Gilford hangs on to beat Kearsarge in D3 boys basketball semis (video)

BEDFORD - Teams playing in the second game of the NHIAA's semifinal doubleheaders don't always get to see a lot of the game that takes place first.

But Tuesday night, Gilford High School boys basketball coach Rick Acquilano saw enough of the first semifinal between Mascoma Valley and Hopkinton, that he felt he needed to warn his team.

Warn them that Hopkinton, which handed Mascoma Valley its only loss during the regular season, was up double digits in the second half and eventually lost the game.

Didn't look like it was going to happen to Gilford, though, when the Golden Eagles took a 17-point lead in the third quarter against Kearsarge, of course, until it did.

The ninth-seeded Cougars went on a 16-0 run to cut the lead down to one point, but No. 4 Gilford never relinquished the advantage and held on for a 49-45 win over Kearsarge in the Division III semifinal at Bedford High School.

The win puts the Golden Eagles in the final for the first time since the last of four-straight championships in 2023, where they will face the team they defeated for that title, No. 2 Mascoma Valley. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at Keene State College.

“We watched the game before, and the message to the kids was, Hopkinton was up and they lost,” Acquilano said. “We knew we were in a four-quarter battle with them, and credit to them, they did a great job. Credit to our kids for finishing what we started.”

Henry Sleeper had 18 points and Mark Uicker added 14 points to lead Gilford (18-3) while Owen Hawkins had six points, including two free throws in the final 20 seconds to help the Golden Eagles put the game away.

Kearsarge (14-7) was just a possession or two away from pulling off its third win over a higher-seeded team in the tournament thanks in part to 19 points from Eli Whipple while Blake Grieco had 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and Carter Wheeler chipped in with seven points.

An upset didn't seem likely early on, as Gilford opened the game with a 10-0 run and Kearsarge didn't get on the board until the final three minutes of the first quarter. The Cougars responded with a 7-0 run to get within three points, but a 3 by Sleeper just before the buzzer made it a six-point game after one.

“You almost don’t know what you’re going to get,” Acquilano said. “This is a big stage and just you’ve just got to get a bucket and then it starts feeling a little better. I think we were settled early. I’m not sure why, but we were.”

The Golden Eagles doubled the lead in the second quarter, taking a 31-19 advantage into halftime, and a basket and a 3 by Sleeper to open the second half made it a 36-19 lead a little over a minute into the third.

Grieco answered with back-to-back 3s and a three-point play by Wheeler made it an eight-point game with 5:38 left in the third. Kearsarge kept the run going, pushing it to 16 unanswered points on another basket by Wheeler to make it 36-35 with just over three minutes remaining in the third.

Gilford responded before the end of the quarter, outscoring Kearsarge 7-4 the rest of the way, and then a basket by Ryan Folan to open the fourth put the Golden Eagles up 45-39. The teams traded baskets, with Sleeper scoring to give Gilford a 47-41 lead, but the only other points the Golden Eagles would score over the final five minutes were the two free throws by Hawkins.

But the Cougars hit a scoring drought of their own, going almost four minutes without a basket until Whipple scored to make it 47-45 with about 30 seconds left. Kearsarge was forced to start fouling, but still had three to give, taking about 12 seconds off the clock before Hawkins put the game away.

“When we execute, we’re pretty good,” Acquilano said. “It’s always about defense. At the end of the day, we always say, first one to 50 (points) wins. We didn’t get there (Tuesday), but they didn’t either.”