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West Upsets Central in QCIBT Semis 66-59
12/28/2011

By: Tuesday and Friday
Going into this West - Central game a lot of words came to mind: Athleticism, speed, quickness, energy and tenacity. All of these words were on glorious display in the 1st period of this game as Central took a 20-18 lead.

The pace to this game was at a high level. Both teams threw the kitchen sink at each other. All 5 starters scored for Central as their balanced scoring attack was again on display. Newly anointed Blue Knight hero, 6'3 junior Jocarl Bureau, hit a couple of 3s in the first period. Aaron Martin had 7 to lead West in the first.

Both teams continued the torrid physical pace in the second period with West outscoring Central 17 - 15 to tie the game at 35 at halftime. Junior Travis Descoteaux came up big for the Blue Knights scoring 9 points on a combination of slashing drives and hitting a 3.

Both teams played at a high level for the first half. Both teams negated each other with their speed and quickness. The bursts of energy for one team that lead to hoops seemed to drain each team on the defensive end when it was time for a stop. Aaron Martin had a great 3rd period with 8 points. The highlight of this period was when there was 6 minutes left in the period and Martin had an athletic finish at the offensive end and then 10 seconds later blocked Central's Christian Ortega on a lay up attempt to prevent Central from scoring. It almost seemed at this point the West athleticism and team speed took over. West is a very entertaining basketball team to watch. Martin, Bureau, Jacques, Pena and Descoteaux form a very athletic and fast unit when they get it going. Watching this team in the QCIBT makes you wonder how they beat Winnacunnet by so little and how they lost to Merrimack by so much in the regular season. Ortega kept Central close in the 3rd with 6 points as West took a 50 - 45 lead into the 4th period.

At this point I would like to give an editorial comment. There seems to be a lost art of going for a last second shot in HS basketball in NH. Ensuring you take the last shot at the end of a period or half guarantees 2 things: YOU GET TO ATTEMPT TO SCORE LAST AND YOUR OPPONENT DOESN'T. West had a 50 - 43 lead with about 20 seconds left in the 3rd period. West's Breno Pena attempted a 3 pointer with 7 seconds left. That's just too much time to take an end of the period shot. Central is too fast. Pena missed and Central quickly came down and Ortega put in a 3 foot buzzer beater to make it 50 - 45 Central going into the 4th period. West worked hard to secure a 7 point lead on Central with 20 seconds to go in the 3rd period. They should have had a 7 point lead lead going into the 4th. I have seen other teams and players put up "ill advised" shot attempts with 15, 10 or just a little less seconds to go and leave the opponent with a chance to score a momentum building basket with 1 to 3 seconds to go in a period. Where has the art of the last second shot gone? Editorial rant is now over.

The teams traded baskets to start the 4th period. Beno Pena then hit a 3 with 5:45 left to give West it's biggest lead of the game to that point at 55 - 47. The teams traded baskets over the next 3 minutes. Carl Jacques scored on a put back with 2:04 left to give West it's biggest lead of the game 61 - 52. After this it was a matter of West hitting FTs and securing the ball against the Central pressure. Speaking of free throws it has been a Blue Knight bugaboo in the QCIBT. West could've put Trinity away earlier in the game if they had hit some free throws. West was 10 - 19 from the charity stripe against Central.

Aaron Martin had 26 points to lead all scorers. He scores on slashes to the rack, medium range jumpers and long range shots. Martin had his full offensive arsenal going for him tonight. Carl Jacques and Jocarl Bureau each had 11 to help the West attack. Christian Ortega had a solid game in defeat with 17 points. Gabe LaCount had 14 and Troy Pelletier had 11 to help the Little Green cause.

Merrimack last won a QCIBT Championship in 2002 when Corey Hassan helped lead them to the title. The last time West won a QCIBT Championship was 1993. Merrimack and West will meet for the 2011 QCIBT Championship at 7:30 pm on Wednesday night.

Juneau and Dominic Paradis both chipped in with 9 points, as Spaulding advanced to the tournament's semi-final round.


Game 2: Winnacunnet 56 Oyster River 52
These are 2 young teams, but they both played very hard and competed for all 32 minutes of this one. Winnacunnet just has more talent and they played some tough defense all game long, resulting in the 56-52 win.

Winnacunnet went on a run late in the 3rd and early in the 4th quarter to push their lead to 51-36. They did it with a lineup of Rich Ruffin, Sam Knollmeyer, Ben Gareau, Quinn Parker and Matt Guerin (Parker is the only senior in that group). The Warriors were getting steals on defense and moving the ball well on offense to create good shot opportunities.

