Kearsarge graduated some top talent from last year’s team that claimed the girls’ Division III Nordic title. But the Cougars also gained some talent this year, and it was on display Wednesday at Proctor Academy.
Kearsarge freshman Marliese Baer won her first high school race in 16:40.5, just 7.2 seconds ahead of teammate Maggie Lee. Those two led the way as the Cougars placed four in the top 10 and finished first with 382 points in the five-team event.
“Marliese has been working so hard on her technique these past two weeks, it was great to see the payoff,” Kearsarge Coach Kevin Lee said.
Maggie Lee, the coach’s daughter, was second in both the classic and freestyle races at last year’s D-III championships, finishing behind teammate Kaileigh Davis in both races. It will be hard to replace those first-place points, but the Cougars are still loaded with Lee, Baer and Madison Cook, who was ninth on Wednesday and last year took fourth in the D-III championship classic race and eighth in the freestyle.
And Baer isn’t Kearsarge’s only promising newcomer. Freshman Jenna Bears finished 10th to complete the scoring for the Cougars. Junior Hayden Keene also had a good day and took 13th.
Bow’s Sohani Demain tied for third with Hopkinton’s Emma Rothe, and the two teams both ended up with 368.5 points, but the Falcons were awarded second-place because their fifth finisher was ahead of Hopkinton’s. Bow’s other points came from Isabella Urbina (sixth), Brianna Boone (12th) and Gwen Molind (15th).
Rothe, Lily Sabol (fifth) and Carley Kanter (11th) led the effort for Hopkinton.
Fall Mountain (361 points) and Sunapee (330) also competed.
GIRLS’ NORDIC SKIING
Concord first
Key players: Concord – Jess Nelson (1st in 20:30), Heather Deacon (2nd), Brenna McNamara (4th), Cassie Shea (5th)
Highlights/key moments: Not only did the Crimson Tide put four in the top five on Tuesday at Dublin School, Concord had nine skiers in the top 12. The Tide finished with 392 points to beat out Division I rivals Bishop Guertin (392), Bedford (361) and Keene (348).
BOYS’ NORDIC SKIING
Gilford first, Bow second
Key players: Gilford – Josh Valentine (1st overall in 12:57.2), Mark Young (2nd), Sander Valpey (4th); Bow – Sully Blair (7th), Rob Ciotti (9th), Bryce Northrop (14th), Sam Neff (15th); Kearsarge – Hunter Burns (10th), Micahel Salo (11th), Trevor Pauling (12th); Belmont – Zach Ennis (3rd)
Highlights/key moments: Valentine cruised to a comfortable win as Gilford continued its dominance this season by finishing with 391 points to best Bow (359), Kearsarge (353), Hopkinton (339), Fall Mountain (338), Sunapee (321) and Belmont (98).
Coach’s quote: “We’ve been fighting some illnesses on the team over the past couple weeks. It was great to see that the effort was there, we just need to get healthy.” – Kearsarge’s Kevin Lee
Concord first
Key players: Concord –Cam Brochu (1st in 17:18), Jaime Wilkes (2nd), Nino Tomas (3rd), Alex Duncan (4th)
Highlights/key moments: On Tuesday, the Crimson Tide finished with a perfect score of 394 points to take first in an eight-team meet at Dublin School. Bedford was second with 376 points and followed by Keene (359), Bishop Guertin (180), Portsmouth (86), Manchester Memorial (85), Manchester Central (84) and Manchester West (83).
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Alvirne 42, Concord 37
Key players: Concord – Ashley Kelley (game-high 20 points), Jada Duvert (8 rebounds), Gabby Evans (7 points, 7 rebounds), Haley Munroe (two steals, strong defense)
Highlights/key moments: The Crimson Tide nearly pulled off the upset using a combination of zone defenses, patient offense and a big night from Kelley. The game was tied at halftime, 19-19, and the Tide trailed by just one after three quarters, but Alvirne went 3-for-4 from the line in the final two minutes to seal the win.
Coach’s quote: “We had a good game plan going in and the team followed it for the most part. We let them get a lot of offensive rebounds which led to second and third shots opportunities. In a close game, and especially a good team like Alvirne, that will hurt you in the end.” – Concord’s Mike Achilles
Records: Concord 2-13; Alvirne 11-2
Hopkinton 28, H-D 12
Key players: Hopkinton – Taylor Signor (14 points, 4 steals); Hillsboro-Deering – Morgan Racine (4 points), Fayth Grimes (4 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks), Melissa Veitch (5 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: Hopkinton trailed at halftime, 10-7, but upped the defensive pressure in the second half, holding H-D to just two points after the break on its way to the road win. The two teams will meet again tonight at 6:30 p.m. at NHTI in Concord.
Coach’s quote: “We came out flat in the first half and shot poorly. In the second half, we picked up the defense and created our offense off of that. Hats off to Hillsboro, they played hard right to the last whistle.” – Hopkinton’s Pat Roye
“It was our Senior Night and we played well in the first half of the game, but I think our emotions got the better of us in the second half. We made a lot of mental mistakes which led to easy points for Hopkinton. The girls still continued to fight throughout the entire game and until the final buzzer.” – Hillsboro-Deering’s Tiffany Lewis
Records: Hopkinton 5-12; Hillsboro-Deering 1-16
Brady-Trinity-West 4, Souhegan 3, OT
Key players: Brady – Sydney Herrington (2 goals, assist), Mary Anne Wiley (2 assists), Brianna Brack (goal), Lauren Trippiedi (goal), Maddie Beliveau (assist), Emma Windsor (16 saves)
Highlights/key moments: Windsor came up with a huge save in the final minute of regulation to keep things tied, and then Herrington went the length of the ice to score the game-winner in overtime.
Records: Brady-Trinity-West 8-6; Souhegan 4-8
BOYS’ HOCKEY
Concord 5, Pinkerton 2
Key players: Concord – Alex Marceau (3 goals), Colin Kastle (goal, 2 assists), Dan Lebell (goal), Andy Cole (assist), Drew Livingston (assist), Spencer Burgess (19 saves)
Highlights/key moments: The Crimson Tide scored three power play goals in the first period and held a 4-0 lead after one. Pinkerton cut that lead in half in the third, but Concord added an empty-netter to ice the win.
Coach’s quote: “We came out strong again. The power play was very good. Our guys worked hard but took too many penalties, allowing Pinkerton to hang around.” – Concord’s Dunc Walsh
Records: Concord 14-1-0; Pinkerton 10-4-1