Doherty's buzzer-beater lifts Goffstown girls basketball past Lebanon in D2 semifinal (video)

MANCHESTER - With a little more than a minute to play in the third quarter of Monday's Division II semifinal, things did not look good for the Goffstown High School girls basketball team.

The No. 7 Grizzlies trailed No. 3 Lebanon by nine points, had struggled offensively all game, and point guard Sarah Doherty left the game after picking up her fourth foul.

But like it has all season, Goffstown found a way to get where it wanted to be, using the entire fourth quarter to cut into that lead and tying the game on a basket by Kathryn Howe with 1:09 to play.

After a turnover by Lebanon with 26 seconds left, the Grizzlies held the ball for a final shot, and Doherty's layup with about a second to play gave Goffstown a 37-35 win at Southern New Hampshire University. The win sends Goffstown to the championship game for the second year in a row, where it will face No. 5 Hanover, which upset No. 1 Portsmouth in the other semifinal.

"We couldn't hang our heads at that point because we knew it wasn't a lot," Howe said. "If you think about it, it's only a few baskets. We just stuck with it. Then we just worked really hard and got it back."

Hannah Larochelle led Goffstown (15-6) with 13 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Howe had nine points and 13 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end.

The Grizzlies won despite shooting 27.8 percent from the field, and a big part of that was Goffstown's struggles in the first half to shoot from the outside. In the second half, Howe moved into the post to try to generate offense.

"They were doing a great job closing out and not giving her a 3-point look," Goffstown coach Deanna Goodwin said. "We moved her inside, postup and take it. She is a good post player, but quite often, she's a better 3-point shooter, so we stay with that. They were just closing it out so well, but they had a smaller kid on her. We had to get something going, so we switched it up."

Lebanon (17-4) got 11 points and four rebounds from Joslin Wainwright, while Anna Wolke came off the bench to add 10 points.

The Radiers took control of the game early, getting out to an 8-2 lead after neither team could score through the first three minutes.

But Goffstown battled back in the second quarter, tying the game at 15 on a basket by Larochelle with 50 seconds left before halftime. The Raiders answered, though, getting a basket from Wainwright to lead 17-15 at the break.

Lebanon was able to keep and extend the lead in the third quarter, outscoring Goffstown 10-4 to take a 27-19 lead midway through the quarter, with Wainwright and Wolke combined for nine points during the run. After a free throw by Lacrochelle made it a seven-point game, Doherty picked up her fourth foul and Kendra MacDonals made both foul shots to make it a 29-20 lead for the Raiders with 1:18 to play.

It was still a nine-point game when Molly McQueeney hit a deep 3-pointer to cut the lead to six, and Larochelle followed with a pair of free throws to pull Goffstown within four, 31-27. Wolke made a couple of layups to help keep the Raiders up six, 35-29, with 3:58 left, but Lebanon wouldn't score again the rest of the way.

Howe and Larochelle both scored inside to get Goffstown within two points with 2:38 to go, and after both teams missed a couple of shots, the Grizzlies took a timeout with 1:21 remaining to set up a play for Howe. The play went as planned and the senior went in for an easy basket to tie the game at 35 with 1:09 left.

Lebanon worked the ball around to set up a shot, but turned it over instead, giving Goffstown a chance with 26 seconds to play. After moving the ball, Doherty made her way to the basket with about seven seconds remaining.

"I heard the bench screaming the time, so I was trying to get a shot up," Doherty said. "I looked at the clock before we started the play, and the bench was yelling out the time. It didn't feel like anything. I didn't see it go in. Everyone was just screaming."

Goffstown will have a chance again to win the program's first championship since 1988.

"We're seventh and it isn't like a whole lot of people are cheering in our corner," Goodwin said. "They've had to be in it for them, and know they had to rely on themselves and I think that's what kept them going. They believed in it and that kept them going."