Concord 50, Manchester Central 49
Key players: Concord – Zanis Lauris (7 points, game-winning buzzer beater), Japhet Nduwayo (17 points), Brett Tuttle (13 points, 2 buzzer beaters), Elia Bahuma (point guard, defense); Central – Jason Gasana (11 points)
Highlights: Bahuma missed the second of two free throws with 5.5 seconds left in the game, but grabbed his own rebound and passed to Nduwayo who missed the 3, but Lauris was there for the putback at the buzzer to secure the victory for the Tide. Concord led 11-9 after the first quarter and Central controlled the second quarter, but Tuttle hit a buzzer beater to keep the Tide within five points (27-22) at halftime, and connected on another buzzer beater at the end of the third to cut Central’s lead to three. Bahuma and Nduwayo stayed aggressive on defense, had some big plays down the stretch and made clutch free throws.
Coach’s quote: “What. A. Game. Central competes hard, they play physical and they make it very difficult to get into any kind of rhythm on the offensive end. Credit to those guys for how hard they play. We talked before the game about no excuses, just bring it. Bring the effort, the composure and the willingness to keep competing. The snow days, the school schedule, the lights and temperature situation in the gym, the list goes on; no excuses. Our guys earned this one tonight. It is easy to see the buzzer beaters, and the guys that score, but we had so many contributions tonight. Jake Menchion and Conner Hughes off the bench with big time offensive rebounds and putbacks, Connor White with a designed play on our free throw to give us a chance at getting another possession, the list goes on. Our guys are a team and buy in to each other. Tonight was awesome, but now we go right back at it tomorrow.” – Concord’s Tim LaTorra
Records: Concord 4-5; Central 1-7
Coe-Brown 73, Con Val 61
Key players: Coe-Brown – Hugh Hamilton (16 points, 7 rebounds), Tommy Flanagan (15 points, 7 rebounds), Brady Kouchoukos (15 points, 6 rebounds), Connor Bagnell (14 points), Nate Ford (6 points)
Highlights: The Bears had a big third quarter, on both defense and offense, to overcome a four-point halftime deficit.
Coach’s quote: “Solid team win on the road.” – Coe-Brown’s David Smith
Records: Coe-Brown 6-2; ConVal 6-3
Pelham 64, John Stark 35
Key players: John Stark – Joey Dykstra (11 points, 8 rebounds), Hayden Pond (9 points, 5 steals), Ty Gajowski (spark off the bench)
Coach’s quote: “Pelham is a real good team. I thought we did some things well and I liked our fight in the third quarter.” – John Stark’s Mike Smith
Records: Pelham 9-1; John Stark 0-10
Manchester West 61, Merrimack Valley 54
Key players: MV – Brandon Dukette (27 points), Buddy Eddy (14 points), Logan Gabor (9 points)
Highlights: The Pride played good defense and shot well from 3-point range in the second half, but MV couldn’t make up for West’s strong first half that included 14 points off the fast break.
Records: West 7-2; MV 8-3
Pembroke 81, Plymouth 56
Key players: Pembroke – Joe Fitzgerald (23 points), Mike Strazzeri (17 points), Josh Pilotte (14 points), Shondell Hadley (11 points)
Highlights: Pembroke came out fast and never looked back.
Coach’s quote: “The guys played a sloppy first half, but really dug in defensively in the second half. It was a good win, but we got our work cut out for us this Friday at home against a very good MV team.” – Pembroke’s Michael Donnell
Records: Pembroke 9-1; Plymouth 2-7
Hopkinton 60, Monadnock 59
Key players: Hopkinton – Will Tanuvasa (28 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds), Noah Aframe (16 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds), Gavin Davies (8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), Marek Joppa (6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists); Monadnock – Evan Dumaine (26 points), Nate Johnson (2o points)
Highlights: The Hawks opened up the game with a 20-7 first quarter, giving them a cushion to ride through a bumpy finish in a tight game.
Coach’s quote: “Fantastic effort on both end of the floor tonight from the guys. They battled some guys getting into foul trouble and a great run from Monadnock to hold onto the win against a very underrated Monadnock squad. It was great to see the ball really move and be shared tonight.” – Hopkinton’s Matt Miller
Records: Hopkinton 10-1; Monadnock 3-9
Stevens 73, Hillsboro-Deering 46
Key players: H-D – Zack Coombs (23 points)
Records: Stevens 7-3; H-D 0-9
Concord 60, Manchester Central 21
Key players: Concord – Sofia Payne (10 points, 5 rebounds), Whitney Vaillant (10 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds), Jaylen Jefferson (7 points, 8 rebounds), Aidah Smalley (7 points), Rosie Layton (6 points)
Highlights: Concord took a 19-3 lead in the first quarter and didn’t look back, snapping a four-game losing streak.
