Hanover boys basketball holds off Pembroke to reach D2 title game

DURHAM – In one year, the Hanover High School boys basketball team went from missing the Division II tournament to earning a spot in this year’s semifinals against Pembroke Academy on Tuesday night.

And the Bears are not done with their turnaround season just yet.

Second-seeded Hanover jumped out to a 16-4 lead early in the second quarter to build a cushion on its way to protecting a 49-43 victory over No. 3 Pembroke at Oyster River High School.

“I don’t think a lot of people thought we’d have this much success this year going into it, but we kind of used that as motivation to keep it going all season long,” Hanover coach Ben Davis said. "There is no secret, it’s just been hard work through our summer and fall stuff and the kids really believing and feeling confident in what we’re doing and getting better every day.”

After winning just five games a year ago, Hanover (19-1) brings an 18-game winning streak into Sunday’s D2 championship game against top-seeded, defending champion Pelham (19-1) at the University of New Hampshire's Lundholm Gymnasium. The Pythons advanced with a 59-56 overtime victory over Coe-Brown in Tuesday’s nightcap.

Sophomore forward Jaysen Oriol scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the second half to lead Hanover, while Roy Lucas added 12 points. Joe Fitzgerald netted 16 points for Pembroke (18-3).

“It feels great, we’ve worked so hard these past two years to get to where we are now,” Oriol said. “We want to win it, everyone wants to win it and we’ve put in hard work in practice every day.”

After Pembroke closed to within 21-18 at halftime, Hanover took a 31-24 lead into the fourth quarter after a 3-point play from Oriol, who also took a feed from Lucas for a bucket to begin the fourth.

The Spartans stormed back and closed within 34-32 following back-to-back 3-pointers from Andrew Fitzgerald and Evan Berkley midway through the fourth. After Oriol and Evan Berkley (12 points) traded baskets, Christian Blix drained a 3-pointer to give Hanover a 39-34 lead midway through the fourth.

“Jeyson was big for us inside in terms of the scoring when we were struggling a bit offensively, especially in the second half and it kind of helped us loosen some things for us,” Davis said. “I just think that every possession we were making the tough plays, getting after rebounds and diving after loose balls. Just the desire to win was the big key for us.”

Pembroke closed to within 43-41 following a 3-pointer from Andrew Fitzgerald, but Lucas sank a pair of free throws and the Bears were able to salt the game away after rebounding a miss from Brady Hogan.

“The key was how we played, how we played all year. We were just solid on both ends of the floor,” Lucas said. “We attacked the paint and hit shooters. We have so much confidence in our coaching staff and confidence in ourselves.”

Now the focus turns to closing out the ultimate turnaround season for a program looking for its third championship. Hanover won Class I titles in 2002 and 2007.

“We translate what we do in practice into games,” Oriol said. “We come out and work hard in practice every day. We know when we’re playing defense and playing gritty we’re at our best. Defense is first for us and that’s what we try to do.”