Month: March 2024

SNHU ends game on a 17-0 run, punches ticket to Elite 8

Third-seeded SNHU closed the game on a 17-0 run to shock top-seeded Saint Michael’s and win the NCAA Division II East Region Championship on Tuesday night in Colchester, Vt. The Penmen punch their ticket to the Elite 8 for the 8th time in school history and the first time since 2014-15.

The Penmen trailed 61-56 with 6:41 to play, but held the host Purple Knights scoreless the rest of the way to earn the come-from-behind victory and cut down the nets.

The eight remaining teams have been re-seeded for the D-II Elite 8 and SNHU has garnered the No. 7 seed and will take on No. 2 Nova Southeastern on Tuesday, March 26 at 3:30 pm in Evansville, Ind.

Check out the full NCAA Division II bracket.

📸 Courtesy: @TheNortheast10

Who’s Committed?

In an effort to highlight the players around the Granite State that plan to continue their basketball playing careers in college, we’re looking for your help. We’re interested in knowing Who’s Committed?

So, give us an assist by filling out the form we have set up (linked below) and throughout the offseason, we will be sure to recognize those who are committed… like Liz Lavoie of Pinkerton who has committed to playing at the University of New Hampshire next season. 

FILL OUT THE FORM HERE to be recognized.

2024 Ball 603 All-Tournament Teams announced

For the third-straight season, we have selected our All-Tournament Teams. Spear-headed by our Mike Whaley, the All-Tourney Teams are chosen from final four participants in each division. We select three from the champion, two from the runner-up and one from each of the other semifinalists.

The past two seasons, we have featured these teams in our The Season magazine, but this year we’re going digital with them.

Congratulations to all on a great postseason run…

 

Dominating Astro: Marshall’s huge season led to 2K points, state crown

By Mike Whaley

Going into the 2023-24 NHIAA Division I boys basketball season, on paper anyway, the chances of Jackson Marshall reaching the 2,000-point mark and Pinkerton Academy winning the D-I championship seemed slim at best.

As the season progressed, however, it became apparent that the Astros were a team to be reckoned with led by Marshall, whose scoring numbers were off the charts. Those slim hopes were suddenly not so slim.

The rest, of course, was history. Pinkerton went 17-1 during the regular season to secure the top seed in the D-I playoffs. From there, they rolled through the tournament with wins over Nashua South, 101-83; Trinity, 82-71, and Nashua North, 90-76. The Astros set several D-I playoff records along the way for most points in a single tournament game (101), points in a championship game (90), and total points in the final game (166). One can also assume that PA set a three-game tournament scoring record with 273 points. Marshall, a 6-foot-9 senior, scored 111 points in three tournament games, missing the record by a single point. Another Pinkerton star, Zach Mathieu, set the mark in 2010 with 112 points – but in four games. That was also the last year the Astros won the title before Sunday.

In addition, Marshall reached 2,000 points, hitting the mark in the quarterfinal win over Nashua South with 41 points (he needed 38 coming in). He ended his career with 2,073 points, just the second D-I player to reach that milestone, joining Concord legend Matt Bonner. He was also the second N.H. player to reach 2,000 points this season as Profile’s Josh Robie eclipsed the mark last month while leading the Patriots to the D-IV title.

Courtesy: Jeff Criss, Perfect Photos

Marshall did it with a huge season in which he averaged a state-leading 37.7 points per game to go along with 13.7 rebounds per game. He scored 905 points in 24 games. Marshall plans to play baseball (pitcher/first base) at Southern New Hampshire University, an NCAA Division II school in Hooksett.

Pinkerton entered the season with a new coach (Mike Dunham) and just two players who had played in the previous year’s D-I championship loss to Bedford. Marshall had scored his 1,000th point as a junior, but he was still over 800 points away from 2,000, so the milestone wasn’t an immediate consideration.  

“Going into the year we kind of knew what he needed,” said coach Dunham, who played at Pinkerton for the late Tony Carnovale. “It wasn’t even on our radar until the seventh or eighth game that he was going to be pretty close to it.”

