Feb. 12th Games

Here we are with the start of Weekend with a full slate of games tonight:

Memorial at BG: The Crusaders have their sights firmly set on a Top 4 seed. BG is scrapping to get a home prelim game.

Exeter at Dover: Exeter is coming off a huge rivalry win over Winny. Dover is coming off a disappointing road loss to Concord and long bus ride back to the Garrison City. Don't underestimate this being a rivalry game either. It might not be an easy 32 minutes for the Blue Hawks.

Alvirne at Merrimack: The Broncos have the Mo of their nice victory over BG from this past Tuesday. Mack is steadily cruising to a Top 4 seed.

Trinity at North: The Pioneer ship is in choppy waters. The extra long Titan court might not be a place for the SS Pioneer to navigate to calmer  waters and sunnier basketball weather.

Bedford at Pinkerton: At the end of January the Bulldogs were a potential Top 4 team. Mid-way through February Bedford is now fighting to garner a Top 8 seed. Bedford is in a tough stretch right now and I don't know if a trip to the Hackler Gym at the University of Pinkerton will help ease the toughness.

Salem at Winny: An intriguing game. Salem hasn't played for almost 2 weeks and their last game was a nice victory over South. Winny had their tough rescheduled loss to Winny just last night. 2 Good Guy coaches. Just an intriguing game.

Timberlane at Oyster River: A game with huge playoff implications. Both teams are in the #8 to #14 seed mix. Any victory right now is a big one for both teams, especially the Owls, who once again are known as:


"social media giant that is Timberlane basketball"

50-21 on the season, and looking for a BIG Friday night.

Game of the Night presented by La Caretta with new table side guacamole making. . . Fresh ingredients are the key!!
#8 Bedford v. #1 Pinkerton--  Since Bedford has cracked the top 8 they have had to play second toughest stretch of any schedule in Division 1 (the toughest stretch belongs to Londonderry having to played- Winnacunnet, Pinkerton, Merrimack, Pinkerton and Central in a row).  Bedford is reeling trying to find a way to stay in the top 8 after losses to North, Memorial and Central and unfortunately for them they are running into the Astros.  Rosinski has his boys firing on all cylinders.  I have had it over and over again, Rizzo, Romick, Morris and Olson are the best starting group in D1.  Pinkerton wins.

#5 Memorial v. Bishop Guertin-- BG is a different team in the C-Dome then they are on the road.  Handing both #3 Central and #2 Merrimack losses holding a 4-0 record at home.  Memorial has been an offensive juggernaut, scoring lower than 80 points only 4 times on the season.  If Memorial can get out and run, which I think they will, it will be tough for BG to keep up with the scoring of Memorial.  Memorial wins.

Dover v. #4 Exeter-- I want to say this is a trap game. . . Exeter coming off an emotional win against rival Winnacunnet playing a 2-10 young Dover squad, but Dover is coming off a tough loss at the hands of the Concord.  I don't see much energy at this contest, and unfortunately for Dover, Exeter is pretty good.  Exeter wins.

Concord v. Keene-- This is a must win for Keene if they want to be considered a contender come March.  Concord is coming off their second win of the season after a well fought battle against Dover.  Keene wins.

Alvirne v. #2 Merrimack-- Ohh baby. . . this will be a great defensive battle in the Mack.  Hopefully, this game will be more fast pased than the traffic fiasco on voting day. . . took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to the high school to vote!   Alvirne will battle throughout the game. . . but the Broncos still lack the scoring needed to win a big game like this.  Merrimack wins.

Pembroke v. #7 South-- South is too much for a struggling Pembroke squad.  South wins.

Trinity v. #6 North-- Trinity has the pieces to be a feared team in D1, they just need to starting bringing them every night to the hardwood. Lane is back on the sideline for North and they are playing like a team on a mission. McCarthy is the difference maker in tonights game. . . Trinity will have to figure out a way to keep him off the boards and I don't know if they have a solution. North wins.


Salem v. Winnacunnet-- This is an interesting match up. . . Winnacunnet has clearly been a better team at home than on the road and Salem is starting to figure things out with big wins over Londonderry and South.  Winnacunnet needs this win if they want to host a playoff game and Salem needs this win to stay out of the bottom 3.  Salem has been off preparing for a while they will be hungry to get back on the court, while Winny is coming off a tough home loss v. rival Exeter.  This is a great recipe for an upset. . . Salem wins.

Concord at Keene is an interesting game as Keene has not played in over a week and Concord is playing the second night of a back to back.  How much rust Keene shows and whether the wave Concord will be riding from last night's big victory will reach all the way to Keene could be the deciding factor.  Keene is way out there, so I say that wave leaves them high and dry somewhere around Stoddard.  Keene wins a tough game.
Keene has been missing two senior starters (Blake and Zecha) since January 8th, but will have them available tonight.  If Keene wins and moves to 5-6, their rescheduled game on Monday with BG becomes huge to see who slips into the top 10.  (Even if BG (5-6) were to pull off the upset of Memorial tonight) On the other hand, this is a great opportunity for Concord to make a bit of noise before heading into a tough stretch to finish out the season.  Matt Giroux will be out for blood as he was ejected during the Keene victory at Concord earlier this season.  If Keene holds him in check and forces Blodgett and Lita to do the scoring, Keene should be fine.  I have seen a few teams described as a team you don't want to see in the playoffs and as hard as it is to say with a straight face, Keene may be one of them since we haven't really seen this team intact since they were 3-1.

Just when I thought I had it all figured out., last night happens. "You know nothing, Jon Snow!"
0-3, 55-16 in the season

La Caretta may be a good post game stop! The advertising is paying off.

#8 Bedford @ #1 Pinkerton - Battle of the 6'7" bigs Gendron v Olson will be fun. But the PA guards have too many skills for a Bulldog team in a very rough stretch. Astros win.

#5 Memorial @ Bishop - Is BG's court smaller, or does it just feel that way? Memorial runs all night and wins by a bunch.

Dover @ #4 Exeter - Big win by Exeter, don't see them falling asleep here. Exeter wins.

Concord @ Keene - Based on last night, this game may be tougher than originally thought. Although, with skipper's Keen(e) insight (pun intended), I'll take Keene to win.

Alvirne @ # 2 Merrimack - The Merrimack crazies ( the fans, not the players) rock the house, and spur the Tomahawks onto a solid win.

Pembroke @ #7 South - Good reset game for South to get back on track , South wins and steadies the ship.

Trinity @ #6 North - North is due for a down game, is tonight the night? Could be, but I think they have enough guns to hold on tonight. North wins.

Salem @ Winni - Despite solid wins over L'derry and South, the Blue Devils have still not convinced me. The Warriors bounce back from a tough one, and win tonight.

Sorry, needed to get these in quick.

Uh Oh,

Salem hits a three at buzzer against Winni to win game, kids swamp the floor.  Matt Son of coach Rob have an unforgettable moment.

Wait, the officials say the ball didn't go in?????    

The game is under protest, score is not yet posted.  Rob Mclauglin is not one to be wrong or say anything if he wasn't 100 %  positive

Anyone there see the play??

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sorry, my bad