Our relentless coverage of basketball in the Granite State continues this week with video highlights, photos and live streams from an impressive 15 games around the state! We’ve got pivotal match-ups across all four divisions and first-time coverage for a handful of teams as well.
No one is bringing you more coverage of New Hampshire basketball than Ball 603. Enjoy the show!
By KJ Cardinal
With the win over previously unbeaten Epping on Friday night, the Derryfield Cougars appear to be hitting their mid-season stride just in time for the toughest portion of their Division IV slate and they are being fueled by an emerging freshman with a familiar name.
Thomas Ferdinando, son of Keith Ferdinando (Manchester Central ’88) is a do-it-all point guard for a deep Derryfield squad that currently sits at 4-1 on the season. Thomas is averaging nearly 22 points per game, including 26 in the big win over Epping.
“Basketball is life for Thomas,” said third-year head coach Ed Meade. “He is practicing, shooting or playing at all times. He’s a really hard worker and a very smart player. He knows the game and is 100% dedicated.”
His dedication on the court shows as he has a well-rounded game and veteran-like poise in the big moment. Down the stretch versus Epping, the Andover, Mass. native was unflappable, making savvy, winning plays at the most crucial of times.
“We purposely put our best defenders on him every day in practice, Janai Cruz or Alex Camire, and it doesn’t bother Thomas,” added Meade. “He’s very poised and has all the confidence in the world. I think his confidence is a factor of him playing so much basketball. He plays AAU in the offseason down in Mass. with some of the top players in Eastern Mass.”
Ferdinando is a member of the highly touted Middlesex Magic AAU team, which was home to the Miami Heat’s Duncan Robinson the Milwaukee Bucks’ Pat Cannaughton. “Thomas has a lot of opportunity to pick up a lot of knowledge during his AAU time and he takes advantage of it,” said Meade.
While he puts in the time all year round, Thomas also has family lineage on his side.
“He comes from a long line of good basketball players. His dad [Keith at Central] and uncles [Mark and Greg at Trinity] were all very good players in high school. His dad was a standout player at Bates College up in Maine.”
In fact, Keith helped lead Central to a 1988 Class L Runner-Up finish and later went on to become a 1,000-point scorer (1,140) at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Ferdinando and the Cougars will be put to the test on Tuesday as they head to Concord Christian Academy for a highly anticipated match-up with the Kingsmen. CCA is 5-1 on the season with its only loss coming at Epping when the Kingsmen were without three players, including senior sensation Isaac Jarvis.
“We’ve got to rebound well and play hard,” said Ferdinando. “They’ve got size.”
Coach Meade echoed the freshman’s sentiments, “We’ll have our hands full on Tuesday. We have some plans for what we want to do defensively, but it’s a tough matchup for us with their size. We have very little size, so hopefully we can stay with them and make a statement that we’re a pretty good basketball team, win or lose.”
Derryfield may lack size, but that didn’t seem to slow the Cougars down on Friday when they took down an Epping squad with depth in the front court. Whether Derryfield can knock off CCA or not, the future is bright for the Cougars with Ferdinando at the helm.
It’s time again for the Tropical Smoothie Cafe “Smooth Moves of the Week.” Tropical Smoothie Cafe was born on a beach where people know how to live. We like things fun and playful, sunny and bright. Shake your shoes off and turn the music up. It’s time to unwind… with the Tropical Smoothie Cafe “Smooth Moves of the Week”.
With locations in Rochester, Portsmouth, Portland and Biddeford, you’re on Tropic Time now.
This week’s Smooth Moves features plays from Trinity, Souhegan, Manchester West, Derryfield, Concord Christian Academy, Nashua North, Pinkerton and Farmington.
TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFE LOCATIONS Tropical Smoothie Cafe 127 Marketplace Blvd Rochester, NH 03867 Tropical Smoothie Cafe 1600 Woodbury Avenue Portsmouth, NH 03801 Tropical Smoothie Cafe 45 Western Ave South Portland, ME 04106 Tropical Smoothie Cafe 426 Alfred Street Biddeford, ME 04005
Derryfield (4-1) defeated previously unbeaten Epping (5-1) on Friday night, 73-63, in Manchester. Check out highlights of the action…
FARMINGTON – The hump day of the 42nd Annual Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash featured 10 games, including four boys quarterfinals.