Dunham took over when veteran coach Dave Chase retired. He noted that Marshall only played 12 games as a freshman due to covid, adding there were also a number of games that he didn’t play in the second half because Pinkerton has been so good the past three years – so his numbers could have been even higher.

Marshall, for his part, wasn’t sure what the season would hold. “To be honest, the first day of tryouts I thought we were going to be a 50/50 team – win half the games. After looking at it, the opposite happened, which was great,” he said.

As for reaching the 2,000-point milestone, Marshall said, “I didn’t know that I would be able to do it. I had an idea. Getting there was definitely great. … My coach drew up a bunch of the plays for me, which helped me a lot. I feel like I had an advantage this year because there weren’t as many bigs as there were last year. That helped as well.”

Courtesy: Jeff Criss, Perfect Photos

Dunham also made some subtle changes that benefitted both the team and Marshall. “I challenged Jackson every day to get better, and he did that,” Dunham said. “We spaced the floor a little bit better this year than we did last year.” Because of the size of the team last year, getting space was tough. Marshall was able to get more space to work this year as well as starting outside and working his way in instead of going to the block every single time. “That helped his confidence and helped him score in different ways,” Dunham said. The biggest change was Marshall’s ability to get to the offensive glass where he was able to score more points with putbacks and from the foul line.

“This year the team knew that the way we were going to win was to go through Jackson,” said Dunham, who was a Pinkerton assistant last year after spending a decade at Londonderry HS working under Nate Stanton. “Last year I don’t know if that was the case. We really made an emphasis on getting him the ball in scoring position; just not on the block. He did a great job trailing plays and we were able to get him the ball in different spaces, and that really helped him.”

Dunham added: “He was a little more athletic than he was last year as far as putting the ball on the floor. His footwork for a big guy is unbelievable. His hands are amazing. He catches everything we throw to him. Kudos to him for putting that work in.”

One other more obvious change was Pinkerton’s uptempo style, which allowed Marshall to get more shots. “I like to play fast,” Dunham said. “If you look back to the Londonderry days with Nate Stanton, we wanted to play fast. We want to create more possessions in the ball game. If we do that, I’m confident we’re going to score more than the other team. It’s a fun way to play.”

He added: “A shot is better than a turnover. My dad always told me, the first option is to shoot it. In my mind, if you shoot it, it’s an opportunity for an offensive rebound, especially when you have Jackson. It’s an opportunity, not a turnover. Just playing loose and they really did that.”

Marshall felt his outside shooting helped to open him up as well and prevent teams from always doubling him in the paint. “They had to guard me at the 3-point line, which made it easier for me to attack the hoop. That’s why I was able to score as much as I was.”

Courtesy: Cindy Lavigne, Lavigne’s Live Shots

Plus the Astros had two other legitimate scoring threats in classmates Drew Brander and Charlie Ludden. Brander returned to Pinkerton after a year at Bradford Christian Academy in Haverhill, Mass. Both averaged in double figures, but really upped the ante in the playoffs averaging nearly double their regular-season numbers.  In addition, junior point guard Parker Bienvenue-Cernuda did a great job running the team.

Dunham said the chemistry was excellent and obviously adding Brander to the mix put them over the top. “Offensively, we were a tough guard this year because there was so much focus on Jackson,” the coach said. “The other guys stepped up and they all bought in. They understood and knew their roles. That was such a big piece.”

At the center of it all was Marshall. “Jackson was everything for us. He rebounded, he made shots, he blocked shots,” Dunham said. “Jackson hates to lose more than he likes to win. He hates to lose. He’s such a competitor. Every time that ball went up during a game, I was going to get his best effort. I had to keep him from losing his cool. I think he’s the most fouled player in New Hampshire. He takes a beating and he understands that. For 98 percent of the year, he kept his cool.”

Because the Astros had beaten Bedford during the season, that allowed them to earn the top seed and the first-round bye in the D-I playoffs. “It was just nice to have that week off. Getting that bye was one of our goals. One of our goals was checked off,” Dunham said. 

