Nearly two months ago, Bow and Hanover took the court in the beginning of the girls’ basketball season each with the same goal: Win a championship.
The two programs have had similar paths in getting to Sunday’s NHIAA Division II title game. Hanover’s season has been one for the record books, and if it wins its seventh title in program history, it will have done so without losing an in-state game, with wins over two Division I teams and plenty of other accolades.
The Falcons’ last state title came in 2013, back when they were a Division III program. Since the division switch, Bow has progressed into one of the top-tier programs. And after a 16-win regular season, it can cap it off with its first D-II title.
It’ll take nearly a perfect game against a tough opponent, as the following breakdown reveals:
On the Hanover beat
Background: This might be the best basketball team not just Hanover, but the entire Upper Valley, has seen in a solid decade. HHS is good at just about everything, as head coach Dan O’Rourke commented after Hanover’s blowout win over Kennett in the quarterfinals.
“We have guard play, we have shooting, we have defense, we have rebounding, we have bigs, we go deep,” he said. “For a high school team I’ve coached, it’s pretty high up there.”
Junior guard Stella Galanes is the engine that makes Hanover’s offense go. Galanes averages 18.6 points per game, and her motor is constantly running. She can run the point, create her own shot off the dribble, drive to the hoop and hit from three-point range off the catch.
Senior Melissa Whitmore, listed as a guard despite being the tallest player on the roster at 6-foot-1, is the epitome of versatility. Whitmore does the tip-offs for Hanover and can control the post but is also a strong three-point shooter, and she led HHS with 18 points in the semifinal win over Laconia.
Senior Jane Lackley is Hanover’s true center. Sophomore guard Sydney McLaughlin can shoot the three and is an excellent defender. The second unit would start at many schools, with Amina Ajwang spelling Lackley to patrol the interior for stretches and Caroline Adams and Eliza Daigle more than capable backup guards.
To make a long story short, this team has no obvious weaknesses. Hanover is 20-0 against in-state competition, and its average margin of victory is right around 30 points. It controls games from start to finish and hardly ever gives up big runs.
Hanover wins if: Its shots are falling. Really, the only thing that could derail Hanover winning its first title since 2019 is a poor shooting night.
HHS defeated Bow by 22 points on Dec. 16 (50-28), but the Falcons are a much better team now, having reeled off 14 straight wins to end the regular season and three more in the playoffs. Hanover will have to keep that all-gas, no-brakes mentality, putting the pressure on a very good defensive team on the other side.
As long as HHS can dominate on the glass and force some turnovers in the backcourt, its offense can get out in transition, and Hanover should have little trouble bringing the title home.
Background: It took some time, but once Bow figured out its system after an up-and-down start, it quickly became one of the division’s household names this season.
The strength of the Falcons lies in their defensive abilities and, simply, their conditioning. It feels like many teams in the state go with the full-court press, but few teams have the capabilities to maintain its necessary intensity throughout the game like Bow.
The defense is what got the Falcons to Sunday’s championship game and it’s what will have to be near-perfect for them to win their first D-II title in school history.
Led by junior guards Bella and Lyndsey LaPerle, the Falcons’ defense has caused problems for some of the best offensive teams in the division.
Falcons coach Phil Davis, after their 42-26 win over Pembroke in last week’s semifinals, said that if they can hang around in the first two quarters, the second half is theirs because of how well-conditioned they are.
With defense at the forefront, Bow has created neat and simple plays to get the ball in the hands of its most productive players — senior Jess Chamberlin and junior Alex Larrabee. The two forwards are constantly moving in the frontcourt and get open looks merely from the ball movement that takes place on the backcourt.
Bow also has a deep bench that doesn’t miss a step when its players take the floor as well.
The Falcons win if: They can play as close to 32 minutes of perfect basketball as they can. Bow will have to lock in defensively as best as it has all season long. Hanover averages 61.8 points per game (including playoffs) and has no shortage of talented players up and down the roster. If the defense can slow down HHS, force a turnover or grab a couple more rebounds to eliminate second-chance baskets, Bow will feel in control of the game.
Offensively, Bow has to play fearlessly as well. If there’s an open look that’s out of the system, take it — because for as good as the HHS offense is, its defense is just as revered.