Pembroke boys basketball fights off ConVal to reach D2 championship game (video)

DURHAM - The first Division II boys basketball semifinal had everything.

Off the court there was an overflow crowd at Lundholm Gym and the phenomenal ConVal Regional High School pep band.

On the court there were seven ties and 16 lead changes, and in the end it was Pembroke Academy senior Noah Cummings, the only player who played all 32 minutes, leading the way for the No. 3 Spartans, as they defeated No. 2 ConVal 50-42 to advance to their first D2 final since 2014.

Cummings finished with a game-high 20 points on 7 for 17 shooting. He had 13 points on 5 of 10 from the field in the second half alone, including a huge 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter.

“We put the ball in Noah’s hands in the second half,” Pembroke coach Rich Otis said. “He hit the big three at the end of the third and he hit a couple in the fourth. He was fatigued, too. We put the ball in the best player’s hand and he made plays.”

The game was a nip-tuck affair from the start. Neither team led by more than four points until the final 20 seconds when Pembroke (20-1) hit four free throws to put the game on ice.

Otis said that the game plan defensively was to take away ConVal’s outside shot and keep the Cougars (19-2) from pushing in transition for easy buckets. The Spartans did that almost flawlessly. Pembroke held ConVal to zero fast break points and 3 of 12 from 3.

“Our goal defensively was to keep them out of the middle of the floor because they want to get to the middle of the floor and they want us to suck in so they can kick to shooters,” Otis said. “I think we did that for the most part."

Pembroke outscored the Cougars 13-7 in the fourth quarter and held ConVal without a field goal for the final 3:57 of the game.

Sean Menard had 15 points and six rebounds for the Spartans and Shea Shackford had nine points and 11 boards as well. Jack Lehoullier did a whole lot to little applause. The senior had zero points but it was his eight rebounds and game-high three assists that helped keep Pembroke just that little bit ahead down the stretch.

“Jack doesn’t get a lot of accolades when it comes to putting the ball in the hoop, but he is so important to our team as far as defensively,” Otis said. “He gets rebounds, he defends. He’s one of our leaders. He’s a wonderful kid and a pleasure to coach.”

The win partially washed out the bitter taste from last year’s semifinal defeat for the Spartans, and Cummings said that the experience last year made last night much easier to prep for.

“We were walking around in layup lines saying this court doesn’t seem as big as it did last (time),” Cummings said. “It felt like the fans were enveloping us last year, and this year we came out and were confident. We stayed composed through the whole game.”

For ConVal, the last time it made the playoffs was 2015 and the last time a Cougars team made a serious run was when ConVal made the Class I final back in 2000. None of the players on this year’s squad were even born then.

But this year the script was rewritten for the Cougars. Coach Leo Gershgorin, with an experienced squad, put together an 17-1 regular season record and cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament with a pair of eight-point victories.

Even in defeat, the Cougars showed that this year was no fluke. Mather Kipka, a junior, led the team with 17 points and six rebounds against Pembroke. The other two leading scorers, Connor Buffum (eight points) and Wyatt Davis (five points), are a junior and sophomore respectively. Davis also had two steals.

All nine players that stepped onto the court for ConVal each grabbed at least one rebound.

“It wasn’t about records or winning streaks,” Gershgorin said of the season. “It was about changing the way people perceive ConVal. Now, every time people walk into the gym no one is going to say 'oh, it’s just ConVal.' We’re going to get everybody’s best. I think it’s just that culture building, and we have high expectations for ourselves.”