Keene Tourney Semis

Keene Tourney began today and the semi's are now set.

Lebanon defeated a very weak Rhode Island team and Milford breezed by Coe Brown setting up one Semi.

Souhegan blew out Monadnock and Conant beat class L Keene to make the other semifinal matchup.

MIlford and Lebanon should be a good game. Lebanon has some athletic big men and a solid point guard in McCarthy. They seemed to play a very slow and deliberate game compared to MIlford who really seems to push the ball and run. Should be very interesting match up of styles. Also a good chance for a team from the north to make a statement that the North will have something to say come March at UNH.

Conant vs Souhegan is a interesting game as well. Souhegan is a big team. They have size at all of the starting spots with Cordts being the smallest guy in the lineup at about 6ft maybe even 6'1"
Devin Gilligan has been putting up good numbers but against Monadnock he also did a good job setting up his big men on drives. I see Souhegan winning this but Conant will not go quietly. I can see this being a single digit game.

Good luck to everyone!

I'm sure our resident Class I expert will chime in here, but looks like Conant and Lebanon are going to meet in the finals.

Lebanon beat Milford 55-53 (oh dear, sound the alarms). Milford was up 9 at halftime, but apparently the offense sputtered in the second. Holder had 19 and 10, Mitchell with 12 (3 3pointers) and Mike O had 11 and 10. They get Souhegan in the consolation game.

Conant over Souhegan 70-61. Gilligan with 17 pts and Seth Cordts had 15.

Sounding like some great games being played in Keene. The Lebanon/Conant final should be a good one. Lebanon is one of the strongest teams in I and should vie for the crown in March. Conant, per the usual, will be right there as well. Milford/Souhegan is a nice rivalry matchup for the consolation.

Great opportunity for these kids to play on the college floor at Keene...

Asst: Do alarms actually sound in the Town of Milford when their HS boy's team loses a basketball game?

Alarms still sound when we win a game... Tough loss but Milford shouldn't be shaken by it. They got the same shots last night as the past 6 games and just didn't knock them down. I look at it as a bad game where shots didn't fall and we gave a team way to many second chances.
The Conant team is a joy to watch play and after sitting behind the bench their coach should be coaching at the next level. He is very good and getting everything out of that team. His huddles are clear and to the point and his adjustments are timely and well set up. He also seems to have a calm about him that feeds his teams confidence. Last night despite having their best scorer foul out and having Souhegan throw in shots late to make it close his team never wavered and stayed in their sets and executed down the stretch. That was a great win for Conant and I cannot see anyone in M beating them.

ChiKid, so I presuming the alarm for a win is different than the alarm for a loss in Milford, correct?

I'm so glad you're a Dunkin Donuts guy and not a Starbucks guy. You sitting with a lap top, posting on the NH Sports Forum while sipping a gingerbread latte would not be you !!

Yeah, I thought that was funny last night. Asking where the video was before I even arrived at home. Conant was very impressive last night. They should win tonight.
You going to Nashua?

Unfortunately, I can't. I have other basketball duties to attend to.

On the other blog someone has posted that Conant has beaten Lebanon. This season in NH is crazy. Maybe it is because so many underclassmen are key guys on teams that everyone is inconsistent or maybe the parity that the NFL has been looking for is now alive in NH hoops.
Should be interesting to see if Campbell can pull off the class M sweep of the Chik Fil-A and Cheshire tire tourneys?
Anyone want to predict it now?

From this mornings Telegraph. And yes I think Campbell can be Thornton ME...but it will be tough.

MILFORD 64, SOUHEGAN 47

Kyle Nelson scored 13 of his 15 game-high points in the first half and Mike O’Loughlin added nine points (13 total), four rebounds (eight total) and three steals to lead the Spartans past the Sabers on the final day of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted’s Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament at Spaulding Gymnasium in Keene.

The Spartans quickly led in the contest, and went up by as many as 19 points. The first half difference was points in the paint, where Milford scored 28 and held the Sabers to just 10.

Souhegan’s D.J. Petropolous had six points on 50-percent shooting and three rebounds, while Seth Cordts had five points and went three-for-three from the free throw line.

In the fourth quarter, Souhegan would climb back to make it a 12-point game. Devin Gilligan scored a team-high 12 points, including two 3-pointers, and Cordts finished the game with 10 points and was perfect from the line (3-for-3).

Mike Mitchell chipped in with 11 points and six assists for the Spartans.

It looks like Milford made a commitment to points in the paint against Souhegan after squandering their lead to Lebanon in the semis with the "chuck-a-ball" offense in the 2nd half.

We still missed some threes but we ran and forced Souhegan to turn it over as well. We will get our shot back at home and play well. I really think a home game is long overdue. I am going to watch Hollis tonight at South and Bedford as well. Besides if I stay home the lovely wife will make me clean something.