Lebanon boys basketball uses fast start to beat Manchester West (video)

MANCHESTER - The Lebanon High School boys basketball team wasn't too sure what to expect going into Saturday's matchup with Manchester West.

The Raiders, however, felt pretty good about taking the floor against the Blue Knights.

Lebanon started fast, going up by 10 points in the first quarter, and with stood a West comeback in the second half to beat the Blue Knights 60-53 to remained undefeated in Division II. The Raiders improved to 13-0 and snapped an 11-game winning streak for West (11-2).

"Our kids weren't scared," Lebanon coach Kieth Matte said. "They came in and were very confident, a lot more confident than the coaches were.

"We had eight guys contribute and play well defensively. It was a good team win. I think that's a cliche that gets thrown around a little too much, but all the kids contributed. We had a great week of practice preparing for this game. I'm going to have a hard time finding fault with them (Sunday) at practice."

KJ Matte led the Raiders with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, and Ryan Milliken was also in double figures with 10 points. Graham Chickering chipped in with nine points, as seven different players scored for Lebanon, and many of those points came in transition.

"You run the risk of getting the game too fast against a team as athletic as West," Kieth Matte said. "We stayed under control when we needed to, and we made plays in transition.

"We were worked on it. They are an excellent transition team and if we can knock them out of transition, if we can keep them off the glass, we're going to win. They hit some tough shots, which they can because they're good. But we did what we wanted to do."

Keenan Caron had a big game for the Blue Knights, scoring a game-high 24 points, 15 of which came in the second half, including a 3-pointer with 3:30 left that made it a nine-point game. Joe Simpson added 11 points for West and Jacobee Burpee chipped in with nine.

But a slow start doomed the Blue Knights, according to coach Danny Bryson.

"The first quarter is what killed us," the coach said. "We came out a little flat and they jumped on us early. We were missing easy shots and they worked harder on the boards. I think they beat us on the boards and they won all the 50-50 balls."

Bryson called a timeout early in both the first and second quarters to get his team focused on getting back on defense, but the Raiders were opportunistic, sending someone down the floor on almost every fast break for easy transition baskets.

"In that first half, they were releasing a guy on the weak side," Bryson said. "We made adjustments at halftime and we played a better second half. If we get the first six or seven minutes of that first quarter back, it's a pretty even game."

Lebanon went into halftime up 14 points and maintained that lead for most of the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Simpson made it a 46-33 lead for the Raiders, but a 3s by Chickering and Matte put Lebanon up 19 points.

But West was finally able to make some stops defensively, and Caron took the offense on his back, scoring back-to-back layups to start the Blue Knights on a 12-3 run. The senior had nine points during that stretch.

Down nine points, West forced a turnover and had a chance to cut into the lead even more, but Matte came up with a steal and found Milliken at the other end for an easy basket.

"You're climbing up hill and you put yourself in a position where you can't match shots," Bryson said. "We were matching shots with them. When we hit a big shot, then they come down and we have a mental lapse and they hit an easy layup."

West wouldn't go away, as the Blue Knights twice got the lead back down to 10 points in the final minute. Simpson's 3 with 18.3 seconds left accounted for the final score.

"West is a good team," Kieth Matte said. "Another night ... who knows, we could play them again, and it could go the other way."