ROCHESTER – The Pembroke Spartans led the whole way, all four quarters, every second, except the first few before sophomore forward Javien Sinclair opened the scoring with a corner 3. Pelham gave them a run for their money, especially in the third quarter, but Pembroke did not wince once and claimed the victory, 57-42, in Monday’s Division II semifinal at the Rochester Recreation Center.

The No. 1 Pembroke boys, and their head coach Mike Donnell, had been here before. In 2023, the Spartans fell to the Pelham Pythons by a heartbreaking three points in the D-II championship, even though they were the higher-seeded team. Last year, they reached the final four but fell to the Hanover Bears, who would go on to lose to Pelham in the championship. Earlier in the year, Pembroke lost to Pelham in the regular season, and by a wide margin, 64-53.

This time around, things were different. This time, Pembroke (18-2) showed up with energy from the get-go and did not lift its foot off the gas until the game was sealed against the fourth-seeded Pythons (16-4). 

The Spartans will move on to play the D-II championship game against No. 3 Sanborn in the hunt for its ninth boys’ basketball state title since last winning in 2019. The game will be played on Sunday at UNH’s Lundholm Gymnasium at noon. 

“The first thing is experience. Today was our third semifinal, our second final in the last three years, we’re going there with a purpose,” Donnell said. “I know (head coach) Wayne (Souther)’s going to have Sanborn ready. We’re going to be ready, and we’ve been talking about this from the beginning of the season, and we’re here now. Now, we got to finish the job.”

On Monday night in Rochester, the team showcased how prepared they were. The Spartans scored three 3-pointers for their first nine points, and then senior guard Evan Berkeley hit the team’s first 2-point basket to keep widening the lead. They out-rebounded the Pythons, 9-4, in that first quarter and held Pelham to only six points in a dominant start.

The second quarter was a similar story, but Pelham improved on the boards and crowded the paint which got its offense on a roll. Yet, the Spartans kept shooting well from 3-point range as sophomore guard Andrew Fitzgerald hit two big treys to keep his team ahead at the half, 29-20.

Fitzgerald was on fire all night and paced the Spartans with a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, plus two steals. He had had a rough game in the quarterfinal against No. 9 Bow and coach Donnell said that he had to put him on the bench to keep up with Bow’s size defensively. In practice, he prepared his defense to be on point. 

“Feels great. All the work we put in this year, and it just feels good to show out,” Fitzgerald said after eliminating the Pythons. 

It was not all easy for the Spartans and in the third quarter, the game almost escaped from Pembroke’s grasp. Pelham came out with intensity, a full-court press and lightning-fast hands to poke the ball. The Pythons’ senior forward Shawn Bodenrader and junior guard Brady O’Connor (team-high 13 points) scored five points each to put their team within striking distance by the end of the third, 36-34.

However, in between that, they allowed Berkeley to find his rhythm. He scored five of Pembroke’s seven before the end of the quarter, and in the fourth, he scored another six points and provided three assists to his teammates that rebuilt the lead. Berkeley ended the night with 13 points and a team-high six assists.

“I kind of came out flat and I wasn’t taking the best shots I could have been, but I was just trying to get something to fall in the first half. I only ended up getting one bucket,” Berkeley said. “Crunch time came down in the fourth quarter, third quarter, and it was just flow state. Just got whatever they gave me, passed it off whenever I did have a lane, and my boys hit the shots.” 

All in all, the fourth quarter was Pembroke’s highest-scoring quarter of the night. Multiple players filled their stat sheets, such as senior forward Devin Riel who led the team with three steals, eight points, two assists and a huge block in the fourth while it was close. Sinclair had eight rebounds, six of those in the fourth quarter, two steals and three assists. Junior guard Zac Bemis had 10 points and three rebounds despite being the shortest of the starters. 

“This team has bonded so well, we’re on the court, together off the court. We’re doing stuff together, like, this is a true family, and this is the reason why we’ve made it this far. It’s why we’re going to UNH,” Riel said. “If we keep staying together and just keep staying as a family, they can’t stop us.”

The depth, versatility, and composure of the boys shined against Pelham, and Donnell’s leadership saw them stay calm and adjust to the pressure. The Spartans are now just one game away from a championship title that’s been on all of their minds for three years.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com