The Souhegan High School girls basketball team came away with the Mike Lee Holiday Bash Basketball Tournament title, beating Prospect Mountain on Wednesday. (Courtesy photo by MIchelle Hickman)

We had a Brawl in Nashua on the ice, but toward the seacoast the Souhegan High School girls basketball team enjoyed a Bash.

The Sabers beat Prospect Mountain, 50-46, to capture the 2025 Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash. The tourney finals win capped off a week of 5-0 basketball for the Sabers at Farmington High School.

“This is a special group of kids,” Sabers coach Greg Cotreau said. “We had different kids step up every game.”

Souhegan beat Farmington, Raymond, Coe-Brown and Belmont to reach the finals. Souhegan trailed 10-2 early, closed to 12-9 after one and trailed 26-23 at the half and 36-33 after three quarters.

But then they turned up the heat.

“Our relentless full court pressure caught up to Prospect Mountain in the fourth quarter,” Cotreau said.

And thus the Sabers pulled ahead, but also did the job at the foul line as Lanai Hickman, Mariellah Dart, and Brynn Siska hit critical free throws down the stretch.

Mariellah Dart led the way with 10 points, while Zofia Rosenfield and Nayaa Dineshkumar each had eight in the win.

Dart and and Dineshkumar were named to the All-Tournament team. Dart averged about eight points, seven rebounds, eight assists and six steals per game. Dineshkumar had a double-double average, 14 points and 10 rebounds per contest. Dineshkumar, while doing a lot of battling underneath, did it with class as she also won the tourney’s individual Sportsmanship Award.

Souhegan hasn’t made the Bash a regular fixture on its schedule over the years, but the last time they won the tourney title was 1993, led by current North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart. On that team was current Saber Lanai Hickman’s aunt, Kirsten Hickman, and the two had their picture taken together with the title trophy.

“A true full circle moment,” Cotreau said.

Current Saber Lanai Hickman celebrates the Bash title with a member of the last Souhegan team to win the title, back in 1993 — her aunt, Kirsten Hickman. (Courtesy photo by Michelle Hickman)