Lebanon ends Milford’s dream season in D2 girls basketball semifinals

MANCHESTER – The Milford High School girls basketball team knew that if it was going to end perfection it would have to be perfect.

The No. 2 Spartans weren’t perfect Monday night and they saw their season end in a 56-41 loss to No. 1 Lebanon in the Division II semifinals at Southern New Hampshire University.

The loss brought to a close the best season in 30 years for Milford girls basketball, and put the Raiders in line for the first undefeated season in their history. Lebanon will take on No. 2 Portsmouth in the division title game on Friday, also at SNHU.

Moriah Morton had 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to lead the Raiders (21-0), as Lebanon started each of the first three quarters strong. The Raiders opened the game with a 5-0 run, then started the second quarter with a 7-0 run and began the second half with a 10-2 spurt that seemed to be the nail in the coffin for Milford.

“I think the beginning of the third quarter was important,” Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe said. “We talked about that in the locker room. The first four minutes of the third is probably the most important four minutes of the game, based on if we can jump on them early, we might be able to break their backs.”

Lebanon nearly did, but Milford (15-6) found a way to hang around. The Spartans hit three 3-pointers in a row early in the fourth, and after trailing 42-19 in the third, Milford pulled within 11 points three times in the final four minutes of the game.

The 15-point margin of victory for Lebanon was its smallest of the season by eight points, something that was not lost on the Spartans.

“We gave them a run and the nice thing is, we stayed in it the whole game,” Milford coach Steve Signor said. “The thing we talked about was having a perfect game. A couple of times, we were kind of our own worst enemy. Big gym, big court, lot of people, lot of noise, we turned the ball over more than we should have. That hurt us. We turned it over in the backcourt a few times. We gave our effort and I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

Dina Pitsas led Milford with 12 points and seven rebounds and Adelle Pitsas added 10 points as the Spartans outrebounded Lebanon 41-40.

Emily Kehoe and Samantha MacDonald had 12 points each for Lebanon, which was playing in the final four for the seventh straight year. But the Raiders haven’t won a title since the start of that stretch, in 2007.

“It’s just about winning now,” Tim Kehoe said. “It’s not about playing pretty, it’s about winning basketball. I think our kids got comfortable as we went along. I think that’s important, getting to the final and being comfortable.”

The Raiders looked more comfortable at the start of the game, as they took a 10-3 lead and Milford turned the ball over on each of its first five possessions. But the Spartans regrouped and were down 13-7 at the end of the quarter, a deficit Signor was pleased to see.

“Once we got that first basket, we were all right,” he said. “We settled in and we got familiar with the court. These girls played as hard as they were going to play.

“Leave everything on the floor and when you come off, be happy with your performance, and I think those girls were. They had a smile on their face and took the moment in and enjoyed it. You never know if you’re going to get back.”

Perhaps no program knows that more than Milford. Before last week, the Spartans hadn’t won a playoff game since 1991, and before Monday, Milford hadn’t played in the semifinals since 1983.

“They’re a very hard-core team,” Kehoe said. “They play similar to us and they don’t back down defensively. This is the most physical team we’ve played all year. They do a really nice job defensively and defense usually gets you to the final four.”