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Timberlane snaps 80-game skid with victory over Keene

KEENE, N.H. — After four long years and 80 losses, the streak is finally over for Timberlane basketball.

The Owls jumped out to an 11-point lead in the third quarter, and surged to a 71-55 victory over Keene last night in their season finale, snapping an 80-game losing streak in New Hampshire dating back to the 2009-10 season.

“I thought I was going to break down and lose it,” said Timberlane coach Jeff Baumann. “It is an understatement to say that this is thrilling. This is amazing. It’s so terrific to finally get this monkey off of our backs.”

Led by the hot shooting of senior Erik Nelson, who scored a team-high 24 points in his final high school game, the Owls recorded their first New Hampshire victory since beating Concord on Jan. 29, 2010.

“This really was an amazing night,” said Nelson, who hit four 3-pointers. “It’s a crazy feeling to finish this way. Going into the game, we were really confident that we could win, and we never lost out focus the whole night. We set our mind to do this and we finally did it.”

It wasn’t easy for Timberlane, which was tied with Keene 32-32 at halftime and battled major foul trouble throughout the night.

“We had multiple guys with four fouls in the third quarter,” said Baumann. “So we had to go deeper into our bench than we have in a while. A lot of guys stepped up. Nelson was fantastic and a lot of our guys turned in big nights.”

Sophomore Jason Hughes chipped in with 14 points and played a key role handing the ball at point guard, while junior Cam Donnelly added 12 points and senior Lucas Manthorn knocked down a pair of key 3’s.

“I am so proud of what the younger guys were able to do tonight,” said Nelson. “They really stepped up. Now they don’t have to go into next season having to hear about the streak. We wanted to do it for them.”

Following the contest, the Owls took part in a long-awaited celebration.

“This a very happy time for us,” said Baumann. “After the game, before I got to the locker room, the varsity and JV kids were all in there really enjoying the moment. They were yelling and screaming. Once I got in there I didn’t know what to say. It was emotional. I am really happy for them.”