KEENE, N.H. — The Mascoma High boys’ basketball team just couldn’t finish the job as Gilford High erased a 15-point fourth quarter deficit and clinched the NHIAA Division III State Championship, with a 57-55 win in overtime on Saturday at Keene State College’s Spaulding Gymnasium.
With under 10 seconds remaining in overtime and the game tied at 55 apiece, Gilford sophomore Owen Hawkins found himself at the charity stripe with the game in his hands.
He hit both free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 57-55 lead, and seconds later, a state title after the Royals’ last-second attempt did not fall.
Those free throws capped off an improbable second-half comeback for Gilford, who trailed by as much as 22 points in the third quarter.
“I think we tightened up a little bit,” said Mascoma Head Coach Silas Ayres. “We just made too many mental errors down the stretch.”
If any game fits the adage ‘a tale of two halves,’ it was this one. The Royals shot 46% from the field in the first half and had huge contributions from seniors Brayden Pierce and Bryce Ballou, who had 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the first two frames.
Not only were the Royals scoring the ball, but they took care of it, only turning it over six times. They were also strong defensively to race out to a 30-12 lead at halftime.
The script completely flipped in the second half and overtime as Mascoma turned the ball over 20 times and shot 32% from the field the rest of the night.
“We had a great season — it was so close we could taste it,” Ayres said. “It got snatched from us — we handed it over.”
Gilford began chipping away at their deficit to close out the third quarter as junior Gavin Forest hit a free throw with about 15 seconds left and Hawkins hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to head into the fourth trailing 40-25.
The Golden Eagles carried that momentum into the start of the final frame of regulation, scoring what ended up being 15 unanswered points from the Forest free throw in the waning moments of the third quarter to about the six-minute mark in the fourth quarter.
Clinging to a now four-point lead with the score at 40-36, the Royals broke a scoring drought on a jumper from Ballou, who had 19 points in the loss, to stop the bleeding.
Gilford was able to fight through the Royals’ resistance and eventually tied the game at 46 apiece with under 90 seconds remaining in regulation.
Despite that, Mascoma had a golden opportunity to survive the comeback and put the game on ice in the final moments of the fourth quarter.
Senior Connor Hemmerling scored to give the Royals a 48-46 lead with about 41 seconds left. Then, with around 10 seconds left, the Royals had the chance to extend the lead with two free throws, but could not hit either of them.
“My best player and foul shooter has got to keep the basketball in his hands, under 10 seconds to go,” Ayres said. “We’re up two, and he’s going to knock them down and go up four, and the game is over barring a mini miracle.”
The sequence opened the door for the Golden Eagles as Hawkins hit his first pair of clutch free throws with about three seconds remaining to force overtime with the score tied 48-48.
Gilford got its first lead of the game, 49-48, in the first few seconds of overtime on a free throw from, you guessed it, Hawkins.
The Golden Eagles extended their lead to as much as three in the frame. However, with about 15 seconds left, Mascoma had a free-throw shooter of their own with ice in his veins — Pierce.
The senior, who ended the night as the Royals’ leading scorer with 21 points, knocked down three free throws to tie the game at 55-55.
Ultimately, though, Pierce’s clutch shots merely set the stage for Hawkins to dash the Royals’ championship hopes.
Ayres said it was a pleasure to coach his squad this season. “Great kids, worked hard, didn’t really have to motivate them too much, they were self-motivated to get here,” he said. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t close the deal.”