Hollis Brookline girls basketball holds off Portsmouth to reach D2 title game

MANCHESTER – Bob Murphy asked for just one more stop.

The Hollis Brookline High School girls basketball coach got it, and then some.

The No. 6 Cavaliers forced No. 2 Portsmouth into a bad shot coming out of a timeout and Cassandra Stapelfeld grabbed the rebound. With no one between her and the basket at the other end of the floor, the HB senior raced coast-to-coast for a basket that gave the Cavs a six-point lead.

With Portsmouth forced to foul, HB went 8 for 8 from the line in the final minute and held on for a 57-46 win over the Clippers in Tuesday’s Division II semifinal matchup at Southern New Hampshire University.

The win sends HB (16-5) to the title game for the first time in program history, where the Cavs will face No. 1 Lebanon at 7 p.m. on Friday at SNHU.

“Get me one more (stop) and we’re going into a stall,” Murphy said of his message to the Cavs late in the game. “We’re going to be in double bonus and we’re going to run the clock out. And we got one more stop. They can handle the ball well and they’re good foul shooters.”

Stapelfeld led the way for the Cavs, as she scored 27 points, including a 13-for-15 performance from the free throw line, and also had 10 rebounds. Brodie Kelley added 16 points, including three 3-pointers in the first half that helped HB come back from an early deficit to take a one-point lead at halftime.

Portsmouth (19-2) took the lead early in the third quarter and went ahead 35-32 on a putback by Abbe Laurence. But the Cavs came back with an 8-0 run – with Stapelfeld scoring all eight points – to take a 40-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t know they were ahead,” she said. “We just kept playing. I think if we focus on each play and makes stops at the other end, the game just kind of takes care of itself.

“I think at the beginning we had some nerves, but we settled down. Brodie hit some big shots and after that we were able to stay constant throughout the game.”

The key for the Cavs was its defense in the second half, as they were able to slow down Portsmouth’s offense by using a triangle-and-two defense.

The Clippers got 12 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks from Laurence while Libby Underwood led the way with 23 points, including six straight in the fourth quarter that helped Portsmouth regain the lead with 3:39 to play.

Down 42-37, the Clippers put on a press after a basket by Underwood made it a three-point game, and the senior forced two turnovers and got two more baskets to put Portsmouth up 43-42.

“That’s something that’s been fairly successful for us over the course of the year, but it’s not something we would sit in,” Portsmouth coach Tim Hopley said. “It’s not what we do and it’s not who we are. We were down five and got three turnovers and got the lead. Then they made an adjustment on their press break. We picked out spot there that we wanted to try to make a run at it.”

The adjustment allowed the Cavs to break the press, as they answered with a 9-0 run to go up 51-43 with 43 seconds to play. Underwood hit a 3 – one of only two for Portsmouth – with 35 seconds to play to make it a five-point game, but the Clippers wouldn’t score again, and HB made all of its free throws.

“Once we got into the double bonus, they were putting our best foul shooters at the foul line,” Murphy said.

Portsmouth took an early 7-2 lead as HB struggled to maintain possession on its end of the court. But a pair of 3-pointers by Kelley sparked the Cavs, the second of which gave them a 12-11 lead, and HB went on an 18-4 run to go up 20-11.

HB’s lead grew to 10 points early in the second on a three-point play by Elizabeth Atkinson (nine points, nine rebounds), but the Cavs went almost five minutes without scoring, as Portsmouth went on a 10-1 run to cut the lead to one.

The Clippers retook the lead in the third quarter on baskets by Underwood and Laurence, going up 35-32 with 3:40 left in the frame. But a three-point play by Stapelfeld tied the game at 35, and she followed that with a pair of free throws and a 3 with 46 seconds left in the quarter to give HB the lead.

“They come to win,” Murphy said. “They have a lot of heart. They love the game and they’re great role models for the younger kids. I’m so happy for those kids because they deserved this. We had a goal of getting to the semifinals. I wanted them to see this. This is neat stuff. This the best it gets for high school girls basketball in New Hampshire.”