Bow 38, Kennett 28
Key players: Bow – Juliette Tarsa (15 points), Bella LaPerle (12 points), Alex Larrabee (10 points); Kennett – Kalie Goodhart (10 points), Catherine Chick (9 points)
Highlights: The Falcons led 18-4 after the first quarter and 24-11 at halftime, holding the Eagles to just three field goals in the first half. Kennett only managed four field goals in the second half and Bow withstood a late Eagles’ rally to hand Kennett its first loss of the season. Bow is the only undefeated team left in D-II.
Coach’s quote: “Records aside, and regardless of tonight’s outcome, we had this game circled since the beginning of the season. We knew it would be a test. But at the end of the day, our goal is to be undefeated in March, not February. Juliette and Bella played great two-way basketball tonight. Alex had some very timely buckets. Sidney and Lyndsey played excellent defense and forced key turnovers.” – Bow’s Phil Davis
Records: Bow 14-0; Kennett 12-1
Concord 55, Exeter 53
Key players: Concord – Aidah Smalley (18 points, 2 steals, 3 rebounds), Whitney Vaillant (12 points, 4 steals), Delaney Duford (11 points, 2 steals)
Highlights: Concord trailed by four with 52 seconds left in the game, but Smalley hit a 3, had a steal and drew a foul. She connected on both foul shots to give Concord a 53-52 lead. Exeter responded with a drive that drew a shooting foul, putting Rachel Ludwig on the line. She made the first to tie the game, 53-53, but missed the second and Concord rebounded the ball took it up the floor for one last attempt. Vaillant drove to the basket and made the layup with four seconds left. Duford stole the ball on the inbounds pass to secure the victory.
Coach’s quote: “Very proud of our team. That was a back-and-forth, hard-fought game against a well-coached Exeter team. These young ladies never give up and support each other right to the end, and it paid off tonight.” – Concord’s Rob Darrell
Records: Concord 7-7; Exeter 8-4
John Stark 60, Coe-Brown 51
Key players: John Stark – Abby Duclos (20 points, 4 assists), Avery Geaumont (15 points, 5 assists); Coe-Brown – Kalina Kasprzak 19 points, Jennifer Noni 12 points,
Highlights: The Generals led 19-9 after the first quarter, but Coe-Brown chipped away at Stark’s lead to make it 47-47 heading into the fourth. John Stark made some big shots to close the game down the stretch.
Coaches’ quotes: “We made some shots towards the end of the game when it really mattered, but there are still things we need to tune up before playoffs.” – John Stark’s Tiffany Lewis
“Girls played well, just didn’t go our way.” – Coe-Brown’s Joe Vachon
Records: John Stark 8-6; Coe-Brown 3-10
Merrimack Valley 44, Timberlane 40
Key players: MV – Kayla Smith (11 points, 13 rebounds), Annika Horne (9 points)
Highlights: Timberlane narrowly led most of the way, taking a 24-15 lead at halftime and a 33-29 lead into the fourth quarter, but Valley came back to secure the victory.
Coach’s quote: “We had our hands full on the road and came out out with a lackluster first half. We struggled to score and Timberlane came out and played with more effort early. In the second half we made some adjustments and the girls played with a lot energy and defensive intensity. We were able to get some keys steals and baskets to pull out a late win. For us, this time of the season, just getting wins is important. It helps to build confidence, and we will try to build on the positives and continue to improve in other areas.” – MV’s Bob McNutt
Records: MV 6-7; Timberlane 2-11
Pembroke 80, Oyster River 56
Key players: Pembroke – Annelise Dexter (25 points), Kaitlin Arenella (19 points), Taylor Renna (19 points), Hailey Steinmetz (11 points)
Highlights: Pembroke jumped to a 22-11 lead after the first quarter and extended it to 15 points at halftime.
Coach’s quote: “This was a big game as far as seeding goes and was our best performance of the season. We jumped on them right from the start and never let them back in the game. Oyster River kept coming at us, but every time they lifted their intensity we did too.” – Pembroke’s Steve Langevin
Records: Pembroke 10-4; Oyster River 8-5
Prospect Mountain 49, Belmont 44
Key players: Prospect Mtn. – Ella Smith (24 points), Ella Misiazek (17 points); Belmont – Alyssa Edgren (17 points, 9 rebounds), Darci Stone (12 points), Lena Rodrigues (10 points, 3 steals)
Highlights: The Raiders were held to three points in the third quarter, which made the difference in a loss to the Timberwolves.
Coach’s quote: “Tough loss but played hard for 32 minutes tonight.” – Belmont’s Mike Andriski
Records: Prospect Mtn. 11-4; Belmont 5-10
Newport 52, Hillsboro-Deering 22
Key players: H-D – Morgan Dean (8 points), Emily Howell (6 points), Maddie Ledvina (4 points)
Highlights: The Tigers controlled this one from start to finish.
Coach’s quote: “I just don’t understand why some high school coaches leave their best player in for 31 minutes being up by 30 points.” – H-D’s Bruce Johnson
Records: Newport 6-8; H-D 2-12
Hopkinton 56, Mascoma 51
Key players: Hopkinton – Maddie Carmichael (10 points, 6 rebounds), Ava Lambert (13 points, foul shooting), Sierra Stone (11 points, 8 rebounds); Mascoma – Gabby Peirce (17 points), Maddie Houston (12 points)
Highlights: Carmichael and Lambert were a combined 5-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch to ice the victory.