You have to give Oyster River credit though for the valiant effort they made down the stretch to come back in this game. They were down 51-36 in the 4th quarter. But from there the Bobcats went on a 16-4 run, cutting the Winnacunnet lead to 55-52 with 15 seconds left to play.

Leading the charge for the injured and inexperienced Bobcats was senior guard Nick DiVeglia. He is a kid who plays with a lot of heart, and really made some big plays on both ends of the floor down the stretch. DiVeglia finished with a team-high 12 points, and also had 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

One player who plays with a lot of heart for the Warriors is 5'7" junior guard Ryan Gigliotti. Gigliotti is a very quick player who always gives 100%, speeding around the court like a pin ball machine. He plays with reckless abandon, is a tough defender and unfortunately he injured his nose pretty good late in the 3rd quarter. Play was stopped for a few minutes while he was attended to and the floor was cleaned up.

Gigliotti did not return to action. This is a Winnacunnet team that is already playing without possibly their best player for the entire season. Sophomore guard Chris Doyle tore his ACL in October and is out for the year. Doyle is a hard worker and has a lot of potential as a player so you hate to see that. Then right before the season started Coach McKenna lost another player who he had penciled in as a key contributor, as junior wing player Malcolm Woodliff-Bulloch moved to Massachusetts right before the start of the season. Plus they only have 2 seniors on the roster. Yet even with all of that this is a solid Winnacunnet team and they are just a few points away from being 2-0 right now.

In addition to DiVeglia, also playing well in the loss for Oyster River were 6'4" senior forward Liam Grennier and 5'8" junior guard Zach Jones. Jones hit 3 three-pointers in the 2nd quarter. The Bobcats were playing without junior guard Anthony Shea, who has an injured thumb.

Knollmeyer had a game-high 17 points for Winnacunnet. Watch out for this team over the next couple years, especially in 2013-2014 when Doyle, Knollmeyer and Ruffin are all seniors.

Andrews is a junior at Milford High, and is currently ranked as the #1 girls soccer player in the country for the Class of 2013 by topdrawersoccer.com. She is training to eventually play on Team USA in both the Olympics and the World Cup.

The 10th annual Best of U.S. Soccer series gives fans the opportunity to vote once a day from now until Friday, Jan. 13. For certain categories, voters will be able to refresh their memories with videos and photos as they relive some of the best moments of 2011.

Fore more more information on the awards click here. To vote for Morgan, click here.

Morgan Andrews Bio
2011 NSCAA Youth Player of the Year. A two-time NSCAA Youth All-America selection, Andrews was also named to the NSCAA High School All-America team and is the NSCAA High School State Player of the Year. A junior at Milford High School and three time All-State First Team selection, captain's her high school squad and has scored 83 goals and added 35 assists thus far in her prep career.

Morgan was recently named the Manchester Union Leader State Player of the Year. Andrews has been a member of the US Youth National Teams since she was 12 years old, playing two years at the U14 level, she is the current captain of the U17 USWNT and is preparing for the 2012 U17 World Cup in Azerbaijan. Morgan was the youngest player called into a recent U23 USWNT training camp in 2011 playing with and against the nations top college and professional players trying for a position on our future US Women's National team.

Andrews is the reigning Gatorade State Player of the Year, she is ranked #1 nationally for 2013 by Topdrawersoccer's Top 100 and is also the #1 recruit nationally on the ESPNHS Top 150 ranking. She has played club soccer for the past 7 years with the FC Stars of Massachusetts having reached both the USYS National Championship Series and the ECNL National Championship final four rounds twice each during that time. For her play during the 2011 USYS National Championship Series Andrews was awarded the "Best 11" Player honor at the U18 age group. She was selected to play with the ECNL International Tour Team to England in 2011, a team comprised of the top 17 players in the Elite Club National League.

Andrews is an honor roll student in the classroom, was recently nominated to the National Technical Education Honor society. She is a three sport athlete in high school, adding indoor/outdoor track and Boys Football where she was selected All State First Team, Offensive Player, Kicker in 2011. Andrews is also member of the competitive US Constitution and History Team, "We the People" and a member of the MHS Theatre Program. Morgan is the founder and runs her own Charity, "Kicks for Cans" where she provides free soccer training to area youth in exchange for a donation of a non-perishable food product for the community food bank.

She is verbally committed to Boston College.