Heading into the quarterfinal game at home vs. Nashua South, the 2,000-point mark was now squarely in focus as Marshall was 38 points away. Dunham told Marshall:  ‘Jackson, you’re definitely going to do it in three games, you might do it in two. You might not do it in one. Let’s go win three games.’ That’s how I went by it. Let’s just make sure we win first. He bought into that.”

Courtesy: Betsy Hansen

Marshall, of course, did it that night with 41 points, hitting a fourth-quarter 3-pointer to move past the 2K plateau. “I’d like to hit 2,000 at my homecourt, my playoff game at home,” he said. “I did that. … I was making a lot of shots. I had three dunks. I played some pretty good offense that game. … My coach said you’re going to hit 2,000 either in this game or three games. So I was all right. I’m going to hit it at some point.”

Marshall had also joined an exclusive club – just him and Bonner as D-I’s only 2K scorers. “He’s very good, I hear,” Marshall said. “It’s great. I couldn’t ask for anything better than that. He has it all. He was in the NBA. That’s the best you can do.”

Dunham likened what Jackson did this year in terms of dominance to what Bonner did at Concord HS in the late 1990s. “I’m not comparing Jackson to Matt Bonner, no way,” he said. “I think Matt would run all over him. Matt was unbelievable. But we haven’t seen anything like this since Matt as far as dominating a league. I’m not saying there weren’t better players than Jackson in the past like (Trinty’s Chris) Lutz. I thought Chris Lutz was a better basketball player. I thought there were some players that were better than Jackson, but I just haven’t seen someone as dominant in the league.” Lutz later played college ball at Purdue and Marshall.

With the milestone out of the way, Pinkerton moved on to the semis against No. 5 Trinity. Marshall had another big game with 39 points, aided by 22 from Brander and 15 from Ludden in an 82-71 win. Now it was off to Lundholm Gymnasium at the University of New Hampshire for the championship against No. 3 Nashua North

“When you get to UNH, it’s not a coin flip, but anything can happen at UNH. Anybody can beat anybody,” Dunham said.

Indeed, North got the better of PA in the first half to lead 43-38. “At halftime they all had their heads down,” Dunham recalled. “‘Guys, that’s five points, we can score that in two seconds. We’ve been doing it all year.’ We came out in the second half and put up 90 points.”

This is how Marshall recalled the first half. “They hit a buzzer-beater and went up five points. They had all the energy,” he said. “I went down to the locker room, I saw some (Nashua) fans celebrating. We still have a whole other half. We’re celebrating a little early here.”

Courtesy: Betsy Hansen

Marshall added: “We were down by five, that’s not bad. We played much better defense in the second half; found me inside. Drew did very well in the championship game. We also stayed out of foul trouble.”

Marshall scored 10 of his game-high 31 points in the third quarter where PA outscored North, 29-18, to take the lead for good, 67-61. They eventually won by 14. Big games from Brander (26) and Ludden (18) made the win possible in support of Marshall.

Now Marshall sets his sights on his final high school baseball season and then college baseball at SNHU in the fall. He considered basketball, receiving some offers including one from Assumption University in Worcester, Mass., where his dad played in the mid 1990s as a 6-foot-10 center. SNHU also gave him the option to play both sports.

“I’m just going to do baseball,” said Marshall, who pitches and plays first base. “I feel I possibly have more of a future in baseball. If I were to play basketball, I’d be done at college. There’s no way I’m going to the NBA.”

But Dunham continues to entertain the idea of Marshall playing basketball. “I still think his jump shot is better than his baseball swing. I tell him that everyday. But he says he doesn’t know about that. I do believe that.

“I think he could play at UNH tomorrow. He’s that kind of kid. He’s 6-9. He can stretch the floor,” the coach added. “If he put some effort into it and lost weight and worked out a little bit too. I’m not saying he doesn’t do that, but he has the potential to be a very good basketball player. But he just works on the baseball, which makes it even more amazing what he’s doing. I’m so glad I got to coach him because he’s such a great kid. He’s so much fun to be around.”

Well, not so much fun if you’re an opponent, but we get the sentiment.

