Date Posted : 05-09-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Troy Pelletier leads New Hampshire against Vermont

 The roster for the 2013 New Hampshire vs. Vermont Twin State Boys Basketball team has been released for the July 13th game at Essex High School in Essex, VT.

 Jamie Hayes of Newmarket will be the head coach for New Hampshire while Dave Chase of Hopkinton will serve as one of the teams' two assistant coaches. A Division I head coach will be named to the staff shortly and that coach will then be in line to be the head coach in 2014.

 Selection for the team was based off of the coaches all-state voting results.

 A look at the New Hampshire roster for a game we plan to have full coverage of in July;

 Troy Pelletier of Manchester Central small forward (17.5 ppg.)

 Our Player of the Year selection will find a spot in the starting lineup and is at his best getting to the rim and out in transition. If this team commits to pushing the basketball Pelletier could be in line for an MVP performance.

 Mabor Gabriel of Trinity center (15.8 ppg)

 Mabor will anchor the middle and proved he was a dominant rebounder during his senior season . He can also step out and score from mid-range or challenge shots. Defensively he'll be a much needed interior presence.

Date Posted : 05-03-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Christian Hawkins of Newmarket will play for Team New Hampshire

 After a year away amid concerns over funding for the annual event the Twin State Basketball game between seniors from New Hampshire & Vermont is back on and set for July 13^th at Essex High School in Essex, VT.

 The New Hampshire girls will play their Vermont counterparts at 6 pm with the boys game following at 8 pm.

 Newmarket head coach Jamie Hayes, who has led his team to six consecutive Final Fours and two championship game appearances, will coach the New Hampshire seniors. The roster of 12 seniors is still being formed and will be announced in the coming weeks as the event and the team quickly come together.

 Even with the shorter time to prepare Hayes is happy about the feedback and level of enthusiasm he has gotten from the top players he has reached out to. "I am excited about the level of commitment from the players early on.  In the past, we have had a problem getting New Hampshire's best players to commit to the game, but this year we have some of the top players in the state on board.  The roster is not finalized, but what we have set at this point, it looks like New Hampshire will be well represented".

 New Hampshire Sportspage will have a full preview leading up to the event as well as coverage of the game on July 13^th.

Date Posted : 04-10-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

The Seacoast Tournament Champions

 An all-star team made up of players from Manchester Central,Trinity High school & Bedford rolled to four wins without a loss in the double elimination Seacoast Basketball Tournament high school division over the past two weeks; culminating in an 82-76 win over York, Maine in Tuesday night's championship game as Troy Pelletier of Manchester Central won Tournament MVP honors.

 Cameron Meservey of Bedford led NHsportspage with 19 points while Pelletier added 13, Brett Hanson (Central) & Mabor Gabriel (Trinity) had 11, Wenyen Gabriel (Trinity) & Carmen Giampteruzzi (Trinity) each had 10 and point guard Dawson Dickson of Central added 8.

 Zach Leal led York with 25 points in the loss.

 Tom Dickson was the team's head coach as New Hampshire Sportspage finished as the lone undefeated team in the tournament.

Date Posted : 03-27-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Brandon Len & Mike Heaney remembering their friend

Lingering thoughts from the four championship games…..

I kept hearing the same thing from Division IV coaches I was communicating with- whether by text, by phone or even in person; ‘There is no way they can pull this thing off….I mean Lisbon is going to win this thing??”

Lisbon did win that thing and I’m not sure they can even articulate exactly how they pulled that off. This was after-all a Lisbon team that had lost to Woodsville and struggled to score in the 40’s when their all-state point guard Chad Knighton was out of the lineup with a knee injury. The 6 seed were no one’s sleeper pick going into the playoffs but with Knighton on their team they loomed as the mediocre hockey team with a goalie capable of getting hot at the right time.

Date Posted : 03-27-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Pembroke wins the Division II Title

 In six years of covering high school boys basketball I've been to over 40 gyms...here's a look at ten of those and the trips that got me there.

 Ten gyms to remember.....in no particular order

 1. Groveton at Woodsville December 12^th 2009

 Where is Woodsville you ask? Go up 93 north until you get past Plymouth and then take a left. From there it is a game of ‘Do you really trust me?' with your GPS because there will be times on very dark roads in towns you've never heard of where you feel like your friends will someday be on the show 48 Hours Mystery saying things like ‘None of us could understand why he was going all the way out to Woodsville to cover a game? And we never saw him again...'

 The gym actually has a ‘Hoosiers' feel and when it is Woodsville vs. Groveton so do the fans in the bleachers. This is where I met Popcorn Row from Groveton (and if you don't know who they are shame on you) and although it was a sloppy game it was the first win for Groveton in a season that would end with a Division IV title at Plymouth State. The gym has a barn vibe to it and you feel like you're walking into a church more than a sporting event. By the time I had sat down I was glad I had made it alive...and happy my GPS and I were talking again.

2. Manchester Memorial at Winnacunnet March 13^th, 2010

Probably the nicest gym in the state as far as a venue to see a high school basketball game. This was an ugly game between two teams that did not seem to be very fond of one another but what stuck out was the gym

Date Posted : 03-20-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

So where does Conant stack up against the rest of the state?

As we do every year at this time we rank the Top 15 teams in New Hampshire.  As we do we take a look back at what was and a look ahead of what might be.

1.    Trinity                                                                   21-1

The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by The Auburn Pitts Bar & Grill

How did 2013 end?: Playing their best basketball of the season. Trinity was a collection of players that fit position wise but the tricky part is getting those personalities to gel and this could have gone wrong in about a dozen different ways. Kids like Ryan Otis (who would have scored 18 a game at Merrimack Valley) and Brad Rhoades (put him on Goffstown he averages close to 20) had to buy in to the fact that the offense went through Mabor Gabriel & Carmen Giampetruzzi. Because they did this turned into a team that shared the ball and rarely took poor shots. A group that looked like one of those all-star teams that overpasses and plays no defense in the Queen City tournament back in December found their groove around mid-January and a late win over Manchester Central on the road confirmed they were the best team in the state.

How does 2014 look?: Dave Keefe’s team is going to be heavy favorites to repeat as they’ll return four starters and eight of their top nine rotation players. Wenyen Gabriel joined the starting lineup in February and will remain in the frontcourt with player of the year candidate Carmen Giampetruzzi. Rhoades can step back into the starting lineup with Otis & Patrick Keefe and there is young talent like Lounge member Connor Walsh ready for more minutes. Trinity will have a good chance to be the first team to repeat in Division I since Salem in 2008.

Date Posted : 03-18-2013 Written by: Dave Haley Photo Credit : Greg Kretschmar Photography

Drew Francouer is a First Team selection

 Today we recognize the top performances from the Division III Basketball season with our coach of the year, all-state picks and our player of the year.

 NHsportspage First Team All-State

 Devin Springfield of Conant

 Andrew Houde of Newport

 Drew Francoeur of Somersworth

 Rob O'Brien of Conant

 Max Gouveia of Campbell

Date Posted : 03-18-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Rene Maher of Pembroke is a First Team selection

 Today we recognize the top performances from the Division II Basketball season with our coach of the year, all-state picks and our player of the year.

 NHsportspage First Team all-State

 Brandon Len of Souhegan

 Patrick Welch of Pembroke Academy

 Rene Maher of Pembroke Academy

 David Hampton of Lebanon

 Nic Lloyd of John Stark

Date Posted : 03-18-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 Here is video of Saturday's show as we talked about all the tournament action and the upcomig Championship Games at UNH. Head coach David 'Doc' Wheeler of Manchester Central joined us as a guest in the second hour.

Date Posted : 03-18-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Eric Gendron of Merrimack is First Team All-State

 Today we recognize the top performances from the Division I Basketball season with our coach of the year, all-state picks and our player of the year.

 NHsportspage First Team all-State

 Troy Pelletier of Manchester Central

 Mabor Gabriel of Trinity

 Carmen Giampetruzzi of Trinity

 Dominic Paradis of Spaulding

 Eric Gendron of Merrimack

Date Posted : 03-17-2013 Written by: Dave Haley Photo Credit : The Littleton Record

Chad Knighton is our co-player of the year

 Today we recognize the top performances from the Division IV Basketball season with our coach of the year, all-state picks and our player of the year.

 NHsportspage First Team all-State
 

 Chad Knighton of Lisbon

 Christian Hawkins of Newmarket

 Nick Whipple of Littleton
 

 Nick Peters of Concord Christian

 Frank Stanley of Epping

Date Posted : 03-16-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 Have you ever gone 22-0 in a season? It's not easy, I imagine, and the Pembroke Spartans certainly
never expected it to be on Saturday afternoon..

 Souhegan, the seven seed that was morphing into a team of destiny by the game, jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead and led by seven at the half and by two going into the final eight minutes. In doing so they had one of the best players in Division II running their offense and a whole lot of karma on their side.

 Pembroke though did what great teams always do; they answered the bell in the final round and they made the plays that needed to be made. You couldn't call this Pembroke team great when they tipped off at noon at Lundholm gymnasium. You can now, very good teams don't go 22-0. Only great ones do.

 Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty bring you all the highlights plus post-game interviews with Rene Maher, Matt Persons & Patrick Welch and a team wide celebration that Pete unfortunately for the viewer, got caught up in.

 Not everyone is born with rhythm.

 Here is your last look at one of the best Division II teams in recent memory.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Contact us at davehaley@nhsportspage.com

Sat 03-16-2013	Score
Pembroke Academy	49
Souhegan	41
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-16-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 Your coaches from little league to the majors will preach to you over & over again that ‘You can only focus on what you can control,' and with Bishop Guertin guards hitting three pointers he wasn't defending and officials making calls he couldn't comprehend Trinity all-state forward Carmen Giampetruzzi had to pound that message into his head as chaos seemed to be ruling the day around him.

 That was until he was fouled with less than 15 seconds to go and his team holding on to a two point lead with a state championship in the balance. Giampetruzzi, who has been as good as any player in the state over the last month, stepped to the line knowing that all of the sudden it was back in his control. The game was back in his hands.

 The Junior three sport star gathered himself and buried both foul shots. As a result Bishop Guertin was then two possessions down with one possession left on the clock. Trinity was the Division I champion.

 The Pioneers led by five at the half and by six after three quarters but Jim Migneault's team never went away. They battled until the final whistle as they had in four pre-season games that saw them knock off two higher seeds. In the end Giampetruzzi (18 points & 13 rebounds), Patrick Keefe (12 pts.), Mabor Gabriel (6 points & 9 rebounds) and some big contributions off the bench from Brad Rhoades (10 points) were too much to overcome as Dave Keefe and Trinity won their second title in five years.

 Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty bring you all the play by play & highlights plus post-game interviews with coach Keefe, Carmen Giampetruzzi, Patrick Keefe & Brad Rhoades.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Contact us at davehaley@nhsportspage.com

Sat 03-16-2013	Score
Trinity	50
Bishop Guertin	46
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-15-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Brandon Len and Souhegan face Pembroke for the title

 A pair of (lucky?) sevens faces off with the top seeds at UNH Saturday afternoon for the state championship. In our final two previews we take a look at each game.

 (7) Bishop Guertin vs. (1) Trinity

 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by The Auburn Pitts Bar & Grill

 Bishop Guertin beating Spaulding on Tuesday night wasn't a shocker, a surprise yes, a shocker no. It was how they went about it that left you bewildered; BG made an unflappable Spaulding team with five tournament games under their belt look confused and out of sorts.

 Spaulding saw a 1-2-2 three quarter trap from Exeter in their quarterfinal win but when it appeared again at Durham they looked like Jim Migneault had just invented his own version of the '85 Bears 46 defense. Spaulding could barely protect the basketball and even when they did they failed to get any good looks on offense. When Dominic Paradis picked up his third & fourth fouls head coach Tim Cronin had to put him back out there because Paradis was the only player who looked like he could handle the ball against the BG pressure. And he's a 6'4 power forward...

Date Posted : 03-14-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 It took Patrick Welch three years to get to Durham but once he arrived it took about ten minutes for him to completely own the place.

 Coe-Brown mixed up defenses, took care of the ball and never deviated from the game plan given to them by Hall of Fame head coach David Smith. It wouldn't matter though.

 That's because Pembroke's junior shooting guard ,who may end his career as one of the Top 10 scorers in the history of the state, put together a first half performance for the ages; outscoring Coe-Brown by himself 21-18 on 9 for 10 shooting. He did it in transition, in the half-court, in the paint and behind the three point line. Welch was the best player in New Hampshire, at least for one night.

 In the second half it was his all-state point guard Rene Maher's turn to take over the game but in a much different manner. Down by double digits Coe-Brown had to pressure & trap and Maher guided his team through the traffic like a driver that knew all the shortcuts.

 In the end Pembroke walked off with their 21^st win without a loss and now only Souhegan stands between them and perfection.

 Pete Tarrier and Jon Kesty bring you all the video highlights, play by play and post-game interviews with Rene Maher, Patrick Welch, Matt Persons and Matt Alosa.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

  Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Wed 03-13-2013	Score
Pembroke Academy	62
Coe-Brown	31
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-13-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 As the final buzzer sounded in Souhegan's 53-45 win over Lebanon the entire Sabers team joined their coaching staff & student body in celebration near their bench as their point guard & best player headed in the opposite direction.

 Brandon Len knows all too much about heartache these days and as the game came to a close he found fellow all-state guard David Hampton of Lebanon, who he knew was hurting.

 Len wrapped his arms around one of Lebanon's all-time leading scorers before joining the euphoria going on behind him. Only ten days after the loss of their former teammate Tony Barksdale to a tragic death the Souhegan Sabers are taking their fans on a pretty special trip, a trip that ends one way or another against the only unbeaten team in New Hampshire Saturday afternoon.

 Lebanon fell behind Souhegan 9-0 in the first five minutes of the game and although they quickly gained their footing they could never completely overcome that early deficit. A Kalin Sau corner three tied the game up late but Souhegan's Zack Simmonds saved his only three points of the night for the biggest moment as he buried a corner trey and then watched as teammate Jake Kennedy hit a fall-away in the lane on the following possession for a lead in the final minutes that the Sabers would not relinquish.

 Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty bring you the play by play of all the action plus post-game interviews with Souhegan head coach Mike Heaney, Jake Kennedy, Brandon Len & Zack Simmonds.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Wed 03-13-2013	Score
Lebanon	45
Souhegan	53
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-12-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Beau Pingree & Coe-Brown take on Pembroke

 Just as we did in Division III & Division IV we talked to several coaches who gave us a scouting report on the four teams that have advanced to the semifinals at UNH.

 (13) Coe-Brown vs. (1) Pembroke Academy

 Coe-Brown had to go on the road in each of the first two rounds of the tournament but in the semifinals they'll be the only team returning to UNH for a second straight season.

 Can they pull the biggest shocker of this seasons postseason and beat the only undefeated team in New Hampshire? We asked the coaches to break the two teams down.

 First the top seed; "Pembroke is at its best when they run because they have so many players that can hurt you in transition and their big men can really run the floor. For some reason though they've stopped running and you can see it as their scores creep down into the forties," said one tournament coach. "Against Coe-Brown I think they absolutely have to run because I don't think Coe-Brown can score enough points to keep up with them."

 Another tournament coach agreed. "They should run. If they do run the bigger floor at UNH plays to their advantage because of the athletes they have. On the other side though I think it is going to hurt that 1-2-2 press they run at you. Kafani Williams is so good at covering space for those guys, and I just think with the extra ten feet or so it will be less effective at UNH. "

Date Posted : 03-12-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 Bishop Guertin rallied from a big halftime deficit with a 15-3 3^rd quarter sparked by point guard Steve Toscano and a nice move to a 2-2-1 full court press by head coach Jim Migneault. The zone seemed to throw a Spaulding team known for their precision completely out of sync and when all-state forward Dominic Paradis fouled out with three minutes remaining the 3^rd seed could not hold on.

 In a game that wasn't decided until Jeff Lunn buried two free throws with 2.9 seconds left a Bishop Guertin team thought by many to be too young to get to the Division I final four is now a step beyond it.

 They will play Trinity Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock for the school's second title in three years. "These kids just never stopped working, "said Migneault. " They just refused to lose."

 Toscano scored 19 points while Lunn added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty bring you all the play by play, highlights and post-game interviews with Jim Migneault, Jeff Lunn, Kyle Gavin (10 pts.) and Steve Toscano.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Tue 03-12-2013	Score
Spaulding	53
Bishop Guertin	55
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-12-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 Mabor Gabriel dominated early, Tim Preston dazzled throughout and Carmen Giampetruzzi took care of business late. Back & forth top seed Trinity and fourth seed Nashua South went all the way to the final seconds when a missed free throw by Vinnie Ortolano was gathered in by Ryan Otis as time expired.

 Trinity jumped out to a 21-13 lead after one and 30-23 at the half but South would tie the game after three quarters led by the best point guard in Division I Tim Preston. The junior guard scored 22 points, dished out 4 assists and made 4 steals, and fell just sort of sending head coach Nate Mazerolle and the Panthers to the title game.

 In the end Patrick Keefe, Mabor Gabriel and Giampetruzzi knocked down key foul shots as the Pioneers go back to the title game for the 5^th time in 7 years under head coach Dave Keefe.

 Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty bring you all the play by play plus post-game interviews with coach Keefe, Mabor Gabriel, Ryan Otis & Carmen Giampetruzzi.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Tue 03-12-2013	Score
Trinity	60
Nashua South	58
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-11-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Tim Preston and Nashua South get a shot at #1 Trinity

 Just as we did in Division III & Division IV we talked to several coaches who gave us a scouting report on the four teams that have advanced to the semifinals at UNH.

 (4) Nashua South vs. (1) Trinity

 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by the Auburn Pitts Bar & Grill

 Two very good teams arrive in very different fashion as Trinity dominated their first two playoff games while Nashua South was pushed to the brink in both games but pulled out overtimes wins. We asked coaches what we are likely to see Tuesday night.

 First top ranked Trinity. "They are the best team by far," declared one head coach we spoke to. "They don't really have a weakness because all five guys on the floor can play. To win it I think they need Mabor (Gabriel) to really go off and have a great final four. I worry less about Carmen (Giampetruzzi), he's been a beast the last month and he has that big-game mentality from the other sports he plays."

 Another head coach talked about how well Trinity plays offensively, "The aspect I was most impressed with was how smart they play. If you make one mistake defensively, if one kid rotates too late for you or you don't close out on one of their shooters it's a lay-up or wide open three and they don't miss many of either.

Date Posted : 03-10-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 We broke down all the boys tournament action from around the state and had Lisbon coach Sam Natti as our guest as well as BST Basketball's Brett Sellingham in studio.

Date Posted : 03-10-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 The Conant Orioles used their many different weapons on Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Fieldhouse to win the 2013 Division 3 boys basketball Championship, 66-46 over Campbell.  The 2nd ranked O's put 4 players in double figures to help blow open a 7 point lead after 3 quarters.

 Junior guard Rob O'Brien was tops on the team in scoring with 21, while Campbell senior standout Max Gouveia had 19 for the 5th seeded Cougars.  Here's the video highlights of the game along with postgame reaction from Conant coach Eric Saucier and Orioles players Devin Springfield and Jake Carlson.  

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Sat 03-09-2013	Score
Conant	66
Campbell	44
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-10-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 13 seed Coe Brown is making a 2nd straight Cinderella story trip to the D2 Final Four in Durham thanks to a 54-39 road win at #12 Windham on Saturday night in the D2 quarterfinals.

 The Bears  got a big 2nd half performance from senior forwards Josh Jackman and Beau Pingree who combined for 28 points over the final 2 quarters as Coe Brown pulled away after being up only 3 at halftime.  Here's the video highlights of the game, plus postgame conversations with Coe Brown coach David Smith and Bears players Jackman, Pingree and Chris Laurion.  

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Sat 03-09-2013	Score
Windham	39
Coe-Brown	54
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-09-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Lisbon is your Division IV Champion

 Over the past two weeks 6^th seeded Lisbon had become that house guest that didn't know when it was time to leave.

 Having a sophomore dominated Moultonborough team take them to triple overtime on their home floor in the first round didn't seem to deter them nor did having to fight their way back from a deficit after three quarters at Profile in the quarterfinals.

 This wasn't a team anyone thought was capable of winning the title so when was Lisbon going to get the hint?

 You would have thought it would have finally dawned them as Newmarket raced to a 26-7 lead in the semifinals and threatened to run them right off the floor. It was time to go..

 But no..

 Chad Knighton ripped off 28 points and did everything short of throwing on a Superman cape. Next thing you knew Lisbon was in a lay-up line against a Derryfield School team everyone expected to finally end this test drive with no end.

Sat 03-09-2013	Score
Derryfield School	36
Lisbon	38
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-08-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Jourdain Bell & Brady take another shot at Lebanon

 (8) Pelham at (1) Pembroke Academy

 These two teams began the season against each other way back on December 14^th and for one of them that season will come to an end Saturday night.

 Matt Alosa's Spartans are the last undefeated team in the state and more & more often they are seeing teams trying to hold the ball to pull off an upset in the 30's. A high school shot clock is the easy solution but it likely isn't coming next season and certainly isn't coming tonight. Pembroke has been able to speed the pace to their liking at times by applying full-court pressure behind point guard Rene Maher and the 19-0 results speak for themselves; whether it be a high scoring affair or a grind it affair the Spartans are winning. Even if some games have Pembroke feeling like they are walking in the sand.

 Pelham though is a team that likes to keep you uncomfortable with their defense and when they get out and run they will attack, not slow it up and kill clock. Matt Regan's team isn't deep but he has some good contributors in Joe Slattery & Ryan Frank.

Date Posted : 03-08-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 Ask any veteran coach in Division I basketball their thoughts on Spaulding head coach Tim Cronin's offensive sets and the words complex, innovative and precise come up all the time. Spaulding players run their sets with a read & react freedom to it that means if they zag the first time they run a particular play they are just as likely to zag the next time.

 It's all pretty complicated stuff, so you can imagine the deep philosophies and nuanced basketball terminology Cronin was throwing around after his team clinched their second consecutive trip to the Final Four and third in six years on Friday night.

 On how Spaulding was able to get good looks off of Exeter's zone defense; "We made sure to get the ball to Dominic Paradis."

 On how Spaulding broke Exeter's fourth quarter full court pressure: "We had Dominic flash to the corner and get the ball."

 And how did Spaulding once again keep their heads about them in front of a packed house while facing a very good Exeter defense?

 Wait for it.....

 "Well we have Dominic Paradis and that makes my life a lot easier," said Cronin of his 6'4 all-state forward. "He's been here before."

Fri 03-08-2013	Score
Spaulding	50
Exeter	45
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-08-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Nashua South won their 2nd straight overtime playoff game and advanced to the semifinals of the Division 1 Tournament with a thrilling 61-57 victory against Dover on Friday night.  After leading his team to victory over Salem in the prelims, Dave Dunham had 19 points in this one and hit the go-ahead putback late in OT that broke a 57 all tie.  Dover had a chance at the end, but a turnover before they could get a shot off led to 2 Tim Preston free throws that iced the game.

 Here's the video highlights filmed by our cameraman Jon Kesty featuring postgame interviews with Dover coach Mike Romps, South coach Nate Mazzerole, and the Purple Panthers Big 3 of Dunham, Tim Preston and Jack Preston.
 

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Sat 03-09-2013	Score
Nashua South	61
Dover	57
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-07-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 The Souhegan Sabers paid tribute to a fallen former teammate with an emotional win in the Division 2 preliminary round against Hanover on Wednesday night.  Riding a wave of feelings of both grief and fond memories of the life of Tony Barksdale who passed away over the weekend at the age of 19, 7th seeded Souhegan seemed to have some kind of "Devine intervention" working on their side in a 55-33 blowout win over #10 Hanover. 

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Wed 03-06-2013	Score
Souhegan	55
Hanover	33
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-07-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Dominic Paradis & Spaulding take on Exeter

 (8) Bedford at (1) Trinity

 The coverage of Trinity high school is sponsored by The Auburn Pitts Bar & Grill

 The coverage of Bedford is sponsored by HK Photography & Bedford Dental Care Associates

 Both teams come in playing very well and this was a close game (a 52-49 Trinity win on the road) the first time they met.

 It's going to be important for Bedford to establish a lost post game so they can work from the inside/out offensively. That means working the ball to 6'7 Sam Thomas on the low block and using power forward James Caparell on the weak side for dump down passes and offensive rebounds. Trinity can cover Thomas straight up with Mabor Gabriel (same height & size) or even try and force Thomas to shoot over the smaller but stronger Carmen Giampetruzzi and that's not Thomas' game. Expect Giampetruzzi to cover Caparell and have a lengthy discussion during foul shots on how fun it is playing quarterback & power forward six months a year..

Date Posted : 03-07-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Derryfield moves into the role as favorites

 (6) Lisbon vs. (4) Derryfield School

 These two teams will meet for the Division IV championship for the second time in three years as the best team from the north faces the best from the south, just the way it should be.

 Derryfield is playing better than any team in the division right now and a big reason why is their help defense. Yes, help defense. It's not glamorous but when it is done well it can take teams out of their rhythm and the combination of height & execution has turned a solid Derryfield defense into an excellent one in the last month of the season.

 The Cougars will play you aggressively on the perimeter and leave 6'6 center Roger Larrivee to man the paint and protect the rim. Max Anderson, Chris Rizos and especially Mitch Green have all done a nice job defensively and on the occasions their man has gotten by them Larrivee has been there to alter shots. The turning point of their semifinal win over top seeded Littleton happened in the second quarter of a close game when Littleton's Josh Bogardus drove to the basket but instead of going strong, faded & altered his shot in mid-air because of Larrivee' s presence. Derryfield then gathered the rebound and fired it down the court where they found Tyler Zorn open for a three pointer.

Date Posted : 03-07-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Rob O'Brien & Conant get another shot at Campbell

 (5) Campbell vs. (2) Conant

 Third meeting of the season as each team won on the others home floor and in the case of Conant's win last month over Campbell, it was emphatic.

 Eric Saucier's team doesn't need to change a thing from that last meeting. Jake Carlson, who had missed the first game against Campbell, was back and the Orioles applied constant pressure to point guard Max Gouveia and never allowed the Cougars to get into the flow of the game.

 Newport was in big trouble right out of the gate Tuesday night because defensively they couldn't keep any of the Conant ball handlers (Devin Springfield, Robert O'Brien, Carlson) in front of them and when they got a step on their defender the lane parted like the Red Sea. When Newport got down big they went to their all-state forward Andrew Houde, nearly every single possession, and with one guy trying to shoot them back in it no one else found a rhythm. Derek Pare hit four three pointers, on nice reversals or secondary breaks, to keep it within striking distance but no one in the SNHU Fieldhouse ever doubted who was winning the game.

Date Posted : 03-06-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Conant handles Newport in D3 semis

 The Conant Orioles are headed back to the D3 Championship Game for the 1st time in 3 years thanks to a 65-42 semifinal victory over the 3rd seeded Newport Tigers on Tuesday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The #2 Orioles will take on 5th seeded Campbell in Saturday's 3pm Final.  The Cougars are only team to beat Conant this season.  Here's the video highlights of the game along with our postgame interviews with Conant coach Eric Saucier, Conant players Devin Springfield, Rob O'Brien and Kyle Carland, plus Newport coach Steve Lavolpicelo.
 

  This game is available for purchase on DVD.

  Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Tue 03-05-2013	Score
Conant	65
Newport	42
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-06-2013 Written by: Jon Kesty

 Campbell topples #1 seed Berlin

 5th seeded Campbell took down top seeded Berlin, 62-44 behind a torrid 59% FG shooting night.  The Cougars jumped on top of Berlin early and then withstood a 2nd quarter Mountaineers charge that made it a 2 point game at the half, 25-23.  The Cougars outscored them 37-21 in the 2nd half to win it going away setting up a Championship Game rubber match against Conant in the D3 Finals on Sat.  Campbell and Conant split their 2 regular season games with each team winning on the others home floor.  Here's the video highlights of the semifinal game vs Berlin and our postgame interviews with Campbell coach John Langlois and Cougars players Max Gouveia, Nick Freson and Jacob Morgan.
 

  This game is available for purchase on DVD.

  Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Tue 03-05-2013	Score
Berlin	44
Campbell	62
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-04-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Chris Rizos and Derryfield face #1 Littleton

 We spoke to coaches in Division IV who have faced the teams in tonight's final four and got their scouting reports on what the teams do well, do poorly and how to best attack them.

 (4) Derryfield School vs. (1) Littleton

 The coverage of The Derryfield School is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

Littleton comes into the game at 19-1 and is looking for their third trip to the championship game in four years. "The most impressive thing about Littleton is how smart they play; they don't beat themselves and make the same kind of mistakes other teams do. Trevor (Howard) is obviously a very good coach and what these guys have is a really good sense of their roles. They know (Nick) Whipple & (Josh) Bogardus are their go to guys and the other guys' just do a really good job filling their role. The Stone brothers (Cody & Owen) play hard, (Freddie) Vasquez just works really hard defensively and they hit their foul shots. When we played them and we were down six points late I knew we were in trouble because they hit their foul shots."

 Another coach talked about how to defend Littleton, "I think when you play zone you make Cody Stone and Jeff Howard more dangerous because they can shoot it when they are open. With Whipple he is going to get his points, you need to take care of the ball and force Bogardus to stay out on the perimeter, you can't let him drive to the hoop because he can really finish."

Date Posted : 03-04-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Liam Gantrish & Hanover travel to Souhegan

 (16) St. Thomas at (1) Pembroke Academy                 

 The Saints are back in the tournament after a win over Milford on February 22^nd gave them the tie-breaker for the 16^th and final spot.

 What that likely earns first year head coach Dave Sokolnicki's team is precisely one more game because they are tipping off Wednesday night with the only undefeated team in the state. The Spartans have four all-state players in Patrick Welch (20.9 ppg), Rene Maher (your unofficial assists leader), Matt Persons (15.4 ppg) and Kafani ‘Jordan'Williams (10 ppg.). Dominic Timbas has improved by the week and his rebounding gives this team enough to hold teams to one shot per possession.

 This is a group with a lot of wins under their belt but they have been snake bitten come tournament time. They have one of the best head coaches in the state in Matt Alosa and an 18 game trek is down to four games. It's championship or bust for the heavy favorites in Division II.

Date Posted : 03-03-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 Campbell head coach John Langlois has been around so long he once coached Newmarket coach Jamie Hayes.....at Newmarket. He's seen a million junk defenses in his day and thrown a few at teams himself and boy did he have plans for Gilford all-state guard Josh Joyce as the two teams met in the Division III quarterfinals Saturday night.

 Langlois came out in a diamond & 2 defense that essentially put two players on Joyce at all times and left the wings wide open. He then switched back to a traditional 2-3 zone and then for kicks & giggles threw in your basic man to man. Before switching back to the diamond & 2.

 Confused?

 Think of how Josh Joyce probably felt.

 What all of these defenses produced was chaos and it worked as Gilford had no idea how to handle an early Campbell surge that saw them go ahead 21-7 early in the second quarter.

 They looked a step slow on defense and offensively like someone trying to find the spaceship in one of those 3-D paintings. Those take forever to solve and Gilford was running out of time, they needed to figure this out quickly.

Sat 03-02-2013	Score
Gilford	55
Campbell	57
Box Scores

 Pete Tarrier & Dave Haley were in studio breaking down all the action from Friday night. featured guests were head coaches Jamie Hayes of Newmarket, Nate Mazerolle of Nashua South, Lorne Lucas of Somersworth and Matt Alosa of Pembroke.

 Conant runs past Somersworth and into the Final Four, 75-51.

 Trailing 11-10 late in the 1st quarter, the 2nd seeded Conant Orioles used a 19-0 run to take command and never looked back as they advanced to the Division 3 semifinals with an impressive 75-51 victory over 7th seed Somersworth in Jaffrey on Saturday night.

 The Orioles hit 10 3 pointers in the game, 7 of which came in the 1st half that ended with Conant up by 20, 38-18.  Here's the video highlights of the game along with post game reaction from Orioles players Devin Springfield, Rob O'Brien and Eli Hodgson, plus conversations with Conant coach Eric Saucier and Somersworth coach Lorne Lucas.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Sat 03-02-2013	Score
Conant	75
Somersworth	51
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-03-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Sam Thomas and Bedford face Winnacunnet

 (16) Pinkerton at (1) Trinity

 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by the Auburn Pitts Bar & Grill.

 With Bedford joining Division I this season it brought the total teams to twenty and that ended the unique ability to have every team play each other one time. So by the luck of the draw Trinity happened to be the one team Pinkerton was not scheduled to play in 2013.

 Funny how things work out sometimes.

 Pinkerton is a fairly young team with a ton of size and four very good players in Scott Bradley (12.8 ppg), point guard Luke Testa (9 ppg), forward Cam Welch (11.9) and freshman center Luke Rosinski (9 ppg). It is an Astros team that has struggled all season long though and this frankly is a very bad match-up for them.

Date Posted : 03-03-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Devin Wade and Newport want Conant..they get them Tuesday night

 As we did a year ago we have asked coaches from Division III who have faced teams among the four semifinalists to give their take on the teams. No one knows these teams as well as the coaches who face them and we spoke to five different coaches who gave us tremendous insight into Tuesday's semifinal games.

 (5) Campbell vs. (1) Berlin

  The top seed replaced four starters from a championship team last season and rolls into the semifinals for a fourth straight season after back to back double digit wins. Coaches we spoke to talked about the depth Don Picard's team has and how they got to 19-1.

 "Don actually has a deeper team this season, certainly not as talented but they can sort of bring it at you in waves. They'll pressure you and they box out very well. This isn't a team with very much size but they are your typical tough Berlin team and they all come after you." Another tournament coach agreed, "Dmitri Giannos can shoot if you leave him open but he is more of a kid who scores putting it on the floor. He's strong and he handles the ball pretty well, every guy on their team can handle the ball so they are able to move the ball up the floor quickly. The way to beat them is to get them to take quick shots, if they go against a team like Conant down the road and they stop passing the ball and start putting up quick shots I think that is where you could se them get in trouble."

Date Posted : 03-01-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Dimitri Giannos and Berlin take on Mascoma

 Over the next three weeks we'll be covering tournament games all over the state and wanted to let you know that all games that Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty cover are going to be available for purchase on DVD.

 You'll get the entire game with Pete Tarrier's play by play as well as pre-game & halftime analysis and post-game interviews with the winning team and their coach. This is something your family and the player in your home can have as a keepsake for the rest of your lives.

Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

(8) Mascoma at (1) Berlin

 The champs are in a very familiar spot with a whole group of new faces after a 71-55 win over Farmington puts them in the quarterfinals against Mascoma for a second straight year. Dimitri Giannos scored 28 points and Tommy Gallagher stepped up with 16 of his own in the victory and they'll now face a Mascoma team that needed every bit of their home court advantage in the first round.

Date Posted : 03-01-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 After trailing for the entire night and at times by as many as eleven points The Derryfield Cougars outscored Colebrook Academy 24-6 in the fourth quarter to advance to their fifth consecutive final four Tuesday night at Plymouth State.

 Just as surprising as the totality of Derryfield's domination in the fourth quarter was the fact that both head coaches admitted they could kind of sort of see it coming..

 Derryfield head coach Rob Bradley was doing everything short of rubbing a lucky Rabbits foot to get his team to close this game out the way they have for the past four weeks while on the opposing bench Colebrook's Buddy Trask had the look of a man who had seen this same movie play out too many times since December.

 In the end both teams found their form and in a good news/ bad news outcome, both coaches were actually right. "This has been our problem all year, failing to play four quarters," said Trask of the season ending loss. " I thought for two & a half quarters we actually played really good defense but again, we didn't do it for four quarters."

 For Bradley it was a belief  that his team would start finishing in the paint as opposed to loitering around it. " I told the guys at halftime that not only did the big guys have to extend out and play defense on the perimeter but they also had to stop settling for 6 footers in the paint," said Bradley. "Once we got a few easy shots to drop it felt like everyone relaxed and started finishing as well."

 Center Roger Larrivee would score 8 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Cougars dominated the final eight minutes and move on to a semifinal showdown with top ranked Littleton after a 47-32 win.

Fri 03-01-2013	Score
Derryfield School	47
Colebrook Academy	32
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-01-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Newmarket is back in familiar territory. A dominating 53-27 win over #7 Epping in the D4 quarterfinals on Friday night gives the 18-2 Mules their 6th consecutive Final Four appearance.

 Sam Leahy connected on 12 of 13 free throws on his way to a 17 point night, while teammate Christian Hawkins chipped in with 15 to lead the Newmarket offense. The 2nd seeded Mules advance to Plymouth State University for a semifinal date with #6 Lisbon on Tuesday night.

 Here's the video highlights of the game featuring special guest analysis from Seacoast Media Group reporter Ryan O'Leary, plus postgame reaction from Newmarket players Leahy, Hawkins and Josh Eisfeller and coach Jamie Hayes.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

  Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

Fri 03-01-2013	Score
Newmarket	53
Epping	27
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-28-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Christian Hawkins & Newmarket must beat Epping a third time

 Over the next three weeks we'll be covering tournament games all over the state and wanted to let you know that all games that Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty cover are going to be available for purchase on DVD.

 You'll get the entire game with Pete Tarrier's play by play as well as pre-game & halftime analysis and post-game interviews with the winning team and their coach. This is something your family and the player in your home can have as a keepsake for the rest of your lives.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

(8) Pittsfield at (1) Littleton

 Pittsfield head coach Jay Darrah knows the drive up 93; he did it a year ago at this time. That was where his season ended as a seven seed traveling to second ranked Littleton and Friday night they meet again with a trip to Plymouth State for the Division IV Final Four hanging in the balance.

 Pittsfield won the rubber match of their three games against Concord Christian Tuesday night as their key guys stepped up in the big moments. Elias Doucette scored 20 points and Tyler Booth 10 but it was underclassman Xenthios Cyr's 16 points and clutch foul shooting that pushed them past the 9 seed. This is a team that has done all the little things right from day one and Friday night it'll come down to trying to control the glass and get themselves second shots against a Littleton team without a true center.

Date Posted : 02-27-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Steve Auger and Hopkinton take on Bow

 (16) Farmington at (1) Berlin

 A young Berlin team has gotten better by the week under veteran coach Don Picard and their reward is a home game against a Farmington team they beat 73-54 back on January 4^th and 59-51 two weeks ago

 Dimitri Giannos (17 ppg) has played at an all-state level from the guard spot while Brad Fennette (10 ppg & 5 Reb) and Levi Arsenault (8.8 ppg & 4 reb.) have given this team enough rebounding to beat bigger teams.

 This is a program that has gone to the final four three straight seasons and while there were solid expectations after their JV team went undefeated a year ago, no one saw a second straight #1 seed in the tournament coming after four starters graduated. At least no one outside of Berlin.

 (9) Raymond at (8) Mascoma

 Mascoma limped to the finish line with bad losses to Winnisquam and Kearsarge while the Raymond Rams are your lower seeded team the higher seeds should fear.

 Can Raymond roll off four straight wins and shock all of Division III when they are crowned champions? No they cannot, but what they can do is get a hot shooting night out of Jordan Richards (26.4 ppg) and get to the final four. On any given night with a guard as good as Richards this team can beat just about anyone and they have some very good wins on their resume (Somersworth & Prospect Mountain) to back that up.

Date Posted : 02-26-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 What's that old line? ''lf you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you don't understand the situation. ''

 Well in the final two minutes of one of the best basketball games of the year Trinity senior forward Mabor Gabriel was the picture of poise, and seemed pretty aware this game was sort of a big deal.

 With chaos surrounding him and enough noise to simulate a NASA shuttle launch Gabriel simply dribbled four times, bent his knees, cocked the ball and fired.

 Six times in row in the final two minutes he went through this routine and six times in row the ball found nylon.

 This game is available for purchase on DVD.

 Email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com if you are interested in buying a DVD of any of the games.

 Manchester Central, who led for 30 of the 32 minutes in the game, could only watch and when they had their chances on the other end they could not convert. Gabriel scored 8 of his 20 points in the last 2:06 of the game and his 16 rebounds were every bit as crucial.

Tue 02-26-2013	Score
Manchester Central	45
Trinity	49
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-25-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Frank Stanley & Epping take on Sunapee is Round one

 (16) Portsmouth Christian at (1) Littleton

 PCA might have gotten a small break when they lost a tie-breaker for the 15^th slot to Woodsville, a tie-breaker that came down to the number of wins over tournament teams each team had.

 Instead of facing Newmarket for the third time, a team that has beaten PCA 80-37 and 75-28 this season, they face a Crusaders team they haven't faced before. Hey when the scores are that lopsided just about anyone besides Newmarket for a third time will do.

 What they are getting isn't going to be a picnic either. Portsmouth Christian is going to have to handle full court pressure from Trevor Howard's team and they'll get it in both man to man and zone looks. Players' Lounge member Nick Whipple will lead the way along with Cody Stone and Freddie Vasquez as Littleton will try to make getting the ball over half-court an accomplishment in itself.

Date Posted : 02-24-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Nick Whipple of top seeded Littleton

 Nick Whipple & Littleton wrapped up the top seed as he scored 16 points in a 47-38 win over Profile.

 Chad Knighton of Lisbon scored 15 points as his team closed the season with a 58-50 win over Groveton.

 Cyrus Rothwell-Ferraris of Hanover scored 13 points as his team remained red hot with a 55-50 win over Windham.

 Troy Pelletier of Manchester Central scored 27 points but it wasn't enough as the Little Green lost for the first time 70-62 to Nashua South.

 Devin Springfield of Conant was ready for a rematch with the only team to beat the Orioles this season as he dropped 27 points & added 7 rebounds in a blowout victory over Campbell earlier in the week.

 Carmen Giampetruzzi of Trinity is making a run at first team all-state honors and had another huge performance Friday night in scoring 31 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in a win over Dover.

 The Portsmouth Clippers put the defensive clamps down on Brandon Len and the Souhegan Sabers in a convincing 46-34 win in Amherst on Friday night.  The Clippers improved to 13-3 on the season and solidified their hopes for a Top 4 seed in the upcoming Division 2 tournament, while Souhegan slipped to 9-6.

Fri 02-22-2013	Score
Souhegan	34
Portsmouth	46
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-20-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tim Preston scored 25 points to lead Nashua South to an impressive 70-62 win at Manchester Central on Tuesday night in the Queen City. South improved to 12-3 with the win and knocked the Little Green(now 15-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten during regular season play.

 The Purple Panthers junior point guard started hot with 12 points in the 1st quarter and his 3 pointer at the end of 1 put his team up on top 17-14. A 12-2 South run in the final 4:07 of the 2nd quarter gave them a 35-24 lead at the break. Preston seemed especially amped up for the match-up against the top team in the division. He finished the 1st half with 16 points and played with the passion needed to lead his team to the win. "This was a big game", Preston said. "We wanted it to give us some confidence going into the playoffs...and now we know we can beat anyone."

Tue 02-19-2013	Score
Manchester Central	62
Nashua South	70
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-20-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Zoubel Iradakunda and Memorial take on Winnacunnet

 We head into the final games of the regular season in Division III & Division IV but before we do we want to recognize two all-state players who scored their 1,000^th career point Tuesday night; Kaleb Marquis of Concord and Players' Lounge member Dominic Paradis of Spaulding. Conant forward Devin Springfield scored his 1,000^th last week against Monadnock. Congratulations to all three.

 Division I

 Winnacunnet (7-8) at Manchester Memorial (11-3)

 The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 The Warriors picked up a big win at home Tuesday night over Alvirne that keeps their hopes for a home playoff game on life support for the time being. Winnacunnet got solid efforts from Sam Knollmeyer, Rich Ruffin and point guard Ryan Gigliotti as the three combined for 33 points and helped end a two game skid.

Date Posted : 02-17-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Tyler Ford of Souhegan

 We are excited to announce two new members of the Players' Lounge as Matt Ehrenberg of Bow and Connor Walsh of Trinity come on board as they become the 54th and 55th members of our elite group of athletes.

 We will have both players' profiles set up this week and all members of the lounge have their YouTube video highlights, one on one videos and performances featured on the largest high school sports website in New England. Thank you to the parents of both Matt & Connor for their support of the coverage of New Hampshire high school sports.

 Devin Springfield of Conant became the fourth member of his family to go over the 1,000 point mark for his career as he went for 24 points in a 73-35 win over Monadnock.

 D.J Lotito of Monadnock scored 8 points in the loss to Conant and continued to be a defensive catalyst.

 Carmen Giampetruzzi of Trinity stepped up in the absence of Mabor Gabriel (out with an injury) as he scored 25 points and ripped down 18 rebounds in a 74=40 win over Londonderry.

 Wenyen Gabriel of Trinity had his best game of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the win Friday night.

Date Posted : 02-15-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 Trailing by ten points at the half Merrimack head coach Tim Goodridge had a short and simple message for his basketball team; take care of the basketball, run the offense the way they had in practice the night before and play Merrimack basketball the way they have all season.

 With that he sent his team back out on to the floor with 5 minutes still left in the halftime so his players could get extra shots up before they made their run at Manchester Memorial in the second half.

 Only to find when they got back on the court that someone had locked all of their basketballs in the ball rack, and no one had the key. The Merrimack players simply stood on the floor alone waiting for someone to come release their basketballs from a locked cage at half-court while Goodridge, watching all of this unfold, could only shake his head.

 It was that kind of night....

Fri 02-15-2013	Score
Merrimack	55
Manchester Memorial	81
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-13-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Isaiah Prince and Monadnock take on Newport

 On one particular Thursday last year I decided to preview every single game in the state being played for the coming weekend for my weekly  column. It took about three hours but I was happy with the results, had fun doing it and the feedback was that people really liked it. Once a year certainly felt like enough..

 So here we are again and today instead of previewing the seven or eight biggest games of the weekend we're going to take a quick look at every single game played around the state this weekend. This will either be my best idea or my worst of 2013 with no in between..

 Division I

 Salem (5-8) at Alvirne (8-5)

 The coverage of Salem is sponsored by Merrimack Valley Sports

 All of the sudden Salem has won three of four and when Andrew Ruffen is scoring (15.7 ppg over that stretch) this team has enough offense to beat good teams. What's been missing this season is the defense as Rob McLaughlin coached teams don't usually give up nearly 60 points (57.2 ppg) a night. That average puts them at about the middle of the pack defensively and that isn't good enough for an offense that struggles to score.

Date Posted : 02-13-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 The Derryfield Cougars showed the rest of Division 4 basketball they are true Championship contenders with an exciting 51-47 win over Newmarket in Manchester on Tuesday night.  Roger Larrivee scored 8 of his team high 16 points in the 4th quarter as the Cougars improved to 11-4 with their most impressive win of the season.  The 6'6" forward, who transferred to Derryfield from Bedford prior to his junior season, hit 2 clutch free throws in the final seconds to snap a 47 all tie and then blocked Mules' star guard Christian Hawkins' potential game tying shot on the other end before capping the scoring with 2 more FTs after getting fouled with 0.5 seconds remaining to send Newmarket back to the seacoast with just their 2nd loss of the season(14-2).

Tue 02-12-2013	Score
Derryfield School	51
Newmarket	47
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-11-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Players Lounge member Devin Springfield of Conant

 Today we feature a mid-season Youtube highlight video of All-state forward Devin Springfield of Conant.

 Along with being one of the top lefty starting pitchers in Division III baseball the 6'3 senior is avergaing 20.8 ppg, 81 FT percentage, 5.6 Reb. and 2.3 Ast. for the 11-1 Orioles.

Date Posted : 02-08-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 They were 12 and 1 coming into their Thursday night game at home against the Somersworth Hilltoppers, but the jury was still out on just how good this edition of the Gilford Golden Eagles team really is.  Let's be honest here, in an 18 game regular season, 12 wins are 12 wins...but when none of those 12 wins have come against a team that currently sits above .500 in Divsion 3, people are going to question the level of competition.  Now that's not necessarily Gilford's fault, as they have to play whoever the schedule tells them to play, but the 1 time they did play a "Championship caliber" team this season(12-1 Berlin), they were blown out at home by 22 points.  That's why it was so important for Chip Veazey's team to pass this litmus test against 10-3 Somersworth. 

 It wasn't pretty at the start as Somersworth jumped ahead 8-0 midway thru the opening quarter, but the Golden Eagles were able to ride out the early storm and actually led by 1 at halftime, 18-17.  The game was tied at 32 at the end of 3 thanks to a buzzer beater by Somersworth's Drew Francouer(HUGE game with 32 points).  It was 41-41 at the end of regulation before Gilford won the overtime session 11-6.  Here's the video highlights of the game filmed by NH Sportspage cameraman Jon Kesty, along with our postgame coverage featuring interviews with Gilford coach Veazey and Golden Eagles players Sam Prescott, Josh Joyce and David Sykie.

Thu 02-07-2013	Score
Gilford	52
Somersworth	47
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-06-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Gilford hosts Somersworth in a huge Division III clash

 Division I

 Bishop Guertin (8-3) at Nashua South (8-3)

 Bedford (6-5) at Spaulding (10-2)

  I'm combining these two games to illustrate how tight this race for a top 4 seed really is, and also because I'm pretty sure they aren't playing Friday night anyway..

 It's funny the difference one jump shot can make in our minds because the perception of Spaulding, Nashua South and Bishop Guertin really has been affected based on one jumper that happened to go in.

 Here's your example;

 What we feel today about BG is that they played two good teams at home last week (Trinity & Merrimack)and were beaten both times, actually that's not perception at all that's reality but stick with me here. What the losses seemed to suggest was that BG wasn't quite at the Top 4 level some thought they were.

 Across town Nashua South lost a rivalry game at home without their center Jack Preston to a 3-8 Nashua North team that may struggle to make the Division I Tournament. With their center back in the lineup Tuesday night the Panthers stumbled again, this time dropping a 65-60 decision to Exeter, another team in the bottom half of the standings. With the two losses in a row goes their spot as a Top 4 seed and for now at least there is some concern heading into February for a team that was 10-1 a week ago.

Date Posted : 02-04-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Mabor Gabriel is playing terrific basketball for Trinity

Devin Springfield of Conant scored 26 points and drilled 13 of 15 foul shots in a win over Raymond Friday night. Patrick Keefe of Trinity continued his strong play of late with 15 points in a big win over Alvirne Friday night.

Carmen Giampetruzzi scored 15 points in the win over Alvirne.

Mabor Gabriel of Trinity had his second huge game of the week as he scored 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 72-50 win over Alvirne.

Logan Batchelder of Stevens had 11 points but Stevens fell to undefeated Newport 61-57 in a very good game played Thursday night.

Andrew Houde of Newport led the Tigers with 20 points in the victory.

Nick Whipple of Littleton had 18 points and 8 steals as the Crusaders beat rival Lisbon 58-42 Friday night.

Date Posted : 02-04-2013 Written by: Justin McIsaac of WTSN 1270 AM Radio Photo Credit : Anheuser-Busch

The Clydesdales won what little competition the Super Bowl Ad war presented

Power Polls might have gone the way of the Dodo Bird until Football season fires back up, but Justin McIsaac of WTSN AM 1270 in Dover is a simple man, and he likes putting things into lists- so here's Justin's TOP TEN OF EVERYTHING for HS Basketball, Hockey, and beyond...

10. GOOD CAUSES

The Saint Thomas Hockey boys hockey team held their 4th annual Pink Game (think the Monarch’s “Pink The Rink” game) to raise money to fight breast cancer. The Saints had a goal of raising $3,000, but they blew that away and raised over $6,400 !! All of that goes to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Awesome job, STA!

9. PETE TARRIER IS TRYING TO GET HIS KIDS SCHOLARSHIPS TO TRINITY

Trinity has a very good basketball team – they’re 10-0 and one of the D1 favorites. I know more about Trinity at this point than I do about the Celtics because Pete has MOVED IN to Trinity High! Pete, there ARE a few other good teams in NH ya know! (Love ya Tarrier)

Date Posted : 02-02-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 While one of the best point guards in Division IV sat restlessly on the bench in a white button down shirt and khaki pants Lisbon head coach Sam Natti was looking for someone, anyone, who could handle the pressure the Littleton Crusaders defense was about to apply. Derek Roberts, Justin Quinn and even big man Mike Heath all gave it a try and every time they did two or three Littleton defenders were waiting. If Natti was going to try to find his temporarily point guard in the middle of the game Trevor Howard's team was more than happy to ruin the audition.

 Littleton forced Lisbon into turnovers, quick shots and a bout of general annoyance as Lounge member Nick Whipple (18 points) had 8 steals on route to a 56-42 win over Lisbon that left their head coach pleased but not at all satisfied. "Obviously facing them without (Chad) Knighton (out with a knee injury) is huge and so we were able to never let them really get on track offensively," said Howard of his team's effort in the win. "At the same time good teams would have put that game away and not let them hang around into the fourth quarter and we didn't do that. It's all about doing the little things right now and we don't always follow through. It's a win but we need to be better down the road."

 Whipple scored ten of his eighteen points in the decisive third quarter and Josh Bogardus scored 16 points, mostly from the low block as Littleton moves to 12-1 with the road win.

Fri 02-01-2013	Score
Lisbon	42
Littleton	56
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-30-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Trinity(9-0)broke open a close game with a 14-nothing run to open the 3rd quarter on the way to an impressive 74-60 road win over Bishop Guertin(now 8-2) on Tuesday night.  The game was tied @ 17 after a back and forth 1st quarter that saw several lead changes.  It was 36-30 at the half when the Pioneers quickly opened up a 20 point lead when junior point guard Ryan Otis drained a 3 to make it 50-30 midway thru the 3rd.  Mabor Gabriel poured in 20 of his game high 22 points in the middle 2 quarters as he battled inside with BG big man Jeff Lunn(21 pts). 

Tue 01-29-2013	Score
Bishop Guertin	60
Trinity	74
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-30-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Tong Akot & Memorial face Manchester Central

 Division I

 Manchester Memorial (7-2) at Manchester Central (10-0)

 The coverage of both teams is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 The top ranked team in Division I will have two very big tests in the next five days as Manchester Memorial comes calling on Friday night followed by a trip to Rochester to face Spaulding (9-1) on Tuesday night.

 These two teams met in the semifinals of the Queen City Tournament in a very good semifinal game that the Crusaders pulled out in overtime and both teams have been rolling ever since. In a loss to Trinity last week Memorial looked susceptible to being beaten off the dribble when they were spread out defensively. Expect Central to spread Dawson Dickson, Mike Plentzas and Brett Hanson out on the perimeter and allow Players' Lounge member Troy Pelletier to roam the baseline and find room to operate. On the other end Memorial should run everything through Tong Akot in the post and try & get Zoubel Iradakunda and Kabongo Ngalakulondi to use their height advantage to get good looks from medium range against the smaller Central defenders. They have the height to pound Central with elbow jumpers all night, the problem is executing well enough against a top tier defense to get those looks.

 Doc Wheeler's team wants to run sets to get his offense in some sort of a rhythm because the biggest mistake you can make against Memorial is to get into a series of one on one battles by trying to take your man off the dribble. They have enough size to protect the rim and they are just plain better than you at creating off the dribble. Taking care of the basketball is going to be a key as well for Jack Quirk's team and the tone set by point guard Oumaru Kante will be a major factor.

Date Posted : 01-29-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Jack Preston of Nashua South is a first team pick

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Manchester Central vs. Trinity

 It feels out of place to describe a high school team as ‘professional' but that is what this edition of the Manchester Central Little Green feels like. They practice hard, close out close games against good teams and win the games they should be winning by 25 points by 25 points.

 Simply put they take care of business and the contributions are spread out across the board. Its Dawson Dickson leading the way one night, Brett Hanson on another, Mike Plentzas making all the plays a different night  and Troy Pelletier the next and no one seems to care whose turn it is as long as they are winning. 10-0 tells you it is working.

 The guy on this team that flies under the radar is forward Tyler Kelly, a Manchester Memorial transfer who puts the hard hat on and goes to work. People felt like Central was going to be vulnerable to bigger teams without Isaiah Joseph (he's not eligible and not coming back) but Nick Makris and Kelly were more than capable all along and their play has backed that up.

 Their head coach David ‘Doc' Wheeler prides himself on both developing his kids into good people and his record once he gets to Durham. Last season was the first time Wheeler lost a title game and you could sense that he got everything he could out of that team and that his players had gotten everything they could out of themselves. You felt like he was satisfied with how it ended if not the result.

 This team also has a chance to be the last team standing and even though this is a division that likely no team will go undefeated Central is the team best prepared to close out an elite team in Durham on the last Saturday of the season.

Date Posted : 01-28-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

PJ Flaum of Hollis-Brookline is a first team pick

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Pembroke Academy vs. Souhegan

 Let's start by declaring that this is the most wide open division in the state and although Pembroke is your unquestioned favorite (and only undefeated team) they are hardly unbeatable as evidenced by the fact that they have won three games that were decided by five points or less. Anyone who has had a bad back knows they don't get better overnight and can linger for months so what effect Patrick Welch's injury has on him bears watching. This is one team when he is healthy and scoring 30 a night and a completely different one when injuries make him unable to do so.

 Lebanon clearly was the second best team in the division as recently as ten days ago but power forward Matt Cowles (17 ppg in limited action & a pre-season all-state pick) has been dismissed from the team for personal reasons and will not be coming back. That suspension and its effects both on the floor and more notably off of it have been very trying on head coach Kieth Matte. He and his team though will press on with one of the best players in the division in Lounge member David Hampton and a young team that now will push the pace in order to take advantage of their speed and alleviate their weakness, which is a lack of size.

 Down on the seacoast the defending champions are very much in the mix again and they are learning & getting better by the day. The Portsmouth Clippers do not have a superstar among them but they are a team of very good athletes with enough playmakers on the floor (Donovan Phanor, Ben Landry, Travis MacDonald) to get back to Durham under a head coach that knows how to guide them there. If the Clippers earn a top 4 seed and two home playoff games they are going to be tremendously hard to beat at Stone gymnasium and once Jim Mulvey gets his team to UNH his in-game moves and final four experience can win games.

Date Posted : 01-27-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Patrick Keefe was the star during & after Trinity's victory over Memorial

 This week's featured Season highlight video is of Players' lounge member Shawn Cavallaro of Hanover. If you are a member that still hasn't sent us your Youtube video highlights send it over today and we'll feature your video in the coming weeks.

Devin Springfield of Conant went off for 28 points Friday night in a 87-56 win over rival Stevens.

Nick Whipple of Littleton suffered through a rare cold shooting night as he scored 7 points in their first loss of the season to Profile.

James Caparell of Bedford had a game high 18 points as Bedford picked up a 62-40 win over Concord Friday night.

Tyler Ford of Souhegan.had 11 points in an impressive 77-50 blowout win over John Stark Friday night.

Pat Glynn of Portsmouth continued his improved play with 16 points in a 77-46 win over Goffstown.

Donovan Phanor of Portsmouth was a big reason the Clippers defense did not allow Goffstown a three point field goal in the second half.

Ben Landry of Portsmouth had 16 points in the blowout win over the Grizzlies.

Travis MacDonald of Portsmouth tossed in a game high 17 points in the victory.

Date Posted : 01-26-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 We talked about all the Friday basketball action in all four divisions around the state and had head coaches Tim Goodridge of Merrimack as a guest and in the second hour, Colebrook Academy head coach Buddy Trask in studio.

Date Posted : 01-23-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Billy Brooks and Stevens face Conant

 Division I

 Winnacunnet (4-4) at Merrimack (5-3)

 Jay Mckenna's Warriors sit at 4-4 today with the knowledge that they are a controversial buzzer beater and a late game fumble away from being 6-2. As Bill Parcells famously said though  ‘you are what your record says you are' and so at 4-4 this makes a trip to Merrimack a rather important one. Both teams find themselves in that 6 to 12 seed group that will scramble, fight & claw for a top 8 seed over the second half of the season.

 Winnacunnet has a lot of kids who can score in spurts but they don't get it over the course of 32 minutes two nights a week, it's that consistency that they are missing. A prime example is Patrick Lamprey, who put Bishop Guertin in a big hole early Tuesday night by burying five three pointers in the first half. Lamprey though went cold, and scoreless in the second half and with Ben Gareau and Sam Knollmeyer being held to a combined 6 points on the night that lack of offense helped allow BG to steal a win on a night when the leading scorer in Division I Jeff Lunn was held to a season low 9 points. If you're Jim Migneault and you drive out of Hampton beating a good Winnacunnet team when your big man scores 9 points your pumping your fist the entire drive home.

Date Posted : 01-22-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Devin Wade and Newport are undefeated

 We continue our Mid-Season snapshots with a look at Division III. Next week we will take similar looks at Division I & II.

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Conant vs. Prospect Mountain

 The case for Conant is an easy one to make; the Orioles have tournament experience, senior leadership, an excellent coach and they are the only team in the state to boast the #1 offense and #1 defense in their division. In the loss to a good Campbell team they played without Jake Carlson, one of their top defenders, and gave up a late 12 point lead. They have two big time scorers in Lounge member Devin Springfield (20.6 ppg. & 6 Reb) and Robert O'Brien (14.8 ppg), whose numbers are actually affected by the fact they rarely play in the fourth quarter of blowouts. They also have gotten rebounding all season long from Eli Hodgson. They'll go nine deep and they are, as is typically the case with Conant, a very unselfish group.

 A year ago they were upset in the final four by Prospect Mountain because of two factors; the size advantage the Timberwolves had and the fact Conant couldn't throw it in the ocean if their feet were wet. There are a million former high school athletes out there today whose season or career ended because of one cold shooting night. That's what makes the games so compelling, and Conant was on the wrong end of one of those nights last March.

Date Posted : 01-22-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Mabor Gabriel hit a big 3 pointer late in the 4th quarter to all but ice a 65-54 Trinity win over Queen City rival Manchester Memorial.  The Pioneers started fast and led for almost the entire game as they improved to 8-0 with the victory while the Crusaders dipped to 6-2.  Trinity got balanced scoring and had all 5 starters in double figures led by Carmen Giampetruzzi's 17.  The junior forward also had 10 rebounds joining Gabriel(14 points, 11 rebounds) with a double double.

Tue 01-22-2013	Score
Trinity	65
Manchester Memorial	54
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-21-2013 Written by: Justin McIsaac of WTSN 1270 AM Radio

Don't even get McIsaac started....

 Power Polls might have gone the way of the Dodo Bird until Football season fires back up, but Justin McIsaac of WTSN AM 1270 in Dover is a simple man, and he likes putting things into lists- so here's Justin's TOP TEN OF EVERYTHING for HS Basketball, Hockey, and beyond...

10. NOT BEING ABLE TO WATCH SPORTS CENTER UNTIL AFTER THE SUPER BOWL

Ray Lewis is a giant phony. If I have to see one of his "Where's the camera so I can pretend to be super emotional  and spiritual!!!" acts ever again, I'm gonna go Elvis on my TV (Note for the youngins-  Elvis used to shoot his TV's. Also, I won't be doing this. I love my TV).  I hate the Ravens.

9. NOT REMEMBERING TO DO A TOP 10 LAST WEEK

And here's the thing: I didn't remember until Wednesday. This is what happens when you work early mornings and late nights, AND have two kids. The lesson is: well, there is no lesson, other than "Justin's an idiot".

8. JOSH JACKMAN'S JUMPSHOT

Big man for Coe-Brown has TOUCH! I got to see Coe-Brown a few weeks back, Dave Smith's team will be a headache for someone come tourney time. Jackman looks like he'd be a lineman (if CB had a football team), but he might have the prettiest jumper in D2

7. DA BLUE GUY, OUR NEW CORRESPONDENT

Dave Haley made a new friend at the Portsmouth vs HB game, as you can see in the video here: http://www.nhsportspage.com/display_full_story.php?story_id=1046 I think Dave should put him in charge of interviewing bands, fans, and cheerleaders. That's an untapped market.

Date Posted : 01-21-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Christian Hawkins and Newmarket are still the team to beat

 We start with Division IV as we will take a mid-season look at all four divisions in New Hampshire high school basketball. We'll  have a look at Division III tomorrow and the top two divisions next week.

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Newmarket vs. Littleton

  Let's be clear; Newmarket is the best team in this division and in fact they would be hosting a home playoff game if they played in the division above. The Mules get scoring and leadership from Christian Hawkins (22.8 ppg) and Josh Eisfeller (15.1) but this is a division full of players that can score, its Newmarket's defense that makes them the favorite. Jamie Hayes' team gets after you with their half court man to man defense and they are so deep & well-conditioned that they've worn you down by the start of the 4^th quarter, and that was their plan all along.

 In Sam Leahy and Sam Morin they have two very good on the ball defenders while Peter Carlson, Zach Jarosz and the 6'5 Eisfeller can protect the paint if you ever get there. It's easy to get enamored with the scoring exploits of their two all-state performers but look at what these guys are doing on the other end of the floor; Derryfield averages 54 ppg. and scored 36 against Newmarket. Pittsfield averages 57 and scored 38, for Sunapee it is a 59 a game average and held to 47 and Hayes called that game the worst defensive effort of the season.

Date Posted : 01-20-2013 Written by: Dave Haley Photo Credit : Greg Kretschmar Photography

Drew Francouer & Somersworth may still be playing in Berlin...

Dominic Paradis of Spaulding had 22 points as Spaulding beat Nashua North 62-41.

Chad Knighton of Lisbon scored 55 points in two wins last week over Gorham and Moultonborough as Lisbon moved to 8-1.

Troy Pelletier of Manchester Central ked his team to two wins last week in scoring a game high 26 in a win against West and a team high 14 Friday night in a championship game rematch with Merrimack.

Drew Francoeur of Somersworth had 12 points in a Friday night 70-57 loss to Berlin that featured 87 free throws and took about as much time as the movie ‘Titanic' to finish.

David Hampton of Lebanon scored 22 points and also recorded his 1,000^th career point as his team moved to 6-1 with a 50-41 win over Milford Friday night.

 With all five starters from last year's championship team scattered across colleges all over New England this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Portsmouth Clippers. Seven games in though and with a couple of resume boosting wins sprinkled in Jim Mulvey's team sits at 5-2 and in a division where spots 2 through 10 look wide open to whoever goes out and takes it you would be smart to keep an eye out for the latest addition of a program that has traveled to Durham seven postseasons in a row.

 Travis MacDonald scored 21 points and emerging forward Devon Wilson-Miles scored all 13 of his points in the second half as the Clippers dominated the paint en route to a 58-47 win over a senior laden Hollis-Brookline team that also has their sights set on a possible trip to the final four.

 Watch all the highlights plus post game interviews with Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey and seniors Travis MacDonald and Ben Landry as part of our game of the week coverage.

Fri 01-18-2013	Score
Portsmouth	58
Hollis/Brookline	47
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-18-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tong Akot dominated inside with 29 points and 11 rebounds as Manchester Memorial improved to 6 and 1 on the season with an impressive 67-55 win on the road at Bedford on Friday night.

 The loss dropped the Bulldogs below .500 under 1^st year coach Mike Fitzpatrick who coached the last few seasons at Memorial. 

Fri 01-18-2013	Score
Bedford	55
Manchester Memorial	67
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-16-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Matt Alosa's Pembroke Academy basketball team(now 8-0 on the season)is widely considered to be among the best teams in the state of New Hampshire, regardless of division.  The high scoring Spartans, led by sensational shooting guard Pat Welch came into their game at Souhegan on Tuesday night averaging 71 points a game on their way to a record of 7-0.  The Sabers(3-3 after the loss to Pembroke)had high hopes going into the season because of a strong cast of returning players featuring star senior guard Brandon Len.  But they lost their 1st 2 games before putting together 3 wins in a row to go over .500 at 3-2 prior to the game with the Spartans.
 

Date Posted : 01-16-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Chris Helms and Groveton face Colebrook

 Division I

 Manchester Memorial (5-1) at Bedford (3-3)

 The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 The coverage of Bedford is sponsored by Bedford Dental Care Associates & HK Photography

 Bedford head coach Mike Fitzpatrick faces the program he left over the summer in the game of the night in Division I. Anyone who knows coach Fitzpatrick knows he will draw attention to this fact the very same day Bill Belichick announces in a press conference that he'd like to take the next ten minutes to expand on the status of all Patriots injuries. So we'll do it for him.

 The Crusaders are a game out of first place and how they have played and acted while doing so has been covered ad nausea already. What they bring into the match-up is good size in the front court and a post player in Tong Akot who has scored 42 points in his last two outings. He'll be covered down low by Bedford's Sam Thomas, a 6'8 center that has improved over the summer but still can be prone to picking up silly fouls and that will be something to watch.

 The Bulldogs were a zone defensive team under John Langlois a year ago that basically said ‘we're going to put a hand in your face and trust our huge frontline is not going to give up offensive rebounds'. Now under Fitzpatrick it is a quicker ball club that will play you man to man and try to get a hand in the passing lane before you even get a chance to shoot. Cameron Meservey has shot the ball extremely well of late (18 points against Winnacunnet Friday & 21 against Trinity on Tuesday) and Players' lounge member James Caparell plays nearly the entire game because he's the smartest player on the floor and doesn't take a possession off defensively.

Date Posted : 01-14-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Collin Sullivan and Plymouth won a pair of games last week

Ryan Otis of Trinity had 10 points and buried the game winning three against Spaulding. He also joined Brad Rhoades in our post game interview with Pete Tarrier.

Dominic Paradis of Spaulding got into immediate foul trouble and couldn't get untracked as he scored 8 points in limited minutes against Trinity.

Troy Pelletier of Manchester Central had 19 points as Central remained undefeated with a win over Londonderry.

Brad Rhoades of Trinity buried a key three pointer and had 9 points in the win over Spaulding.

Devin Springfield of Conant scored 22 points against Hillsboro and is now averaging 7 rebounds a game on the season for the 7-0 Orioles.

Nick Whipple of Littleton had 25 points as the Crusaders finished off a season

Auburn Pitts

 Ryan Otis hit the go-ahead 3 pointer with 42 seconds left as Trinity edged Spaulding 56-54 in Manchester.  The Pioneers improved to 5-0 on the season and finished off a pretty good week where they beat 2 previously undefeated teams in Spaulding(now 5-1)and Nashua South.  Here's the video highlights of the game plus postgame interviews with Trinity junior guards Otis(10 points) and Brad Rhoades(9 points).

 We also talked with Spaulding star Dominic Paradis who was limited to 8 points because he sat a lot of the game with foul trouble.
 

Fri 01-11-2013	Score
Trinity	56
Spaulding	54
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-09-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Jeff Lunn and Bishop Guertin face Memorial

 Before we get to the games of the week I wanted to thank the parents of Max Gouveia, Keith Brown, Andrew Houde & Collin Sullivan who supported the work we do by signing up their sons for the Players' Lounge.

 We are a free high school sports website and always will be but the work we do, between the hours and miles it takes to get it done, is not and we cannot survive without the support we get from parents like this. So a heartfelt thank you to all of the parents and coaches who have supported us through our Players Lounge members.

 Division I

 Manchester Memorial (4-1) at Bishop Guertin (5-0)

 The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 The Crusaders picked up their fourth win in five games Tuesday night as well as their fifth technical in two games and no team is being discussed more around the state. In a revealing interview done with the Union Leader's Jim Fennell last weekend Memorial first year head coach Jack Quirk suggested that his team is viewed as the ‘bad guys' every night out and that he has on at least one occasion felt that the officials were biased against his team. Does that explain the five technical fouls or is it the player's actions on the floor? Referees use technicals to maintain order on the floor and set guidelines but you'll see them only on the rare occasion. Five technical fouls in two games is unheard of so there should be little surprise that the rest of the state is now watching very closely. The interview in the Union Leader only added to that.

 It's a topic sure to grow as the season moves forward but what is clear today is that it is far too early to make a ruling on what this Memorial team is all about. The Crusaders possess a team full of year-round basketball players and a group of kids that have grown to be very close while playing together during the off-season in the Bishop Elite AAU program. The point is made that it is too early to judge this team and that goes from what goes on the court as much as it does off of it; this is a good team but they have four wins this season against teams with a combined record of 3-17 and were beaten by a 2-3 Dover squad last Friday night. The truth is we have no clue if they belong in a championship conversation. With BG on the schedule for Friday night plus upcoming games with Trinity, Bedford (against their former coach Mike Fitzpatrick) and Manchester Central we'll have a better sense soon enough.

Date Posted : 01-08-2013 Written by: Justin McIsaac of WTSN 1270 AM

McIsaac and his Christmas tree make the top 10..

 Power Polls might have gone the way of the Dodo Bird until Football season fires back up, but Justin McIsaac of WTSN AM 1270 in Dover is a simple man, and he likes putting things into lists- so here's Justin's TOP TEN OF EVERYTHING for HS Basketball, Hockey, and beyond...

10. PINK EVERYWHERE

Somersworth's Drew Francouer wears pink shoes to support a friend whose mother passes away from breast cancer. Spaulding's Varsity squad wears pink shoe laces in a shoe of support for their JV Coach, who lost a daughter to the same disease. There was a time when people whispered the word "Cancer", so it's great to see HS kids taking it upon themselves to support loved ones in this fight.

9. WE MIGHT NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL FEBRUARY FOR PORTSMOUTH TO BE GOOD

Portsmouth handed Coe Brown a 30 point loss in the Bears own gym Friday night, with Ben Landry setting the pace by pouring in 28. Jack Mackey's football injury has forced Jim Mulvey to try some different kids at PG, but they looked capital G Good on Friday.

8. TWITTER

Without calling any team out by name, let's just say that there are some HS teams whose coaches MAY want to get together and collectively set some guidelines for twitter.

7. TECHNICAL FOULS

I've been calling HS games for 4 years now. Including playoffs, that's about 100 total games called, and I've seen 3 technical fouls in that time, 1 from a coach, and 2 from kids. Memorial managed to get T'd up 4 times in a 74-62 loss to Dover Friday night. That would be quiet a meltdown from the '88 Detroit Pistons, let alone a HS team who many think can get to Durham in March.

Date Posted : 01-08-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 It was a battle of unbeaten's at Nashua South as Trinity came calling in an early season test for both teams. Here's the video highlights of the game along with post game interviews with Trinity players Carmen Giampetruzzi, Mabor Gabriel and Jon Cullity. We also spoke with Pioneers coach Dave Keefe and Nashua South coach Nate Mazzerole.

Tue 01-08-2013	Score
Nashua South	58
Trinity	63
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-07-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

Keith Brown is starting to step up as a freshman for Pelham

 As we will every week we take a look at the performances of our basketball players lounge members from this past week.

 In addition to being named to the East/West CHAD All-Star Football game  Troy Pelletier of Manchester Central had 15 points in a win over Exeter as the Little Green remain tied for the top spot in Division I.

 In addition to being named to the East/West CHAD All-Star Football game Cyrus Rothwell-Ferraris of Hanover scored 12 points as Hanover lost a tight battle to Bishop Brady 57-54

 Devin Springfield of Conant was named MVP of the Keene Holiday tournament and led the Orioles to a blowout win over Monadnock Friday night.

 Nick Whipple of Littleton had 17 points as the Crusaders remained undefeated with a 63-32 win over Woodsville Friday night.

 Andrew Houde of Newport scored 15 points in front of a packed gymnasium as the Tigers moved to 4-0 with a 53-49 win over Stevens.

 Keith Brown of Pelham had a big week in helping the Pythons to a pair of victories. Brown scored 17 points in a win over Con Val and went off for 25 in a big win over Windham Friday night.

Date Posted : 01-04-2013 Written by: Pete Tarrier

Patrick Welch led Pembroke to a road win Friday Night

It's not too often when you surrender 16 3 pointers on the road and still are able to win a basketball game.  But that's exactly what the Pembroke Spartans did on Friday night in Goffstown in a tough 69-66 win.  

Coach Matt Alosa's team fell behind early as Goffstown came out firing from long range in an entertaining and high scoring 1st quarter.  But despite 6 Goffstown 3's in the opening period, the Grizzlies early lead evaporated quickly when coach Justin Gorham summoned his 2nd team midway thru the quarter.  Pembroke's amped up defensive pressure on the Goffstown reserves forced multiple turnovers that led to fast break lay-ups resulting in a 26-20 Spartans lead after 1. 

Fri 01-04-2013	Score
Goffstown	66
Pembroke Academy	69
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-04-2013 Written by: Dave Haley

 The high school basketball season is roughly 18 games long and that is a lot of cold Tuesday & Friday nights.

 Of course you have your main players and on most nights they'll carry the show, but on some nights the guys in the ‘ensemble' section of the cast are going to have to step in and on Friday night Newmarket could relate.

 All-state point guard Christian Hawkins dished out 5 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds but his first three shots of the night were off and it would prove to be a sign of things to come. Hawkins would connect on only one field goal all night but while he struggled he also had enough support around him to walk away a winner.

 Center Josh Eisfeller (the Clooney to Hawkins' Pitt....or the Pitt to his Clooney?..let them decide..) was the best player on the floor in scoring 12 points & grabbing 10 rebounds while Sean Fleming  (8 pts.), Peter Carlson (12 and all seemingly big), Sam Morin (defense in waves) & Zach Jarosz all took turns on center stage.

Fri 01-04-2013	Score
Newmarket	49
Derryfield School	36
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-31-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Andrew Houde and Newport are your Division III sleeper team

 Every year the two week Holiday break gives us a pause in the regular season and an opportunity to see teams from two or three different divisions competing under one bracket.

 Experience will tell you that you need to look at holiday tourneys from the proper perspective. Sure the results can be a glimpse of what's to come this season but they also can be affected by coaches playing every guy all the way to the end of the bench and doing more teaching on the sidelines than actual coaching. Sometimes the opening round games feature more effort and enthusiasm than the championship match-up that ends up as the third game in as many days.

 The games don't count in the standings and the bigger picture is to learn and improve for when the games count. Still there is insight to be gleaned from the ‘exhibition' games.

 Today in our last article of 2012 we take a look at what we learned over the past 10 days.

 Conant is still good......actually Conant is still really, really, really good

 We all missed out on maybe the game of the week when bad weather forced Lebanon to forfeit their semifinal game against Conant for safety reasons, but we saw enough of the Orioles to know they might be a top 4 team in Division II let alone Division III.

 Eric Saucier's team won the Keene Holiday Tournament and continued to be the guest at the party that interrupts the host's speech, tells their 7 year old niece there's no Santa Claus and runs off with the best present in the gift swap. Conant did this by once again blowing out Division I Keene in the first round of their own tournament. The Orioles led 18-16 after one and then outscored the Blackbirds 28-9 in the 2^nd quarter as they cruised to a 79-63 ‘It wasn't that close' win in a game they led 62-36 after three.

Date Posted : 12-26-2012 Written by: Dave Haley Photo Credit : Greg Kretschmar Photography

Drew Francouer of Somersworth

 We'll be back next week with a re-cap of all of this week's tournaments in our Holiday Thoughts column but before we do we take a look at the performances of our basketball players lounge members early on in the season.

Logan Batchelder of Stevens is averaging 6 ppg, 3.5 reb. & 3 assists for a Cardinals team headed to the break at 4-0 under head coach Scott MacNamee.

Ryan Boldwin of Trinity is getting minutes for the undefeated Pioneers and will be playing this week in the Queen City Invitational.

James Caparell of Bedford is averaging 9 ppg as Bedford comes off an impressive road win over defending champion Merrimack last week.

Jon Cullity of Trinity has been one of the best 6th men in the state in averaging 7 points per game for the Pioneers.

Tyler Ford of Souhegan has been slowed by injuries early in the season but will be a key part of a Sabers team picked to be a top 2 team in the division.

Drew Francouer of Somersworth has moved over from shooting guard to run the point for the 4-1 Hilltoppers. He is averaging 13 ppg, and 3 assists for Lorne Lucas's team.

Date Posted : 12-26-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 With 23 titles and 30 Championship Game appearances in 49 years of Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament history, Manchester Central has dominated the holiday competition.  After a 64-50 1st round knockout of rival Trinity on the opening day of the 2012 QCIBT, the Little Green might be on their way to making the 50th annual event truly golden.     

Date Posted : 12-21-2012 Written by: Dave Haley Photo Credit : Greg Kretschmar Photography

Campbell moves to 5-0

 Four years after leaving the Somersworth basketball program John Langlois was back in the gym he used to call home. While the 2005 Class M champions banner resides on the wall behind the basket Langlois wasn't here to reminisce, his unbeaten team was facing the 4-0 Hilltoppers and these are two teams who plan to be playing basketball well into March.

 Langlois arrived in a limousine and left with a W, a 54-47 win that counts as one very good road win as well as a pretty good homecoming. "I coached some really great players here at Somersworth," said Langlois. "I was excited when I saw this game on the schedule; winning makes it a lot more fun though." Campbell got 17 points from all-state point guard Max Gouveia and 15 from forward Nick Freson as the Cougars pick up a very good road win heading into the Christmas break.

Fri 12-21-2012	Score
Somersworth	47
Campbell	54
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-21-2012 Written by: Jon Kesty

The Souhegan Sabers broke into the win column with an impressive victory over the tough Goffstown Grizzlies, 74-65.  Here's the highlights of the game featuring an entertaining scoring duel between Souhegan's Brandon Len(26 points) and Goffstown's Jake Mount(30 points).  After the game we talked to victorious Souhegan coach Mike Heaney and Sabers players Len and Jake Kennedy.   

Fri 12-21-2012	Score
Souhegan	74
Goffstown	65
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-19-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Steve Auger and Hopkinton take on Conant

 As we have every Thursday for the past six seasons we preview the biggest games from all four divisions around the state of New Hampshire.

 A couple of notes before we get to the games of the week;

 The scoring leaders from each division will kick in after the Holidays and more games have been played. Coaches can email their team stats to davehaley@nhsportspage.com

 Our Prep school coverage should be coming early in the New Year, Eliot Bless and our admin. have been working very hard behind the scenes to put that together so expect that coverage soon.

 Tune in every Saturday morning to the New Hampshire High School sports show with Pete Tarrier & I as we break down the games from all four divisions on 96.7 FM on the seacoast, 510 WGIR in Manchester and on iHeart radio for those listening around the state. Simply click on the Radio show link right on the NHsportspage homepage (under links) to listen to the show on Saturday mornings.

 Division I

 Trinity (2-0) at Salem (0-2)

 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by The Auburn Pitts Bar & Grill and Edible Arrangements

 The coverage of Salem is sponsored by Merrimack Valley Sports

 The Pioneers are coming together quickly while the Blue Devils are struggling to score points. Rob McLaughlin's team finished last season at the #2 seed in the Division I tournament but they got off to similar slow start a year ago because they couldn't score consistently. That all changed when guard Ben Slepian went from a bench player his coach couldn't trust defensively to arguably the best long range shooter in the state. Not surprisingly Salem took off from there.

Date Posted : 12-17-2012 Written by: Justin McIsaac of WTSN 1270 Radio

 Power Polls might have gone the way of the Dodo Bird until Football season fires back up, but Justin McIsaac of WTSN AM 1270 in Dover is a simple man, and he likes putting things into lists- so here's Justin's TOP TEN OF EVERYTHING for HS Basketball, Hockey, and beyond...

 10.  TARRIER AND ELIOT'S IPADS

 Team meeting yesterday at the Auburn Pitts, with Haley, Kesty, Pete, Eliot, special guest Tuesday & Friday (from the forum), and VERY special guests, Pete and Eliot's iPads! Those two were IN THE ZONE CHIEF, getting fantasy football updates the whole time. I mean, Ke$ha could've walked in naked juggling flaming torches, and Eliot wouldn't have looked up from Andrew Luck's stats. 

(Editors Note: McIsaac is just bitter b/c I took him down in the Semifinals of the NH HS Sportswriters League)

 9.  COLIN SHAUGHNESSEY TAKING CHARGES

 If game 1 is any indication, Dover is going to be pretty good this year. Yes they lost Mike Leblanc to New Hampton prep school, but this is a team that's built on toughness and teamwork, sharing the ball well, and doing the little things, as evidence by Colin Shaughnessy taking at least 3 charges by my count. 

Date Posted : 12-14-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 Ever see a player score eight points in the first two minutes of a game, first game of the season for that matter, and then get pulled out of the game?

 If you were sitting in the Winnacunnet gymnasium tonight you did and if you plan on following Jay McKenna's Warriors through their 18 game sprint your going to see a lot of things your eyes haven't laid eyes on before. You see the Warriors have a plan as a 12 man team to shuttle guys in & out every few minutes for the entire game.

 They weren't abandoning that philosophy three minutes into the season.

 As promised Winnacunnet came out with 32 minutes of pressure Friday night and after guard Richie Ruffin buried two three pointers and converted on a steal on Pinkerton's first possession to stake his team to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes he was on the bench with the other four starters. Don't worry about Ruffin...he was back in four minutes later.

 You getting the idea yet?

Fri 12-14-2012	Score
Winnacunnet	66
Pinkerton Academy	58
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-11-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Tim Preston & Nashua South are on the rise

 The funny thing about where you end up seeded in the high school playoffs is it really only matters for the first two rounds. The games move to a neutral site for the semifinal and championship games and so, really what difference is there between a four & a one seed? A dark or white uniform? Its two home playoffs games that you play for right?

 It mattered even less being a seven seed for Merrimack last March. They very nearly lost their third straight first round game at home to defending champion Bishop Guertin in the first round and then shortly after (via twitter, text or Facebook I'm sure) they got the news that second seed Salem had been shocked at home by fifteen seed Dover. It meant Merrimack now had another home game and things were beginning to fall into place.

 Few seven seeds are so fortunate but fortune had rarely been on their side the past two years. The Tomahawks had been, for stretches of time, the best team in the division each of the past three years and had nothing to show for it. Not even a single playoff win. Their star point guard Dimitri Floras had missed considerable time with a wrist injury and they never seemed to be able to ride that wave in March that leads teams to Durham.

 The win over BG was followed by another at home over Dover and that sent them to UNH and by the time they arrived it was the seven seed and not all the higher seeds around them that was the best of the bunch. No team could run with Merrimack and when they were slowed to a half-court game they were able to find shooters like Floras and Eric Gendron in rhythm. Merrimack had gone from missed opportunities and wasted potential to champions and it only took four games.

Date Posted : 12-10-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Brandon Len and Souhegan are #2 in our pre-season picks

 It was an early December basketball practice inside Portsmouth high school's Stone gymnasium and head coach Jim Mulvey was taking a few minutes to assess what he had seen from his team so far.

 While starters Kyle DiCesare and Charlie Duprey sat on the sidelines recovering from football injuries Mulvey watched his Clippers try and run their half-court sets, and not very well. "We're just not a very good half court team, not like some of my other (championship level) teams," I can remember him saying.

 A minute later back-up point guard Jack Mackey started bringing the ball up the court against full court pressure. As he took his third dribble two defenders started to circle him, ready to pounce. Kamahl Walker was to Mackey's left and Billy Lane to his right, both possessing as much speed & quickness as any players in the state and both staring at that ball Mackey was handling.

 A second later before Mackey's fourth dribble to the floor could even get back to his hand Walker & Lane had swooped in. Lane knocked the ball free and Walker picked it up and glided in for an uncontested lay-up as the two exchanged smiles running back up the floor. It was then that Mulvey turned and said ‘But we could be great defensively.." and they were.

Date Posted : 12-07-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 It was only with a 1:30 left in the jayvee game that Bow first year head coach Lucas Croteau, the Class L player of the year for Spaulding just five years ago, finally called his players into the visitors locker room to go over the game plan one last time.

 A few minutes later the court had been cleared and Bow high school's basketball team emerged again. Their head coach looked at his notes one last time and then signaled to his kids to get out there in the same manner as a parent who is telling their kid to hurry up and get out of the rain. It might be Lucas Croteau's first game as a head coach but he wasn't interested in what hip hop song was blaring on the speakers or how his team looked rolling out on to the floor. Nick Saban leading Alabama out of the tunnel this was not.

 When the game began though Croteau was in on every play; taking kids aside, telling them where to be and constantly reminding them 'Push it, push the ball' on every single possesion. Just as he had as a player at Spaulding and later at Southern New Hampshire University Croteau was doing all of his talking on the floor. " I think half of it went in one ear & out the other," joked Croteau after the game. " But the kids have been very open to coaching and they're working to get there. It'll come."

 Bow broke open a close game in the third quarter and then held off several furious Kearsarge rallies with two big three pointers from Colby Desmarais (13 points) to pull out a 51-47 road win that feels good today and is probably going to look even better in March.

Fri 12-07-2012	Score
Kearsarge Regional	47
Bow	51
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-04-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Carter Noordsij and Kearsarge are the new contender in Division III

 There were less than three minutes remaining in the Division III basketball season and a sold out Southern New Hampshire University gymnasium knew they were about to see someone break through. The team that everyone guaranteed would be there wasn't. The team that hadn't lived up to its considerable potential was about to and the team that had their hearts broken on the very same floor two years running was headed for a third.

 Someone though was about to break that cycle.

 Prospect Mountain, a team with size & talent that just needed to find an identity finally had, and it held  a one possession lead with the end in sight. Berlin was about to take it though, and they weren't giving it back once they had it.

 A team that had lost to Conant in the final two years earlier and then watched a 24 foot buzzer beating three pointer (off glass no less) end their season against Somersworth a year ago now had it all in front of them and they were tired of being a champion's toughest test on the way to a title. Curtis Arsenault, Sam Aldrich and a team that had set its sights on this moment for twelve months came through. Berlin took advantage of Prospect Mountain mistakes and made plays of their own when they absolutely had to. Their reward was their first Division III basketball title. Their relief is that the cycle of disappointment was over.

Date Posted : 12-01-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

The champs will be without Drew Swedberg this season

 Standing at center court at Plymouth State University as a group of reporters surrounded him Moultonborough point guard Drew Swedberg could not have been happier to share a good chunk of the thousand or so thoughts racing through his head. With his teammates to his right, his father (also his coach) to his left and a net that had just been cut down from the basket behind him proudly displayed around his neck the junior point guard was ready for his moment. You see Drew was always universally respected as a player but he was the son to hall of famer and the brother to the player of the year. In other words Drew was the ‘other' Swedberg brother, to some people at least.

 On that championship afternoon though with an undefeated season on the line and the best team from the north country coming at him with relentless full court pressure as they chipped away at the Panthers lead it was the ‘other' Swedberg leading them towards the title. Swedberg made every shot, converted his foul shots and every bit as importantly he took care of the basketball when three or four Littleton Crusaders were doing anything they could to get ahold of it.

Date Posted : 06-16-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Max Gouveia helped lead Campbell to a 15-3 record in 2012

 In a conversation Saturday afternoon longtime Campbell high school basketball coach Pat Roye confirmed he has stepped down as the school's second ever head coach to spend more time with his family.

 Roye has been with the Campbell program for eleven years, since its inception; the first four years as the junior varsity coach before spending the last seven as the varsity coach. " My family, particularly my wife, has sacrificed a lot while I was spending half the year in a gym and now it's time for me to step up for her. With a possible move in our future it was time for me to step away. There was nothing going on behind the scenes besides my need to spend time with our family and do what was right and although it is a very difficult decision I can tell you I feel very good about where this program is today and where it is headed."

Date Posted : 06-11-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Will Bayliss attended Tilton Prep for a post grad year after a career at Manchester Central

 When the University of Kentucky announced in April that it would be holding a Tuesday afternoon press conference, an entire nation of college basketball fans knew that it wasn't going to be about waxing philosophically over the exploits of Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague or the school's eighth NCAA National Championship. The Kentucky Wildcats starting five had delivered a national title to a rabid fan base, and now they were moving on.

 Your college years can be your most substantial in terms of growth -- both on the floor and particularly off of it -- but the five underclassman had the bigger picture in mind all along and that meant the eventual leap to the NBA. In their place will fall five more talented underclassman, led by Tilton (NH) Prep School center Nerlens Noel who will slide into their spot in that continuous cycle; a pattern that will continue so long as John Calipari remains the head coach. It's a cycle that has weakened the NBA (with players coming into the league often not mature or polished enough to contribute right away) and the NCAA (with the major programs constantly turning over their starting lineup on an annual basis).

Date Posted : 03-30-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Ian Sistare will attend prep school in the fall

  In a conversation this morning Trinity head coach Dave Keefe confirmed his highly regarded freshman point guard Ian Sistare will attend Northfield Mount Hermon Prep school next fall, where he will repeat his freshman year. "The young man and his father made a decision and although I'm very disappointed to see him go I fully support it if they feel like that is the best decision for his future. "

 Sistare helped lead Trinity to their fifth final four appearance in six years and is regarded as one of the two best freshman basketball players in the state along with Bishop Brady point guard Jourdain Bell. "I told him I'll still come to his games to give the officials grief," joked Keefe. " It's a loss for the program not only because he such a great player but an outstanding young man as well. We wish him the best."

 Ian Sistare's 2012 statistics: http://www.nhsportspage.com/basketball/player.php?player_id=6028&team_id=33&team_type=hs_bb&year=2011-2012

Date Posted : 03-28-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Will Burke and Moultonborough celebrated a Division IV Title

 We offer one final round of the ‘Thursday Thoughts' before we move on to our fourth season of baseball coverage. This column clocked in at just over 6,000 words (I had a lot to say apparently..) so I am breaking it up into two parts with Part II coming tomorrow.

 Let's take a look at all four divisions and some final thoughts from four solid months of high school basketball.

 Lingering thoughts from the four championship games....

 Why did so many coaches doubt, all the way to the final game of the season, a Moultonborough Academy team that would finish as the only undefeated team in the state? All season long I emailed with coaches that told me they didn't think the Panthers would have the fortitude to win against an elite team in Plymouth. At the Newmarket/Sunapee quarterfinal game I sat with a Division IV coach who upon hearing Epping had a late lead at Moultonborough said, ' I'm telling you they are going to lose that game, they won't be able to win a game in the final minute.'

 What Moultonborough ended up doing was not only winning it all but erasing a second half deficit with their best player Marcus Swedberg on the bench for over eight minutes. Maybe coaches remembered a favored Panthers team that was beaten handily by Derryfield Academy in last season's final four amid arguing on the floor and off it. What Matt Swedberg's team did took all the perseverance in the world and they proved their many skeptics wrong.

Date Posted : 03-28-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Tyler Gendron of Division I champion Merrimack

 Back with Part II of our season ending Thursday Thoughts..

 Five games to remember....

 After concluding our fifth seaon covering New Hampshire high school sports I thought I'd go back into the archives for a look back at five of the best games I've seen. Remember you can go all the way back to 2007 in our archives (it's not always pretty my first Thursday Thoughts column looks like my 5 year old daughter wrote it..).

 Anyway if you'll allow a stroll down memory lane here are the five that stick out, with a link to the game article as well.

 Trinity 56, Manchester Central 52 on January 26 2008

 Game article: http://www.nhsportspage.com/display_full_story.php?story_id=45

 This was my first Central/Trinity game and it was unlike any game I had ever been to before. I went with my buddy Fletch who used to play for Central and remains close with coaches Doc Wheeler, Mike Fitzpatrick (then an overqualified Trinity assistant) and Dave Keefe so he gave me some insights into the three men and the Trinity/Central dynamic.

 The gym was packed and I remember you couldn't find a parking spot. In fact Coach Keefe had to set it up so we got in the building. What stood out right away was the way the players interacted. Opposing point guards Will Bayliss (Central) & Ryan Bourgeois (Trinity) worked out together in the summer and looked like brothers. There was no fancy introductions as the teams walked out on the floor. They literally walked out, dropped their bags off by the bench and got to it. They were simply there to play. There was a sense of familiarity throughout the gym; as if everyone had already seen each other earlier in the week. The opposing coaches used to coach together and there was the Trinity coach (Dave Keefe) giving Central's best player (Mike Stys) a hug before the game. I had never seen anything like it.

Date Posted : 03-21-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Dimitri Floras and the champs finish #1

1.       Merrimack                          16-6

How did 2012 end?: With the team peaking at the right time. On the court at UNH after the championship game head coach Tim Goodridge made note of the fact that it was the first time all season his team was healthy enough to be able to dress every player. The Tomahawks were able to tread water without Dimitri Floras (going 5-5) and were still working him back into the rotation as the tournament began. That may help explain why Merrimack was closer to being beaten by Bishop Guertin in round 1 than they were in the final against Manchester Central. Floras was dominant in the tournament & matured as a point guard; getting his teammates involved early and taking over late. This was the best team in New Hampshire when he returned to the line-up.

 How does 2013 look?:  With Floras and shooting guard Eric Gendron returning they will compete for a title again next season. Tim Goodridge is a highly respected veteran coach and if they can get contributions down low from players like Brad Jarry then the pieces will be in place for a long title defense.

Date Posted : 03-20-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Jourdain Bell of Bishop Brady is a 3rd Team selection

 The Portsmouth high school basketball team made a loud statement in their season opener; going on the road to defeat pre-season #1 Pembroke Academy 57-56. The Clippers book-ended that win with a resounding 58-33 victory over Bedford to claim their second Division II title in four years. Portsmouth proved they were the best team from day one of the 2011-12 regular season.

 Today we take a look at the top performances from Division II basketball.

Date Posted : 03-20-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Dominic Paradis of Spaulding is a First Team selection

 Was a second opinion on a wrist injury the single biggest moment of the Division I basketball season? Whether it was or whether it wasn't there is no denying that Dimitri Floras's presence on the floor turned Merrimack from a 7 seed to a true 1 seed and by the time they got to Durham they felt like they were the best team in the building.

 They were right. Merrimack ended Spaulding's memorable playoff run and then beat the best team from Manchester to win the Division I title. Today we take a look at the top performers from the 2011-12 season.

Date Posted : 03-19-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Gus Davis of Derryfield Academy is a First Team pick

 As the regular season moved past the half-way point it became clear that the best team from the north (Littleton) was on a possible collision course with the best team from the south (Moultonborough Academy). Coaches you talked to seemed split on who the better team was and schools like Newmarket and Groveton were sure to have a say in how things went down, but clearly a Crusaders & Panthers match-up would make for a highly anticipated final.

 When they got there, each having survived a major scare along the way, they didn't disappoint. Moultonborough made one more play down the stretch and held off Littleton to win their second Division IV title in four years.

 Today we take a look at the best performances from a very interesting year in Division IV basketball.

Curtis Arsenault of Berlin is our player of the year

 The match-up between Berlin & Conant never materialized and in the end a Prospect Mountain team that couldn't get out of its own way in February was among the most consistent in the March. Three time all-state forward Curtis Arsenault hit a 30 foot buzzer beater to end the 3^rd quarter that pulled Berlin closer and seemed to be the punch to the gut Prospect Mountain struggled to get over.

 Berlin finished 21-1 and finished a mission they had started over a year ago. Today we take a look at the best performances from the 2011-12 Division III season.

Date Posted : 03-17-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Portsmouth wins the Division II Championship

 Two hours before the start of the Division I championship game The Portsmouth Clippers made their own statement in regards to who the best high school basketball team in New Hampshire is.
 
 Leading from start to finish and led by their all-state point guard Kmahl Walker's 22  points the Clippers walked over Bedford 58-33 to win their second Division II title in four years and the 18th in school history. The top ranked defense in Division II forced 27 turnovers and Portsmouth never trailed in the game. " I'm really proud of the kids," said Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey after winning his second title. "I got the sense that we were pressing against Coe-Brown in the semifinals and we just didn't play well. So in practice this week I told them to just have fun, they needed to relax and they played very well today."

Sat 03-17-2012	Score
Portsmouth	58
Bedford	33
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-17-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Merrimack wins the Division I title

 When the final seconds had ticked off the clock and the Merrimack student section began to flood the floor at Lundholm Gymnasium Dimitri Floras headed in the other direction.

 While teammates mobbed one another Floras seemed to take a moment to collect himself before letting out a scream that could be heard over all the craziness around him. A short stint at Kimball Union Academy prep school, a wrist injury that nearly ended his season and now a state championship in his junior year. It wasn't an easy trip to get here for Floras, even if he sometimes makes it look that way with his play.

 Floras scored 23 points and handed out 6 assists as Merrimack defeated Manchester Central 65-56 to capture their first Division I championship since 2004. " We only lost one game with him all year and even against BG in the first round we were still working him into the lineup," said Merrimack head coach Tim Goodridge. " You can see what kind of team we are when he's running the show."

Sat 03-17-2012	Score
Manchester Central	56
Merrimack	65
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-16-2012 Written by: Dave Haley Photo Credit : Cody Smith Photography

Billy Lane faces Bedford in the Division II Final

 As Portsmouth and Coe-Brown battled Wednesday in the first Division II semifinal game of the night the Bedford basketball team arrived at Lundholm Gymnasium, waiting for a break in the action before crossing under the basket and walking to the visitors locker room. As they did the fourteen or so players dressed in their warm-ups made their way across the floor and quite an impression before even picking up a basketball. ' Look at the size of those guys!' said one member of the media immediately to my left. The comments continued, Bedford doesn't enter a room quietly. You know they're there.

 They are going to be front and center on Saturday afternoon when they take on Portsmouth for the title and you can rest assured Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey is well aware of who they are, " Their size is overwhelming," confirms Mulvey of the 5th seeded Bulldogs. " and for some reason they look bigger on that floor at UNH. You cannot allow easy entry passes to their big guys, you just can't and that's what we're going to have to work towards."

Date Posted : 03-15-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Bedford stands tall against Hanover in semis, 54-46

 You can't teach height.  It's an old basketball adage and it was on full display at UNH's Lundholm Gym in the Division 2 semis between 4^th ranked Bedford and #1 Hanover.  Trevor Fahmy dominated inside with a game high 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead his team into Saturday's Final against #2 Portsmouth.  The 6'8" senior also had help from 6'10" sophomore center Collin McManus who crashed the offensive boards and worked down low for 12 points and 7 rebounds in Bedford's 54-46 win.  James Caparell pulled down 11 boards as the Bulldogs totally dominated the battle on the glass, out-rebounding the much smaller Marauders, 50-28. 

Wed 03-14-2012	Score
Hanover	46
Bedford	54
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-14-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Trinity and Manchester Central battled for two overtimes

 It was starting to creep towards 10 o'clock when Manchester Central forward Junior Brown took the ball out of bounds following a Carmen Giampetruzzi foul shot had made it 57-56 and after 39 plus minutes of high intensity basketball Brown was ready to go home. In a jammed packed gym with over 2,000 people watching two city arch-rivals battle late into the second overtime the senior forward, battered, bruised and a little exhausted after playing the entire game against Trinity's vaunted 6'7, 6'7, 6'10 front line was just looking for a little daylight. Brown searched the floor to make the right inbounds pass that would get Manchester Central to a Saturday afternoon date with Merrimack.
 
 But as Trinity frantically pressed and denied every available Central player from getting the ball and with the clock in his head counting towards three of what would be a five second violation he suddenly saw something familiar in the distance. Why it was his teammate Isaiah Joseph past half court waving at Brown.
 
 And there was no one within 50 feet of him.

Tue 03-13-2012	Score
Trinity	56
Manchester Central	59
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-14-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Merrimack downs Spaulding to advance to Finals, 53-39.

 It was late in the 2^nd quarter and Spaulding High School's Charlie Nevejans had just hit a high banking shot in the lane that tied the Division 1 boys basketball semi-final between the Red Raiders and Merrimack at 25.  Then, with 50 seconds left in the half, Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge instructed his team to hold for 1 shot ensuring that the Tomahawks would go into the break either tied or with the lead.  Merrimack ran the clock down to the final 10 seconds before Dimitri Floras made his move and nailed a pull up 3 from the right side that sent his team to the locker room up 28-25.  That shot by Floras was his third 3 pointer of the 1^st half and it ignited a game closing 28-14 run for Merrimack the rest of the way that sent the Tomahawks to their 1^st Finals appearance since 2006 with a 53-39 win.  And just like that Championship Game 6 years ago, the Manchester Central Little Green are the opposition thanks to their 59-56 double overtime win against Trinity.  

Tue 03-13-2012	Score
Spaulding	39
Merrimack	53
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-14-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Junior Brown & Central take on Merrimack for the title

 (7) Merrimack vs. (4) Manchester Central

 The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 Two very different games took place at UNH Tuesday night as Merrimack and Manchester Central each return to the Division I (formerly Class L) championship game for the first time since they met in 2006.

 Merrimack won with defense, in holding Spaulding to 14 second half points, and was led by their point guard Dimitri Floras who began the game with a pull up three pointer on the first possession and a no look assist for a lay-up on the second. It didn't take the kid long to get acclimated.

 Merrimack had trouble with Spaulding's 1-4 offense in the first half but sped up the game in the second half with more full court pressure and all of the sudden Spaulding was playing Merrimack's game. Floras was in the middle of it all and if Eric Gendron was hitting from the outside (Spaulding left him wide open on the wing all night) it may have gotten out of hand sooner. Jeff Giannelli was a spark off the bench with 10 points and was able to barrel his way to the glass against an undersized Spaulding frontcourt.

Date Posted : 03-14-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 After rolling into the Division II semifinals on the heels of back to back 50 plus point wins the Portsmouth Clippers were smart enough to know going into Wednesday's game against Coe-Brown that it wasn't going to come that easy again. They were going to be in for a fight.

 In addition Clippers head coach Jim Mulvey had grown concerned by the fact that his team hadn't been in a tight contest since a win over Bedford on February 3rd and he worried about how his team would respond when they came under late game pressure.

 He also questioned how his team would execute after a year away from the big floor in Durham.

 A 16-9 fourth quarter led by seniors Billy Lane, Kyle DiCesare and Gregg Tsougranis that broke open a two point game should ease any concerns Mulvey might have had about getting a recent close win under their belt. " Our big guys stepped up late in the game and really controlled the paint," said Mulvey. "I thought Gregg in particular was outstanding."

 Put a checkmark next to the close W.

 And the execution?

 " I thought our execution was terrible at times. I wasn't sure what we were doing, it was like we got out there and forgot everything we had talked about before the game."

 Well one out of two will have to be good enough...

Wed 03-14-2012	Score
Portsmouth	55
Coe-Brown	46
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-13-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Darren Doyon & Coe-Brown face Portsmouth for a shot at the title

 (11) Coe Brown vs. (2) Portsmouth

 The coverage of Portsmouth is sponsored by Craven, Sullivan & Splendore PLLC.

 This will be the third meeting of the season between two very familiar rivals. Coe-Brown Academy under head coach David Smith has pulled off two upsets just to get to the final four in beating 6th seed Merrimack Valley 60-53 in a game a lot of people thought they would win and 3rd seeded Pembroke Academy 57-52 in a game very few thought they would win. Portsmouth on the other hand is back in the final four under head coach Jim Mulvey for the fifth time in six years and they arrive here on a record setting pace. No team in history has ever come into the final four having won their two opening round playoff games by more than the Clippers 111 point margin. A very good team is peaking at the right time and Wednesday night they try to get back to the championship game for the second year in a row. We talked to five Division II head coaches to get their thoughts on the two semifinal games and what to look for in each of the four teams.

Date Posted : 03-12-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Spaulding takes down North in overtime, 71-65

 For the 2^nd tournament game in a row, Luke Roberts knocked down a clutch 3 pointer and now the Spaulding Red Raiders are headed to Durham.  This time Roberts heroics sent the game at #3 Nashua North into overtime as he banked in a 3 from the left wing with just under 6 seconds left to tie it at 55.  His game-winning 3 at the buzzer beat West last week in the prelim round in Rochester. When Connor Noe hit a 3 pointer of his own with 2 minutes left in the 4 minute extra session, 6^th seeded Spaulding had scored the 1^st 6 points of overtime to take a commanding 61-55 lead.  After North's Anthony Farmer hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead down to 4 with 1:44 to play in OT, 6'5" junior Dominic Paradis responded with a leaner in the lane on the next trip down the floor that made it 63-57 Spaulding.  The Red Raiders were able to ice the game down the stretch by connecting on all 8 of their FT attempts(6 by Paradis, 2 by Noe).

 There was some talk before Sunday night's game that the Spaulding coaches, players and fans still needed a little more time to recover both mentally and physically from the bus accident they were involved in on the way to the originally scheduled game on Friday night.  The highway collision with a tractor trailer truck sent Noe to the hospital and forced postponement of the quarterfinal game with North.  A decision came down on Saturday that the game would have to be played on Sunday night at 7. 

Sun 03-11-2012	Score
Nashua North	65
Spaulding	71
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-12-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Spaulding continues its roll & faces Merrimack next

 For the two semifinal previews (Division II will be coming tomorrow) I spoke with five or six coaches from each division to get their thoughts on the final four teams and how they match-up. All the quotes are blind quotes so that coaches were completely frank & honest with their opinions. No one knows these teams better than the coaches and their thoughts are a good insight into tonight's semifinal games.

 (4) Manchester Central vs. (1) Trinity

 The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by Edible Arrangements

 Coverage of the first Central/Trinity meeting:

 http://www.nhsportspage.com/display_full_story.php?story_id=747

 One of the best rivalries in New Hampshire high school basketball moves to the big floor at UNH Tuesday night. Dave Keefe's Pioneers have sat at or near the top of the Division I standings all season long while Doc Wheeler's Manchester Central team comes in winners of six games in a row. Both teams were picked in the top 4 in the pre-season and on Tuesday night one of them goes home.

 With the biggest frontline in basketball Trinity forces teams out of their game plans behind 6'7 Andrew Lauderdale, 6'7 Mabor Gabriel and 6'10 Silvere Aluko. Therefore the strategy when you face their defense is to make them come to you. " The thing I told my kids when they faced Trinity is that they weren't going to score down low, just expect that from the start, if you turn and shoot they are going to block it right back at you" said one tournament coach of the top seed. " What you try and do is make them play outside, make the big guys defend away from the paint. You also have to focus on boxing them out because if you get into a jumping contest for a 50/50 ball (rebound) they're going to get it every time. They are too big and too athletic."

Date Posted : 03-11-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Bedford "serves" notice with 49-36 win over Souhegan.

 When people talk about the Bedford Bulldogs boys basketball team, the discussion is usually focused on the incredible amount of size 2nd year coach John Langlois has at his disposal. The Bulldogs start twin towers in 6'8" senior Trevor Fahmy and 6'10" sophomore Collin McManus, and they can come off the bench with 6'8" junior Samuel Thomas and 6'7" sophomore Roger Larrivee.  They also have 2 pretty big guards in starters Trevor Glassman and James Capparell, both of whom check in at a solid 6'2".  But on this night it was sophomore swingman Cameron Meservey who stood the tallest in a 49-36 win over Souhegan that sent the Bulldogs to the Final 4 at UNH.

Sat 03-10-2012	Score
Souhegan	36
Bedford	48
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-10-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Moultonborough Academy finishes 22-0

 Exactly 25 years after a state title ended his storied basketball career at Moultonborough Academy Matt Swedberg stood on the same floor again Saturday afternoon in the middle of over 1,200 screaming fans with a title again on the line. Clinging to a one point lead with 11 seconds to go 600 fans to his left badly wanted his team to miss those two foul shots while the 600 fans to his right begged with equal emotion that they would go in.
 
 Standing directly in front of him taking those crucial foul shots was his son Drew. Twenty five years after a Class S title win over Calvary Christian, twenty one years after completing an all-conference career in the very same gym for Plymouth State and three years after his team's last Division IV title Swedberg had to leave it all in the hands of the second of his four children to deliver a win and with it a title.
 
 His son came through.

Sat 03-10-2012	Score
Moultonborough Academy	54
Littleton	50
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-09-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Charlie Duprey & Portsmouth face John Stark

 (9) Lebanon at (1) Hanover

The coverage of Lebanon is sponsored by The Woodlands Credit Union

 One of the premier match-ups of the night as two arch-rivals square off with a trip to Durham at stake.

 Hanover took care of business with a 59-45 win over Windham Wednesday night behind 20 points from Dan Gorman and 16 from Roland Herman-Stanzel and now get their arch-rivals in the quarterfinals. The Marauders beat Lebanon handily in their first meeting against them but were beaten by 17 the second time around.

 If you're 9th seeded Lebanon you're happy to be getting a familiar opponent and avoiding Portsmouth & Pembroke, who no matter what the seeding says are still the consensus top two teams in the division. Lebanon has to be happy with the way this played out. The Red Raiders have had some pretty good teams recently that weren't able to get over the hump and make it to UNH even with a high seed. Now you play a team you know well, against a school close enough where your fans will make the trip and against kids your players have been competing against since grade school. As a 9 seed that's a solid draw.

Date Posted : 03-09-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Curtis Arsenault leads Berlin into the championship game

 (6) Prospect Mountain vs. (1) Berlin

 The coverage of Berlin is sponsored by The Woodlands Credit Union

 A funny thing happened on the way to that long anticipated Berlin/Conant match-up....

 All you need to know about Prospect Mountain's win over Conant Tuesday night was that the Timberwolves outrebounded the Orioles 45-27. Logan Roberts and Jay Mousseau each had over ten rebounds and when they went into a tie game with under three minutes go they outscored Conant 9-0. All of which sets up a second meeting with Berlin Saturday night.

 What struck you about watching Berlin play Hopkinton in the second semifinal game Tuesday night was how comfortable they looked out on the floor. Lounge member Curtis Arsenault was a beast as usual (28 points & 12 rebounds) and his poise and confidence were palpable. Playing in your fourth final four game will probably do that for you. Dimitri Giannos did a nice job handling the basketball at the point and forward/former point guard Sam Aldrich also helped get Berlin out of half-court traps and full-court pressure. Don Picard's team looked prepared & confident and on Saturday they face a Prospect Mountain team they beat 64-49 on the road just three weeks ago.

Date Posted : 03-08-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Dover is still around...and takes on Merrimack next

 (8) Alvirne at (1) Trinity

The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by Edible Arrangements

The coverage of Alvirne is sponsored by greenformygold.com

 Results of the first meeting: http://www.nhsportspage.com/basketball/game_stats.php?Ateam_id=126&Hteam_id=33&game_id=11920&team_type=hs_bb&year=2011-2012

 We warned you the Division I tournament was liable to get a little nuts and if Manchester Memorial beating Pinkerton (a mild upset) doesn't get your attention maybe Dover winning at Salem (a shocking upset) does. Trinity had their own major scare from Exeter in a 57-53 win as did Nashua North in a down to the wire win over Londonderry. Whatever happened to teams that had thrown in the towel already and were already looking forward to baseball season?

Date Posted : 03-08-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Mike Donahue & Moultonborough look to finish 22-0

 (2) Littleton vs. (1) Moultonborough Academy

 The two best teams in Division IV have been monitoring each other (and scouting as well) for four months. All of those trips to watch the other team play and all of those conversations with other coaches to gain insight on the other culminates this weekend when they meet for the first time Saturday afternoon.

 Moultonborough is going to play their zone defense, try to make all Littleton shots contested ones and then do what they have done all year; win the rebounding battle. They do all of this with their height advantage. The Panthers have the biggest frontline in the division and it all starts with 6'8 center Marcus Swedberg. Power forward Mike Donahue has been steady all season long and the Panthers have been a smart enough team to know that their offense goes through the paint. A 21-0 record suggests it's been the right approach.

Date Posted : 03-07-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Newmarket and Littleton battle in front of a packed house

 The idea behind applying constant full court pressure in basketball is that it will eventually pay off. The same team that exploits your full court press early will likely wilt to it late and it's been a tactic that has been very successful in high school basketball for some time.
 
 The down side is that when its not working it can sometimes make scoring look very easy for the other team but if the idea is to wear a team down over the course of 32 minutes, you can't exactly back off and relent. There is no putting the toothpaste back in the tube; to wear the other team out you're going to have to nearly do the same to yourself.
 
 Through 29 minutes of a 32 minute semifinal that would decide who would play for the Division IV championship on Saturday afternoon it simply wasn't working for Littleton. Oh sure there were turnovers here & there but they weren't being converted and Newmarket point guard Christian Hawkins was finding the gaps in the pressure and players like backcourt mate Christian Fillion and shooting guard Sean Fleming for good looks and easy baskets. " We played from behind all night and missed a lot of easy shots we usually make," said Littleton head coach Trevor Howard of his team's inability to get over the hump. " They are (his players) in good condition, we were going to press and trap until we got the lead back. Once we got the lead I thought we'd have them. We just needed to get there."

Tue 03-06-2012	Score
Littleton	68
Newmarket	61
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-07-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Merrimack goes overtime to beat BG, 62-51

 It wasn't nearly as easy as the 11 point final margin indicates, but the Merrimack Tomahawks are off the playoff schneid.  Tied at 51 going into the extra session, the 7th seeded Tomahawks outscored #10 BG 11 to nothing in overtime to advance to the quarterfinals of the NH boys Division 1 basketball tournament with an exciting 62-51 win.  And instead of a trip to Salem to face the 2nd seeded Blue Devils on Friday night, Merrimack will play host to #15 Dover after the Green Wave splashed down on Salem's title hopes in a shocking 63-62 win.

Tue 03-06-2012	Score
Merrimack	62
Bishop Guertin	51
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-05-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Trevor Glassman & Bedford square off with Bishop Brady

 (16) Windham at (1) Hanover

 Windham makes their first ever tournament appearance under head coach Todd Steffanides and it is a good accomplishment for a second year program. The Jaguars didn't back-in, they won two of their last four games and got two key wins in February over Coe-Brown and St. Thomas to earn their way into the post-season.

 Windham is led by big men Jeff Peterson, Andrew Lowman (9.1 ppg) and forward Joe Lorenz (8 ppg). They are a team that struggles at times against pressure defense and Hanover is a team that prides themselves on that very facet of the game. A key Wednesday night will be getting Lowman and Peterson enough touches in the paint.

Date Posted : 03-05-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Jake Drouin & Berlin face Hopkinton in the final four

 (4) Hopkinton vs. (1) Berlin

 The coverage of Berlin is sponsored by the Woodlands Credit Union

  Hopkinton got a three pointer from Liam McNicholas with 15 seconds left and forced two missed Somersworth shots as time expired to earn a spot against the top seed. Hopkinton has three or four different players who can knock down jumpers on the perimeter and with no post game they rely on players like Jay White, Steve Auger and McNicholas to connect. They run good sets on the perimeter and count on point guard Frankie Beane to make the right decision with the ball.

 He almost always does, and Beane is Hopkinton's best chance for a victory at Southern New Hampshire Tuesday night because it is hard to remember a recent Class M/Division III title winning team that didn't have a smart/poised floor general running the show. Teammates are going to get tight, plays are going to breakdown and things most definitely are going to get loud. You need your point guard to be the voice of calm in the middle of all of it and Frankie Beane fits the bill.

 Berlin, unlike Somersworth and Conant, isn't going to press Hopkinton. Berlin is the better team in the paint, they're going to try and get good shots in close and if they happen to miss, get a good second shot. They'll believe they can do this because they have lounge member Curtis Arsenault (18 ppg., 6 Reb. & 3 ast) and forward Sam Aldrich, each of whom have been to SNHU the past two years. Berlin can match Hopkinton's shooters on the outside with Jake Drouin (16 ppg) and Dimitri Giannos (16 pts against Mascoma in the quarterfinals). Defensively they'll have to match-up man to man and stay on the Hawks best shooter Jay White who can get hot in a hurry.

Date Posted : 03-04-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 Let the record show that Somersworth fought to retain their Division III title until the very last second. Until the very last shot.
 
 Down big early in front of a packed gym on the road and in jeopardy of being the unfortunate witnesses to Hopkinton's first final four appearance in over seven years the Hilltoppers closed the first half on a 16-5 run to get back in the game and carried that momentum to the final moments of their season.
 
 A Liam McNicholas 22 footer (his only three points of the night) ended up being the game winner with 15 seconds left in overtime as Hopkinton advances to the semifinals with a 44-43 victory that wasn't assured until Josh Jacques ten foot fall away from the baseline bounced off the iron as time expired. " We got up early and then I think our guys were a little tired, we had some foul trouble, things we had to get through," said Hopkinton head coach Dave Chase. " We made enough plays in the end."

Sat 03-03-2012	Score
Hopkinton	44
Somersworth	43
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-04-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Majak Wenyin & Memorial face Pinkerton Academy in round one

 (16) Exeter at (1) Trinity
 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by Edible Arrangements
 The coverage of Exeter is sponsored by Chad Fletcher at Bluewater Mortgage
 
 Box score of first meeting: http://www.nhsportspage.com/basketball/game_stats.php?Ateam_id=17&Hteam_id=33&game_id=11985&team_type=hs_bb&year=2011-2012
 
 In a pre-season conversation Trinity head coach Dave Keefe alluded to the regular season as 18 games to prepare you for the 4 most important ones and on Tuesday night it begins with Jeff Holmes' Exeter team. The Pioneers come into the tournament fresh off of a home loss, only their second of the season, to Pinkerton Academy and in the Blue Hawks they'll face one of the hottest shooters in Division I in Matt Barr (17.8 ppg). 
 

Date Posted : 03-04-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Josh Eisfeller and Newmarket face Littleton in the final four

 (5) Derryfield Academy vs (1) Moultonbrough Academy
 The coverage of Derryfield is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria
 
 The top seeded Panthers were pushed to the brink against 8th seeded Epping. Trailing for most of the second half Moultonborough went to their player of the year candidate Marcus Swedberg when they needed an answer and he came through in his last home game. Epping had missed foul shots and key turnovers that may stick with them all summer but Swedberg just proved too tough at the end of the game and now on Tuesday night he travels to Plymouth State University for his third time in four years.
 
 They will face a Derryfield Academy team making their third consecutive final four appearance and the team that knocked Moultonbrough out of the semifinals a year ago. This addition of the Cougars though hardly resembles the senior driven team of a year ago. This is a Derryfield team without a lot of size and a team that goes to the rhythm of their all-state point guard Gus Davis. Tyler Zorn is able to stretch defenses with his outside shooting on the wing and this is a team that has been very good defensively in allowing over 45 points only twice in their last seven games.

Date Posted : 03-03-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 When Newmarket shooting guard Christian Fillion gathered in a pass near mid-court with 3 seconds left in a 42-42 tie he had two defenders, an expiring clock and a season in the balance to deal with. He also had a strangely familiar feeling as it all went down around him, " I had a shot freshman year on JV's from the same exact spot for the win," said Fillion as he recounted a shot taken three years earlier. "I missed it, it was short and we lost."
 
 Given a second chance, maybe a last chance when you consider that 6th seeded Sunapee had held the lead for nearly all of their hard fought quarterfinal game, Fillion set his feet in that same spot  from 30 feet away with game again on the line. "When I let it go I immediately thought 'Oh that's the one, this has a chance.' Fillion's 30 footer found nothing but nylon and gave his team a 45-42 win that sends Newmarket to their fifth final four in as many years.

Fri 03-02-2012	Score
Newmarket	45
Sunapee	42
Box Scores