DAY 3: PHOTOS | ON-DEMAND VIDEO
While the boys quarters took place on the third day of The Bash, the girls stole the show as the most entertaining game of the tourney was an overtime battle between the Kennett and Concord Christian girls. The Division IV Kingsmen, featuring four eighth graders and two freshmen on their roster, gave the Division II Eagles all they could handle, but came up just short in overtime, 58-52.
Kennett advances to the title game out of the girls Pool A and will take on Pool B winner Coe-Brown in the championship game on Thursday at 5:30 pm.
The stage is now set for day four of the tourney, which features the final girls consolation game of the tournament, the Skills Competition and 3-Point Contest and then the boys semifinals. Jacob VanRyn and Sam Reynolds will be on the call for the boys semifinals.
Check out the remaining tournament schedule and recap of yesterday’s action below with graphics and highlight videos from all 10 games…
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29
GIRLS: Littleton vs. Farmington, 3:00 PM
Skills Competition, 4:45 PM
3-Point Contest, 5:15 PM
BOYS: Portsmouth Christian vs. Kennett, 6:00 PM
BOYS: Coe-Brown vs. Concord Christian, 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30: CHAMPIONSHIP DAY
GIRLS: Coe-Brown vs. Kennett, 5:30 PM
BOYS: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 11, 7:00 PM
BOYS
Profile 77, Nute 49
P: Alex Lesile 29, Josh Robie 26
N: Gavin Forcier 22, Anderson Levasseur 17
NOTE: Josh Robie was named to the All-Tournament Team
Newmarket 57, Inter-Lakes 32
N: Colby Bost 19, Baris Fortier 10
I-L: Joey Doda 10, Owen Brown 10
Holy Family 64, Farmington 43
HF: Karl Yonkeu 28, Gabe Lacasse 18
FHS: Jordan Berko 12
Kennett 64, Epping 34
K: Ben Dougherty 23, Alex Clark 11
E: Owen Finkelstein 15
Concord Christian 64, St. Thomas 47
CCA: Isaac Jarvis 23, Brode Fink 16
STA: Will Mollica 14, Reece Rogers 12
Portsmouth Christian 59, Raymond 36
PCA: Seth Huggard 20, Jason Stockbower 15
RHS: Brady Potter 9
Coe-Brown 65, Derryfield 48
CBNA: Tommy Flanagan 13, Jack Lano 12, Brady Kouchhoukos 10, Connor Bagnell 10
D: Thomas Ferdinando 15, Alex Comire 11
GIRLS
Epping 37, Inter-Lakes 22
E: Mae McAniff 9
I-L: Molly Moynihan 8
Coe-Brown 49, Littleton 34
CBNA: Kalina Kasprzak 13, Alexis Cowan 10
L: Addison Hadlock 10
Kennett 58, Concord Christian 52
K: Sam Sidoti 15, Hope Elias 13, Sydnie Chin 11
CCA: Sarah Muir 16, Emma Smith 15
FARMINGTON – The second day of the 42nd Annual Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash featured nine games with bracket play starting on the boys side.
DAY 2: PHOTOS | ON-DEMAND VIDEO
The night cap between the Farmington and Derryfield boys was the day’s best game. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead on the Cougars and led by seven entering the fourth quarter, 40-33. Derryfield opened the final stanza on a 10-point run to take a 43-40 lead and came-from-behind to earn the 49-48 victory.
The stage is now set for day three of the tournament which features three boys consolation games, followed by three girls pool play events and concludes with four boys semifinals. Here is the schedule of events for day three and below is a recap of today’s events with graphics and highlight videos from all nine games.
BOYS: Nute vs. Profile, 9:00 AM
BOYS: Newmarket vs. Inter-Lakes, 10:15 AM
BOYS: Farmington vs. Holy Family, 11:30 AM
GIRLS: Inter-Lakes vs. Epping, 12:45 PM
GIRLS: Coe-Brown vs. Littleton, 2:00 PM
GIRLS: Concord Christian vs. Kennett, 3:15 PM
BOYS: Epping vs. Kennett, 4:30 PM
BOYS: Concord Christian vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, 5:45 PM
BOYS: Raymond vs. Portsmouth Christian, 7:00 PM
BOYS: Derryfield vs. Coe-Brown, 8:15 PM
All events will be streamed live and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for the most recent updates throughout the tournament.
