Category: Playoffs

Bailey lifts Kennett to first-round upset of West

Daven Bailey poured in a game-high 22 points to give #12 Kennett a 41-33 upset win at #5 Manchester West on Tuesday night.

The Eagles advance to the quarterfinal round where they will take on #4 Coe-Brown on Friday at 7:00 pm.

Early in the 1st quarter, West’s Max Shosa went down with an ankle injury. Shosa, the division’s leading scorer (24.9 PPG), was held to just four points.

Will Tanuvasa paced the Blue Knights with 12 points.

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

Alvirne upsets Goffstown thanks to clutch free throws

Down two in the waining moments, Alvirne’s Rachel Allvard was fouled attempting a three-pointer as time expired and connected on all three subsequent free throws to give the #11 Broncos a 50-49 upset win at #6 Goffstown in first round action of the NHIAA Division I Girls Basketball State Tournament on Tuesday night.

Alvirne got off to a slow start as the Broncos trailed 16-6 after the 1st quarter and 29-18 at the half. But a 20-7 3rd period gave Alvirne a 38-36 lead heading into the final stanza.

For the Broncos, Allvard netted a team-high 18 points, while Ella Hartson added 10. The Grizzlies were paced by a game-high 22 points from Maggie Sasso.

Check out the full photo gallery by Dave Beliveau…

Sullivan leads Londonderry past North in 1st round

Sammie Sullivan poured in a game-high 27 points to lead Londonderry to a convincing 58-26 victory in first round action of the NHIAA Division I Girls Basketball State Tournament on Tuesday night.

The Lancers held the Titans to just three 1st-quarter points and 13 through three quarters of play to come away with the big win.

Gemma Murray also reached double-digits for Londonderry with 10. North was paced by 10 from Lily Small.

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

Littleton survives Farmington, advances to D-IV title game

By: KJ Cardinal

Top-seeded Littleton escaped the semifinal round with a 42-36 victory over #4 Farmington on Tuesday night at Bedford High School.

The Crusaders improve to 21-0 on the season and will face #3 Newmarket for the NHIAA Division IV State Championship on Saturday at 1:00 pm.

This one felt more like a football game at times than a basketball game. A combined 40 fouls were whistled and 42 free throws were attempted. Both teams were plagued by foul trouble for most of the night and in the end clutch free throws by Littleton 8th-grader Leah Poulton sealed the victory.

While Poulton was 4-5 from the charity stripe in the 4th, neither team shot the ball particularly well from the line as Farmington was just 9-for-17 (52.9%) and Littleton 13-for-25 (52.0%).

The unbeaten Crusaders led 11-8 after the first quarter of play, but were just 3-for-9 from the line in the opening stanza. Farmington struggled to handle the Littleton press in the 1st half and the Crusaders won the 2nd quarter, 14-9, taking a 25-17 lead to the break.

Littleton opened the 3rd quarter with a quick 4-0 burst to push its lead to 12. Sophomore Anna Cardinal netted six-straight points for the Tigers to cut the Crusader lead to 8, 33-25, heading to the 4th quarter.

The two battled in a physical final frame that featured 17 free throws combined. A three-pointer by Farmington freshman Zoey Johnson with 3:16 left on the clock cut the Littleton lead to five, 35-30, but the Tigers would get no closer.

The Crusaders were led by a game-high 14 points from Poulton and 8 from Addison Pilgrim, while Addison Hadlock was limited for most of the night due to foul trouble and scored just four points. Farmington was paced by 10 points from Madi Ricker, 9 from Zoey Johnson and 8 from Cardinal.

Check out the full photo gallery of the action by Jill Stevens…

Check out another gallery by Jeff Criss of Perfect Photos…

Newmarket upsets Groveton, punches ticket to title game

For the first time in program history, the Newmarket girls are headed to the state finals as the #3 Mules knocked off #2 Groveton, 29-26, in the semifinal round of the NHIAA Division IV tournament on Tuesday night at Bedford High School.

Newmarket will take on undefeated top seed Littleton on Saturday for the title at Colby Sawyer College in New London at 1:00 pm.

If you like defense, then this one was for you. In a surprise to no one, two of the top defensive teams in the division put the clamps on each other in a game that featured just 19 made field goals combined.

The Mules trailed 7-4 after one and 14-13 at the half, but held the Eagles to just 12 points in the second half to come way with the victory.

Amaya Beckles led all scorers with a game-high 10 points for Newmarket, while Groveton was paced by 8 points from Aspen Clermont.

Check out the full photo gallery by Jill Stevens, Jeff Criss of Perfect Photos and KJ Cardinal…

Profile wins defensive battle, advances to title game

By: KJ Cardinal

Top-seeded Profile defeated #4 Farmington, 49-34, in a defensive battle in the semifinals of the NHIAA Division IV State Tournament on Monday night at Bedford High School.

Both teams held each other to their second-lowest scoring output of the season as Profile advances to the title game and will take on #2 Littleton on Saturday at Colby Sawyer College in New London at 3:00 PM.

Farmington jumped out to a 7-4 lead and looked poised in the opening quarter. A Danny Burnell three-point as time expired in the 1st gave Profile a 10-9 lead after one. The Tigers were held to just five 2nd-quarter points and the Patriots took a 22-14 lead to the break.

Profile kept at least an 8-point cushion for nearly the entire second half and pulled away to the 15-point win.

