Local roundup: Lebanon girls outdistance Pelham in tourney opener

LEBANON — For three quarters on Wednesday evening, the Lebanon High girls basketball team played some of its best basketball of the season.

It was enough to overcome a run by visiting Pelham in the fourth.

The No. 7 seed Raiders (14-8) advanced past the opening round of the NHIAA Division II playoffs with a 52-42 victory over the 10th-seeded Pythons at Lane Metcalf Gym behind 22 points from senior guard Catherine Cole and 14 from senior center Ella Longacre.

Senior point guard Molly Smith added nine, seven of which came from the foul line. She and senior forward Clara Smyrski were also doing the dirty work on defense, with Smith disrupting passes and Smyrski helping control the post.

Lebanon had a 30-16 lead at the half and increased that to 41-21 after the third. But Pelham had one last run in it, coming within as few as seven in the final minute. The Raiders hit enough free throws late to hang on.

“Everybody in basketball makes a nice run, and Pelham made a nice run in that fourth quarter,” Lebanon coach Chris Boucher said. “The biggest thing we emphasized for this playoff game was anytime the other team made a mistake, we had to capitalize. We had a lot of fast-break points in the first half.”

The Raiders will head to No. 2 seed Pembroke, which defeated Lebanon by 16 in the season opener, on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

QUECHEE — The Eagles (9-7) led until late in the first half before the Phantoms raced past the hosts in the second half to win going away.

Senior guard Hayley Goodwin led MVCS with 17 points, 15 of them before halftime.

“We started to get the turnover bug. Then they took it to us at a different intensity level in the second half and kept us on our heels the rest of the night,” Eagles coach Chris Goodwin said. “We need to learn from this and improve if we are going to compete with the top teams in the division.”

MVCS hosts Mill River on Friday evening.

WEST CANAAN — The Royals (4-9) could not keep up with one of the top teams in NHIAA Division III in a blowout loss to the Wildcats.

Sophomore Gabby Pierce led Mascoma with eight points and junior Madisun LaCasse had seven.

Hartford 52, Woodstock 40

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hurricanes (8-8) evened up their record with a win over the Wasps (5-11), who lost their ninth in a row.

Senior forward Emily Wright, who had a game-high 15 points in a win over Woodstock in December, had 12 for Hartford. Junior Norah Harper led the Wasps with 12 and senior Emma Tarleton added 11. The Canes opened the game on a 12-0 run.

White River Valley 46, Rivendell 32

ORFORD — It was the ninth straight victory for the Wildcats (11-3) as they got past the Raptors on the road. White River Valley led 21-4 at halftime.

Sophomore guard Tanner Drury led the ’Cats with 21 points, with junior guard Jillian Barry adding 14. Senior guard Alex McFate had 10 for Rivendell.

White River Valley hosts Bellows Falls on Friday, and the Raptors are at West Rutland on the same evening.

TOWNSHEND, Vt. — The Wildcats (10-1) won their ninth game in a row in a rout over the Rebels.

Senior guard Dominic Craven had 21 points, including 10 in the first quarter, to lead White River Valley. Senior center Weston Trombly added 12, and senior guard Arliss Spaulding chipped in with 11.

Thetford 60, Lake Region 39

THETFORD — The Panthers (3-10) snapped a six-game skid with a win over the Rangers.

Sophomore forward Mitchell Parkman had 15 points to lead Thetford, freshman forward Boone Fahey added 14 and junior guard Jacob Gilman chipped in with 12.

Next for the Panthers is a Friday home game against U-32.

QUECHEE — The Eagles (11-6) scored 22 points in the first quarter and won for the third day in a row.

Freshman guard Carson Meloon had a career-high 17 for MVCS, and sophomore guard Abel Goodwin had 17 as well. Junior forward Roman Goeppner recorded a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds, and junior guard Joel Roberts was also in double figures with 11 points.

The Eagles have a long layoff before hosting Vermont Commons on Feb. 18.

HILLSBORO, N.H. — The Hillcats won big to keep the Tigers winless at 0-14.