12/28/2011

The Bedford High boys basketball team has a 6'9" sophomore, a 6'8" senior, a 6'8" junior, a 6'7" sophomore and a 6'4" freshman. Pelham meanwhile doesn't have anyone taller than 6'1". However Pelham showed that size does not matter, and that speed, skill and aggressiveness will beat size. They not only beat Bedford, but they completely dominated them, winning 64-25 on Thursday night in front of a packed crowd at the Snake Pit in Pelham.

Pelham led 18-2 at the end of the 1st quarter. They forced 32 Bedford turnovers, while only turning it over 5 times themselves. And despite giving up about a foot of height at every position the Pythons still managed to out-rebound the Bulldogs. They were quicker to the loose balls and to the rebounds. They were able to speed up the pace of the game, and Bedford just couldn't keep up with Pelham in an up-tempo game. They also did a great job of denying the post and making it difficult for Bedford's big guys Trevor Fahmy, Collin MacManus and Roger Larrivee to get good looks inside.

Led by their all-state back court of Derek Defranzo (8 points, 6 steals, 5 rebounds and 5 assists) and Brett Bailey (a game-high 18 points), Pelham made a statement that they're a team to be reckoned with in Division II. The other 3 starters - Anthony Spirou, Erik Nystrom and Jake Vaiknoras were also very good as well as Brian Finney and Kevin Cheam coming off the bench.

It was a thriller that went down to the wire, with Portsmouth (fresh off a D-III title in football) winning it 57-56. They were playing on the road and without one of their better players in senior wing Kyle DiCesare (high ankle sprain), yet they still got the job done. Senior guard Kamahl Walker had a team-high 18 points for Portsmouth. He had a very good game, but it was definitely a team effort for the Clippers as other guys had to step up with Walker in foul trouble.

"It was a good win" said Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey. "Our bigs kids - Alex, Gregg and Charlie did really well, the did a good job on the boards. And Ben Landry and Jack Mackey came off the bench and gave us good minutes when Kamahl was in foul trouble."

Pembroke had a couple chances late in the game to tie or take the lead. Junior point guard Rene Maher made a great move to get to the rim and made an and-1 finish, which cut the Portsmouth lead to 56-54 with 35 seconds left. Then Clippers senior guard Billy Lane missed the front end of a 1 and 1, and PA got the ball back.

There was plenty of time left, and Pembroke could tie it up with a 2 or take the lead with a 3. And they couldn't ask for a better look at the basket, and sophomore sensation ran off a pick and was able to get open at the top of the key. Welch had been on fire shooting the basketball in this game, scoring 25 points and hitting 7 three-pointers. But he front-rimmed the shot, and Portsmouth got the rebound.

Clippers senior forward Charlie Duprey made 1 out of 2 at the foul line, making it 57-56 Portsmouth with just 4.3 seconds left. PA had one last chance, and with shooters like Welch, Maher (18 points) and Matt Persons the game was far from over. But then Maher caught the inbounds pass underneath the basket and laid it in for 2 instead of going for a 3. Time expired, and Portsmouth won it 57-56.

Portsmouth played a great game and they deserved the win. They are a very good defensive team that is well-coached and they play smart, fundamentally sound, TEAM basketball.

Pembroke was up 26-25 at halftime, but Portsmouth went on a 19-7 run in the 3rd quarter, taking a 44-33 lead late in the quarter (their largest lead of the game). Walker sliced through the defense and made a nice finish inside. Tsougranis did a nice job of crashing the boards and working hard. Then Walker and Lane both made some explosive drives to the basket and tough finishes inside. The duo of Walker and Lane makes for a VERY quick back court - these guys are able to kick it into an extra gear and just play the game at a faster pace than most. Then Portmsouth has nice balance with the steady play of Tsougranis, Alx Rigazio and Duprey, who were active on the boards, getting second chance points on offense and limiting PA to 1 shot on defense.

Portsmouth maintained a lead of around 8 or 109 points for the rest of the 3rd quarter and the first few minutes of the 4th. Rigazio came up with a couple big buckets inside in the 4th quarter and Walker made another nice drive and finish for 2.

Welch kept shooting the lights out though, keeping the Spartans in the game. You simply cannot leave him open or he will make you pay. If he has the slightest amount of space to see the rim and get the shot off he'll make it. He's very quick and like Maher he also has a very nice crossover dribble which allows both players to get by their man off the dribble. Welch drilled a couple more threes in the 4th quarter, and 6'5" senior forward Tyler Morrison converted inside, followed by a clutch basket in the paint by Duprey for Portsmouth. It was certainly an exciting finish to the game, with both squads laying it all out on the line.

