By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
LANGDON, N.H. — Following three straight losses to open the season against teams who currently have a combined record of 17-3, the Fall Mountain Wildcats have bounced back with a trio of dominant performances to open the New Year.
After defeating Derryfield and Hillsboro-Deering by more than 20 points each, Fall Mountain won by its largest margin of the season with a 60-28 drubbing of Stevens on Friday night.
The game was scoreless for almost three minutes before Fall Mountain’s full-court pressure began to overwhelm the Cardinals. The hosts went on a 13-0 run over just a 64-second span, forcing Stevens to call two timeouts in an effort to slow the Wildcats momentum. Cullen Neathawk finally put Stevens on the board with less than three minutes remaining, but the damage was done as Fall Mountain finished the first quarter with a 17-4 advantage.
Fall Mountain extended its lead to 16 by halftime, but it was the third quarter where the Wildcats put the game out of reach. Ledger Willett displayed his ability to score from all three-levels for Fall Mountain while tallying 11 points during the period. On the other end of the floor, the hosts continued to successfully pressure Stevens before closing the quarter with a 44-20 edge.
Fall Mountain’s lead quickly grew to 33 points midway through the fourth quarter before they unloaded the bench and cruised to victory.
Ledger Willett led Fall Mountain with 18 points, Luke St. Pierre was next with 15, Zach Hearne followed with 10, and Tyson Patch added eight. Cullen Neathawk, Jacoby Roberts, and Owen Wilkinson each tallied six points to pace Stevens.
Fall Mountain (3-3) will be looking for its fourth straight victory when they head to Monadnock on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. tipoff. Stevens (1-5) has a tough game on the road against Kearsarge (7-0) before they host a winless Windsor squad on Friday at 7 p.m.