HANOVER – The Hanover High girls basketball team had both its 48-game home winning streak and its season ended Saturday night with a 55-47 loss to Laconia in the NHIAA Division II quarterfinals.

The Bears (15-5) never led after the first quarter’s midpoint, struggling to defend the lane, committing an uncharacteristic amount of turnovers and displaying a cold shooting touch. The Sachems (16-4) were more aggressive against a host that played all winter without its best player after senior guard Stella Galanes tore a knee ligament during the preseason.

“Laconia came out and were the aggressors and were very confident,” Hanover coach Dan O’Rourke said. “They came out like a boxer charging at the sound of the bell and we were on our heels from that point on.”

“We stayed within striking distance, but then some untimely and costly turnovers and missed shots that we normally make from inside hurt us.”

Hanover’s Sydney McLaughlin scored 20 points and Nina Marshall added 14, but senior post player Amina Ajwang managed just three points, and those came on a shot from beyond the arc. Senior forward Nina Sablan made only 1 of 6 field-goal attempts during the first half and her only shot after intermission was off-target.

Fourth-seeded Hanover committed 15 turnovers during the first half and 23 during the game and entered the fourth quarter down by 17 points.

“Against a quality team and in the playoffs, you have to take care of the basketball,” O’Rourke said. “It limits your possessions, so then your shooting percentage has to be higher. Things just didn’t go our way.”

The Bears pulled within 49-44 with 1 minute, 27 seconds remaining, but Laconia sank all six of its free throws during the final three minutes and it never felt like the hosts were a serious comeback threat.

“We talked about how this program has built a winning tradition and pride and I was very proud of how well we played in the fourth quarter,” O’Rourke said. “But Laconia really drove at us hard… and drove to the middle and made some nice bounce passes to the post and got easy layups.”

The fifth-seeded Sachems were led by Macy Swarmstedt, who scored 20 points. Laconia advanced to face top-seeded Bow (20-0) in the semifinals. Hanover failed to reach the semifinals for the first time in six years.

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.

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