Author: KJ Cardinal

Crusaders cruise past Tigers

Littleton made the two-hour trip south to Farmington on Friday night and flexed their north-country muscle as they came away with a convincing 68-45 victory.

The long bus ride had no effects on the Crusaders as came out of the gates ready to play, pouring in 20 first quarter points and leading 20-7 after one quarter of play. The Tigers chipped away at the lead in the second quarter and trailed 37-27 at the break.

The second half was all Littleton, however, as they cruised to a 23-point victory.

Leading the way for the Crusaders was Addison Hadlock with 20 points and Lauryn Corrigan with 12. The TIgers were paced by 13 points from Shaylee DiPrizio and 12 from Madi Ricker.

With the win, Littleton improves to 9-0 on the season and remains atop the Division IV standings, while Farmington falls to 7-3.

Check out the full gallery of the action by KJ Cardinal…

Engineers roll past visiting Mohawks

Woodsville handed Colebrook their fourth-straight loss on the season as the Engineers rolled to a 63-44 victory at home on Thursday night.

Landon Kingsbury paced Woodsville with 19 points, while Ryan Walker added 12 and Jack Boudreault had 11. Kolten Dowse scored 19 as well for the Mohawks.

With the win, the Engineers improve to 6-2 on the season, while Colebrook falls to 4-4

Check out the full gallery by Shirley Nickles…

Bedford blows past Exeter, remains perfect

Bedford held visiting Exeter to just eight first-half points en route to a dominant 67-22 victory on Thursday night.

Lana McCarthy (17 points), Kate Allard (14) and Mel McCarthy (10) all netted double figures for the Bulldogs.

Anna McGuinness and Jessica Melick netted seven points apiece for the Blue Hawks.

With the win, Bedford improves to a Division-I best 7-0 on the season, while Exeter falls to 2-5.

Check out the full photo gallery of the action by Todd Grzywacz of Stonewall Photography…

Derryfield dominates, moves to 9-0

By Nathaniel Ford

MANCHESTER – Derryfield defended their home court in a blowout victory, defeating Concord Christian 68-49 on Thursday night.

The Cougars proved once again why they are one of the top teams in Division IV, remaining one of three teams, along with Profile and Littleton, still undefeated.

A big reason for their overwhelming success tonight was how they controlled the tempo of the game and played at their own pace.

“We’ve been working all season on being patient offensively, and we’re patient, good things usually happen for us,” said Derryfield coach Ed Meade.

Good things did happen early for them, jumping right out on the Kingsmen early in the first with a 6-2 run under two minutes into the contest. 

They played great team basketball in the quarter, with four of five starters scoring, highlighted by 8 points from Alex Drake. Despite this, the Kingsmen kept the game within reach, and behind 6 points from Jaden Young, they trailed 21-13 to end the quarter. 

Derryfield blew the game open in the second quarter, mainly due to a 10-0 run in the middle of it. Billy Gardner gave great minutes off the bench and scored 5 of the points in that stretch. 

Three-point shooting was big for the Cougars, who found open looks in their offense and knocked down five of them. This helped extend their lead to 20 points, and despite a buzzer-beater three from Concord Christian’s Logan Duffy, Derryfield led 41-24 to end the quarter.

Derryfield has a lot of experience on their team, with an all-senior starting lineup and more coming off the bench. This strong class is what’s propelling them to such a strong season.

“Luckily for me, all of these guys have been with me for three years. I’m very familiar with them, and they’re very familiar with each other,” said Meade. 

This is a hard-working group led by Jack Krasnof. He recently scored his 1,000th point for the Cougars, a tremendous milestone that highlights the dedication this group has. 

“They’ve been great in practice. They’ve always practiced really hard, but this year especially, my seniors have really set the pace on getting that intensity level up,” said Meade. 

This 17-point Derryfield lead going into the second half was far too large for the Kingsmen to overcome. It was a back-and-forth game for most of the second half, largely due to the Cougars getting in foul trouble in both quarters.

“We were up 20 for a lot of the game, and we were still fouling, so that’s another thing we want to work on,” said Meade.

Concord Christian was in the bonus for most of the second half, which resulted in plenty of opportunities from the free throw line. They did not shoot a high percentage, but the sheer volume was enough to keep the Derryfield lead from extending further. 

Regardless, the lead stayed right around 20 points for the whole second half and never got closer than 17 points. When the final buzzer sounded, it was a resounding 68-49 victory for the Cougars. 

Derryfield was led by 21 points from Jack Krasnof. Alex Drake (15) and Zach Martin (13) both added double figures as well.

Concord Christian was led by a balanced scoring attack highlighted by 16 points from Isaac Bowers, 12 from Logan Duffy, and 8 from Jaden Young.

The Cougars move to an impressive 9-0 on the season, and they have a big test coming their way next week.

“They just like to play basketball. They don’t look at it as a pressure situation, and they’re all really looking forward to PCA next Tuesday. That’s the way they’ve always been,” said Meade. 

