Tag: St. Thomas Aquinas

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 upsets St. Thomas, advances to D-III final

Fourth-seeded Kearsarge upset top-ranked St. Thomas, 52-44, in the semifinal round of the NHIAA Division III Girls Basketball State Tournament on Wednesday night at Bow High School.

With the win, the Cougars advance to Saturday’s championship game versus No. 2 Hopkinton at Keene State College at 5:00 pm.

Kearsarge held the Saints to just six 1st-quarter points and took a 4-point lead to the 2nd quarter. The two squads played to a 14-14 draw in the second frame, giving the Cougars a 24-20 lead at the break. Kearsarge outscored the Saints 12-7 in the 3rd to push their lead to nine, 36-27, and they held on for the eight-point win.

Tessa Marinello led all scorers with 19 points for Kearsarge, while Ava Shapiro and Adara Boucher added 13 and 12, respectively. St. Thomas was paced by 12 points from Emma Toriello, 11 from Genevieve Bolduc and 10 from Emilie Von Der Linden.

The Cougars advance to their first state title game since 2012, when Kearsarge lost in the D-II finals to Souhegan, 53-27. On Saturday, the Cougars will be making their sixth state championship game appearance in school history and will be in search of their third title in school history, the first since 2002 when they took home the Class I crown.

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

St. Thomas downs Mascoma, advances to final

No. 2 St. Thomas punched its ticket to the Division III championship game with a 57-38 win over #3 Mascoma Valley on Tuesday night in semifinal round action of the NHIAA state tournament at Bow High School.

The Saints will take on top-seeded Conant for all the marbles at Keene State College on Saturday at 8:00 pm.

St. Thomas found itself trailing 17-14 after the 1st quarter of play, but a 16-5 second quarter gave the Saints a 30-22 lead at the break and they never looked back. St. Thomas cranked up the defense in the second half as Dave Morissette’s squad allowed just 16 points and soared to a 19-point win.

James Allen led all scorers with 15 points for the Saints, while Carson Couperthwait (12), Cole McClure (11) and Will Mollica (10) all chipped in for St. Thomas’ balanced offense. The Royals were paced by 13 points from TJ Mardin and 10 from Brayden Pierce.

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

St. Thomas downs White Mountains, cruises to semis

Top-seeded St. Thomas cruised to a 56-27 victory over #9 White Mountains on Saturday night to advance to the semifinal round of the NHIAA Division III Girls Basketball State Tournament.

The Saints will take on #4 Kearsarge on Wednesday, February 21 at Bow High School at 7:30 pm.

Check out photos from our newest contributor LJ Hydock of LJphotoflix. LJ is a FRESHMAN at St. Thomas! Welcome aboard, LJ…

Third-quarter surge sends St. Thomas to D-III semis

Second-seeded St. Thomas used a 24-point third quarter to defeat #7 Belmont, 67-50, on Friday night in quarterfinal action of the NHIAA Division III State Tournament.

With the win, St. Thomas advances to the semifinals where they will take on #3 Mascoma Valley on Tuesday. The site is still to be determined.

The host Saints trailed by three after one quarter of play and later led by one at the half, prior to the 3rd-quarter onslaught. St. Thomas buried four triples in the third to win the quarter by 15 points and blow the game open.

The Saints were paced by a game-high 22 points from freshman Cole McClure, while Will Mollica and James Allen added 17 and 16 points, respectively. The Red Raiders were led by 20 points from Anakin Underhill, including 5 threes, and 13 from Keegan Martinez.

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

D-III St. Thomas hands D-IV Derryfield first loss

Cole McClure poured in a game-high 26 points, including six three-pointers, to lead Division III St. Thomas to a 62-48 victory over D-IV Derryfield on Monday night in Manchester.

The Saints racked up 23 first-quarter points to jump out to an early nine-point lead after one and never looked back.

James Allen (15) and Will Molica (10) both added double-digits for STA as well. Derryfield was led by 12 points from Alex Comire and 10 from Jack Krasnof.

With the win, St. Thomas improves to 11-1 on the season, while the Cougars fall to 10-1.

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

While we were away…

This week, we completed a complete overhaul and upgrade of our server to better serve our growing coverage. During our outage, we provided photo coverage of 17 games! These were all still viewable on our social media outlets, but we wanted to make sure they made it to the website.

Below is a list of the games we covered with links to the photo galleries. Enjoy the show!

Saints soar past Hilltoppers

St. Thomas went on the road and soared past host Somersworth, 66-23, on Tuesday night.

The Saints jumped out to a quick 15-5 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back.

STA was led by 16 from Cole McClure and 12 from Will Mollica. The Hilltoppers were paced by 10 points from Thomas Rees.

With the win, St. Thomas improves to 7-1 on the season and currently sits at second place in the Division III standings, while Somersworth falls to 1-6.

Check out the full gallery of the action by Heidi Green…