Category: Playoffs

Bow returns to title game with semifinal win over Laconia

KINGSTON – Top-seeded Bow defeated No. 5 Laconia, 42-35, on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NHIAA Division II Girls Basketball State Tournament at Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston. 

The Falcons advance to Sunday’s title game where they will take on No. 2 Kennett at the University of New Hampshire at 1:00 pm. 

Bow got off to a slow start as they trailed 12-9 after one quarter of play, but the Eagles held the Sachems to four points in the second to take a 17-16 lead to the break. 

The second half was hard-fought, but Bow won both quarters and hung on for the seven-point win.

Lyndsey LaPerle pumped in a game-high 16 points to pace Bow, while Juliette Tarsa chipped in with 14 of her own.

Ashlynn Deluca (11 points) and Macy Swormstedt (10) led Laconia in the loss. 

With the win, the Falcons advance to the D-II title game for the second-straight season.

Check out the full photo gallery by our Jill Stevens…

Kennett downs Pelham, advances to championship

KINGSTON – Behind a game-high 21 points from Kaylee McLellan, No. 2 Kennett defeated No. 3 Pelham, 54-40, on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NHIAA Division II Girls Basketball State Tournament at Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston. 

The Eagles advance to Sunday’s title game where they will take on No. 1 Bow at the University of New Hampshire at 1:00 pm. 

Sydnie Chin also notched double-digits in the scoring column with 10 for the Eagles, while Jasmine Becotte (14 points) and Sophia Joncas (11)  led the way for the Pythons.

Check out the full photo gallery by our Jill Stevens…

Bedford closes out South to advance to finals

Top-seeded Bedford finished strong as the Bulldogs cruised past No. 4 Nashua South, 79-56, on Wednesday night in semifinal action of the NHIAA Division I Boys Basketball State Tournament at Exeter High School.

Bedford advances to the championship game where they will take on No. 2 Pinkerton on Sunday at the University of New Hampshire at 7:00 pm.

Both teams came out firing as South led after one quarter of play, 24-20. The Bulldogs then settled in defensively and cut the Purple Panthers productivity in the second quarter in half to tie things up at the break 36-36.

Leading by three entering the fourth, 51-48, Bedford flexed their muscle in the final stanza, winning the quarter 28-8 and rolling to a 79-46 win.

Caden Brown led Bedford with 21 points, while Luke Soden (18 points), Aiden O’Connell (17) and Brady O’Connell (11) all netted double-figures as well.

South was led by a game-high 23 points from Alize Roig Cortes, 14 from Josh Caruso and 12 from Zac Castonguay.

Bedford’s Brown, O’Connell and Soden caught up with Andy Romike after the game in the latest Romike Report…

Check out the highlights of the action by our Tim Lee…

UNH loses hard-fought title game at UMass Lowell

LOWELL, MA – The University of New Hampshire men’s basketball team fought hard, but came up short to UMass Lowell, 75-64, in the America East semifinal at a packed Costello Athletic Center on Tuesday night.

The game was much closer than the score would indicate as the contest featured 11 lead changes and 11 ties. The Wildcats (15-15, 10-8 AE) trailed by just three points, 65-62, with 3:23 left in the game before the host Riverhawks (26-7, 12-5 AE) closed the game on a 10-2 run to punch their ticket to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

UNH was led by a game-high 21 points from Nick Johnson, while Kyree Brown (15 points) and Clarence Daniels (12) both chipped in with double-digits as well. Lowell was paced by Allin Blunt’s 19 points and 17 from Everette Hammond and 14 from Ayinde Hikim.

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

Pelham routs top-seeded Laconia in D-II semis

Fifth-seeded Pelham came out the gates firing and never looked back as they routed No. 1 seed Laconia, 69-31, on Tuesday night in semifinal action of the NHIAA Division II Boys Basketball State Tournament at Sanborn Regional High school. The Pythons advance to the title game where they will take on #2 Pembroke on Sunday at the University of New Hampshire.

Pelham steam-rolled the Sachems right from the jump as the Pythons outscored Laconia 24-6 in the first quarter and later led 38-17 at the half. The Sachems were also held to just two fourth-quarter points as Pelham cruised to a 38-point win.

The Pythons’ Zach James led all scorers with a game-high 34 points, while Dom Herrling added 17 of his own. Kayden Beck netted a team-high 17 points for Laconia. 

Pelham’s James and Herrling caught up with Andy Romike after the game in the latest Romike Report…

Check out the highlights by our own Tim Lee…

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

Pembroke rolls to D-I title game

No. 2 Pembroke outscored #14 Oyster River by 16 in the second half to roll to a 70-49 victory in semifinal action of the NHIAA Division II Boys Basketball State Tournament at Sanborn Regional High School on Tuesday night in Kingston. The Spartans advance to the title game where they will take on #4 Pelham on Sunday at the University of New Hampshire.

