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# Late run fuels Pelham boys basketball past Hanover, to 2nd straight D2 title
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/late-run-fuels-pelham-boys-basketball-past-hanover-to-2nd-straight-d2-title/
- Published: 2024-03-11T15:00:15.000Z
- Updated: 2024-03-11T15:00:15.000Z
- Description: DURAHM - If the Hanover High School boys basketball team was going to have a chance against Pelham in the Division II championship game, the Bears were going to have to disrupt seniors Dom Herrling and Zach James. And for the three quarters they did just that, as top-seeded Pelham’s top duo combined
- Author: Jack Belanger
- Tags: Division II, boys basketball, championship, Hanover, Pelham, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

DURAHM - If the Hanover High School boys basketball team was going to have a chance against Pelham in the Division II championship game, the Bears were going to have to disrupt seniors Dom Herrling and Zach James.

And for the three quarters they did just that, as top-seeded Pelham’s top duo combined for 1 for 9 for four points at halftime. No. 2 Hanover’s second goal would be to limit the transition points, limiting Pelham to just six through the first two quarters.

It appeared the Bears had the formula figured out, up 34-32 going into the fourth quarter, and it looked like they had things under control.

Until they didn’t.

James hit his first 3-pointer of the game with about six-and-a-half minutes left to make it a 36-35 Hanover lead, forcing a Bears timeout. That’s when the Pythons were determined to finish the game their way.

“We told each other ‘We’re not losing this game no matter what,’” Herrling said. “We’ve been playing with each other for countless years. We worked really hard and played really well together.”

After that timeout the Pythons never looked back, Herrling took a charge on Pelham’s next defensive possession and gave a new life to the team. Pelham finished the game on a 16-5 run to close out their second basketball championship in a row, winning 51-41.

Herrling and James accounted for 12 of their team’s points during the run. Herrling finished with team highs in points and rebound with 15 and 9, respectively.

After the game, Pelham coach John Morin Jr. gave all the credit to his players.

“I’m living the dream," he said. "These guys know how to win. Half the time I say I can roll out the ball out there and let them find ways to figure it out. It’s all-out effort with them.”

The Bears, starting three sophomores in the game, executed on defense early and got enough on offense to keep Pelham from going on any big runs. Ryan McLaughlin scored eight of his game-high 17 points in the first half.

Meanwhile Dave Frenchette took the task of guarding James, who finished with seven points on 2 of 9 shooting, to limit his touches.

Yet, it was the Pythons who held the lead at half, 24-20\. With about six minutes to go in the half, Hanover seemed to have the momentum, leading 18-11\. Then Pelham flipped a switch and went on a 13-2 run to finish out the half. It was the first time Hanover had a halftime deficit all season.

The main cause of that run? Free throws. Pelham made 10 free throws during the run and went 12 for 18 during the half.

Senior Adrian Villanueva came off the bench to help fill in scoring gap, going 6 for 6 from the line, finishing with eight points, all in the first half.

“Other teams thought we only had five guys,” Morin said. “We have kids like Adrian Villaneuva who has been playing with these guys forever. We stayed on Adrian to stay with it and keep working hard. (Sunday) was his day.”

That run brought Pelham back into the game and set the game up for a exciting second half. 

Bringing back most of last year’s team made life easy for Morin. During the team’s timeout in the first half, he kept things simple.

“Very few of our timeouts are Xs and Os,” Morin said. “It’s about playing together. It’s about getting stops. We know if we can get three stops in a row and put two possessions, we know that’s a run. That’s what we work on.”

Coming off a 5-13 season, Hanover was the surprise of the league. Before the championship, the team had won 18 straight games. Despite falling short of the title, the future is still bright for the Bears; they will only lose one starter to graduation while the rest of their rotation is set to return.

“These kids worked incredibly hard over the past two years,” Ben Davis said. “It’s a tribute to their confidence, their belief and hard work. Not many people thought we were going to get to this point. We knew we were going to have success, maybe not to this degree. I couldn’t be prouder of them (Sunday), win or lose.”

After surprising people by winning last year’s championship as the five seed, very few doubted the Python’s ceiling this year. After beating Coe-Brown by three in overtime in the semifinals, they left no questions about who the top team in D2 was. 

Pelham has become an epicenter for championships in the past two years, winning back-to-back championships in football and basketball. At the center of all those runs is Herrling, who was the starting running back for the football team.

“Every year we come in expecting to win,” said Herrling. “That's just the program. We work hard unlike any program. Our coaches work extremely well. Our teammates have been together since first grade. We have great chemistry.”

Not only did Herrling finish his basketball career with over 1,000 points, he also rushed for over 1,000 yards for the football team.