The long path to a state championship is often littered with dangerous obstacles and plenty of distractions.
So far, Hanover’s boys basketball team has overcome all of them in the midst of arguably its best season in nearly a decade.
“We’ve never won this many in a row since I’ve been here,” said head coach Nick Hannigan. “Which is a testament to the (Patriot) League itself. The league is always very good. It’s good again this year. But this team has been with me for three years now. They’re experienced, they’re battle-tested, and it’s easy to trust these kids.”
There are 710 high school basketball programs in Massachusetts. As of Wednesday morning, 12 (three boys, nine girls) were still standing with unblemished records. The Hawks are among the remaining 1.6% of groups still chasing a perfect season, running roughshod through one opponent after the next en route to a glistening 15-0 mark.
“We just take it one game at a time,” said senior captain Ryan Mutschler. “Just look to go 1-0 after every game. We don’t look past any opponents, even if we know we have more talent than them. We know that anybody can beat us on any given night. We just look to execute and take it one game at a time.”
Since Hanover’s glory days prior to the pandemic, the Hawks have gone through many phases during the course of a prolonged rebuild. After Hanover captured its first-ever state championship in 2017 with a 58-43 victory over Palmer in the Div. 3 final, the school decided to take a chance and made a leap to Div. 2.
There were struggles. As the years progressed, the Hawks found themselves fighting to remain competitive in their newfound field. After finishing 11-10 in 2020, the school returned to Div. 3 in 2021, looking to get back to dominant form.
Last season, Hanover started to make its comeback. This was fueled by the emergence of Mutschler, who propelled the Hawks to an appearance in the Round of 8. While the team fell to rival and eventual state champion Norwell (hard-fought 57-52 defeat), a winning culture had been re-established.
With most of its core still intact from the previous season, Hanover opened its campaign with a 55-40 win over rival Plymouth North on Dec. 16, then followed things up with a 70-40 romp of Southeastern two days later. It was a sign of things to come for the Hawks, as they have defeated opponents by an average of 15.6 points per game.
The school’s most impressive win came on the road against Marshfield on Jan. 12, when the Hawks cruised to a 74-54 romp of a fellow Patriot League rival, and a Div. 1 power, at that. Four days later, Bradley Peterson drilled a game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds to lead them to their most thrilling victory of the season, a 42-39 win over Plymouth South.
Hanover has also been powered by fellow leaders Sebastian Brown, Cole Madden and Samuel Light.
“(I knew) probably a day after we lost to Norwell,” Hannigan said. “These kids were talking about, ‘Hey, coach, when can we get in the gym, when can we work out?’ Again, we knew we had seven, eight guys coming back. The majority of them had played a lot last year. So, any time you’ve got that many kids coming back, and good youth kids coming up (it’s great). We knew we had something in the tank. I don’t think anybody expected this type of run early, especially in our league. But, hey, I’m not going to question it.”
Apponequet girls roll
In 2022, Apponequet was faced with adversity on and off the court. While the world attempted to restore itself from a global pandemic, the Lakers finished 5-15 and longtime coach Trevor Gagnier was faced with a daunting challenge. Gagnier had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2020, and was still in the midst of a long recovery from cancer.
The school’s community rallied around their coach. As he made his comeback, so too did the Lakers. Gradually, the team improved with each passing winter. This year? Might just be their best yet.
Gagnier still proudly coaches and the Lakers are off to an impressive 15-1 start.
Led by seniors Cece Levrault and Hannah Kuriscak, Apponequet has climbed to fourth overall in the latest Div. 3 girls basketball power rankings with a rating of 8.6308. With a younger crop of rising stars including sophomore Elyza Wagner adding a boost, the Lakers captured their fourth consecutive South Coast Conference (Blue Division) title on Jan. 28, clinching the feat with a 64-38 victory over rival Old Rochester.
Boys rankings
1. Central Catholic (13-2); 2. Bridgewater-Raynham (12-2); 3. Andover (14-1); 4. Needham (13-1); 5. St. Mary’s (Lynn) (14-2); 6. Malden Catholic (14-3); 7. Hanover (15-0); 8. Masconomet (12-1); 9. Attleboro (15-2); 10. Oliver Ames (14-2); 11. Salem (14-1); 12. New Bedford (11-2); 13. Wareham (13-3); 14. Cambridge (11-2); 15. Beverly (12-3); 16. Bishop Feehan (11-4); 17. Burlington (13-2); 18. Holland School (Burke) (13-3); 19. Winchester (14-3); 20. BC High (10-5); 21. Plymouth South (12-3); 22. Newburyport (14-0); 23. Norwell (11-4), 24. Brockton (10-6); 25. Lynn Classical (13-2)
Girls rankings
1. Medfield (17-0); 2. St. Mary’s (Lynn) (15-2); 3. Bishop Feehan (13-3); 4. Whitman-Hanson (15-1); 5. Woburn (15-0); 6. Foxboro (14-0); 7. Andover (14-1); 8. Needham (12-3); 9. Wachusett (12-2); 10. Walpole (12-3); 11. Norwood (13-2); 12. Bishop Fenwick (10-4); 13. Natick (12-4); 14. Apponequet (15-1); 15. Billerica (13-2); 16. North Reading (14-2); 17. East Bridgewater (11-2); 18. Braintree (10-4); 19. Quincy (10-5); 20. Pembroke (11-6); 21. Winchester (12-5); 22. Pentucket (13-3); 23. Hopkinton (11-4); 24. Norwell (10-4); 25. Millbury (11-3)
