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# Lebanon boys basketball knocks off Coe-Brown to win first title since 1998
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/lebanon-boys-basketball-knocks-off-coe-brown-win-first-title-since-1998/
- Published: 2017-03-19T11:00:20.000Z
- Updated: 2017-03-19T11:00:20.000Z
- Description: Lebanon beats Coe-Brown to win first boys basketball title since 1998.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, boys basketball, championship, Coe-Brown, Lebanon, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

DURHAM - Kieth Matte knows his Lebanon High School boys basketball team well enough to realize that someone would have an answer.

Sure enough, when Coe-Brown made its run at the end of the third quarter to get within two points, Ryan Milliken stepped up to make a play.

Milliken hit a 3-pointer to end the third, and another to start the fourth, then made two free throws to wrestle all the momentum away from the Bears.

No. 1 Lebanon made 14 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away from No. 3 Coe-Brown for a 59-42 victory in Saturday's Division II championship game at the University of New Hampshire's Lundholm Gym. It's the Raiders first title since 1998 after falling in last year's title game, and reaching the final four for five straight years.

[*\[Don't forget to order your copy of the 2017 NH-HighSchoolSports.com Basketball Yearbook!\]*](https://shop.nh-highschoolsports.com/basketball-order-form?ref=nh-highschoolsports.com)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jmd2bballfinal031817-c20l32-1.jpg)

Lebanon's Christopher Nulty drives against Coe-Brown's Samuel Lupinacci.

"There's been a lot of pressure for this group to win it," Matte said. "This team needed to win it. It's a good way to end it. This is such a special group of kids. They've had such a remarkable run and I'm so glad they get to say they won it their senior year."

Milliken led the way for the Raiders (20-1) with 23 points and five rebounds, as he was 9 of 10 from the free throw line. Christopher Nulty was also in double figures with 14 points and Matthew Eylander added 12 points.

As a team, Lebanon was 24 of 26 at the line, including 20 of 22 in the second half, and the Raiders shot 61.5 percent from the field in the final 16 minutes.

That came after Lebanon held Coe-Brown to 2-of-14 shooting in the first half, but held just a 21-16 lead at the break thanks to some shooting struggles of its own and thanks to a 12-for-12 performance from the Bears at the line.

"We went down at halftime and go they had two field goals, we were getting great looks," Matte said. "You evaluate what do their looks look like and what did ours look like. I was really happy with that. We had fantastic opportunities, but it's tough to shoot here. There's no adjustments really to make, we just had to come out in the second half and play the same way we did."

Brody Ashley had a team-high 14 points for Coe-Brown (18-4) but no one else had more than six. After Scott Spenard had 18 points in the semifinal win over Milford, Lebanon was able to hold him in check, holding him to just six points.

"We've got to give them credit for their defense," Coe-Brown coach Dave Smith said. "They didn't allow us to get into any good rhythm or any good flow. And then when we did, we had some good looks, I thought, and we just didn't capitalize on them. That's what happens when you don’t have a good rhythm going."

The Bears started to find a rhythm in the third quarter, but were still down eight points following two free throws by Eylander with 2:47 to go in the frame.

Back-to-back baskets by Jacob Snow and Spenard cut Lebanon's lead to 31-27, and with time winding down, Ashley made a layup and drew a foul for the chance at a three-point play that would have made it a one-point game.

But Ashley missed the free throw - the first miss by either team to that point - and Nulty grabbed the rebound, finding Milliken as he raced down the court.

The Lebanon senior drilled a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left to give the Raiders a 34-29 lead, and 19 seconds into the fourth, he hit another 3 to make it 37-29\. After a miss by Coe-Brown, Milliken was fouled and made both free throws to cap a personal 8-0 run and put Lebanon up 10.

"There is no question in my mind that he was going to get off a good look," Matte said. "He's that kind of kid. We as coaches know what's going to happen, we just don't know if it's going to go in or not. Ryan was going to run it up and they were going to double him and somebody was going to be open in the corner, or he was going to get a good look."

Shawn Spenard hit a 3 at the other end to make it a 39-32 game with 7:06 to play, but the Raiders were in the double bonus a few moments later, and outscored the Bears 20-10 the rest of the way.

"That was like a nail," Smith said of Milliken's 3-pointer. "To their credit, we got into foul situations, we fouled a lot, and they made every free throw."

Lebanon made more shots overall, and grabbed 25 defensive rebounds, limiting Coe-Brown's opportunities for second-chance points.

"If you get good looks, you'll eventually do OK," Matte said. "There's a lot of anxiety about it. We knew they would have to play really, really well to beat us if we rebounded and kept them out of transition. We ran our stuff and got good looks."