Coach’s quote: “This was a full-team effort on offense and defense for 32 minutes. That was the goal and they all stepped up tonight.” – Concord’s Rob Darrell
Records: Concord 4-5; Central 0-8
Bishop Brady 53, Souhegan 24
Key players: Bishop Brady – Payton Bryson (13 points, 4 assists), Mia Wagner (12 points), Claire Jackson (10 points, 8 rebounds), Morgan Casey (9 points), Meg Pellerin (7 points)
Highlights: After a tight first half, the Giants responded well and came out with energy in the second.
Coach’s quote: “Our girls played once we got into a good rhythm. At halftime again I left it in the girls’ hands and they responded well to the challenge. Extremely excited to watch this team grow and get more confidence throughout the year.” – Bishop Brady’s Sal Alosa
Records: Bishop Brady 4-5; Souhegan 1-8
Bow 56, Timberlane 17
Key players: Bow – Bella LaPerle (13 points), Alex Larrabee (12 points), Juliette Tarsa, Bry Szepan (8 points)
Coach’s quote: “A balanced team effort tonight. All 15 players hit the floor this evening and played great defense.” – Bow’s Phil Davis
Records: Bow 9-0; Timberlane 2-7
Coe-Brown 51, ConVal 49
Key players: Coe-Brown – Kalina Kasprzak (24 points, 13 rebounds), Hannah Meehan (11 points), Megan Adams (6 points), Emma Broadstone (4 points, 6 rebounds)
Highlights: ConVal led a back-and-f0rth game by six points heading into the fourth quarter, but Meehan and Kasprzak made some big 3s and foul shots to pull ahead for the win. Broadstone’s defense in the final minutes was key as well.
Coach’s quote: “As coach Contorchick told the girls in the locker room, we need to stack good days. Need to continue to have good practices that lead to big wins.” – Coe-Brown’s Joe Vachon
Records: Coe-Brown 3-5; ConVal 2-6
Pelham 69, John Stark 46
Key players: John Stark – Abby Duclos (16 points), Izabel Korbet (11 points), Avery Geaumont (8 points, 9 rebounds)
Highlights: The Generals kept the game close throughout the first half, but Pelham came out strong in the second half and Stark was unable to close the gap.
Coach’s quote: “We have had a really tough stretch of games that have tested us over the past few weeks. We are able to to pull something out of every game to continue to improve on.” – John Stark’s Tiffany Lewis
Records: Pelham 8-1; John Stark 5-5
Kearsarge 47, Gilford 32
Key players: Kearsarge – Tessa Marinello (13 points), Ella Stocker (12 points), Ava Shapiro (11 points)
Records: Kearsarge 6-4; Gilford 7-4
Stevens 63, Hillsboro-Deering 25
Key players: H-D – Emily Howell (11 points), Morgan Dean (9 points)
Highlights: The Cardinals outplayed the Hillcats from the start, taking a 19-3 lead in the first quarter.
Coach’s quote: “We did not play well tonight and that’s a bad combination against a good team.” – H-D’s Bruce Johnson
Records: Stevens 10-1; H-D 1-9
Winnisquam 52, Fall Mountain 40
Key players: Winnisquam – Lauren MacDonald (21 points, 8 rebounds), Victoria Kelly (13 points, 15 rebounds), Mackenzie Philippy (13 points, 10 rebounds), Triniti Carter (2 points, 7 rebounds), Caidyn Carter (defense), Isabella Sargent (defense), Vanessa Power (defense)
Highlights: Winnisquam led 15-6 after the first quarter and 26-15 at halftime en route to its eighth straight win.
Coach’s quote: “Good team win on the road against a well-coached Fall Mountain team.” – Winnisquam’s Mark Dawalga
Records: Winnisquam 8-2; Fall Mtn. 3-6
Concord 390, Bow 377, Souhegan 337, Derryfield 317
Key players: Concord – Tyler Watt (1st, 14:03), Dean Ayotte (2nd, 15:44), Elliott Pollard (3rd, 16:36), Jacob Gurtner (8th, 19:13); Bow – Calen Smith (5th, 18:09), Eli Wilkening (6th, 18:10), Aiden Ciminesi (7th, 18:47), Alden Betterley (9th, 19:21)
Highlights: The Tide swept the top three spots in Tuesday’s race at Waterville, led by Watt’s victory.
Concord 390, Bow 364, Souhegan 251, Derryfield 177
Key players: Concord – Frances Lesser (2nd, 19:30), Gracie McHugh (3rd, 19:36), Phoebe Dater-Roberts (4th, 20:20), Chloe Gudas (5th, 20:21); Bow – Rachel Pelletier (1st, 18:23), Ali Sargent (10th, 24:12), Courtney McKeen (14th, 27:03), Makaylie Laws (15th, 28:00)
Highlights: Pelletier won Tuesday’s race at Waterville by over a minute, but the Tide went 2-3-4-5-6 to take the team title.