Pelham, Conant advanced to D3 boys basketball final

MANCHESTER – Matt Regan was expecting the unexpected.

The Pelham High School boys basketball coach got it, and it nearly put an end to the Pythons undefeated season.

No. 1 Pelham needed a defensive stand that last for nearly 90 seconds Wednesday night to hold on to a 40-39 victory over No. 5 Campbell in the Division III semifinals at Southern New Hampshire University.

After losing to Pelham twice during the regular season, by an average of 16 points, Campbell (16-5) came out with a different game plan on defense, one that slowed the Pythons (21-0) enough that they tied their lowest offensive output of the year.

“I knew we were going to see something we hadn’t seen all year,” Regan said. “I haven’t seen that since (Campbell coach) John (Langlois) played that (defense) on us five years ago when he was at Bedford.

“It’s tough when … it’s almost like a diamond-and-one, but that one guy sits in the paint and never leaves. You’ve got to make shots and we didn’t. Early in the game, we made shots, but after the first seven or eight possessions, we didn’t make many.”

That and some big-time shots by the Cougars helped keep the game close to the end. Pelham will now face No. 3 Conant in the championship game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at SNHU. The Orioles advanced to their third straight final with a 52-43 win over No. 3 Berlin, the second year in a row they’ve beaten the Mountaineers in the semis.

For Pelham, its a trip to the final in the Pythons’ first year in D3, and their first title-game appearance since the 2009 Class I title game.

And it took one of the best defensive stands of the season for Pelham to get there.

“I thought defensive stance at the end was the best defense we’ve played all year,” Regan said. “We’ve had adversity, but not enough. It seems like each time we have, we’ve made the right plays and right decision.”

Ryan Rondeau led Pelham with 12 points, including two 3-pointers in the first quarter that helped the Pythons take a 9-4 lead. Keith Brown added 11 points and Ryan Cloutier had 10, including what proved to be the game-winning basket on a putback with 3:08 to play.

Campbell got 16 points from Harrison Vedrani, 13 of which came in a first half that saw the Cougars take a 27-26 lead into halftime. Kyle Shaw added 11 points, including three 3-pointers in the second quarter that kept Pelham from running away.

“Astronomically phenomenal,” Campbell coach John Langlois said when describing his team’s performance. “They gave everything they had. They came with full tanks and left with empty tanks, so that’s the way you should compete. It was two really good teams battling it out.”

Pelham led by as many as six points in the first half, and had two leads of five, but every time the Pythons looked ready to pull away, Campbell came back.

“We’d have a defensive lapse,” Regan said. “(Shaw) would hit a big shot or (Vedrani) would get a layup and an and-one. I thought we could open this one up, but our defense wasn’t good enough.”

Shaw’s third 3 made it a 26-24 game in favor of Pelham, but back-to-back turnovers by the Pythons allowed Campbell to hold for the final shot. A three-point play by Vedrani gave the Cougars a 27-26 lead going into halftime.

Pelham took the lead early in the third and never gave it up, although Campbell was able to tie the game at 30 with 3:18 left in the quarter. But the Pythons went on a 6-1 run to lead 36-31 going into the fourth.

Cloutier’s putback gave Pelham a 40-36 lead with 3:08 to play, but free throws by Shaw and Bergeon got the Cougars within one, 40-39, with 2:24 to play. Pelham worked the clock down, but turned the ball over with 1:24 left, and never saw the ball again.

It ended up not mattering. After letting the clock run under a minute, Andrew Smarse missed a 3, but Bergeon tracked down the rebound. The Campbell senior took another three, but the Cougars got the rebound again and Langlois took a timeout with 49.2 seconds remaining.

Campbell again let the clock run, and Vedrani found Shaw along the wing for another 3-point attempt – this time with Brown flying at him – but the shot from Shaw was short and the buzzer sounded before the ball hit the floor.

“Take your time, be patient, and we’ll attack at the end,” Langlois said of what he told his guys during the timeout. “Get a good shot and we did, it didn’t go down, but that’s the way it goes.”

In the first semifinal, Conant held Berlin scoreless in the third quarter and took a 36-20 lead into the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers finally got going in the fourth, scoring 23 points and getting the lead under five points, but it wasn’t enough.

Simeon Hodgson led the Orioles (17-4) with 19 points, going 10 of 14 from the free throw line, while James Record was also in double figures with 10 points. Craig Bilodeau had eight points and 11 rebounds while Brandon Ford eight points and eight boards.

Tommy Gallagher led Berlin (17-4) with 14 points while Evan Arsenault had nine and Nick Fodor had eight points and seven boards.