Wildcats’ late rally comes up short at Vermont

Fourth-seeded UNH lost to top-seeded Vermont, 66-59, in the semifinals of the America East Playoffs on Tuesday night at Patric Gym in Burlington, Vt.

Grad student forward Jaxson Baker poured in 21 points to pace the Wildcats and pulled down 11 boards for a double-double. America East Player of the Year Clarence Daniels recorded his 14th double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds for UNH.

The Wildcats trailed by as many as 16 points in the 2nd half, but cut the Catamounts lead to four with 57 seconds remaining. That was as close as UNH would get.

NHTI ends with a win

By: Mike Whaley

RICHMOND, Va. — The NHTI men’s basketball team closed out the 2023-24 season with a victory, coming from behind to beat Villa Maria, 95-85, in the consolation round of the USCAA Division II national tournament on Tuesday.

The Lynx (21-5) trailed 36-34 at the half, but pulled ahead in the final 20 minutes to claim the win as five players reached double figures. Joseph Cantey led the way with 22 points, while Terrian Wester added 17 points and 17 boards. Dahsan King scored 19 points off the bench, including 7 of 7 from the foul line. Dontavious Elder had 11 points and five rebounds, and Rahsheen Caulk Jr. notched 10 points, making 8 of 10 free throws. NHTI shot 22 of 27 from the foul line as a team. Juston Johnson led Villa Maria with 17 points.

UNH heads to UVM for America East semifinal

The fourth-seeded UNH men’s basketball team heads to Burlington, Vt. to take on America East perennial power and top-seeded Vermont tonight at 5:00 pm with a trip to the America East title game on the line.

The Wildcats are coming off a 77-64 quarterfinal win over #5 Binghamton on Saturday night, while the Catamounts survived a scare from #8 Albany, 75-72.

The Wildcats rank fifth in scoring among the conference, averaging 74.6 points per game.
They also rank first in free throw percentage averaging 0.742 and first in opponent free throw percentage, 0.732.

You can watch tonight’s game live on ESPN+.

NHTI upset at USCAA nationals

By: Mike Whaley

RICHMOND, Va. – Wilvens Fleurizard scored with one second to play as No. 10 Penn State Wilkes Barre came from six points down in the final three minutes to upset No. 2 NHTI in the USCAA Division II national tournament on Monday, 85-83.

NHTI led by six (80-74) with 2:56 to play, but could not hold off Penn State, who will play in today’s national semis, 4 p.m., vs. PSU York. NHTI will play a consolation game at 11:30 a.m. vs. Villa Maria.

The game was tied at 39-all at the half. NHTI (20-5) had six players in double figures, led by Joseph Cantey (4 rebounds, 4 assists) and Sterling Blakely (5 rebounds) with 17 points each. Dahsan King added 14 points, Terrian Wester had 11 points and eight boards, while Dontavious Elder and Rahsheen Caulk Jr., each had 10. Fleurizard led all scorers with 24 points and 17 boards.

Rochester freshman Jenna Philbrook played for Southern Maine CC in the women’s tournament. She had seven points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in Sunday’s 64-55 win over Five Towns College. SMCC lost on Monday to Johnson & Wales U., 62-37. Philbrook had six points, six boards, four steals, and three assists. SMCC finishes up its season today in a consolation game vs. PSU Beaver at 1:30 p.m.

On Saturday, the USCAA released its Division II All-American teams. Several players from NHTI and Great Bay CC were honored. Named to the women’s second team was GBCC’s Mary Paradis (Rochester), while Madison Lovely (Fremont) was honorable mention. For the men, NHTI’s Wester and GBCC’s Kingsley Breen (Dover) were named to the D-II first team, while NHTI’s Cantey and GBCC’s Theo Wolfe were tabbed as honorable mention.

Bedford caps off undefeated season with championship

By Nathaniel Ford

DURHAM – The Bedford Bulldogs, in their seventh championship appearance in the last decade, defeated the Pinkerton Astros 60-41 for the Division-I title. 

After falling short of taking home the trophy in 2022 and 2023, the Bulldogs were able to get it done tonight. Their victory tonight caps off a perfect 21-0 season. 

