Division III’s sixth-place team, upend the second-place Cougars (11-2).
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Brandon Potter and Christian Hathorn each scored 14 points and the Hurricanes jumped to 9-2. The Cosmos are 1-9.
WESTMINSTER, Vt. — The visiting Raptors (12-0), Vermont Division IV’s top-ranked team, knocked off the Division III Terriers (7-3) on the road.
SUNAPEE — The visiting Tigers (0-10) surrendered fewer than 60 points for the second time this season.
QUECHEE — The host Eagles moved to 8-5 and the Phoenix dropped to 0-11.
HANOVER — The hosts led, 24-0, midway through the first quarter and improved to 16-2 overall and 16-0 in NHIAA play. Hanover guard Stella Galanes had 17 points, and post players Amina Ajwang and Jane Lackley each had 10 points.
Catherine Cole had 13 points for Lebanon (11-5).
NEWPORT — The host Tigers improved to 4-5 while dropping the Lakers to 6-6.
QUECHEE — Hayley Goodwin had 35 points and Rachel Horner-Richardson added 12 points and six steals as the Eagles improved to 8-4.
“We turned the ball over early and often in the first quarter,” said coach Chris Goodwin. “We rebounded well with them all game, even though they had some size on us. We only turned the ball over three times in the second half.”
LANGDON, N.H. — Hanover received 22 points from Eli Weintraub and 12 each from Emily Neily and Zoey Hossler and finished the season 4-3.
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Isabel Konijnenberg had three goals and three assists to push the Wasps (11-0-0) past the host Tigers (5-7-0).