By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
KINGSTON, N.H. — The 14th-seeded Stevens Cardinals entered the semifinals riding high after defeating third-seeded Newport and sixth-seeded Prospect Mountain over the first two rounds of the NHIAA Division 3 State Tournament.
Despite losing to its semifinal opponent on both occasions during the regular season, Stevens had reason to be optimistic after taking Fall Mountain down to the wire in their most recent contest on Jan. 28.
The third time was not a charm for Stevens, however, as second-seeded Fall Mountain set an NHIAA Division 3 tournament record by connecting on 11 threes, while cruising to a 61-24 victory on Tuesday at Sanborn Regional High School.
“We let our defense settle us in and create opportunities to convert easy buckets,” Fall Mountain Head Coach Matt Baird-Torney said. “Once we started forcing turnovers and saw the ball go in the hoop a few times, our shots seemed to come off better movement and with better rhythm. We were then able to turn a relatively slow start into a record-setting three-point performance.”
Fall Mountain’s lead stood at 7-6 by the end of the quarter before ballooning to 24-11 entering the half.
It became evident that Stevens’ Cinderella run was coming to a close during the third quarter with Fall Mountain gaining a commanding 25-point advantage by the end of the period.
Fall Mountain continued to shoot the lights out during the fourth quarter, outscoring their rivals 17-5 over the final eight minutes.
“This team has been a prime example of a group showing up to practice every day and wanting to improve,” Baird-Torney said. “They established their goals early and everyone has bought in on the ways to achieve them. These players embrace in-game adversity and rarely allow it to derail them from the style the player and the effort they play it with. This is an unselfish group and that’s why seven different players have led us in scoring this year.”
Clara Stewart led a balanced Fall Mountain attack with 15 points. Also scoring in double figures for the Wildcats were Sophie Grillone (12), Abby Jarvis (11) and Kelsey Fillion (10). Lily Eagan was the top scorer for Stevens (8-11) with nine points.
Fall Mountain (17-1) faces its biggest test of the season on Saturday when they take on top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas (18-0) in the championship game at Keene State College. St. Thomas remained perfect after a 63-53 win against Monadnock in the semifinals.
“St. Thomas can challenge us in ways we have not seen this season,” Baird-Torney said. “Their length is disruptive on both ends and they have players that score on all levels. We are going to have to defend well, stay out of foul trouble and hit the boards hard. We have shot well in the playoffs and we will need that to continue on Saturday.”
