Contoocook, n.h.
Alyssa Hammond’s game-winning free throw in the final seconds helped the Mascoma High girls basketball team snap a 23-game losing streak in NHIAA regular-season and state tournament play with a 35-34 victory at Hopkinton on Tuesday night.
On the free-throw line for a pair of shots with 7 seconds left and the score knotted at 34-34, Hammond missed the first before draining the second to give the Royals the lead. Mascoma then forced a turnover on the ensuing Hopkinton inbounds play and ran out the clock for a long-awaited victory.
“The kids didn’t quit and showed a lot of courage going out there and playing hard. I feel good for them, they deserve it and I’m proud of them,” said second-year Mascoma coach John Billings, who also earned his first NHIAA Division III coaching victory with the win.
The Royals’ last decision of any kind was 17 games ago in a 53-43 tilt over Pittsfield in a holiday tournament on Dec. 27, 2015. Their last NHIAA D-III victory was a 40-30 win over visiting Newport on Feb. 17, 2015.
Hammond finished with eight points, all from the foul line, for the Royals. Justine Martin had nine points. Mascoma (1-3) will now look for back-to-back wins when it hosts Monadnock on Friday night.
Newport
Ashleay Wilcox led the Jacks with 24 points, including 10 from the free-throw line. Freshman Olivia Rockwood had a pair of 3-pointers on the way to 20 points in her varsity debut. Tied 7-7 after the first quarter, Windsor outscored the Tigers, 44-16, in the next two stanzas to take control.
“It was one of those nights where everyone contributed one way or another. We did a lot of good things, pushed the ball up the floor and made a lot of good decisions,” Windsor coach Bruce Mackay said. “We have a tough schedule, so it’s good to get a tough win on the road to start.”
Selena Coronis (10 points) and Anna Pysz (nine points) led Newport.
Windsor visits Thetford on Friday night, the same night Newport visits Kearsarge.
Claremont
Devi Kraushaar scored 10 of her game-high 24 points in the stanza as Kearsarge broke out of a 7-7 tie after one quarter. Freshman Madisyn Brayshaw added 11 points for the visitors.
Freshman Syd Miller had the best game of her young Stevens career, netting the Cardinals’ two three-pointers and scoring a season-high 14 points. Fellow first-year player Alexis Aiken added nine.
The Cards go to Monadnock on Tuesday.
Sunapee
Coach Tim LaTorra praised the Sunapee defensive effort led by Mary Grzanna and Sydney Clark in holding Hinsdale leading scorer Skyler LeClair to just three points. Katie Frederick played well in the post for the Lakers and finished with 19 points. Faith Larpenter added 15 points.
“Our defense was much improved since last game; it was a good team effort,” LaTorra said. “Katie did a nice job dominating inside and really opened things up for Faith outside.”
The Lakers host Derryfield on Friday night.
Lebanon
Hastings had six of her nine points in the fourth quarter, including a 4-for-4 effort from the charity stripe. Six-foot-2 freshman Rebecca Wright led the Raiders with 18 points, including a 3-pointer, along with 12 rebounds. Anna Wolke and Meredith Melendy each had 11 points. Joslin Wainwright added seven points.
“Brady is a solid team, probably a top-four team in D-II. We played really well; it was a physical game, but we came out and got a big win. It was a good early test,” Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe said.
The Raiders host Kennett on Friday.
Rochester, Vt.
Hayley Mears had 16 points to lead the hosts. Laura Vaillancourt added 14.
MVCS rallied in the fourth quarter to outscore Whitchester, 15-9. Rachel Seale led the Eagles with 13 points.
“We played three really good quarters,” Mountaineers coach Dennis Wood said. “We had Laura (Vaillancourt) on Rachel Seale; she did a nice job on her. Defensively we played well, but you have to give a nod to MVCS; they played really hard in the fourth quarter.”
Whitchester visits Northfield on Friday. Mid Vermont heads to Twin Valley on Thursday.
Cabot, Vt.
Sharon (0-1) makes the short trip to South Royalton on Thursday evening.
Cabot, Vt.
