Above the Rim: Practice made Lebanon boys basketball ready for a tough test

In it's biggest test of the season to date, the Lebanon High School boys basketball team did what it has done all season last Saturday against Manchester West - win.

But it wasn't as simple as that. While the Raiders had confidence going into the game against a team that had won 11 straight games and given undefeated Portsmouth its toughest game all year, the coaching staff knew it was going to take the team's best effort to beat West.

Getting to watch his players in practice every day, Lebanon coach Kieth Matte knew they'd be able to hold their own physically.

"Our practices are competitive," the Raiders coach said. "They are wars, so I'm not surprised. You worry when you've had some easier games and then the competition level goes up. We have enough good players where our practices keep us sharp, which is a real luxury to have."

By no means has Lebanon's schedule been a consistent test every night. In fact, going into Saturday's game, Lebanon's wins had come against teams with a combined winning percentage of .364 (43-75). Only two of those teams - Souhegan and Hollis Brookline - have a winning record, and the Sabers were the only ones that were above .500 when they played Lebanon.

The Raiders had also played the night before, beating John Stark by 47 points.

"You don't know how that's going to affect you, but we played very solid basketball," Matte said. "We had eight guys contribute and play well defensively. They were happy they won, but they expected to win. We had great preparation. They get after it in practice and the games are the fun time. They just kill each other in practice."

Things get a little tougher at just the right time for Lebanon. The Raiders have five games remaining, including two with rival Bishop Brady (10-3) plus the regular-season finale at home against Milford (11-1).

"I'd be lying if I told you I didn't know how it (could) shake out, but I try not to know," Matte said. "West is a good team. Another night ... who knows, we could play them again, and it could go the other way. We play Brady next Friday, which is a rival for us, and we’re just thinking about that."

Wake-up call for West

Despite the strong record, West was in a similar spot as its opponent going into last Saturday's game.

Like the Raiders, the Blue Knights had piled up their wins against teams that were a combined 47-72, for a .395 winning percentage, and just two of those teams currently have a winning record - Brady and HB.

The big difference for West was that season-opening loss to Portsmouth, but that came almost two months ago.

"It's a disappointing loss, but it's a good loss for us," West coach Danny Bryson said. "We haven't been challenged since the first game of the year and we could have been lax. Going into the end of the season, this could be good for us."

One area that Bryson felt his team could improve was on the boards.

"You can't teach toughness and they were just tougher than us (Saturday)," he said. "They wanted the ball more than we did. I don't know how many times we got the rebound and they just took it away from us. We've got to figure out how to be stronger with the ball."

West bounced back with a 48-45 win over Souhegan on Tuesday night.

Inside a rivalry

The Milford-Souhegan basketball rivalries have seen some long winning streaks over the last few years, although none as dominating than the one enjoyed by the Sabers girls. Souhegan never lost to Milford from the time the school opened in 1992 until January of 2013.

The Milford girls swept the teams' two meetings that year, and then the teams split the following year. In 2015, Milford once again took both games, but this year, Souhegan returned the favor, winning both games.

The boys' rivalry appears to have swung back to Milford.

Souhegan defeated Milford in the final week of the regular season in 2006, and wouldn't do so again for almost six years. The Spartans won 10 in a row over their rivals from 2006-07 through 2010-11, but then the Sabers came back to win seven straight, including two games in the Chick-Fil-A Holiday Tournament, from 2011-12 to 2013-14.

With Milford's win Monday night, the Spartans swept the season series and made it four wins in the last five meetings with the Sabers.