BOYS
Concord Christian 61, Newmarket 51
CCA: Isaac Jarvis 22 points, Austin Spurr 10 points
N: Baris Fortier 23 points
Epping 65, Profile 51
E: Owen Finkelstein 18, Stamatis Maschas 18, Jacob Purington 11
P: Josh Robie 15, Alex Lesile 13, Karson Robie 12
Portsmouth Christian 63, Inter-Lakes 41
PCA: Jason Stockbower 17, Connor Hickey 15, Seth Huggard 14
I-L: Ben Beaudoin 13
Coe-Brown 63, Holy Family 33
CBNA: Jack Lano 26, Brady Kouchhoukos 12, Tommy Flanagan 11
HF: Karl Yonkeu 10, Gabe Lacasse 10
Raymond 63, Nute 56
R: Cohen Claytor 21, Drezell Duffaut 16, Paul Goding 11
N: Gavin Forcier 21, Picard Chase 16
Derryfield 49, Farmington 48
D: Jack Krasnof 19, Thomas Ferdinando 13
FHS: Jordan Berko 20, Luke Cardinal 11
GIRLS
Concord Christian 72, Epping 20
CCA: Megan Muir 10, Sarah Muir 15, Lilli Carlile 13
E: Laney McAniff 8
Kennett 71, Inter-Lakes 16
K: Sydnie Chin 15, Hope Elias 12, Kaley Goodhart 12, Kaylee Mclellan 12
I-L: Molly Monihan 7
Littleton 44, Farmington 24
L: Lauren McKee 20
FHS: Madison Ricker 14
FARMINGTON – Day one of the 42nd Annual Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash featured nine games with some competition across divisions and some rivalries renewed. The opening day of The Bash welcomes teams to the tournament with a contest that is not part of bracket play.
DAY 1: PHOTOS | ON-DEMAND VIDEO
Yesterday’s game of the day was the Holy Family-Profile boys game that saw the Griffins come out on top, 68-66. The Patriots led early, but Holy Family came back to take a double-digit lead late before Profile mounted a come-back of its own. Profile sophomore Josh Robie set a tournament record with 11 three-point fields in a game en route to 33 points, while the Patriots all set the high-water mark with 15 threes as a team.
In the night cap, the Division IV Farmington boys jumped out to an 11-0 lead on old rival Coe-Brown and led 17-10 after the first quarter. The Division II Bears responded in the final three quarters to outscore the host Tigers 52-26 and come away with a 62-43 victory.
Bracket play for the boys and pool play for the girls gets underway today at 10:00 am.
BOYS
St. Thomas Aquinas 82, Nute 42
S: Ethan Berg (SR/F): 17 points, Vinny Simonelli (SR/G) 12 points, Zijie Dang (JR/G) 11 points
N: Gavin Forcier (JR/G): 22 points, Jackson LaFogg (FR/G) 14 points)
Holy Family 68, Profile 66
HF: Gabe Lacasse (SO/G) 20 points, Sean Sullivan (JR/F) 17 points, Karl Yonkeu (SR/F) 12 points
P: Josh Robie (SO/G) 33 points*, Karsen Robie (SO/G) 11 points, Alex Leslie (SO/F) 14 points
NOTABLE: Josh Robie: tournament record 11 three-point fields goals, Profile: tournament record 15 three-point field goals
Epping 49, Newmarket: 60
E: Owen Finkelstein (SR/F) 20 points, Stamatis Maschas (SR/F) 10 points
N: Colby Bost (SR/F) 19 points, Baris Fortier (SO/F) 15 points, Jameson Senesombath (JR/G) 12 points
Kennett 65, Derryfield 46
K: Grady Livingston (SR/G) 16 points, Isaiah Mojica (SR/G) 10 points
D: Ethan Flannigan (JR/G) 12 points, Thomas Ferdanando (FR/G) 16 points
Concord Christian 80, Portsmouth Christian 43
CCA: Isaac Jarvis (SR/F) 23 points, Brode Frink (FR) 12 points, Jake Turner (SR) 15 points
PCA: Jason Stockbower (SR/G) 15 points
Coe-Brown 62, Farmington 43
CBNA: Jack Lano (SR/F) 14 points, Nate Ford (JR/G) 13 points, Tommy Flanagan (JR/C) 12 points,
FHS: Brian Weeks (SR/G) 11 points, Shawn Murphy (SO/F) 10 points
GIRLS
Kennett 65, Epping 7
K: Hope Elias (JR/G) 14 points, Kaylee Mclellan (JR/G) 12 points
E: Mae McAniff (SO/G) 6 points
Concord Christian 76, Inter-Lakes 17
CCA: Sarah Muir (8th/G) 17 points, Megan Muir (SO/G) 16 points, Emma Smith (8th/G) 15 points, Lilli Carlile (FR/G) 12 points
IL: Caitlyn Clark (SR) 8 points
Coe-Brown 49, Farmington 22
CBNA: Emma Broadstone (JR/G) 13 points
FHS: Makayla Lapanne (JR/G) 8 points
BOYS: Concord Christian vs. Newmarket, 10:00 am
GIRLS: Concord Christian vs. Epping, 11:15 am
BOYS: Profile vs. Epping, 12:30 pm
GIRLS: Inter-Lakes vs. Kennett, 1:45 pm
BOYS: Inter-Lakes vs. Portsmouth Christian, 3:00 pm
BOYS: Coe-Brown vs. Holy Family, 4:15 pm
BOYS: Raymond vs. Nute, 5:30 pm
GIRLS: Littleton vs. Farmington, 6:45 pm
BOYS: Derryfield vs. Farmington, 8:00 pm
All events will be streamed live and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for the most recent updates throughout the tournament.
The 42nd Annual Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash runs Dec. 26-30 and we’ve got you covered with live action of all 35 games of the five-day event. New Hampshire’s largest and the Seacoast’s longest-running holiday basketball tournament will feature live streams of each game, photos, video highlights and more.
Video productions by Pack Network throughout the tournament ramp up each day and culminating with TV-broadcast quality coverage of the boys and girls finals on Dec. 30.
Stay tuned to Ball 603 all week long. Enjoy the show!
Ball 603 hits full throttle in the second full week of the season as we bring you coverage of an impressive 20 games… on a short holiday week! We’ve got eight girls games and 12 boys games on the docket. It’s all basketball, all the time and we couldn’t be more excited.
Check out where we’ll be…
Monday, December 20th
Mount Royal at Farmington, 5:30 pm
Mount Royal at Farmington, 5:30 pm (GIRLS)
Timberlane at Pinkerton, 6:30 pm
Tuesday, December 21st
Kearsarge at Campbell, 6:00 PM
Wednesday, December 22nd
Londonderry at Spaulding, 6:30 pm (GIRLS)
Exeter at Bedford, 7:00 pm
Thursday, December 23rd
Merrimack at Windham, 6:30 pm
Sunday, December 26th at The Bash
St. Thomas vs. Nute, 9:30 am
Inter-Lakes vs. Holy Family, 10:00 am (GIRLS)
Littleton vs. Inter-Lakes, 10:30 am (GIRLS)
Littleton vs. Holy Family, 11:00 am (GIRLS)
Holy Family vs. Profile, 10:45 am
Epping vs. Newmarket, 11:45 am
Kennett vs. Derryfield, 12:00 pm
Kennett vs. Epping, 1:15 pm (GIRLS)
Franklin vs. Raymond, 2:30 pm
Concord Christian vs. Franklin, 3:45 pm (GIRLS)
Concord Christian vs. Portsmouth Christian, 5:00 pm
Coe-Brown vs. Farmington, 6:15 pm (GIRLS)
Coe-Brown vs. Farmington, 7:30 pm
*Schedule subject to change*
Ball 603 has partnered with the 42nd Annual Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash to bring you live and free coverage of all games of New Hampshire’s largest and the Seacoast’s longest-running holiday basketball tournament. Farmington High School plays host to the 24-team boys and girls tournament that features an impressive 45 games over five days from Dec. 26-30.
Our coverage of The Bash will get bigger and better as the tournament progresses. Shows on the opening day of the tournament will feature basic one-camera productions with on-screen score, while the semifinals and final will feature multiple cameras, replays and graphics as well as some great announcers that will be announced later this week.
We will also be holding “Meet the Team” photo shoots with several teams in attendance and will have professional action photos of all games as well. The coverage of The Bash will be unprecedented for a New Hampshire high school sporting event and we guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
To learn more about the tournament, including brackets and schedules, log on to the official website of The Bash. You can also check out the 20-page tournament program that we also designed for the event, which features tournament notes, history, records, rosters and more.
Enjoy the show!