Portsmouth Christian is one of the top teams in Division IV this season with a 7-1 record of their own. They are led offensively by a duo of Cai Summers (15.8 PPG) and Connor Hickey (14.6 PPG)

The Kingsmen fall to 3-6 on the season, and they look to bounce back in a home matchup next week against Pittsfield.

Trinity rallies late to down Windham

Trailing by 12 entering the 4th quarter, Trinity poured in 23 points over the final eight minutes to come away with a 50-49 win over visiting Windham on Wednesday night.

The Jaguars connected on five three-pointers in the third quarter as Trinity outscored the Pioneers 19-11 to take a 39-27 lead to the 4th.

Led by seven points in the final frame from Devohn Ellis and six from Shawn O’Neil, Trinity took away the three-point shot from Windham and pulled off the win.

Leading the way for the Pioneers was Ellis (18), Kevin Doherty (11) and O’Neil (10), while Windham was paced by 12 from Jack Begley. With the win, Trinity improves to 4-3, while Windham falls to 4-2

Check out the full gallery of the action by Cindy Lavigne of Lavigne’s Live Shots….

As Chance would have it, Bobcats win at the buzzer

By KJ Cardinal

Chance Twomey’s putback as time expired gave Plymouth a thrilling 61-59 overtime victory over visiting Laconia on Wednesday night.

This rivalry match-up was an instant classic from start to finish. A battle between two one-loss Division II teams that was a game of runs in the first half and later featured multiple lead changes in the waining moments of regulation and overtime.

The host Bobcats were poised from the start as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead and later led by as many seven, 15-8, in the first quarter of play. That was the largest bulge of the game for either team all night.

Laconia responded with a 12-7 run of their own to take a 20-15 lead with 5:30 to go in the half. Plymouth then reeled off a 10-0 surge to lead 25-20 with just over two minutes to go in the 2nd. Of course, the Sachems closed out the opening 16 minutes of play with a 5-0 run to knot the game at 25-25 at intermission.

The 2nd half would be a grind-out affair. Laconia twice led by as many as six in the 3rd quarter, but the Bobcats battled back to close the gap to one, 37-36, heading to the final frame of regulation. The 4th featured three ties and three lead changes and culminated with some late dramatics to force overtime.

Plymouth trailed by three, 53-50, with just under a minute to play in the 4th. Back-to-back scores by Dylan Webster and Luke Legacy just 30 seconds apart gave Plymouth a 54-53 lead with 28 tickets left in regulation. Laconia’s Keaton Beck was fouled with seven seconds to go and went to the line to shoot two. The senior missed the first free throw attempt and connected on the second to tie the game at 54-54. Webster had a contested look at a deep three as time expired in regulation that was just short.

The first three minutes of OT were scoreless, but the final two minutes of action featured one tie and an improbable five lead changes.

Beck went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to give Laconia a 55-54 lead with 1:51 left. Twomey then made two freebies of his own on the ensuing possession to push Plymouth ahead, 56-55.

With 1:16 to play, Beck scored and was fouled, but couldn’t complete the three-point play. Laconia retook the lead 57-56.

Just 13 seconds later, Twomey buried a big-time three to give the Bobcats a 59-57 lead with just over a minute to play. The Sachems continued to ride their big man as Beck made a tough lay up with 11 seconds to go, tying the game at 59-59.

Plymouth’s Johnny Flaherty took the ensuing inbounds and raced the length of the floor. A rainbow skip pass by Flaherty found Turner Oldenberg whose jumper hit front iron and caromed to the middle of the key. Twomey scooped it up with 0.9 on the clock and the south paw quickly flipped it up and in to beat the buzzer and give the Bobcats the wild win.

Twomey scored all seven of Plymouth’s points in overtime as he led all scorers with 18 on the evening. Webster chipped in with 13 and Flaherty and Legacy also added 10 apiece.

Beck paced the Sachems with 14 points, all coming in the second half and overtime. Tristan Parker, Matthew Robinson and Carson Tucker each score 10 points as well.

With the win, Plymouth moves to 5-1 on the season and sits in fourth in the D-II standings. Laconia falls to 5-2 in defeat.

Check out the full photo gallery by John Scott Sherburne…

Hollis-Brookline hangs on for win over Milford

Leading by 13 heading to the fourth quarter, Hollis-Brookline held off a late Milford surge to hang on for a 57-54 on Wednesday night.

The Cavs were led by 14 points apiece from Samantha Disco and Anika Carlson, while Grace Dow added 13. Ellianna Nassy pumped in a game-high 19 points for Milford, while Claire Cote (14) and Libby Pond (12) also added double figures.

With the win, HB improves to to 4-2 on the year. After starting the season 4-0, Milford has dropped three straight and falls to 4-3 on the season.

Check out the full gallery of the action by Betsy Hansen…