Harvey Kelley led the interior assault with 17 points, boosted by Billy Connelli’s 15 points and Sam Knoerlein’s 11. Sharon hit two 3-pointers on the night, and coach Blake Fabrikant expects similar totals as the season goes on.
“We’re not an outside shooting team; we have a lot of post players this year, and we start four forwards,” Fabrikant said. “Turnovers are going to be an issue. Outside shooting is going to be an issue. But if we’re patient, we’ll have mismatches inside.”
Connelli and Fisher Kelley accounted for the Phoenix’s triples. Sharon is off until meeting Long Trail on Tuesday.
Claremont
Zachary O’Brien added 13 points, and Parker Smith had 11. Stevens led, 36-28, at halftime and then held on in a back-and-forth second half. Richard Bell chipped in eight points for the Cardinals.
Stevens will host Gilford on Friday night.
West Canaan
Guard Alex Schwarz carried Mascoma on his back much of the night. The senior posted a game-high 28 points — buoyed by 12-for-13 shooting from the foul line — and contributed nine rebounds and two assists and drew a pair of charging calls on defense as well.
“In the third, we played well; in the fourth, I’m not so sure we were expecting to win,” Mascoma coach Jim Barry said. “The players tightened a little in the fourth. We just made some mistakes that ended up costing us.”
Dakota Decocq and Devin Duhaime each had nine points for the Royals, who visit Monadnock on Friday.
Hinsdale, n.h.
The Lakers (0-2) held a 35-30 lead into the final period before Hinsdale took over. Austin LeBlanc netted 11 points to top a Sunapee scoresheet that included nine points from Cade Robinson and seven from Sean Shisko.
The Lakers go to Derryfield on Friday.
Rochester, Vt.
The Eagles will face similar challenges all winter with only six players on the varsity roster. Three accounted for the scoring, led by 24 points from Josh King and 13 from Jacob Roberts. Dylan Patel provided the remaining four.
MVCS did play well in the first half, rallying from a 12-2 deficit after one quarter to trail just 21-20 at the half. Rochester used a 22-point third period to regain control.
The Eagles visit Vermont Commons on Thursday.
Chester, Vt.
Lawson Ouellette had 12 points and two of the Panthers’ six 3-pointers. Nick Moses added a pair from beyond the arc and finished with 10 points. Noah Perry and Connor Brown each added 10 points. Thetford led 19-7 after the first quarter. Green Mountain took the lead with a 21-point burst in the third.
“It was a good game. Overall, you take away some turnovers and it would be a different game,” Thetford coach Jason Gray said.
The Panthers host South Royalton on Saturday.
Durham, n.h.
Maddie Lyons traded goals with the Bobcats in the first period, but it was all Hanover (1-0) after that. Briland Laycock and Mahler Meyerrose struck in the middle stanza, while Clare Gardner and Cate Wagner hit in the third to put the game away. Hannah Curtis earned assists on three goals, while Meyerrose and Clara Boland provided single helpers.
“Five different people put the puck in the net,” Hanover coach John Dodds said, “and that was great to see.”
CiCi Barton needed just nine saves for the win for Hanover. The Marauders host Bishop Brady-Trinity-Manchester West on Saturday at Campion Rink.
West Hartford, Conn.
Dartmouth (0-9) took a one-point lead, 65-64, with just over a minute to play when sophomore Guilien Smith buried a 3-pointer from the corner right in front of the Big Green bench.
But after a Hartford timeout, the 6-foot Ross dropped in a floater over 6-8 Dartmouth sophomore forward Evan Boudreaux to reclaim the lead.
The Hawks’ Jack Hobbs and TreVaughn Wilkerson blocked Dartmouth 3-point attempts to force a shot-clock violation with 11.9 seconds to go. J.R. Lynch hit two free throws to build the lead, and Ross clinched the win with two closing foul shots.
Boudreaux matched a season high of 23 points for Dartmouth but was held to just four rebounds on the night. Smith added 14 points for the Big Green.
Dartmouth will try to break its longest season-opening losing streak since 1967-68 with a trip to LIU Brooklyn on Sunday.