ROCHESTER -- Keene High School has never won an NHIAA Division I championship in boys basketball, but that could change Sunday.
Sixth-seeded Keene advanced to Sunday's Division I championship game by knocking off second-seeded Portsmouth 61-60 Wednesday in the Division I semifinals at the James W. Foley Memorial Community Center.
Keene took a lead it wouldn't relinquish on Javon Massiah's three-point play that put the Blackbirds up 57-55 with 47.2 seconds left. Keene pushed its lead to 61-57 on two Jamal Stanley free throws with 5.2 to play before Isaiah Reese hit a 3-pointer that just beat the final buzzer.
The Blackbirds (16-5) will face either fifth-seeded Exeter or top-seeded Bedford for the title at the University of New Hampshire (4 p.m.). The Blue Hawks and Bulldogs met in Wednesday's second semifinal. It will be Keene's first appearance in a Division final since 1992, when Winnacunnet won the championship with a 48-43 victory.
"We're going to a new court we've never played on," Keene coach Ray Boulay said. "We're going to a new atmosphere that we've never been in and our school hasn't been there in 33 years, so we're all going to embrace it and we're going to do our best to simulate that atmosphere at practice by turning the music up, making the crowd loud. Not much else we can do besides embrace it, show up and play hard."
Massiah led all scorers with 27 points. Kasen Abbott added 16, including four 3-pointers.
Portsmouth (17-4) received 19 from Derek Swartz and 17 from Reis. The Clippers beat the Blackbirds 69-64 during the regular season.
"Tough one, tough one," Portsmouth coach John Mulvey said. "Unfortunately we didn't get any stops down the stretch. (Massiah) took over at times. We had a hard time stopping him."
Portsmouth led 12-7 after one quarter, and stretched its lead to 28-17 following a Swartz basket with 2:28 remaining in the second quarter. Keene closed the first half on an 8-0 run, however, and was within three points, 28-25, at halftime.
"We were a little deer in the headlights in the first quarter," Boulay said. "Javon started slow, but he kept attacking and the jumpers started to fall for him."
The game was tied after a Stanley 3-pointer with 5:39 left in the third, and the Blackbirds took their first lead on an Abbott basket with 4:54 left in the quarter. Portsmouth regained the lead, 37-35, on a Swartz basket and the Clippers led 39-38 entering the fourth.
"I thought our outside shooting in the second half really killed it," Boulay said. "I think our team defense is hitting its stride at the right time, too. This feels great. Feels great."