BOW — The chemistry between Kearsarge’s guards is undeniable. When you’ve been playing together your whole life, the connection looks easy.

The Whipple brothers, senior Noah and sophomore Eli, put on a clinic with Eli scoring a game-high 24 points and Noah (10 points, six assists, four rebounds, three steals) doing anything else that was needed to lift the No. 3 Kearsarge boys basketball team to a 52-33 victory over No. 2 Mascoma in Wednesday night’s NHIAA Division III semifinal at Bow High School.

The Cougars (19-2) will play top-seeded Belmont in Saturday’s D-III championship game at Keene State College.

Kearsarge took control of the game from the outset, with Eli scoring 15 points in the first quarter to give the Cougars a 22-9 lead. He connected on three 3-pointers in the first period and drilled another in the second, while Noah hit a three of his own and dished all six of his assists in the first half — five of them to his younger brother. 

Eli’s 20 points and Noah’s nine provided all of Kearsarge’s first-half scoring, giving the Cougars a 29-17 halftime lead.

“We dictated the tempo,” said Kearsarge head coach Nate Camp, the former Lebanon High and Colby-Sawyer College guard. “Especially early, we had some good looks out of our offense and also in transition, and then we were able to force (Mascoma) into making some decisions they didn’t necessarily want to make. Credit to our guys; they handled the pressure pretty nicely.”

The Whipple connection certainly helped.

“It’s great being able to play with (Eli) in general after all those hours in the yard with our dad and playing one-v-one and going back and forth with each other,” Noah said. “Going into halftime with that lead, we had to come out of it saying, ‘It’s still 0-0 and we’ve still got another half to complete.’ ”

Noah took an elbow to the head early in the second quarter last Friday and didn’t play for the remainder of Kearsarge’s 48-45 double-overtime quarterfinal thriller of a victory over Gilford, but he was on the floor for about 30 of 32 minutes in Tuesday’s semifinal. He faced double teams, saw face guarding and received plenty of contact all game long, but he won the majority of those physical battles.

“Tanner (Moulton) and Bryce (Ballou) are two phenomenal guards, especially defensively,” Noah said. “We knew they’re going to be physical; they’re going to be fast. I personally love that (style); I’m all for getting dirty. They played well, but we had other guys that could make shots tonight.”

Camp said Noah Whipple came up big when the Cougars needed him.

“We weren't sure what we were going to get out of him tonight, but he felt good,” Camp said. “You want your team to be whole. It was nice to see him out there tonight. He keeps us calm, he gets us into our offense and makes the right reads. He makes everyone around him better.”

While the Whipple brothers and senior guard Austin Needham (eight points, all of them in the third quarter) supplied nearly all of Kearsarge’s offense, it was a complete team effort on the defensive end.

Eli (five rebounds, three assists), Needham (four rebounds, four assists), senior guard Ajay Tremblay (seven rebounds, five points, two assists) and junior forward Bragen Kinzer (two rebounds) did an excellent job rebounding and matching up with Mascoma’s height advantage in the paint.

Senior guard Moulton (14 points, nine rebounds), junior guard Ballou (nine points, three rebounds, two assists) and junior center Colin Myers (six rebounds, four points) played well in spurts for Mascoma (18-2), but the Royals couldn’t sustain any momentum on offense.

The Cougars led 41-26 heading into the fourth quarter and held the Royals to just one field goal over the final five minutes of the game.

“The biggest thing is not letting our opponent get comfortable,” Camp said. “We’re just trying to mix things up a little bit so if they see one look, they’ll see another look the next time down so they’re not getting too comfortable. We knew Bryce (Ballou) and (Tanner) Moulton were going to make shots. It was just a matter of can we force them into tough shots and then keep their guys off the glass.”

Kearsarge will need to be at its best defensively in Saturday’s championship game against Belmont (19-1), which should present several challenges.

The Raiders have a decisive height advantage, led by 6-foot-6 senior center/forward Anakin Underhill, who is a matchup nightmare in the paint but is also deadly from 3-point range. Senior 6-5 forward Keegan Martinez is a machine on the offensive glass and around the rim, while junior point guard Treshawn Ray has tremendous speed in transition and can slice and slash through defenses to the rim like butter.

“Same as it’s been all season: Defend and rebound,” said Camp, referring to the keys for his team to be competitive in the championship. “(Belmont) has some size and good guard play. We’re going to have to defend every possession and end the possession. We can’t give them seconds, thirds and fourth chances. Belmont can (push the ball and play with tempo), but they can also (beat) you inside.”

Tip off for Saturday’s championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m.