School is out and the spring sports season is over, but high school sports fans have more than enough to keep them busy this weekend.
There are five, yes five, all-star games featuring just-graduated seniors scheduled for today. The CHaD NH East-West All-Star (football) Game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown. The Twin State Basketball Classic, featuring teams from New Hampshire and Vermont, will be held at NHTI and starts with the girls’ game at noon followed by the boys’ game at 3 p.m. And the Vermont-New Hampshire All-Star Hockey Classic will be held at the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Field House with the girls’ game starting at 4 p.m. and the boys’ game at 6:30 p.m.
And if that’s not enough, there’s tons of action at the Granite State Games, which features a mix of sports (basketball, lacrosse, soccer, field hockey, track and field, golf and volleyball ) and athletes from across the state ranging from middle school age to high schoolers entering their senior year.
Five local players will be on the Grappone Stadium turf for the CHaD game – Concord running back Leo Sudieh, Kearsarge lineman Austin Hogancamp, Bow linebacker Christopher Robbins and John Stark lineman Zach Hamilton, who are all on Team West, and Winnisquam’s Christian Serrano, who could see time at quarterback, running back, receiver and defensive back for Team East.
The game, now in its fifth year, has raised more than $1 million for critical programs at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
Team East, coached by Laconia’s Craig Kozens, will use a straight-forward, run-based offense with many of the plays coming out of the I-formation. Timberlane’s Tyler Furey was expected to be the East’s primary back, but he’s unlikely to play after some health issues cropped up during the last week of practice. That could mean more action for Serrano, who ran for 1,017 yards last season and threw for 1,192.
Team West will be coached by Paul Lavigne, who is retired but has more than 40 years of high school and college coaching experience at Stevens, Milford, Manchester Memorial, Manchester West, Inter-Lakes, Plymouth State University and Saint Anselm. The West will run a spread offense, run by Nashua North Head Coach Dante Laurnedi, with quarterbacks J.T. Hiscoe (Bishop Guertin) and Casey Gervais (Goffstown) likely splitting time under center.
Hogancamp, who will continue his career at Murray State in Kentucky, will be used as a defensive tackle. Robbins will play a hybrid rover position in the West’s 4-2-5 defensive scheme. Sudieh will be in the backfield, although Goffstown’s Connor Bourque (who was New Hampshire’s Gatorade Player of the Year after leading the Grizzlies to the Division I title with 1,554 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns on 158 carries), will be the featured back.
Hamilton has been working at both left and right tackle on the West offensive line. He’s the first player from John Stark selected to play in the game.
“I went to a John Stark game this year and I was impressed with him,” Lavigne said. “He’s a big kid. They had a successful season and I said, you know what, at the end of the day I want a kid from John Stark on my roster. It’s nice that he’s the first one, but he’s also deserving. I don’t pick charity cases. He fits in well here.”
Hamilton, who will play at Saint Anselm next year, said, “It’s a lot different coming from a small school where we’re using all of our JV kids just to get a practice in. And now, here, we’re having two lines of some of the best players in the state, so it’s a big difference for me.”
The Twin State Basketball Classic features four local players – Bishop Brady’s Joe Bell, Franklin’s Dana Bean and Kearsarge’s Trent Noordsij will be playing in the boys’ game, and Pembroke Academy’s Karli Loiselle will play in the girls’ game.
The rest of the boys’ roster includes Andre McNeil (Laconia), Joe Simpson (Manchester West), Austin Whaley (Lebanon), Matt Tenney (Sunapee), Jaylen Leroy (Manchester Central), Evan MacDonald (Manchester Central), Keith Brown (Pelham), Bryant Holmes (Exeter) and Keenan Carron (Manchester West).
The girls’ roster includes Sara Messler (Oyster River), Lexie Hamilton (Sunapee), Ashley Coneys (St. Thomas), Bri Purcell (Bedford), Emily Francoeur (Somersworth), Katie Valcich (Winnacunnet), Madison Springfield (Conant), Alexandra Sirmaian (Salem), Adaeza Okorie (Nashua North), Sara Cordova (Nashua North) and Calyce Swormstedt (Laconia).
For more go to facebook.com/events/17743514794619661/
The All-Star Hockey Classic raises money and awareness for the Make-A-Wish foundation. It will be the 24th game for the boys and 19th for the girls.
Three local players will be on the boys’ team – Concord’s Ben Nelson (goalie) and Bradley Murphy (forward) and Belmont’s Caleb Drouin (forward), who is the only D-III player on the team. The rest of the boys’ roster includes Brendan Johnson (Manchester Memorial), Cam Hult (Bishop Guertin), Drew Merrick (Trinity), Nate Johnson (Bedford), Kieran Lombard (Dover), Ryan Downie (Merrimack), Evan Royer (Exeter), Luke LaCroce (Portsmouth), Justin Pearson (Bishop Guertin), Chad Desautels (Windham), Joe Goudey (Bishop Guertin), Zach Pelletier (Manchester Memorial), Brandon Mello (Exeter), Kyle Feeney (Merrimack), Sean McGadden (Bedford), Alex Abad (Bedford), Nick Martinen (Dover).
The girls’ team will feature two local players – Concord forward Samantha Schecter and Bishop Brady goalie Sarah Plourde.
The remainder of the girls’ roster is Annie Smyth-Hammond (Holderness), Eliza Laycock (Hanover), Jamie Dee (Proctor Academy), Corinne Quinn (Exeter), Matti Hartman (Hanover), Jessica Cloutier (St. Paul’s School), Meagan Accardi (Berlin), Maisey Kettlewood (St. Thomas/Dover), Elizabeth Silvia-Chandley (Souhegan), Ella Williams (Hanover), Kelly Brigham (Hanover), Shannon Colson (Spaulding), Kaylyn Forest (Souhegan), Shannon Riley (Kingswood), Jenna Arguin (Berlin) and Julie Montgomery (Hanover).
For more go to allstarhockeyclassicvtnh.org.
The Granite State Games started Monday with teams from four different regions – Southern, Coastal, Lakes and Monadnock – competing against each other. Highlights for today’s schedule include the one and only day of track and field competition at Manchester Memorial at 10 a.m., the girls’ volleyball finals at Southern New Hampshire University at 10 a.m., girls’ soccer final at SNHU at 11:30 a.m., boys’ soccer final at 4 p.m. at SNHU, field hockey final at 11:15 a.m. at SNHU and the second round of golf at Sky Meadow Country Club.
A weekend pass (and there are more events on Sunday) costs $10 for adults and $5 for students (with ID) and senior citizens.
For more, including a complete schedule, go to granitestategames.org.
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or at tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20.)