InterLakes 60, Stevens 50

MEREDITH, N.H. — The Cardinals, playing their third of five games in as many days to finish the regular season, fell to the Lakers.

Winooski 76, Oxbow 22

WINOOSKI, Vt. — The winless Olympians came up well short against the Spartans, who improved to 12-1.

Oxbow (0-9) hosts Stowe on Friday.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Not even the second-place Cougars could provide much of a challenge for the Hurricanes, who are now 16-0-0. Hartford avenged a first-round playoff loss to Mount Mansfield last year.

Juniors James McReynolds and Ozzy DeFelice each scored twice for the Canes, and junior Joseph Barwood, sophomore Ezra Mock and junior Connor Tierney all had a goal as well. Hartford led 4-0 after the first period.

The Hurricanes travel to Missisquoi on Saturday night.

KEENE, N.H. — Hanover trailed for all of 36 seconds, with junior Julian Correa notching his first varsity goal just after Keene took the early lead. Senior Curtis Rice had two goals, and seniors Alex Rockmore and Casey Graham also each scored.

Senior Matt Walsh chipped in with a pair of assists and senior Dill Eisendrath earned the win with 12 saves in net.

Hanover (8-6-0) hosts Pinkerton on Saturday.

MANCHESTER, Vt. — The Wasps (8-7-1) edged the Bulldogs to climb back to the .500 mark. Woodstock is at Mount Mansfield on Saturday.

ANDOVER, N.H. — The Raiders (8-3-1) played to a draw with the Cougars at Proctor Academy.

WEST LEBANON — The hosts improved to 10-3-1, including a perfect 8-0-0 against in-state competition, with a romp over the Blue Hawks.

Freshman Julia Lawe scored twice for Hanover and fellow freshman Hannah Gardner put home her first varsity goal. Gardner also had three assists. Also finding the back of the net were freshman Nora Bradley, senior Danielle Rudd, sophomore Maeve Lee, sophomore Rory Seelig and junior Kali McDonnell.

Concord visits Hanover at Campion Rink on Monday.

WOODSTOCK — Another day, another blowout for the Wasps (14-0-0), who have outscored their opponents, 48-4, over their last six victories.

Junior Isabel Konijnenberg continued her torrid scoring pace with four more goals, and sophomore Gracelyn Laperle added three. Freshman Kassidy Haley had five assists.

Woodstock is at U-32 on Saturday.

WOLFEBORO, N.H. — The Raiders won their third straight game, taking down the Knights to improve to 6-4-0.

Freshman Effie Makris and sophomore Olivia Pollard each scored their first varsity goal, and senior Emmaa Leute scored her fourth of the season.

“It was a good chance for us to get our newer players some more ice time,” Raiders coach Mike Sheehan said. “We were sloppy at times but we found a way to pick up our game in the third period.”

Lebanon travels to Manchester Central on Friday.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The red-hot Hurricanes (13-3-0) won their seventh in a row, shutting out the Raiders. Hartford is at Harwood on Saturday.

HANOVER — Freshman Schuyler Clapp took first place with two jumps of 32 meters to lead Hanover to the overall team victory over Merrimack Valley, Berlin and Kennett.

Fellow freshman Charlie Forbush was third, with another freshman, Jai Gregory, in fifth. Senior Wes Stocken was sixth and senior Eric Ringer ninth. Junior Greta Holland was first among the girls, with a long of 25 meters.

With the regular season finished, Hanover now heads to the state championship meet at Proctor Academy on Feb. 17. HHS finished second last year.

MERIDEN — The Raiders had the top six finishers in the boys classic race and the top two on the girls side, taking first place as a team for both genders at the Plainfield School.

Senior Seth Carl took the win for the boys, with senior Micah Achmoody in second and another senior, John Bieszczad, in third. For the girls, sophomore Sophie Longacre led the field with senior Zoe Chinn as runner-up. Senior Anna Illsley, who won last week’s race, did not compete this week.

Also competing Wednesday were Bedford, ConVal and Manchester Memorial in the girls race and Bedford, ConVal, Kingswood and Manchester Central for the boys.