By CHRISTOPHER SHABAN
Eagle Times Correspondent
CLAREMONT – The Kearsarge Cougars controlled the second halves of both games tonight and headed home with 2 wins as the boys defeated Stevens 70-42 and the girls handed the Cardinals a playoff crippling defeat 42-28.
Boys
Kearsarge 70 Stevens 42
Meeting for the first time since the D3 championship game last year, Kearsarge brought almost an identical roster on Wednesday while the Cardinals returned only two varsity players from last years team. Division I recruit Tayler Matos and his 6’9” frame poured in 27 points while grabbing 12 rebounds to pace the eleven and four division two Cougars to a win.
“We had to pick our poison tonight and opted to try and clog the paint and it worked until they started hitting everything from the outside,” said Stevens head coach Matt Baird-Torney after the game. After a 25-18 first half, the Cougars ripped off 29 third quarter points as Tom Johnson and Joe Storozuk each drilled a pair of deep three pointers to grow a lead that Stevens just couldn’t respond to.
“I absolutely love this gym and tonight we had had a balanced effort with Kyle Hernon playing one of his best games all year,” said Kearsarge head coach Nathan Camp after the game. Hernon finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Cougars.
The Cardinals were led by Josh Stithen’s 4 three pointers and ended the night with 12 points, he was followed by Drew Grenier’s 10 points. Stevens falls to 8-7 with the loss and will host another division two opponent on Friday when Conval visits Carr Gym.
Girls
Kearsarge 42 Stevens 28
Stevens trailed 24-23 entering the final quarter and were fighting for a playoff spot and needed a win but an 18 point Kearsarge explosion erased any hopes of a post season as the Cougars pinned a 42-28 loss on the Cardinals dropping their record to 5-12.
With Alexis Ford, Jenna Pond, Majestic Raymond and Sydney Miller all connecting, the cardinals led 10-7 after the first quarter and 17-15 at halftime as Tess Whitney and Miller were putting points up on the board but also picking up fouls in a hurry.
“We just couldn’t find our rhythm in the second half tonight,” said Stevens head coach Ivy Condon after the game. Whitney picked up her 4th and fifth foul in the third quarter and the Stevens lead disappeared as Madi Courser’s three pointer gave the Cougars a lead they would not let go of 24-21. Carrie Faro’s bucket for Stevens cut the lead to 24-23 but as the final quarter started, Kearsarge ripped off seven unanswered points to give them a 30-23 lead.
Miller and Ford stopped that run with five quick points but Stevens went ice cold for the last three minutes as Kearsarge scored the last 12 points of the game to make the final score a little misleading. Courser led Kearsarge with 10 points as Kearsarge head coach Keith Roberts had point contributions from 8 different players tonight. “Our defense really keyed our win tonight and this game might have been our best complete effort all season,” said Roberts after the game.
Stevens recognized their five seniors tonight and they all started even Kelsey Belisle who injured her knee but still took to the court.
The seniors playing their final home game for Stevens were, Tess Whitney, Majestic Raymond, Alexis Ford, Kelsey Belisle and Emily Mudge.
“We just got outmatched in the paint tonight and the Kearsarge quickness kept us out of our flow especially in the second half tonight,” said Condon after the game.
Seven Cardinals scored tonight as they were led by Miller’s 8 points followed by Ford and Pond who each added 5 points, Whitney and Raymond both ended the night with 3 points each and Aiken and Faro each had a bucket.
Stevens will head to Newport (10-7) on Friday to wrap up their season.
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