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# Kearsarge boys basketball starts fast, beats Mascoma Valley to reach D3 final (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/kearsarge-boys-basketball-starts-fast-beats-mascoma-valley-to-reach-d3-final-video/
- Published: 2025-02-27T17:30:16.000Z
- Updated: 2025-02-27T17:30:16.000Z
- Description: BOW - The bus ride Wednesday to Bow High School wasn't a long one for the Kearsarge Regional High School boys basketball team, but it was long enough for Noah Whipple. After missing most of the Cougars' quarterfinal win, a double overtime victory over Gilford, thanks to an elbow, and with a shot at
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division III-IV, boys basketball, Division III, Kearsarge, Mascoma Valley, playoffs, semifinals, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

BOW - The bus ride Wednesday to Bow High School wasn't a long one for the Kearsarge Regional High School boys basketball team, but it was long enough for Noah Whipple.

After missing most of the Cougars' quarterfinal win, a double overtime victory over Gilford, thanks to an elbow, and with a shot at going to the Division III title game, Whipple was eager to get back on the floor.

And with the senior drawing a lot of the attention from Mascoma Valley's defense, Whipple's younger brother, Eli, stepped up. The siblings combined to score all 29 of Kearsarge's points in the first half, as the No. 3 Cougars knocked off the No. 2 Royals, 52-33, in the semifinals at Bow.

Kearsarge moves on to face No. 1 Belmont, which beat defending-champion St. Thomas in the other semifinal, in Saturday's D3 title game at 4 p.m. at Keene State College.

Eli Whipple had 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first two quarters, including four of the team's eight 3-pointers, while Noah Whipple had nine of his 10 points in the first half.

The Cougars (19-2) led 22-9 at the end of the first quarter and kept a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

"I was pretty anxious," Noah Whipple said. "The bus ride here isn’t rough, it’s a good bus ride, but I was ready to go. The 30 minutes on the clock, stretching, I was ready."

After reaching the semifinals a year ago, the Cougars felt they were more prepared for what it would take to move on to the final for the first time in three years.

"We were here a year ago, and I think we were a little young," Kearsarge coach Nate Camp said. "I thought the difference (Wednesday) was that we kind of dictated the tempo, especially early, and then we got some good looks out of our offense and out of transition. We were able to force them into some decisions that they didn’t necessarily have to make."

After Mascoma (18-2) scored on the game's first possession, Kearsarge went on a 12-3 run to take a seven-point lead and force the Royals to take a timeout with 2:45 left in the first half. Mascoma's Bryce Ballou scored out of the timeout, but it was more of the same from the Cougars after that.

Eli Whipple hit two 3s in the final minute of the quarter as part of a 10-2 run that gave Kearsarge a 13-point lead after one quarter.

The offense slowed down a little in the second quarter, as the Royals were able to cut the lead down to seven, but a 3 by Eli Whipple and a jumper by Noah Whipple got it back up to 12\. The Cougars took a 29-17 lad into halftime.

"Going into halftime with that lead, we had to come out of it and say it’s still zero-zero," Noah Whipple said. "We’ve still got a second half to complete."

That's when Kearsarge turned things up on defense, at one point holding Mascoma just one field goal over a stretch of almost eight minutes.

"The biggest thing is not letting the opponent get comfortable," Camp said. "We’re trying to mix things up so that, if they see one look, they see another look the next time down. Just so they’re not getting too comfortable. We knew that Bryce (Ballou) and Tanner (Moulton) were going to make shots, it was just a matter of can we force them into tough shots. And keep them off the glass."

Moulton finished with 14 points for Mascoma while Ballou had nine, but only three other players scored for the Royals, and none had more than five points.