Playoff run continues as Kearsarge boys basketball knocks off Merrimack Valley in D2 semis (video)

DURHAM – Noah Tremblay was ready to deliver the knock-out punch on Monday evening.

The senior guard on the ninth-seeded Kearsarge High School boys basketball team put his squad up eight with 1:41 remaining on a pull-up, left-of-the-arc 3-pointer, which ended a 7-0 spurt by fifth-seeded Merrimack Valley and propelled the Cougars to a 59-46 win in the Division II semifinals at the Lundholm Gymnasium at the University of New Hampshiew.

“I was on the fast break and I saw an opening and I decided to put it away,” Tremblay said. “We were so nervous before this game and had butterflies in our stomach. We went upstairs and as we came climbing the stairs, we heard the crowd getting louder and louder. It was the most fun game that I have ever played in during my life.”

The Cougars (13-8), who have emerged victorious in the first three rounds as the lower seed, will continue playing the role of underdog when they face off against third-seeded Pembroke (20-1) in the championship game on Saturday at noon at UNH.

On Monday evening, Tremblay tallied a game-high 23 points on 10 of 24 shooting from the floor, while junior guard Benjamin Carl stepped up, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Carl was in attack mode, making plays off the dribble for himself and also finding teammates with nifty passes on backdoor cuts. Kearsarge was efficient, shooting 51.1 percent from the floor, 45.5 percent from downtown and 85.7 percent from the charity stripe, while winning the rebounding margin, 29-19.

For the Pride (15-6), junior forward Kyle Dube (seven boards, two blocks) poured in a team-high 22 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the floor and a 4-for-7 performance from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Griffin Wheeler chipped in with 11 points.

A transition layup by Tremblay off a steal by Carl gave the Cougars an 8-2 lead 2:48 into the game, and Kearsarge led, 12-8, at the end of one.

The Cougars were on the fire in the second, winning the frame, 18-10, behind an 8-for-11 shooting clinic from the floor with five players scoring. Senior forward Jak Jallah gave the crowd reason to cheer with 4:10 on the clock, stealing the ball on defense and racing the length of the floor for a flush. A conversion on a high-low pass from Carl to senior center Kyle Hernon (nine points, 4 of 4 from the floor) extended Kearsarge’s lead to 22-13.

The Pride trimmed the deficit down to 24-18 with 2:02 on the clock as a result of a left-wing three-ball by Dube. A 6-0 spurt, ending with a put-back layup by senior guard Emerson Tyler at the buzzer, gave the Cougars a 30-18 lead at intermission.

“I thought the difference tonight was our man-to-man defense,” Cougars coach Nate Camp said. “When we played defense like that and held them to 46, I knew we were going to be OK. Kyle Hernon’s defense on Dube was great because he just sat back and played him. Benjamin Carl showed what he had (Monday). He was so crafty with the ball and had a lot of moxie defensively. We play with a lot of passion, and he is someone that I love coaching because he just brings it every night.”

It appeared early in the second half that the Cougars were going to cruise to victory, but nothing comes easy in playoff basketball. Carl found Tremblay for a backdoor layup with 2:24 left in the third, putting the Cougars in front 44-27, but then came a ferocious 18-6 run by Merrimack Valley. The surge started with a deep left-wing 3 at the third-quarter buzzer by Dube, and ended on a steal and layup by senior guard Dillon McCarthy with 2:42 left in the fourth, making it a 50-45 game.

“I thought they were going to make a run,” Camp said. “Dube is too good of a player, and they feed off of him and the energy. They get after it defensively, and we just needed to settle in and believe in ourselves that we could do it. To do that on this stage is tremendous.”

Kearsarge closed it out by scoring nine of the final 10 points. The Cougars’ tournament push has featured a win over Souhegan after trailing 13-0, and an upset victory over top-seeded Oyster River. At this point, the team is one more win away from raising the hardware, but taking down Pembroke will be a daunting task.

“After the first win at Souhegan, it all just took off from there,” Tremblay said. “We went into their place and they had twice the amount of fans that we did. It was a hostile environment to play in, and I think after we got out of there with that victory we knew that we were coming to UNH. Pembroke is a really good team, but I think we will match up really well with them. We are definitely going to have to utilize our size down low.”