The Spartans led by three after one (14-11) and five at the half (27-22) before pouring in 21 third quarter points to take a 19-point led to the final stanza, 58-37. 

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

Bishop Guertin punches ticket to title game

Top-seeded Bishop Guertin defeated No. 4 Goffstown, 67-49, in the semifinal round of the NHIAA Division I Girls Basketball State Tournament on Tuesday night at Londonderry High School. The Cardinals advance to the title game where they will take on No. 3 Bedford on Sunday at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

BG jumped out to a quick 21-8 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. The Cardinals were led by a game-high 25 points from Meghan Stack, while Hannah Lynch (14 points) and Brooke Paquette (12) netted double-figures as well.

The Grizzlies were paced by Ava Winterburn’s 24 points and 10 fro Ava Ruggiero. 

Check out the full photo gallery of the action by Dave Beliveau… 

Bedford comes from behind to down Portsmouth, advances to title game

Behind a game-high 24 points from Lana McCarthy, No. 3 Bedford defeated No. 2 Portsmouth, 64-60, in the semifinals of the NHIAA Division I Girls Basketball State Tournament on Tuesday night at Londonderry High School. The Bulldogs advance to the title game where they will take on No. 1 Bishop Guertin on Sunday at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Portsmouth jumped out to a 15-12 lead after one quarter of play and pushed their lead to as many as nine in the second quarter before Bedford mounted their come back. The Bulldogs cut the lead to two at half and took a one-point lead going to the fourth on a buzzer-beater layup by McCarthy. The Bulldogs won the final quarter, 16-13, to come away with the win.

Kate Allard (14 points) and Lyla Stein (13) also netted double-digits for Bedford, while Portsmouth was paced by 22 points from Mackenzie Lombardi and 13 from Avery Romps.

[Portsmouth coverage is brought to you by Tropical Smoothie Cafe]

Check out the full photo gallery of the action by Dave Beliveau… 

Check out the full photo gallery of the action by Joe Tupper… 

Dancing into March

By: KJ Cardinal

It’s been an impressive season for college basketball around the Granite State with success at all levels of NCAA play and many teams are still competing.

The Keene State University men are ranked fifth in the nation and have advanced to the Division III Sweet 16. The Southern New Hampshire University men and women both received at-large bids to their respective Division II East Regionals and the St. Anselm College men are hosting that D-II regional right here in Manchester. The University of New Hampshire men are playing in the America East semifinals tonight down at UMass Lowell. 

Let’s take a look at who’s still playing and where they’ll be in action next…

DIVISION I: UNH MEN

The University of New Hampshire men’s team (15-14, 9-7 AE) is the No. 3 seed for the America East Playoffs and defeated No. 6 Bryant 67-60 on Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament. The Wildcats are looking to advance to their first-ever league title game as they hit the road tonight to take on #2 UMass Lowell at the Costello Athletic Center. The Riverhawks are an impressive 16-0 at home and boast a 25-7 mark, 11-5 in America East.

You can watch tonight’s semifinal on ESPN+.

DIVISION III: KEENE STATE MEN

On Saturday, Keene State (28-1) advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Division III NCAA Tournament with a 77-72 win over Tufts. The Owls are ranked fifth in the nation and will head to Pennsylvania to take on No. 7 Swarthmore on Friday at 7:15 pm with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line. These two met in the postseason last year with the Owls pulling off the 84-83 upset road win over the Garnet in the D-III first round.

Check out the full NCAA Men’s Division III bracket

DIVISION II:

SAINT ANSELM MEN

The second-seeded Saint Anselm College men (22-7, 15-5 NE10) were crowned Northeast-10 Conference champions on Saturday with a 65-54 win over No. 4 New Haven. As a result, the Hawks have garnered the top seed for the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball East Regional and will play host to the eight-team regional at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. Saint Anselm opens play with No. 8 Caldwell on Saturday (game time TBA).

SNHU MEN

The Southern New Hampshire men (20-8, 16-4 NE10) were upended in the Northeast-10 semifinal by New Haven, 59-42, last week, but the Penmen were awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA D-II tourney on Sunday night. SNHU is the No. 3 seed in the East Region and will take on No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium on Saturday (game time TBA).

Check out the full NCAA Men’s Division II bracket

SNHU WOMEN

The SNHU women (21-7, 15-5 NE10) were the top-seed for the NE-10 tourney, but were tripped up in the title game by No. 4 Bentley, 61-49, on Sunday afternoon. Later Sunday evening, SNHU was awarded an at-large to the NCAA Division II East Regional as the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas at Assumption University in Worcester on Friday at 2:30 pm. 

Check out the full NCAA Women’s Division II bracket