The Tigers held Josh Robie, the division’s leading scorer (26 PPG), to just 13 points, while Alex Leslie paced the Patriots with a game-high 17 points. Farmington was led by 15 points from Demery Hadges and 9 from Shawn Murphy.

Check out the full photo gallery by Jill Stevens…

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

Check out the full photo gallery by Betsy Hansen…

Check out another gallery by Chris Laclair of Chris Clicks Photography…

Hoskins hits game winner, sends Littleton to final

By: KJ Cardinal

Kayden Hoskins’ three-pointer with 2.3 seconds left lifted #2 Littleton a 59-58 come-from-behind victory over #6 Woodsville in the semifinals of the 2024 NHIAA Division IV State Tournament on Monday night at Bedford High School.

The Crusaders advance to the title game where they will take on top-seeded Profile on Saturday at 3:00 pm at Colby-Sawyer College in New London.

Littleton trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half before mounting a furious second-half comeback that culminated with Hoskins’ game-winner.

Despite playing without a sick Conner Newcomb, Woodsville came out the gates firing as they opened up the game on a quick 13-2 run. Sophomore point guard Ryan Walker picked up the slack and then some as he poured in 20 first-half point to give the Engineers a 32-19 halftime lead.

The Crusaders responded in the second half with a 26-9 third quarter, including 9 points by Mikey Rodriguez, to give Littleton a 45-41 lead heading into the final stanza. It was a back and forth affair before Woodsville took a two-point lead 58-56, setting the stage for Hoskins’ heroics.

Trailing by two with less than 10 seconds left, Littleton head coach Trevor Howard called a timeout and drew up the final look for Hoskins.

Leading the way for Littleton was Rodriguez (17), while Sam Reagey (16), Hoskins (13) and Dre Akines (9) all made significant contributions.

Woodsville was paced by a game-high 34 points from Walker, while Cowan Kimball chipped in with 9 and Jack Boudreault and Landon Kingsbury had 7 points apiece.

Watch as we go inside the huddle with Trevor Howard as he draws up the game-winning play, which the Crusaders executed to perfection…

Check out the full photo gallery by Jill Stevens…

Check out the full photo gallery by Jeff Criss…

Check out another photo gallery by Betsy Hansen…

Defense leads St. Thomas to title over Conant

By KJ Cardinal

The second-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas Saints were crowned 2024 NHIAA Division III Boys Basketball State Champions on Saturday night with a 38-34 victory over No. 1 Conant at Keene State College.

The Saints earn the third title in school history and first since they won back-to-back crowns in 1991 & 1992. 

Freshman Cole McClure led all scorers with 20 points, while Will Mollica added 8 points and 10 rebounds for St. Thomas. The Orioles were led by 10 points from Jordan Nagle. 

Baskets were at a premium as both teams defended extremely well. St. Thomas held Conant to just one point in the third quarter and 15 total through three quarters of play. The Orioles poured in 19 points in the 4th, but it was too little, too late. 

Watch as St. Thomas takes home the crown…

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

Check out another photo gallery by Jill Stevens…

Kearsarge crowned champs, upsets Hopkinton

By KJ Cardinal

The fourth-seeded Kearsarge Cougars were crowned 2024 NHIAA Division III Girls Basketball State Champions on Saturday evening with a 38-27 victory over No. 2 Hopkinton at Keene State College.

Kearsarge earns the third title in school history and the first since 2002. The Cougars were led by Tessa Marinello’s 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, while Ava Shapiro added 12 points.

The favorite Hawks came ready to play as they jumped out to an early seven-point lead with two minutes to play in the 1st quarter and led 12-7 at the end of the opening frame.

Kearsarge then reeled off an 8-0 run to start the second quarter and led the rest of the way. The Cougars held the Hawks scoreless in the second quarter and took a 15-12 lead to the break. Hopkinton was 0-12 from the field in the quarter as both teams shot a combined 10-50 (20%) from the field in the first half.

The third quarter was all Kearsarge. The Cougars stifling defense continued, winning the quarter 15-5 and taking a 30-17 lead to the final stanza. The 13-point deficit was too much for the Hawks to overcome and Kearsarge was crowned.

Leading the way for Hopkinton was Shaylee Murdough with 15 points. Sydney Westover dominated the glass with 19 rebounds as the Hawks out rebounded the Cougars 37-30.

Watch as Kearsarge takes home the crown and the Cougars did it with Kearsarge defense…

Check out a photo gallery by Jill Stevens below. High resolution images of the gallery are available here.

Check out another photo gallery by Jeff Criss of Perfect Photos…

Check out another photo gallery by Chris Laclair of Chris Clicks Photography…

Newmarket downs Wilton in OT, heads to semifinals

Behind a game-high 25 points from Amaya Beck, #3 Newmarket defeated #6 Wilton-Lyndeborough, 46-40, in overtime of the NHIAA Division IV quarterfinals on Friday night.

The Mules advance to the state semifinals where they will take on #2 Groveton on Tuesday night at 5:30 pm at Bedford High School.

Newmarket jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead after one quarter of play, but the Warriors would cut the lead to two at the half, 18-16. The 3rd quarter was a defensive battle that saw just 12 points scored combined and Newmarket took a 25-21 lead to the 4th. Wilton pumped in 17 points in the 4th to force overtime. The extra frame was Newmarket’s as the Mules outscored the Warriors 8-2 and hung on for the win.

Kiara Rugora added 12 points for Newmarket, while Adri and Lexi Bausha paced Wilton-Lyndeborough with 18 and 16 points, respectively.

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