CLAREMONT – A great crowd kept warm at Carr Gymnasium on Wednesday night for a couple of fantastic ballgames between rival schools, as the Stevens girls welcomed Fall Mtn. at 5:30 and the boys squared off in the nightcap.
Girls: Stevens 50, Fall Mtn. 47 (OT)
The ladies tipped off the evening with FM looking to keep their top seed in D-III while the D-II Cardinals were looking to make a statement. This game took overtime to decide the victor, as the Cardinals had a little more left in them and edged the Wildcats 50-47.
“This is what we’re capable of doing every time we step on the court and tonight it was a combination of great teamwork and clutch shooting which led us to a huge win,” said Stevens head coach Ivy Condon after the game.
The entirety of the game was close and action-packed. FM grabbed an early lead only to have the Cardinals take the lead back when Jenna Pond hit a three pointer at the close of the third quarter.
“We were hyped about this game for over a week,” said Pond after the game.
FM never got the lead back, but an Avery Stewart three-point bomb at the end of regulation forced an additional four minutes of basketball with both boys’ teams waiting for their chance to take the court.
In the end, it was clutch foul-shooting from Sydney Miller and Carrie Faro that proved to be the difference as Stevens handed FM only their second loss of the season.
“We have so much respect for FM but tonight we wanted this game so bad and we went out and took it,” said Faro.
“We’ve had too many close games and this was our first overtime game and I told the girls to finish what you started, this was your night to win,” said coach Condon.
Miller led Stevens with 15 points and Faro added 12 points including 8 for 11 from the foul line. Stewart paced the Wildcats with 19 points.
Boys: Fall Mtn. 66, Stevens 61
The Wildcats’ Owen Marandino has not beaten Stevens twice in a year during his career and on Wednesday night, he wanted to change that, as him and the Wildcats jumped out to a 32-26 halftime lead with aggressive defense and timely shooting.
The Cardinals came out hot to start the second half, as Ethan Johnson and Derrick Stanhope got a three-point barrage started for the home team. Stevens grabbed a 48-46 lead midway through the third quarter.
“I knew this was going to be a war against Stevens and I used my bench hard all night,” said FM head coach Justin Cassarino after the game.
A fast-paced end to the third included a Joey Murdoch three pointer for FM, followed by an Owen Taylor hoop for the Cardinals, but Marandino closed out the quarter with a bucket and FM took the lead 51-50 heading to the final frame.
Tired legs seemed to be on display for Stevens as the Wildcats opened the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run, and when Marandino was wrapped up for a hard foul on a layup, the FM lead had grown to 58-51. Josh Stithen drew Stevens close with a late three pointer to slice the score to 63-60, but Marandino closed out the game with a bucket after a hard foul giving FM a 66-61 win.
“I was so focused tonight and I think as a team we played one of our better games of the year… I just wanted this win so bad,” said Marandino, who posted a game-high of 29 points.
Murdoch and Isaiah Silva both added 11 points each for FM. Stevens was led by Johnson’s 17 points while Stanhope and Stithen added 16 and 15 points each.
On the girls side, FM (12-2) will host Gilford (7-6) while the Cardinals (3-10) will travel to Plymouth (3-7), both games are on Friday.
For the boys, the Wildcats (6-5) will head across the river to tangle with Bellows Falls (4-6) on Thursday while the Cardinals (0-11) will host the Bobcats of Plymouth (1-7) on Friday.
NOTE: All of the donations from Wednesday night’s games, as well as all the goodies collected from double-header games played earlier this season at FM, will be brought up to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center by players from both squads. This year’s donations far exceeded last year totals.
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