Tourney Roundup: Sabers stunned; Milford, HB girls win

Souhegan's Madux McGrath (22) tries to force up a shot against Oyster River's Thomas Fogg during Wednesday night's Division II first round game in Amherst. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)
The postseason in high school sports giveth and taketh away, as there’s a shocker in just about every tournament.
Unfortunately, that shocker belonged in the wrong way to the Souhegan High School boys basketball team, the defending Division II champions stunned in the final seconds at home on Wednesday night.
In Division II girls, Hollis Brookline and Milford held serve at home, but the Souhegan Sabers fell on the road.
Here’s your tourney rundown for the first mad and sad night of March:
BOYS BASKETBALL
DIVISION II PRELIMS
NO. 14 OYSTER RIVER 48, NO. 3 SOUHEGAN 45
Drew Dulac’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer stunned the heavily favored Souhegan Sabers in Amherst.
The No. 14 Bobcats (6-13) and Sabers were tied at 25 at halftime, but it was evident the underdogs were playing with nothing to lose as they led 25-19 before turnovers helped Souhegan to a 6-0 run. Matt Canavan’s two free throws with no time left on the clock evened the score.
Oyster River will move on Friday to play Coe-Brown in the quarterfinals.
The Sabers finish at 16-3, and their season began and ends with the Bobcats, as they bested OR 69-49 at home in their season opener three months ago.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
DIVISION II PRELIMS
NO. 6 MILFORD 42, NO. 11 DERRYFIELD 27
Milford’s second-half onslaught of Derryfield proved to be the difference in this Division II preliminary round game at Milford. The Spartans trailed 19-18 at the half, but then outscored the Cougars, 24-8, in the final two quarters to pull away.
Milford kept attacking the basket relentlessly, and either scored or went to the free throw line, where they went 9-for-11 in the second half to keep Derryfield from closing the gap.
Senior captain Bailey Johnson sparked the second-half surge for Milford, scoring 10 of her team-high 12 points in the second half. Avery Fuller (nine points) and Lulu Maguire (six) also sparked the Spartans, as did Shea Hansen, Kate Hansen and Ellianna Nassy with four points apiece.
“Bailey’s a senior, and she basically played like a player who didn’t want her career to end,” said Milford head coach Mike Davidson. “She was inspirational in the second half.”
No. 6 Milford (15-4) will now travel to Pelham on Saturday for a quarterfinal matchup at 7 p.m. with the third-seeded Pythons. The Spartans handed Pelham (19-2) one of its two defeats this season, a 55-47 win back on Jan. 17.
NO. 7 HOLLIS BROOKLINE 61, NO. 10 OYSTER RIVER 38
The Cavaliers not only advanced to the quarterfinals, they avenged an earlier loss to the Bobcats as they led 39-17 at the half and never looked back.
All 10 Cavs played and nine got in the scorebook. Cheyenne Colbert led all scorers wih 16 points and added 14 rebounds. McKenna Dunn had 12 points and Eva Kelley had 11 while Camryn Dunn had nine points and 10 boards.
HB (13-6) will head to the quarters to take on No. 2 Kennett, which improved to 18-1 in a prelim win over Souhegan.
The Eagles bested the Cavs 50-45 in Hollis back on Jan. 6.
NO. 2 KENNETT 60, NO. 15 SOUHEGAN 22
The Sabers season came to an end in Conway, as they couldn’t match up against the powerful Eagles despite nine points from Caroline Crum and a career high five points by Alexis Yakovakis.
Souhegan finishes at 5-14.