Pembroke’s run to an undefeated season came to an end Saturday in a 57-41 loss to Derryfield in the Division II state championship game.
The top-seeded Spartans entered the game with a 20-0 record and in pursuit of their first state crown since 1980. But No. 2 Derryfield, which came in with an 18-2 mark, showed how far it had come since first losing to Pembroke at the start of the season.
Cougars’ coach Courtney Cheetham said her team prepared all year to beat Pembroke.
“We’re running everything we can to try to beat the best team, so that we’re ready when that moment happens,” she said.
Derryfield executed on both ends from the start, and Pembroke struggled to find its rhythm.
Derryfield came out aggressively on defense and sent a full-court press in the first quarter to take the lead. The Spartans found good shots but struggled inside against Derryfield’s Ella LaFlamme, who got two blocks in the first, while Pembroke went 2-12 from the field.
Haley Dufoe for the Cougars started hot as well, knocking down two threes in the first half and leading her team with eight points.
Overall, the team shot 54.5% from three on 11 attempts (6-for-11) and 50% from the field in the half. On offense, every possession was a battle as Derryfield’s LaFlamme, Anna Fazelat and Emma Sloper accounted for six steals in the first half. Fazelat, Derryfield’s sophomore point guard and engine on offense, assisted five and scored seven points in the first half as well.
Pembroke did not find a solution on defense for Derryfield’s onslaught in the first. They went into halftime down 33-17.
Derryfield’s Kelsey Beekman holds off pressure from Pembroke’s Anne Phillips in the D-II State Championship. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor
Pembroke head coach Noah Cummings and his team had found solutions to what every other team in the state threw at them. Against those shooting percentages, there’s not much to be done.
“It seemed like nothing that we were doing really could slow them down,” Cummings said after the loss. “It was just great preparation and great execution.”
It was an unexpected and adversarial start. Derryfield continued to shoot well and increased its lead to 45-25 with one quarter left to play.
The lead fluctuated but Pembroke did not find a consistent rhythm to go on a big run. The team shot just 13-42 from the field and only scored one three-pointer on 12 attempts in the end.
Derryfield’s Anna Fazelat scores an easy lay-up after pickpocketing a Pembroke player on the other end. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor
Fazelat finished the game as Derryfield’s leading scorer with 15 points, but was followed closely by Dufoe with 14. Angie Kenison had 13 with three three’s on five attempts and an efficient 4-of-6 night.
Deryfield finished with an impressive 52.9 three-point shooting percentage. What’s scariest for the division is that the team will have only one senior graduate, Ella LaFlamme.
Pembroke senior Kate Stephens led her team with 13 points and the team’s most efficient shooting, but as a whole, the entire team struggled to find its spots.
On the flip side, Pembroke is graduating five seniors: Brooke Arenella, Ava Strazzeri, Tessa Love, Hailey Steinmetz and Stephens. They all played in the championship and were core contributors for the program.
Cummings, who was only in his first year in charge of the Spartans, said he plans to focus on youth basketball development in Pembroke. He expects recommitment to the work that it takes to win from the returners.
“I want to keep Pembroke basketball being a memorable experience for anybody who comes through our program,” he said.
The Pembroke Spartans suffered a heartbreaking defeat against an efficient Derryfield team in the 2026 D-II Girls’ Basketball State Championship. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip
