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The Concord Orthopaedics Girls Basketball Division III Quarterfinal Preview

By Lance Legere, 02/28/20, 6:15AM EST

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Emma Tenters and Conant have Campbell on Saturday night with a trip to Keene State on the line (photo by Ben Conant)

 The matchups are set for the Division III Quarterfinals. Eight teams will be fighting for the chance to play at Keene State next Wednesday. Saturday night has some good basketball in store for us. 

 Jennifer Chick-Ruth and I start our playoff run with #3 Hopkinton who will be hosting the defending champions #11 Monadnock which should be a great game.  

 Let's get into the matchups...  

 

#9 Campbell @ #1 Conant 

 The Orioles have dominated all season long and they will take on a pesky Campbell squad who got the upset in round one over St Thomas Aquinas, 53-51.   

 In two contests this season Conant won both, 56-36 and 73-29 in Conant's last game of the regular season.

 Elizabeth Gonyea has looked every bit like the Player of the Year since day one of the season. She impacts both sides of the floor and has an intensity that is tough to match. She distributes as well as she scores it and has been one of the toughest players to stop in the division. 

 Silas Bernier is a player who steps up when the lights are the brightest. When she can get going from downtown open looks start to show up for her teammates. The senior was left with a bad taste in her mouth after last seasons Final Four loss to Fall Mountain, so she is looking for redemption this time around.  

  Tegan Kirby has emerged as a reliable scoring option for this group on a night to night basis. When Kirby gets a head of steam going to the hoop she is tough to beat. If she can show that she is willing to take a mid-range jumpshot, her life becomes even easier getting to the hoop. 

 Emma Tenters at 6'0" is a mismatch off the bench and has done a tremendous job controlling the rebound battle every night. Brynn Rautiola has been a great spark for the starting five and is a lethal shooter from behind the arc. The freshman will get their first taste of playoff basketball tomorrow night.  

 Before getting into this Campbell team, Jen and I just wanted to give a quick shoutout to their team manager Travis Tucker. He runs the team's Instagram Page and delivers us stats after every single game. Thank you for everything you do to help us, Travis, we appreciate it! 

 The Cougars pulled off a thriller on Tuesday night and Tori Allen knocked down the game-winning basket with 5 seconds left to pull off the upset. 

 Speaking of Allen, she has been dominant for this group all season long. Her ability to rebound has been key. She will need to fight her away around box outs tomorrow night to try and generate second-chances for the Cougars. Campbell will need a big night out of her to stay in it with the top seed. 

 Riley Gamache has done a great job at the guard for this group. The reigning Buffalo Wild Wings Player of the Week must control the tempo for Campbell. Conant plays a high-pressure defense that causes lots of turnovers. Gamache will do her best to limit as many mistakes as possible. 

 It will take a team effort to get to pull off another victory, and a player like Karleigh Schultz could be the X-factor. She has shown the ability to score in bunches and will need to have a big performance alongside Allen and Gamache. 

 Campbell has a tough feat ahead of them with Conant, but it's the playoffs. There are four quarters of basketball and both teams need to show up to play. 

 

#5 White Mountains @ #4 Newfound 

 White Mountains won a low scoring first-round game against Mascoma Valley, 32-19, and Newfound took care of business against Berlin 61-35. The Spartans took both regular-season contests over the Bears, but round three could be anyone's ballgame.  

 Aviara Challinor has been a first-team all-state talent all season long. The Spartans were a quarterfinal team last season as well, but Challinor is looking to get the group over the hump in her senior year. She will draw a lot of attention from the Newfound defense but that has not stopped her all season long. The way she plays on both sides of the basketball could control the outcome of this game. 

 Lily Kenison controls the offense for this group and has put together quite the junior season. Kenison has the ability to go off for a 15-20 point game at any moment and the Spartans would love for the point guard to have one of those nights on Saturday. Her three-point shot will be a lethal weapon for Ian Boyko's team.  

 Mackenzie Treamer and Jaycee Murray have both had their fair share of moments this season. If Treamer and Murray can both find shots within the offense and get it going, the Spartans will have an array of options on the floor.

 White Mountains beat Newfound in the regular season with defense. They will need to put together a third and final defensive effort against the Bears to move onto the Final Four 

 Since a late January loss to Fall Mountain, Newfound has tallied off nine straight victories. Coming in on such a good run could help the Bears take down White Mountains who has been their kryptonite to this point of the season.   

 Paulina Huckins was held to 11 and 4 points in the two losses to White Mountains this season. If Newfound wants to move on, Huckins needs touches and she needs baskets down low. I am sure head coach Kammi Williams has been putting together a gameplan to get Huckins involved early and often.  

 Freshman Malina Bohlmann has played like an upperclassman and her production has been the difference-maker for Newfound. She has cooled off a bit but what better way to get back in a groove than in the playoffs? I am very intrigued to see what she can do against a White Mountains team she scored 17 and 14 against during the regular season.  

 Tiffany Doan has been stepping up big time in the last few weeks. She is the X-factor for this group. Role players become even more important in the playoffs, and Doan will be called upon to have a big performance Saturday night.  

 Round three between White Mountains and Newfound will go down to the wire. Can the Spartans go 3-0 against Newfound on the year? Or will the Bears figure things the third time around?

 

#7 Prospect Mountain @ #2 Fall Mountain 

 Fall Mountain's only two blemishes are too Conant and they would like to get a chance with Orioles in the championship game. Prospect Mountain handled business with Belmont in the first round and will look to keep their season alive. 

 Avery Stewart has been a force to be reckoned with and not many teams have been able to contain her. Her ability to take defenders off the dribble and either pull-up for a jumpshot or attack the paint has been too much for opposing defenses to handle. The sophomore is one of the best players in all of the division. It will be interesting to see how Prospect defends her. 

 Sophie Bardis is ready to erupt for a big performance. 11.8 ppg was rather quiet for the junior, but her play has trended upwards towards the end of the season. When her shot is on, Stewart and Bardis become a deadly one-two punch. With Stewart in the high-post and Bardis lurking around the arc, Fall Mountain is tough to stop.  

 Makenna Grillone has quietly put together a great season. She has been a reliable option for Fall Mountain and has stepped up when needed. At times she has been the second option while Bardis was searching for her shot early on in the year. Grillone can make an impact on both ends of the floor in this one. 

 This will be the first time these two teams meet so I expect there to be a feeling-out period early on. Home-court advantage will be huge for Fall Mountain in the end. 

#11 Monadnock @ #3 Hopkinton 

 Monadnock pulled off a huge 47-32 victory over Gilford and reminded everybody that they are still the defending champs. Hopkinton fought off Inter-Lakes and will look to defend home-court.  

 These two played each other tough in the regular season. Hopkinton won both games with the first game going down to the wire, 47-41, and the last came late in the season with the Hawks earning a 48-35 win. 

 Monadnock has been all over the place this season. The Huskies took a little while to get going and had only won one of their last five games heading into the postseason. The odds were stacked against them heading to Gilford, but Monadnock put together their best performance of the season.  

 Carly Ayotte has the most varsity experience of anyone on the roster. She was the defensive stopper on the championship team a season ago and this year she was asked to be more of a scorer. The defense was always there, but there were some games where she struggled to get into the box score. Ayotte will make her impact felt on the defensive end, it is what she can provide offensively that could shift the tides.  

 Grace Furze provided a good amount of the offensive load during the regular season and the same will be asked of her on Saturday night. Furze has made the leap from freshmen to sophomore year. She played key minutes during last year's run so it is no surprise to see her flourishing already this postseason.  

 Monadnock is going to try and grind Hopkinton out. If they can keep the game in the low 40's they have a chance to pull a second consecutive upset off.  

 The Hawks gave Conant there closets game of the season back in early January. That score put Hopkinton into the top tier of the division. Hopkinton took care of business during the regular season as they knew two home games were going to be huge in the playoffs. 

 Maurgan McGrath was firing out of the gates to start the season. The junior could not be denied a basket to start the year and has since gotten that same groove back at the end of the regular season. The three-point shot is always there for McGrath and it will need to be there for Hopkinton to walk away with a win.  

 Katie Meserve has been consistent all season long. The all-state forward works hard on the low block and controls the rebound department for Hopkinton. I would assume Ayotte will be matched up with her most of the game so it will be interesting to see how that matchup turns out for either side.  

 Players like Elle Owen and Kally Murdough become even more important in this game because we know what to expect from McGrath and Meserve. With a good defensive team like Monadnock, those options may not be there all night. What can Owen and Murdough bring to the table? 

 Jen and I are excited to be there for this one tomorrow night with a trip to Keene State on the line. 

 

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