Bedford got off to a slow start, scoring only 5 points in the first four minutes of the quarter. It was all Pinkerton, who, led by Brooke Benze, jumped out to an early 9-5 lead. 

Bedford fought and kept it close, mainly due to the play of Lana McCarthy, who scored an impressive 13 points in the first quarter. Despite this, the Astros held the lead 18-16 entering the second frame. 

Pinkerton was led by sophomore Brooke Benz, who scored 8 points for the Astros, including two three pointers.

The second quarter was slow for both teams offensively, with each side being held scoreless for a multi-minute drought in the middle of the frame. 

Pinkerton held a 4 point lead for a portion of the quarter, and they brought lots of defensive intensity to hold Bedford scoreless. The Bulldogs seemed rattled by the increased energy from both the players and the fans. 

McCarthy picked up her third foul and came out of the game, so it looked as if Bedford’s scoring woes would continue. However, they were able to find a groove. Due to a 7-0 run to end the quarter, they entered the second half leading 26-23.

Only three players scored for the Bulldogs. McCarthy led the way with a game-high 13 first-half points, while Sarah Muir added 8 and Kate Allard scored 5 of her own.

Pinkerton was led by Benz’s 11 points. Kaylee Dupuis carried the rest of the load, scoring 7 points as well. Alexandria White contributed greatly on the glass, grabbing a game-high 7 rebounds. 

To start the third quarter, everything was going in the favor of the Astros. Shortly into the period, McCarthy picked up her fourth foul and was taken out of the game. 

Amidst this, Pinkerton went on an 11-2 led by Elizabeth Lavoie, who knocked down a three and got a pair of baskets in the paint. Her 7 points propelled them to a 4 point lead over the Bulldogs. 

Despite their leading scorer being out of the game, Bedford rallied and put together a huge end to the quarter, finishing on an 11-2 run coming out of a timeout. Four out of five players on the floor during the run scored, and they entered the fourth up 43-36. 

Baskets in transition were what propelled Bedford during the third quarter. Nearly all of their field goals were on the fast break, and they continuously wore down Pinkerton and were able to find success beating them down the floor. 

In the fourth quarter, Bedford ran away with it like they had in most games this season. The lead stayed around a 10 point lead for the first part of the quarter. 

Down by double figures, Pinkerton had to start fouling. Between Bedford knocking down free throws and Pinkerton not being able to connect on outside shots, the lead grew even more. Bedford ended up with a 60-41 victory in the title game.

The Bulldogs were led by standout senior Lana McCarthy, who, despite dealing with foul trouble all game, finished with a game-high 20 points. Kate Allard (14) and Sarah Muir (12) added double figures of their own, with Allard grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Astros were paced by 14 points from Brooke Benz and 13 points from Kaylee Dupuis. Alexandria White, despite scoring 0 points, made a big impact on the glass, grabbing a team-high 9 rebounds. 

Pinkerton had a fantastic season, with a 17-1 regular season record, earning the second seed in the division. While they came up short tonight, they played with lots of energy and passion, and they received unbelievable support from their fans tonight. 

This marked Bedford’s fourth consecutive appearance in the title game. While they have some key contributors graduating, they return a lot of their core, and they will look to add to their continued success over the last decade.


Check out the full photo gallery by Dave Beliveau…

Strong second half powers Pinkerton to D-I title

By Nathaniel Ford

DURHAM – The bleachers were full, and fans had to find standing room to watch the Pinkerton Astros defeat the Nashua North Titans 9076 in the Division I championship at UNH. 

Pinkerton was defending runner ups from last season and got back to the big game, and they were able to bring home the title this season. This is their first D-I championship victory since the 2010 season.

After finishing the season 17-1, the Astros earned the top seed in the division. They averaged a historic 84.4 points per contest, and did not slow down in the playoffs, scoring 101 in the quarterfinal, 82 in the semis, and 90 points today. 

The first quarter was fireworks early. Nashua’s Robinson Rodriguez knocked down two three-pointers on their first two possessions, and they jumped out to an early lead.

