Hollis Brookline boys basketball rolls in 2nd half to beat Pembroke (video)

HOLLIS - There was a list of things that Ryan Kelley wrote down in the locker room for the Hollis Brookline High School boys basketball before Friday night's game against Pembroke.

When the Cavaliers went back in at halftime and took a look at that list, although they trailed the Spartans by just a point, the two things at the top of that list hadn't been done. In the second half, HB refocused on its points of emphasis and it showed.

After Pembroke scored the first two points of the third quarter, HB went on an 11-0 run to take control of the game and rolled to an 84-60 win over the defending-Division II champs in the final regular season game of 2025 for both teams.

James Arthur had a game-high 31 points with five 3-pointers to lead the Cavs (3-0) while Dylan Kelley, the coach's son, added 18 points and Alton Williams recorded 12 points. Renzo Bergskaug came off the bench to hit three 3s and finished in double figures with 11 points.

"The nerves were there obviously in the first couple of minutes," Ryan Kelley said. "A little bit of sloppy play. They settled in and then as expected, it was an awesome game. Super, super proud of how they came out in the second half, the energy they came out with, to respond to that close game. The poise and the ability to ramp it up like that, that's new and very exciting."

The first half saw 14 lead changes and three ties, as Pembroke took a 32-31 lead into halftime.

But despite that, the Cavs felt like they weren't doing the things they wanted to throughout the first two quarters.

"If you look at the locker room, of all the things that I wrote down, No. 1 was hands out on defense, and we had two guys get into early foul trouble," Ryan Kelley said. "No. 2 was use your options on offense, and neither of those things really grabbed hold in the first half."

Of HB's 31 points in the first half, Arthur had 20 of them, while only two other players scored. The Cavs were able to change that, as Williams scored all of his points after halftime and Dylan Kelley and Bergskaug combined for 20 points in the second half.

Williams and Ben Leclerc each had two fouls in the first half and HB was called for eight as a team, but the Cavs had just three after halftime while holding Pembroke to just nine points in the third quarter.

"Coming out in the second half, we really didn’t change much," Arthur said. "They hung with us (in the first half). But we just like getting those runouts, and we’re in great shape to be able to do that. We have great depth as well."

As a team, HB hit 12 3-pointers and three transition dunks by Williams kept the student section in the game.

"The ball started to move. and the energy creates energy," Ryan Kelley said. "The confidence is now going to be there, which will feed into a lot of energy going forward."

That confidence comes not just from Friday, but from all three games to start the season. For the last two years, the Cavs have opened with Oyster River, Pelham and Pembroke in December.

Not only were all three in the final four a year ago, Pembroke won last year's title while Pelham captured the previous two. HB started 1-2 before a 14-4 regular season.

This year, the Cavs have wins over all three and are one of five teams in D2 off to a 3-0 start.

"Our month of December is very difficult and to be able to change that from last year, it was great and I think it just meant a lot to the guys that were on the team last year," Arthur said. "It changes our mindset going through the rest of the season."

HB will spend its holiday break playing in the Lowell Catholic Holiday Tournament, starting Dec. 28.

"It’s huge because the message at tryouts was December is a gauntlet," Ryan Kelley said. "To be able to respond and get ready, with the compressed preseason and all that, to be able to get ready and perform like they did (Friday), now my job is to make sure they don’t get overconfident."