Pembroke made a nice run to come back in the game, as they trailed 44-33 late in the 3rd and they were down 50-40 with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter. But they came back and had a couple chances to tie or win the game late. It was a great game, but the 19-7 run by Portsmouth in the 3rd quarter was the difference.

I would be VERY surprised if these same 2 teams don't end up meeting each other in the D-II title game come March.

Bishop Guertin senior forward Joe McCarthy (who's just as good if not better at baseball) had a HUGE game, with 31 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way for Guertin. Logan Kesty had 17 points and Cooper Paul chipped in with 11.

"Joe's a good ball player" said Bishop Guertin head coach Jim Migneault. "He's starting to mature now. We've got a lot of kids who can score the basketball - I expect to put 70 points up every night."



The game was close throughout, but both teams made their runs. Central had a 10 point lead in the 1st half, but BG battled to get back in it. Then the Cardinals took a 10 point lead in the 2nd half, and it was Central who battled back to get within 2. But at the end BG had more depth so they were able to make more plays down the stretch.

"We had some defensive breakdowns" said Manchester Central head coach Doc Wheeler. "There was a lack of consistency on defense. We weren't getting back and we weren't blocking out. They showed us some weaknesses we need to fix."

Central was playing without 3 players who could potentially be vital cogs on their team this season, as junior guard Stephen Gomez, junior forward Isaiah Joseph and sophomore forward Adrien Stillwell were all out for this game.

"They violated team rules" said Coach Wheeler. "They might be back next week though."

Leading the way offensively for Central was junior forward Christian Ortega, who was a force inside. Gabe LaCount and Troy Pelletier also stood out for the Little Green.

"Ortega played pretty well offensively in the post" said Wheeler. "But then unfortunately we went away from what was working and started to over-dribble, which got us in trouble."

For BG, in addition to McCarthy, Kesty and Paul, the also got strong play from Brad Holler and Nate Chartrand, and off the bench from forward Jeff Lunn, CJ Boykin and Steve Toscano.

"I thought our kids played well" said Coach Migneault. "They made their run when we stopped passing. They played really well though."

Keene actually led this game 11-9 after the 1st quarter, with 5'10" senior Ashley Clough scoring 8 of those 11 points. But from the 2nd quarter on it was all Crusaders, who outscored the Blackbirds 16-0 in the 3rd quarter.

"It took us a little while to get going" said Memorial head coach Jack Quirk. "We have 3 freshmen who get playing time, but then we started to make adjustments and forced some turnovers and got easy baskets off them."

Memorial has a starting 5 that can play with anyone, and when all 5 of them are clicking they are a scary team. From the 2nd quarter on they weren't just clicking, they were dominating.

5'11" senior Amra Elezovic (committed to UMass Lowell) scored a game high 14 points. She's a very tough match up since she can get to the rim off the dribble or hit the outside shot. On this night her outside shot wasn't falling, but she was able to slash to the basket and finish through contact at will. When she got into the paint Elezovic often drew double teams and was able to make some nice passes to the open teammate.

Speaking of nice passes, nobody made more of them in this game than Crusaders junior point guard Allie Hartford. Hartford had 6 assists, to go with 4 rebounds, 3 points and 3 steals. She knows how to set up teammates for open shots and made a number of terrific dishes in this game.

"Allie had a great game" said Coach Quirk. "She knows when to drive and when to pass and it's like having another coach out there."

Freshman sensation Peace Kabari displayed some unreal athleticism, making some shifty moves to the rim and showing leaping ability that made you do a double take. The 5'6" Kabari had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals in just her third varsity game. 5'8" junior forward Danielle Fletcher was tough on the boards and also made some nice baskets inside, while senior wing player Ari Dimou also played well.

Keene simply couldn't match the speed, aggressiveness and play making ability of Memorial. The Blackbirds scored just 4 points in the 2nd quarter and 0 points in the 3rd. Clough was held in check after the 1st quarter, and one of their other leading scorers sophomore forward Allison Yeaw was in foul trouble for much of the game and never got it going. Late in the 2nd quarter and into the 3rd their main problem was turnovers. They didn't have an answer for Memorial's pressure defense.

"Turnovers were a big problem for us" said Keene head coach Eric Matte. "I'm sure everyone we play is going to be pressing us now. But this wasn't our best game, I expect this group to get a lot better as the season goes on."

Memorial might not be the deepest team, but they all 5 of their starters are very quick and all 5 are capable of scoring in double figures on any given night. The Crusaders are now 3-0 on the season.

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