Tied after regulation, Peter Hemmerdinger opened the overtime period raining a three-pointer and the defending state champion Pelham Pythons defeated Coe-Brown Northwood, 59-56, on Tuesday night and will be heading back to UNH on Sunday to face No. 2 seed Hanover to defend its New Hampshire Division II title.
Hemmerdinger scored six of his 14 points in overtime, while Zach James led the way with 17 points. Pelham rallied in the final two minutes of the game without one of its star players Dom Herrling (13 points), who had fouled out. Jake Travis also ended in double figures with ten points.
Coe-Brown led by two after one, and Pelham led by one at the break, only to trail by one after three. The fourth quarter went back-and-forth with both teams exchanging small leads, which forced the game into overtime.
“I’m proud of how my team responded. They battled throughout and never stopped believing in themselves,” said Pelham head coach Joe Morin.
Girls Hockey
The No. 4 seed Oyster-River/Portsmouth came away with a 5-2 victory over No. 1 seed Pinkerton Academy in the NHIAA Division girls hockey state semi-finals played Tuesday night at the Everett Arena in Concord.
Oyster-River/Portsmouth took a 2-1 lead after the first period and then scored three goals in the second to open things up.
Riley Dunn and Emily Gosselin scored the goals for the Astros, while goalie Madison Boyor played very well turning away 44-of-49 shots.
“(Oyster-River/Portsmouth) is a real good team and they have some top players,” said Pinkerton head coach Scott Dunn. “We had a great season. The program is just six years old and this is the third time that we’ve been in the semi-finals. The girls worked extremely hard to get here and should be very proud.”