Hanover girls basketball upsets Portsmouth to reach D2 final (video)

MANCHESTER - Dan O'Rourke had a clear message when his Hanover High School girls basketball team got behind Portsmouth by a dozen points Monday night.

Don't panic.

With a team full of players on the biggest stage of their careers, including four freshmen, the Marauders coach just wanted to make sure the game didn't get away from them. Instead, Hanover will be playing for a championship.

The No. 5 Marauders chipped away at No. 1 Portsmouth's lead throughout the second half and went ahead for good in the final 90 seconds to win 44-40 in the Division II semifinals at Southern New Hampshire University. The win sent Hanover to the final for the first time since 2009 and ends the Clippers' undefeated season.

"I told them don't look at the scoreboard because I was afraid they'd panic," O'Rourke said of when his team trailed 31-19 with 3:54 left in the third. "Just execute and get one basket at a time. I thought we were trying to thread the needle too much against the zone and we really had to start making shots. Thankfully, we hit three or four 3s that gave us momentum."

Silke Milliman had one of those 3s, and finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Hanover (17-4), while Diana Schwarz came off the bench to also score 10 points and grab eight boards. Lois Schwarz added nine points and Caroline Merguerian added two big 3-pointers in the third quarter to help the Marauders bounce back from shooting struggles in the first half.

Hanover shot just 25 percent from the field and scored 13 points in the game's first 16 minutes, but bounced back in the third to score 18 points of 7 of 12 shooting.

"I think (the shots) just started falling," Milliman said. "We started taking more shots. In the first half, everyone was hesitant. At halftime, (O'Rourke) was like you've got to take shots."

Libby Underwood led Portsmouth (20-1) with 15 points while Heather Durand added 13 points and nine rebounds and Abbe Laurence grabbed 10 boards and scored four points.

But after putting up 31 points through the first two-and-a-half quarters, the Clippers scored just nine points over the game's final 12 minutes against a Hanover defense that had allowed an average of 33.3 points in its previous eight games.

"We've been a stellar defensive team all year and they were going to have to earn it," O'Rourke said. "I told the kids, we weren't sending enough kids to the boards in the first half. We were giving up easy second-chance points, especially on the weakside.

"In the second half, five kids have to rebound, that's what it came down to. In the first half, Portsmouth beat us to every 50-50 ball and they were playing with more intensity. We had to ratchet it up."

With 2:20 left in the third, Merguerian connected on a 3-pointer to get Hanover within nine points, 33-24, and after the teams traded free throws, Lois Schwarz hit a 3 to make it a six-point game.

After a Portsmouth turnover, the Marauders swung momentum completely their way, as Merguerian hit another 3 at the buzzer to cut the Clippers' lead to 34-31 going into the fourth quarter.

"I thought the 3 to end the third quarter really got us going," O'Rourke said. "The entire bench came to life after that."

Portsmouth was able to hang on to the lead until a layup by Diana Schwarz tied the game at 38 with 3:57 to play. Two free throws by Caroline Rodi put Hanover up by two, but the Clippers answered on a basket by Sadie Shore to knot the score at 40.

The Clippers had a chance to retake the lead, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. At the other end, Rodi found Milliman open down low for a layup and a 42-40 lead with 1:07 to play. Portsmout had three chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute, but each shot ended up off the mark and Hanover was able to make a pair of free throws to finish off the win.

"Our seniors really have wanted it forever," Milliman said. "They didn't give up and us freshmen wanted it. Not giving up and playing with more intensity, which we didn't do in the first half, picked us up in the second."