By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
St. Thomas Aquinas 72, Fall Mountain 35
KEENE, N.H. — Fall Mountain entered Saturday’s NHIAA Division 3 State Championship game sporting a 17-1 record and as winners of 11 straight contests.
Despite these impressive accomplishments, the second-seeded Wildcats knew they would have their hands full with top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas, who had only a couple of teams come within 20 points of them all season.
Trailing 19-14 midway through the second quarter, Fall Mountain looked like it might be able to contend, but the length and shooting of the Saints eventually became too much to overcome.
Genna Bolduc drained six threes and scored 24 points to pace St. Thomas. Six-foot-three center Emilie Von Der Linden was a force on both ends of the court, scoring 12 points and securing 18 rebounds.
Clara Stewart (10), Sophie Grillone (9) and Kelsey Fillion (6) were the leading scorers for Fall Mountain.
Fall Mountain has now reached the championship game four times under Head Coach Matt Baird-Torney since 2019. The Wildcats have come up short in each attempt, but with only one senior on the roster, they could be in contention again next season.
Belmont 49, Kearsarge 43
KEENE N.H. — Led by a duo of 6’6” big men in Keegan Martinez and Anakin Underhill, and a dynamic guard in Treshawn Ray, top-seeded Belmont has been the gold standard in Division 3 boy’s basketball this winter.
Belmont entered Saturday’s NHIAA Division 3 State Championship game against Kearsarge with a 19-1 record and seemed to be in control with a 30-19 lead entering the half.
The third-seeded Kearsarge Cougars weren’t about to back down, however, and battled back to cut the deficit to three with only 2:37 remaining in the contest. Despite a valiant effort by Kearsarge, Belmont held on down the stretch for its first state championship in program history.
Martinez and Ray each scored 15 points to lead Belmont (20-1) and Underhill added 12.
Eli Whipple (15), Noah Whipple (9) and Austin Needham (7) were the top scorers for Kearsarge, who finished the season with a 19-3 record.
