BEDFORD, N.H. — For the first time since 2023, the Mascoma High boys basketball program is headed to the NHIAA Division III state championship.
The No. 2-seeded Royals completed a gutsy comeback to defeat the No. 3 seed Hopkinton High Hawks, 49-41, in a semifinal matchup at Bedford High on Tuesday night. Senior Bryce Ballou led the Royals offensively in the win with 21 points.
Royals’ Head Coach Silas Ayres knew going into the matchup that it was going to require a complete 32-minute performance, and the Royals needed every one of those minutes.
The contest’s first 16 minutes belonged to the Hawks.
Hopkinton raced out to a 10-4 lead by the end of the first quarter as the Royals struggled to score, due in large part to tough shot selection, Ayres told his team during a timeout late in the first frame.
“Not that we didn’t play with energy in the first half, but it was just nervous energy, kind of hectic,” Ayres said. “Credit to their defense, they make you play that way.”
Mascoma’s offense opened up a bit more in the second quarter, bur Hopkinton continued to build on its lead through a balanced attack, which saw five different Hawks score in the frame.
By halftime, the Royals found themselves in an 11-point hole, 28-17, against the team that handed Mascoma its only loss in the regular season.
The Royals had two options, according to Ayers.
“I just told them, it’s going to go one of two ways: you scrap and claw your way back into this, or it’s going to be a 20-25 point loss,” Ayres said. “They told me ‘no coach, it’s going one way, we’re going to come back, we’re scraping our way back.’ ”
With about six minutes remaining in the third quarter and the Hawks ahead 32-20, Mascoma would begin to mount a comeback.
Ballou and senior Connor Hemmerling got things started, each hitting layups to cut their deficit to eight.
Then came a pivotal sequence, courtesy of senior Declan Lyons, who had just four points on the night, but they came at a critical moment.
Lyons scored to make the game 32-26 with about three minutes left in the third quarter.
On the Hawks’ next possession, he stole the ball and laid it in at the other end to cut the Hopkinton lead to four.
“He’s been doing that all year,” Ayres said. “I love Declan coming off the bench, being that spark.”
“I had full confidence in my role. We all have roles on our team… I knew my role, and my scorers were having a tough time; the team was overplaying them, and I knew I needed to hit a couple of clutch shots,” Lyons said.
The Hawks, out of a timeout, steadied themselves momentarily after the Lyons sequence, scoring four unanswered points, but Mascoma responded.
The Royals closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run from Ballou and senior Brayden Pierce, who had 14 points on the night, and took their first lead of the game, 37-36, as the third quarter ended.
In the fourth quarter, another 9-0 run — fueled by Ballou, Pierce and senior Aidan Hemmerling — had the Royals up 46-38 with less than a minute to play.
Ballou and Hemmerling iced the game with free throws to send the Royals to the state championship.
“I’m just glad to be back in the championship, because we’ve come up short a couple of years,” Ballou said.
Awaiting the Royals in the championship is No. 4 seed Gilford, which defeated Mascoma in its last finals appearance. The squads did not meet this regular season.
Ayres’ message to his team heading into the final is simple: “Come with energy, take care of the basketball, and it’s a game of possessions.”
“I think we can learn from tonight, moving forward, for sure,” he added.
The NHIAA Division III state championship tips off at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Keene State College’s Spaulding Gym.
