HILLSBORO – The Hillsboro-Deering girls’ basketball team went through 18 games, 72 quarters and 576 minutes of action last season without a win. On Friday, the Hillcats had a chance to put that all behind them in their Division III season opener against Franklin.
Playing with a four-point lead with the fourth quarter winding down, H-D appeared poised to notch its first victory in over a year, but the young and inexperienced Hillcats broke down in the home stretch. Franklin’s Hannah Hicks hit a key bucket and Mackenzie Weatherbee followed that up with a pair of game-tying free throws as the Golden Tornadoes closed out the contest on an 11-0 run to quiet a spirited home crowd and give Franklin a 32-25 win.
“I was impressed and I think they are happy with how they played as well,” H-D Coach Tiffany Lewis said. “All the girls as a whole, I think we have a lot to look forward to this season. I think a lot of people are going to be caught off guard I think as the season goes on.”
H-D trailed by two at the half, three at the end of the third and fought back to take the lead in the fourth on a jumper off the glass and two free throws from sophomore Halie Hurd. Franklin, though, playing without standout Lauren Marsh for the season, found a way to generate enough offense in crunch time.
“The last three minutes was a different team than the first 29,” Franklin Coach J.J. Winters said. “We were sporadic, that’s the thing. A good team isn’t going to play in spurts and that’s what we did tonight. We have to even it out and just be consistent all night long. I’d like to say we’re good enough to do that but I’m not sure we are yet.”
The loss of Marsh for the Golden Tornadoes is a glaring one as she led the team in nearly every offensive category a season ago. Winters was satisfied with the win, but said it will be a struggle to replace her.
“That’s going to be tough for us, it’s going to be a work in progress,” Winters said. “We’re going to have to have different people step up every night to help us. Hannah (Hicks) stepped up as a freshman today, made a couple of big steals and a couple of foul shots at the end and that’s huge.”
The back-and-forth action in the final minutes was a far cry from how the contest began.
Shaking off the rust of the offseason, the two sides combined for 18 turnovers in the first quarter. Twelve giveaways for H-D allowed the Golden Tornadoes to jump out to a narrow 6-2 lead. The full-court pressures and traps from both sides made for a sloppy game that neither team could get away from.
“I think a lot of it was nerves but I also think each team’s defense was making the other side uncomfortable,” Winters said. “So yes, it was nerves, but I think it was pretty good defensive pressure on both sides.”
The Hillcats eventually settled down in the second, getting baskets from Morgan Racine (8 points, two steals) and Fayth Grimes (2 points, six rebounds) to trim the deficit to two points before the half, 10-8.
“They play zone which we haven’t practiced against a ton,” Lewis said. “But we adjusted our offense and where the openings were going to be and were able to get some open shots.”
Still, the second half only brought more turnovers.
Two right from the start handed Franklin a pair of buckets to pull ahead, 14-8, and after a step-back three-pointer from H-D’s Kiersten Clough gave the Hillcats a one-point lead, their final four possessions of the quarter resulted in turnovers and Weatherbee took advantage, dropping in a pair of scores from under the basket.
From there the two sides battled it out in a pressure-packed fourth quarter – something Lewis said will be valuable to the team despite coming out on the wrong end.
“That will give us experience as the season goes,” Lewis said. “That will help us with closer games down the road because we didn’t have a lot of those last year.”
Both sides hit the hardwood again on Tuesday. H-D will take another shot at snapping the losing streak when it visits Fall Mountain, while Franklin prepares for its home opener against Winnisquam.
Newfound 52, Belmont 37
Key players: Belmont – Chloe Sottak (3 3s, 9 points), Sarah Chase (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Raiders trailed by two (7-5) after the first quarter and trailed by four at halftime (31-27) and the Bears extended a six-point lead in the final three minutes of the game in the season-opener for both teams.
Coach’s quote: “We were well-balanced. We played well, defensively we were solid. We go into some foul trouble and (Newfound) made some nice shots down the stretch.” – Belmont’s Mark Dawalga
Records: Newfound 1-0; Belmont 0-1
Gilford 43, White Mtns. 35
Key players: Gilford – Stevie Orton (13 points), Kaitlyn VanBennekum (12 points, 10 rebounds), Olivia Harris (8 points), Lauren Dean (6 points, strong defense)
Highlights/key moments: The defending champion Eagles led from start to finish.
Coach’s quote: “The first-year varsity players did a good job in the opener.” – Gilford’s Rick Forge
Records:Gilford 1-0; White Mtns. 0-1
Kearsarge 65, Raymond 27
Key players: Kearsarge – Devi Kraushaar (20 points, 6 rebounds), Madi Brayshaw (13 points, 7 assists), Meg Roy (10 points, 10 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: The Cougars led 17-10 after the first quarter but Kearsarge upped the defensive pressure in the second quarter to take a 35-13 halftime lead. The Cougars secured the victory with a complete team effort.
Coach’s quote: “Our defensive pressure took hold in the second quarter. Our D allowed us to increase our lead and kept our foot on the gas pedal the rest of the way.” – Kearsarge’s Keith Roberts
Records: Kearsarge 1-0; Raymond 0-1