Area sports roundup, March 13-14

Mar. 15—Bowling

Keene senior Gabe Wunschel earns second in individual bowling tournament

RAYMOND — Blackbird senior bowlers Bradly Baybutt and Gabe Wunschel represented Keene Saturday at the individual state championship in Raymond.

Baybutt finished the preliminary round with the No. 1 seed, Wunschel with the No. 3.

Baybutt had been the No. 2 bowler by average all season long.

Wunschel played his way to a No. 2 seed earning a first round bye in the finals. He then won in the semifinals, 200-193, and just missed the No. 1 spot in the state with a score of 163 against a winning 178.

"Both Gabe and Brad have been excellent leaders all season long and have pledged to come back and help their alma mater whenever they can," said Keene head coach Aaron Moody in an email. "There is some great talent coming up through the ranks and the Blackbirds look forward to being back at the team and individual championships next year."

Nordic Ski

Local Skiers race in Eastern High School Championships

DUBLIN — Several local skiers capped off their Nordic ski season representing Team New Hampshire at the Dublin School Nordic Center Saturday.

In a normal year, the top 24 skiers from each of the New England states and New York would gather for a weekend festival to compete in the New England Nordic Ski Association's U16 and Eastern High School Championships. Due to COVID-19 each state selected their top 30 skiers across public, private, and club ski teams and raced in a separate in-state championship.

Saturday's events included a 5K classic race followed by a 1.5K ski cross race. The ski cross included rollers, jumps, bermed turns, and slalom gates testing the skiers agility and speed.

Anna Bentley of Swanzey (7th and 11th), Alexis Hills of Westmoreland (22nd and 17th) and Reagan Hoy of Surrey (25th and 27th) skied in the U16 Championship.

Eva Calcutt (20th and 28th) of Francestown and Jonathan Hills (16th and 13th) of Westmoreland skied in the Eastern HS Championship race.

Women's Basketball

Derosia, Owls shut down Cadets in season finale

Hailey Derosia made 6-of-12 shots from the floor and scored 16 points to conclude a very solid sophomore campaign with another team-leading performance as the Keene State College women's basketball team stifled Norwich University, 59-43, in the season finale Sunday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

The Owls sent out their pair of seniors with one final home victory, completing a weekend sweep of Norwich after an 80-58 win Saturday that saw KSC make 18 threes, tied for sixth most in a Division 3 women's basketball game this season.

They finished with 10 Sunday, but limited the Cadets (3-4) to 29 percent shooting and forced a season-high 27 turnovers. The Owls (5-5) led by three after one, but dominated the next two quarters, outscoring Norwich 36-16 to build a commanding lead, which grew as high as 29 in the fourth.

Keene State finished with 15 assists on 22 made field goals as a team and turned the ball over just 13 times. In the final two games, they handed out 36 helpers on 50 baskets. The assist figures in the past two days mark the best two of the season.

Rylee Burgess added eight points and six rebounds for KSC, shooting 53 percent in her rookie season.

The loss wraps up the careers of Lilly Shlimon and Jordyn Burke, who combined to play in 156 games for the Owls over their four years. Shlimon finished with 749 career points while Burke grabbed 392 rebounds and shot 44 percent.

Men's Hockey

Franklin Pierce men's ice hockey falls at UNE in season finale

BIDDEFORD, Maine — For the second time in as many days, the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team took to the road against University of New England on Sunday, this time to close out the abbreviated 2021 season. Despite a three-point performance from sophomore Conor Foley, the Ravens stumbled to a 9-4 loss at Alfond Forum.

Saturday's game saw five goals scored in the opening period, and the two teams outdid that mark on Sunday by pouring in seven goals. UNE (4-0-0) opened the scoring with two straight in rapid succession.

Franklin Pierce (1-5-0) would get one back at 9:58, thanks to junior forward Chris Stevenson. Foley sent the puck towards the net, where Stevenson found it and made no mistake, as he roofed a backhand just under the crossbar for his second goal of the season.

The Nor'easters extended their lead to 3-1 on a tip-in goal at 15:33. Another goal followed, at 17:33, to cap a quality possession in the Franklin Pierce zone and make it 4-1.

Junior forward Ryan Gorbett cut the deficit back to two, as he fired a quick shot into the net at 18:36.

Before the first intermission the Nor'easters squeezed in one more goal to make it 5-2 heading into the break.

The second period was defined by three UNE goals scored in just over four minutes of play.

In the third period, the Ravens tallied 13 shots and a pair of goals, though it would not be nearly enough to eliminate the deficit.

Sophomore Vito Carlo got the puck at the middle of the blue line and fired a low shot on net. Foley put his stick in the lane and tipped the puck between the legs of the UNE netminder for his fourth goal of the campaign.

Shortly after another power-play chance expired, the Ravens struck again, as junior Alex O'Dowd tallied his first career goal. He was the recipient of a 2-on-1 pass from Cody Rumsey.

Sophomore Tyler Rudek picked up the secondary assist on each of Franklin Pierce's two third-period goals.

Junior goaltender Kyle Martin started in net for Franklin Pierce and suffered the loss (0-2-0) after surrendering eight goals on 29 shots over the first two periods. Senior Ian Wallace took over for the third and stopped 12 of 13 shots.

Swimming and Diving

Keene State earns wins to end regular season

WILLIMANTIC, Conn.— The Keene State College swimming and diving teams ended the regular season on a high note, cruising to big wins over Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday at the Sports Center Pool.

The Keene State men posted a 178-60 win over Eastern Conn. State. The two schools were competing against each other for the first time.

The Owls won 10 of the day's 12 events, with seven swimmers posting individual wins. Samuel Galipeau, Ben Szum, Logan Phillips, and Steven Edgar won the meet opening 400 medley relay in 3:55.34, while Galipeau won the freestyle in 11:21.17.

Quint Kimmel won the first of his three individual events with a victory in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.53, and Jeremy Bartley won the 50 backstroke in 27.28. Tyler Young won the 100 fly in 56.98, and Tomas Langland did the same in the 50 free in 23.65.

Kimmel added a win in the 100 free in 51.62, and Andrew Daur captured the 100 backstroke in 1:00.19. Kimmel's third win of the day came in the 500 free in 5:19.94, and Logan Phillips took the 50 fly in 25.83.

Young nabbed another win in the 400 IM in 4:32.86, before the meet ended with Kimmel, Langland, Ben Stafford, and Bartley taking the 400 free relay in 3:29.18.

The Owl women also won 10 events in a 192-70 win over the Warriors.

Kiley Young, Emily Rogers, Kristyn Simoneau and Laura Chaffee kicked off the meet by winning the 400 medley relay in 4:16.10, before Ava Rondeau won the 200 free relay in 2:03.41.

Samantha Dickinson triumphed in the 50 backstroke in 28.97, as did Alice Loucraft in the 50 breaststroke in 32.78. Kristyn Simoneau won her first event of the day by taking the 100 fly in 1:01.24, and Loucraft picked up her second win of the afternoon in the 50 free in 25.55.

There was another win for Simoneau in the 100 free in 56.30, and another for Rondeau in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.04, and Loucraft took her third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.54.

Simoneau also won the 50 fly in 28.21, and Young the 400 IM in 4:55.03. Loucraft, Dickinson, Paige Carey and Jaelin Jang ended the meet for the Owls in the 400 free relay by winning in 3:49.67.