Pinkerton responded, and behind some big baskets from 2,000 point scorer Jackson Marshall, including a deep three, they took the lead right back. 

The Astros took the lead and extended it amidst a 14-0 run. They started this stretch down by a point, and before the crowd knew it, they exploded to a 23-10 lead. Nashua’s Jaden Pena got a layup inside to end the quarter, but Pinkerton controlled it, entering the second up 23-12.

North did not roll over trailing by double figures against the number one seed. In the second, they rallied and had an absolutely huge quarter.

The leader of this run was Pena, who recorded an electric 12 points in the quarter. The Titan guard had some smooth finishes at the rim, and he knocked down 5 free throws as well.

The big momentum shift was the defense the Titans played on Marshall. They held the state’s leading scorer to just 2 points in the second quarter, which allowed them to storm back into the game. 

Nashua chipped away early in the quarter and crawled back a little, but they gained tons of momentum in the latter half of the period. They won the back half of the quarter 15-5, which turned a 5 point deficit into a 5 point lead. 

The max capacity crowd went ballistic in the final minute because of the play from Alize Roig Cortez. Down by one, the Titan guard knocked down a shot from way beyond the arc to take the lead. Following that, he hit a buzzer beater three-pointer to give North a 43-38 lead entering the break. 

Early in the third quarter, it looked like Nashua could start to extend their lead further. After allowing a few quick baskets, they came out with a 7-0 run, forcing a Pinkerton timeout. Pena sparked the streak with a floater and a three-pointer.

Whatever Mike Dunham said to his team in that timeout, it worked wonders for them. They responded immediately with a 7-0 run, which forced a Nashua timeout. 

The Titans’ timeout did not have the same effect that the Pinkerton one earlier in the quarter did. Pinkerton came out of this timeout and went on a 9-2 run, which took the lead for the Astros. 

Following the big runs, it was back and forth the rest of the way, and Pinkerton held on for a 67-61 lead entering the final quarter. Marshall was huge in the third, scoring 10 points for them. Pena led the way for Nashua North, with a 12 point quarter of his own. 

The Astros stayed poised in the fourth and were able to extend their lead even further. They quickly were able to extend their lead to double digits behind some big three-pointers from Charlie Ludden and James Wallace. 

Once they got the lead into double figures, they were able to stay comfortably in advantage. The Titans tried battling back, but their outside shots were not falling, and they just ran out of time.

A Jackson Marshall dunk put the exclamation point on a 90-76 championship victory, which was the highest scoring final in Division I history. 

Charlie Ludden was a big contributor for the Astros on both ends of the court. He scored 18 points in the game, with 10 coming in the fourth quarter. Defensively, he had a game-high four blocks and shut down Parth Miglani, the Titans’ leading scorer on the season.

Andrew Brander was also huge for the Astros, scoring 26 points on an efficient 11-16 from the field. He filled up the stat sheet elsewhere, recording 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal and a block as well.

Leading Pinkerton, like he has all season, was Jackson Marshall. He recently eclipsed the 2,000 point threshold, something only one other player, Matt Bonner, has done in the state’s top division. Today, he put together an impressive 31 points and 16 rebounds en route to their victory.

Nashua North was led by a special performance from Jaden Pena. Despite the loss, the senior put on a show, scoring 30 points, a game high. The point guard also grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 4 assists as well. 

Forward Robinson Rodriguez put together a great performance of his own for the Titans. Battling against Marshall on the low post, he scored 22 points, including 3 three-pointers, and grabbed 6 rebounds. 

Nashua North came up short in their first championship appearance since the school was opened. They started 4-4 and proceeded to go on a 10 game win streak to finish 14-4 and earned the third seed. They upset Bedford in the semi-finals, who was the second seed in the division.

After two straight title game appearances, Pinkerton will look to head back for a third season in a row. Despite losing a 2,000 point scorer in Jackson Marshall, they have a young core that will look to bring them success once again next season.

More to come! Refresh this page for the latest.

Check out this 🔥 edit by Simon Scott…


Check out the full photo gallery by Jeff Criss of Perfect Photos…


Check out the full photo gallery by Jill Stevens…