HANOVER — In a battle that pitted two of the top five teams in NHIAA Division II boys basketball against one another, it was the Hollis-Brookline Cavaliers that came into Hanover and bested the Bears 58-45 on Friday night.
“I mean, that’s a really good team that we faced. They’re undefeated, they have the record for a reason — we knew it was going to be tough coming in,” Hanover head coach Denver Greene said.
Later, he said, “Guys in there, they’re hurt because they know they’re a better team than what we showed.”
Senior Wyatt Daigle was the leading scorer for the Bears in the loss with 14 points. The only other Hanover player to score in double figures was senior Roy Lucas, who added 12 points.
In what Greene described as a weird first quarter, the Bears actually found themselves ahead 11-6 by the end of it despite having issues taking care of the ball.
However, the second quarter, which featured an offensive explosion by the Cavaliers, is what did the Bears in.
Hollis-Brookline scored 25 points in the frame, 14 of which came from senior Alton Williams, who went on a 7-0 run by himself to open the second quarter.
Despite the Cavaliers’ increased offensive output, the game remained tight, and Hanover was down just three points with about a minute remaining in the frame.
Hanover turnovers in the final minute of the first half proved to be costly, though, as the Cavaliers went on a 6-0 run to close the second quarter and went into halftime up 31-22.
“That second quarter really killed us. It took away a lot of the momentum,” Greene said. “Then third, fourth quarter we were just constantly trying to battle back, and when you’re not hitting your shots it’s tough to crawl back into games.”
Hollis-Brookline pretty much held serve in the third quarter and thwarted any Bears comeback attempt, and rode into the fourth quarter with a 43-32 lead.
The same could be said for the fourth quarter, as Hanover came as close as seven points with about 2:00 remaining. While the Cavaliers bent, they did not break and went on a quick 9-3 run to recover and eventually seal the 58-45 win.
Greene said the result was not what the team wanted but what it needed, and that his squad will learn from the loss, noting that they are “motivated (and) really receptive when we break down film.”
An emphasis for the Bears going forward will be breaking down zones.
“We’ve got to be able to move the ball quicker, more inside out. I felt like our stuff was okay in the first half, but we really weren’t making them work,” Greene said.
Hanover dropped to 5-2 with the loss and will look to get back to their winning ways when they host Coe-Brown Northwood on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“We want to be a team that wants to be playing our best basketball come playoff time,” Greene said.