> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Hollis Brookline girls basketball pulls away in fourth quarter to beat Lebanon (video) - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/hollis-brookline-girls-basketball-pulls-away-fourth-quarter-beat-lebanon-video/ - Published: 2018-01-20T16:50:17.000Z - Updated: 2018-01-20T16:50:17.000Z - Description: HOLLIS - There was a lot that Bob Murphy was concerned about as the Hollis Brookline High School girls basketball team went into Friday night's game against Lebanon. The Cavaliers coach hoped his team could find away to slow the Raiders down inside the paint while at the same time keeping them from - Author: Joe Marchilena - Tags: Division II, girls basketball, Hollis Brookline, Lebanon, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 HOLLIS - There was a lot that Bob Murphy was concerned about as the Hollis Brookline High School girls basketball team went into Friday night's game against Lebanon. The Cavaliers coach hoped his team could find away to slow the Raiders down inside the paint while at the same time keeping them from getting shots around the perimeter. HB struggled with both in the first half, but was able to put it all together on both ends of the floor in the second half for a 58-40 win over Lebanon in a rematch of last year's Division II championship game, won by the Raiders. After Lebanon (8-2) took a 30-28 lead with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter, HB (9-1) outscored the Raiders 30-10 the rest of the way. The Cavs forced 18 turnovers and held Lebanon scoreless over the final two-plus minutes of the game. Christina Balsamo led the Cavs with 16 points, 12 in the second half, and Joanna Balsamo recorded 14 points, while Brodie Kelley was also in double figures with 12 points. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/jmlebhbgbball011918-l15h4-wm.jpg) Hollis Brookline's Christina Balsamo puts up a shot as Lebanon's Sally Rainey defends. "The Balsamo girls just keep going the whole game long," Murphy said. "They’re fun to watch and fun to coach. (Christina) capable of that any night against any team. Brodie Kelley did a heck of a job on both ends of the court. She made a number of steals and had a number of finishes at the other end." But it was on the defensive end where HB did the most damage. After scoring nine points in the first half, Lebanon's Rebecca Wright had just two points - both at the free throw line - in the second half. Anna Wolke led the Raiders with 17 points and it was her shooting in the third quarter that helped Lebanon regain the lead. "They’ve got the Wright girl, she’s tough and if she gets the ball underneath, it’s a pretty good shot opportunity for them," Murphy said. "We were trying to concentrate on that, but at the same time, you’ve got to get out in the corners and the wings. (Wolke) is a good outside shooter, and wherever she was, we tried to get a hand in her face. "In the second half, we did a much better job of getting out on the shooters. Elizabeth Atkinson, along with Joanna Balsamo, did a much better job containing Wright. She wasn’t getting the shots she was getting in the first half. And because we were extending that zone as we were going on, their offense was starting much further out, they were making much longer skip passes." Lebanon led by as many as five in the first quarter, going up 15-10 on a basket by Wolke with 1:05 left in the opening frame. But HB scored twice in the final minute to cut the lead to one and took its first lead, 16-15, early in the second. The Raiders scored five straight points to take a 20-16 lead, but went scoreless over the final six-plus minutes of the first half and the Cavs took a 22-20 lead into halftime. "We kind of laid an egg (Friday)," Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe said. "We didn’t come out and play as hard as we normally do. Hollis played great. We’ve been off for a week and it seems like we’ve been off for a month with the way we played. We just came out flat and they took it to us." HB jumped out to a 28-22 lead to open the third quarter, but Lebanon answered with an 8-0 run, getting five points from Wolke to go up 30-28 and force Murphy to take a timeout. "They weren’t playing inside, they were going outside and hitting outside shots," Joanna Balsamo said of what Murphy told them in the timeout. "We were focusing so much on the inside game that we forgot to get outside and they were hitting shots. He reminded us to get out on shooters and stop them." Christina Balsamo hit a 3-pointer out of the break to give HB the lead and Kelley added a basket after that to put the Cavs up 33-30\. On Lebanon's next possession, Leah Mayes, the team's only senior, went down with an ankle injury and didn't return. Wolke cut the HB lead to one with 47 seconds left, but Kelley scored again to make it a three-point game and Christina Balsamo hit another 3 in the final seconds of the third to give the Cavs a 38-32 lead. "We had that run and our only senior (Leah Mayes) got hurt and I think that kind of took the wind out of our sails," Kehoe said. "That’s no excuse. I thought they played well. We broke down a lot on defense and they took advantage. We had a lot of breakdowns defensively. That’s not typical of what we’ve done all season." Lebanon was able to get within five points, 42-37, with 5:35 remaining, but HB ended the game with a 16-3 run.