By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
LANGDON, NH — The Unified Basketball season tipped-off on Saturday, Dec. 16, with a jamboree featuring Fall Mountain, Newport and Stevens. The morning featured excellent displays of sportsmanship, kindness, and competitive basketball as the boys and girls from Stevens came away with wins against both of their local foes.
Fall Mountain 22, Newport 21
Newport jumped out to a 6-0 lead after one quarter before the hosts came storming back in the second period. Rico Irish and Aiden Frazier each scored 6 points to give Fall Mountain a 12-11 lead as they entered the half. Fletcher Davis and Stephen Hebert combined to score all of Newport’s first-half points.
The third quarter was a defensive battle with the only basket being scored by Fall Mountain’s Ryley Mackenzie. Fall Mountain extended their lead to 22-15 in their fourth quarter following a couple of baskets by Mackenzie and a 3-pointer by Frazier. While Fall Mountain’s 7-point lead seemed relatively safe in the game’s final minutes, Newport scored three quick baskets to cut the lead to one. Fall Mountain was able to prevent the Tigers from scoring on their final possession to hold for the 22-21 win.
Frazier led Fall Mountain with 9 points, Mackenzie followed with 7 and Irish was a force around the basket with 6. Newport was led by Hebert with 9 points, Davis was next with 8 and Alex Tucker added 4.
Stevens 33, Newport 27
Newport quickly returned to the court for a matchup with the Stevens Cardinals. Stevens scored the first 11 points of the game, but the Tigers would battle back. Newport closed the gap to as little as 3 points in the second quarter before Stevens entered the half with a 21-15 lead.
Newport would cut the lead to as little as 4 points in the second half, but Stevens was able to hold on for a 33-27 victory. Peyton Jones led Stevens with 12 points and was followed by a “Zach attack” in the scorebook. Zachery Bascom had 7 points for the Cardinals, while Zachary Goyette and Zachary Bailey each added 6. Davis exploded for 14 points for Newport, Hebert followed with 9 and Tucker rounded out the scoring with 4.
Stevens 30, Fall Mountain 16
Stevens raced out to another fast start as they held a 12-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Goyette and Bascom each scored 6 points during the opening frame to pace Stevens. The Cardinals maintained an 8-point lead as they entered the final quarter with a 24-16 lead. Jones scored all 6 points during the final quarter to secure a 30-16 win for Stevens.
Jones led Stevens again with 12 points, Goyette added 8 and Bascom finished with 6. Irish had 8 points to lead Fall Mountain, Frazier scored 4 and Nick Gardner reached the scoring column with 2.
Newport and Fall Mountain are scheduled to face-off on Wednesday, Jan. 3, at 3:30 p.m. at Towle School in Newport. Stevens is scheduled to host Kearsarge in their next contest on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 3:30 p.m.
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