Coach’s quote: “We showed a lot of heart tonight coming back from a big deficit in the second half. Great team win with contributions by everyone on the roster.” – Hopkinton’s Pat Roye
Records: Hopkinton 10-4; Mascoma 4-9
Exeter 49, Concord 31
Key players: Concord – Brett Tuttle (18 points), Elia Bahuma (defense), Conner Hughes (defense)
Highlights: The Tide struggled to score all night, but played strong enough defense to stay in the game for long stretches.
Coach’s quote: “You are not going to win many game scoring 31 points, but I am excited to see the type of defensive effort we had. (Exeter has) two guys who score 17 and 14 points per game, and we held them to four and six points. Our goal was to make someone else beat us. They had a bunch of role players hit shots at different times, but we executed the defensive game plan very well. To hold a team that is averaging 66 points per game to 49 usually puts you in a position to win, but we just could not put the ball in the basket. We’ve had games where the offense was going and the defense struggled, and games where the offense struggled and the defense was solid. We need to find a way to put the two sides of the ball together in the last four games. For us, the playoffs start now. On Friday, we are hosting Youth Basketball Night. All of our youth basketball players in town will be in attendance. It should be a full gym.” – Concord’s Tim LaTorra
Records: Exeter 9-4; Concord 4-10
Coe-Brown 73, John Stark 46
Key players: Coe-Brown – Tommy Flanagan (11 points), Hugh Hamilton (10 points), Connor Bagnell (7 points), Quinn Salter (6 points), Brady Kouchoukos (6 points), Matt Flanagan (6 points); John Stark – Logan Montgomery (11 points), Aidan Harris (8 points), Hayden Pond (4 assists), Joey Dykstra (5 steals, 4 assists)
Highlights: A better defensive effort in the second half by the Generals wasn’t enough to match Coe-Brown’s balanced offensive production in the first half.
Coach’s quote: “Hopefully as a young team we’re able to learn from our first half. We didn’t match (Coe-Brown’s) energy or intensity and it showed on the defensive end. I was proud of the way the boys played up to the challenge in the second half.” – John Stark’s Mike Smith
Records: Coe-Brown 10-3; John Stark 0-15
Pembroke 73, Oyster River 48
Key players: Pembroke – Mike Strazzeri (26 points), Joe Fitzgerald (12 points), Joshua Pilotte (8 points), Jacob Boisvert (6 points), Evan Berkeley (6 points), Shondell Hadley (14 rebounds); Oyster River – Julian O’Quinn (11 points), Brady Luczek (9 points)
Highlights: The Spartans outscored Oyster River, 25-11, in the second quarter to take a 42-23 lead and Pembroke’s bench closed out the victory in the second half.
Coach’s quote: “It was a satisfying victory where we got everyone good minutes and that was very important to me. The subs did a great job on defense and maintained the cushion. Friday is a huge game for us in Kennett.” – Pembroke’s Michael Donnell
Records: Pembroke 12-2; Oyster River 4-10
Mascoma 68, Hopkinton 55
Key players: Mascoma – Zach Thompson (22 points); Hopkinton – Will Tanuvasa (21 points, 4 rebounds), Gavin Davies (20 points, 8 rebounds), Abram Standefer (6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists)
Highlights: The game was tied, 43-43, after three quarters, but Mascoma capitalized on Hopkinton turnovers and played well in transition to outscore the Hawks, 25-12, over the final eight minutes.
Coach’s quote: “Tough loss against a good Mascoma team. The guys were great battling for three and half quarters, but unfortunately a flurry of defensive pressure and quick buckets from Mascoma put us on our heels and forced us to chase the rest of the game.” – Hopkinton’s Matt Miller
Records: Mascoma 12-3; Hopkinton 12-3
Hanover 781, Bow 747, Kearsarge 731, Lebanon 678, Oyster River 658, Bishop Brady 653
Key players: Bow – Patrick Wachsmuth (1st slalom, 2nd giant slalom), Seth Lowne (6th slalom, 13th GS), Aaron Barrieau (17th slalom, 20th GS), Colin Atwell (12th GS, 18th slalom); Kearsarge – Alex Spinney (8th GS), Samuel Mann (13th slalom, 21st GS), Thomas Shepherd (14th slalom, 19th GS), Tobin Wyman (15th slalom), Braden Hurley (16th slalom, 17th GS); Bishop Brady – Liam Masner (19th slalom, 22nd GS), Maxwell Brooks (22nd slalom, 29th GS), Jack Beauchesne (31st slalom, 34th GS), Boden Gendron (33rd slalom, 36th GS)
Highlights: The Bears won both the slalom and giant slalom events at Mount Sunapee. Bow finished second in both events, while Kearsarge was third and Bishop Brady was sixth in both disciplines.
Hanover 788, Bow 732, Bishop Brady 698, Lebanon 669, Oyster River 525, Kearsarge 187, Merrimack Valley 181
Key players: Bow – Ava Gadbois (7th slalom, 18th giant slalom), Meredith Ryan (8th slalom, 22nd GS), Sophia Coombs (13th slalom, 17th GS), Sarah Lavigne (15th slalom, 19th GS); Bishop Brady – Teresa Lavoie (6th slalom, 23rd GS), Anna Beauchesne (21st slalom, 26th GS), Rhea Ganchi (26th slalom, 31st GS), Dady Burns (28th slalom), Grace Tauscher (28th GS); Kearsarge – Maya Spiegel (7th GS, 12th slalom); Merrimack Valley – Violet Webb (13th slalom, 13th GS)
Highlights: The Bears posted perfect scores of 394 in both the slalom and GS to top the field of six teams in Tuesday’s race at Mount Sunapee.