Oyster River girls basketball holds off Laconia to reach D2 final

DERRY – On a night in which she unknowingly eclipsed 1,000 career points, the biggest contribution that Oyster River High school senior Vivian O’Quinn made was to keep the team confident during timeouts while the Bobcats’ lead evaporated during the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s Division II girls basketball semifinal against Laconia.

After trailing by nine points entering the fourth quarter, top-seeded Laconia erased the deficit to tie the game at 35-35, but No. 4 Oyster River was not about to let the opportunity slip away.

Oyster River held Laconia scoreless in the final 2:51 of regulation and O’Quinn’s transition feed to Caitlin Klein with under a minute remaining helped seal a 39-36 upset victory inside Pinkerton Academy’s Hackler Gymnasium.

“I told them that we’ve got it and that this is our game and not to give up,” O’Quinn said. “Don’t think about the past, don’t think about the turnovers and just play in the moment.”

O’Quinn finished with eight points on the night while her classmate Olivia Andersen netted a game-high 19 points. Andersen heated up with eight points during a second quarter that paced Oyster River to a 17-14 halftime lead and she drilled a 3-pointer to give the Bobcats a 35-28 lead in the fourth.

“I was a little worried but I trust my team that we had it in us just to pull it out and win this thing,” Andersen said. “I knew we weren’t gonna let this get away from us.”

Oyster River (17-4) returns its first Division II championship game in 16 years on Saturday when it faces No. 2 Milford (18-3) at the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gymnasium at noon. The Spartans advanced with a 37-29 victory over No. 3 Derryfield (17-4) in Wednesday’s earlier contest.

The Bobcats beat Hanover for the 2009 crown and are seeking their fifth overall championship for the program.

“Laconia is tough, well-coached and strong and we knew we had a lead but I said consider a tie game because they’ll fight back,” Oyster River coach Bryan Wall said. “They just dug deep (Wednesday). We kept that same five for the whole second half. They were fighting, they were clicking, we stuck with them and they came up huge for us.”

Laconia (18-2) began a 7-0 run to tie the game with a hoop by Macy Swormstedt (17 points). Makayla Keegan then converted a steal into a 3-point play by Madeline Mousseau, and Ava Currier evened the game at 35-35.

“The girls played with resiliency and obviously we know games like this are going to be tight and it was going to be about momentum and runs,” Laconia coach Jeff Greeley said. “I thought the girls battled and it was good to see that out of them.”

Laconia had one last chance but Swormstedt gambled and tried to create a 3-point play, but didn’t make the shot after being fouled with 0.9 seconds left. She missed the first free throw and then intentionally missed the second for a miracle that wasn’t answered.

It was a special ending for Klein, who was primarily responsible for guarding Swormstedt and making her work for her points. Klein fought her way back onto the team for the tournament run in her senior year after she missed the regular season after breaking her right wrist as the girls soccer goalie during the fall.

“I thought I was going to miss this whole season and didn’t think I’d get to play at all,” Klein said. “I love basketball and this is kind of my favorite thing ever. Just to get the opportunity to be out here again is super exciting.”