Alvirne's Garrett Hall blocks a shot attempt by Keene's Rhys Fontaine during Wednesday night's Division I prelim in Hudson. (Photo by Michael McMahon/Keene Sentinel)

HUDSON — Seventy-five days is a long time to hold on to something during the short high school basketball season. But when you get dropped by 30 points on your home floor, that tends to stick for a while.

Wednesday night, Alvirne kicked off the 2026 playoffs by crossing off some unfinished business with Keene leftover from 2025.

The Broncos got out to a quick double-digit lead, withstood a second-half comeback, and outscored the visitors by 13 in the fourth quarter to earn a 55-43 win over No. 11 Keene in the first round of the NHIAA Division I tournament.

The win avenges that aforementioned loss on Dec. 19 in Hudson when the Broncos managed just 38 points — their lowest output of the season — against Keene in a 68-38 defeat.

The biggest difference on Wednesday night?

“We didn’t have seven guys with the flu,” Alvirne coach Sam Bonney-Liles said.

“Believe it or not that makes a difference,” he said smiling.

“We knew that was the worst game we played all year,” Bonney-Liles added. “I just tried to remind the guys that wasn’t our best. It fueled the fire. When you got a team that beat you by 30 … this win meant something to us, to me. It felt good.”

Alvirne will play No. 3 Trinity on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals at Trinity High School. Trinity won the regular season meeting between the two teams, 72-59, on Jan. 30.

Luke Norse led the Broncos (13-6) with 19 points behind four 3-pointers. Garrett Hall followed with 11 points while Alex Bettencourt and Angel Kagan each added seven points. Alex Holmes had 17 for Keene (9-10), while Jamal Stanley added 12.

Alvirne knocked down eight 3-pointers to Keene’s two, and Keene’s top shooter Kasen Abbott went 0-for-7 from deep while being held to six points.

Norse came out firing, though, hitting three times from beyond the arc as Alvirne opened up a 13-2 lead in the game’s opening 4:36 and led 16-6 through one quarter.

“We came out hot,” Bonney-Liles said. “We were feeding off the crowd. The crowd was great tonight. We definitely had that to our advantage.”

Keene rallied back, carrying a 7-0 run into the second quarter. The Birds eventually brought things even 18-18 midway through the period and the teams traded runs until Alvirne took a 27-26 lead into the break.

A slow third quarter saw Keene storm back from down 36-30 with 2:17 left in the period to lead 37-36 heading into the fourth. Abbott bookended a Stanley 3-pointer with a pair of finishes in the lane, the second giving Keene its first lead of the game 23 seconds before the fourth.

“When they came back with that run it kind of brought us back to earth and we knew it was going to be a dog fight, and it was,” Bonney-Liles said.

Alvirne stormed away down the stretch in the final period. Kangar finished at the basket to put the Broncos back in front 41-39 with 6:47 to play, and the hosts never relinquished that advantage.

Stanley cut the Alvirne lead to 47-43 with 2:25 to play, but that was the final blow the Birds landed. Hall hit a straight-away 3-pointer on the following possession, and the Broncos finished the game on an 8-0 run.

“We knew Garrett was going to get all of their attention,” Bonney-Liles said. “So we made some adjustments at the half to spread them out and attack wherever they were shading Garrett.

“Norse was huge. Cam St. Clair stepped up and gave some great minutes. Kangar was great on the boards,” Bonny-Liles added. “Guys just stepped up and I’m really proud of them.”