Lebanon girls basketball gets revenge against Souhegan

AMHERST - Tuesday night's game didn't clinch anything for the Lebanon High School girls basketball team.

In the bigger picture, it was just a regular season win in December, but for seniors Moriah Morton and Emily Kehoe, the Raiders' 71-45 beating of Souhegan was more than just another victory.

"Souhegan is one of those teams that has always been a rivalry for us, since our freshmen year," Kehoe said. "It was one of those that we have to make a statement because we’re seniors now and it’s our last time."

"We said beforehand that we wanted to win this game for us, but also for the girls who had played the last few years who had their dreams shut down by Souhegan," Morton added. "We came here (to Amherst) knowing that we haven’t won here in a long time, so that spurred us on. It felt amazing. Coming out and making a statement that that’s not happening again, that was a great feeling."

Over the last two seasons, the Raiders have lost a total of four games; three of those have been to Souhegan, including the playoffs the last two years.

Souhegan coach Jeremy Faulkner knew Lebanon was going to come in hungry for a win.

"I preached it for three days before," he said. "This team is basically brand new. A lot of them have been on the team for two years, but with the seniors we had last year, they’re still learning with each other."

The Sabers (2-2 in Division II) stayed with the Raiders (4-0) at times, but Lebanon's defensive pressure and transition game were too much. Morton finished with 26 points, making 12 shots from the field, and Kehoe added 18 points.

Amanda Gendron came off the bench to lead Souhegan with 11 points and Cammie Formby-Lavertu was also in double figures with 10. Mickenzie Larivee added nine points before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury.

"She got a blind side screen on her and got (an elbow) to the chin," Faulkner said, adding that the coaching staff didn't want to risk any further injury once the game had gotten out of hand.

The teams traded baskets to open the game and the score was tied 6-6 when Lebanon's pressure became too much. The Raiders went on an 11-0 run, forcing Souhegan to turn the ball over six times during that stretch, and were up 25-14 at the end of the first quarter.

For the game, the Sabers turned the ball over 29 times, and many of those miscues turned into points for the Raiders.

"We want to make sure we convert all the time because we’re working so hard on the ball," Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe said. "If you’re going to work that hard up front and you’re going to tire kids out, you've got to convert when the opportunity arises.

"Our transition game looked good, and in spots, we looked really, really good."

It was feast or famine for Souhegan for much of the first half, as the Sabers shot for a high percentage, if they weren't turning the ball over.

Lebanon took its 11-point lead into halftime, but Souhegan closed the gap to open the third. A 3-pointer by Gendron and jumpers by Larivee and Formby-Lavertu helped the Sabers get within six, 41-35, with 6:42 to play in the frame.

But Lebanon responded, going on an 18-2 run to put the game away. Samantha MacDonald had six points while Morton, Emily Kehoe and Vanessa Fleury each had four during that stretch.

"I told them where the traps are going to come from and that we have to get middle, and we didn't get middle," Faulkner said. "When we did, I don’t know how many times I talked to the girls about it, we had to have bounce passes. It started being an aerial show. I told them if we start throwing it, they’re going to steal it. Then when we started making bounce passes, we started to stay with them. We came out in the third quarter and went on a run and the girls fought hard, but they just died off in the last 10 minutes."