D1 Girls' Tournament

The Girls’ D1 tournament starts Wednesday March 2nd at 7:00 pm. Even though the D1 girls’ tournament might not be as wild and wooly as the D1 boys’ tournament, there is still the potential for some lightning and thunder to take place. The perennial power teams are not that heads and heels above the middle of the pack teams. There were more upsets this year in D1 girls than there had been in past seasons. There were tighter games when top 5 teams played the next 10 teams. Glaring examples are Dover’s victory over Londonderry, Trinity losing to Bedford by 2 and BG by 2. When the Final Four advance to SNHU for the March 10th semi-finals, they could be the perennial power teams, but their road to the Final Four will be a bit more bumpy and curvy this playoff season.

Keene at BG – The Lady Cardinals has been the most consistent team in D1 this season. They have size and they can defend. Their only loss was by 6 points to Londonderry.

Dover at Central – This is a pick-em game. They actually split 2 games. Central won the regular season game, but Dover won a contest in the Central holiday tournament.

Trinity at Winny – Winny is a team that turns it on come playoff time. They have the best Big in Knollmeyer, which will be huge in the playoff season. Trinity has had a very interesting season to say the least. They had a tough 6 game losing streak, but finished the season with nice wins over North and Memorial and a close 2 point loss to Bedford. They do have a fresh-woman point guard. This might be key with a road playoff game.

Salem at Pinkerton – Pinkerton handled Salem rather easily in the regular season. You would think the Astros would advance here.

Exeter at Londonderry – The Lady Lancers won the regular season tilt by 43. Mark them down for the quarterfinals.

Memorial at North – Here is your other pick-em game of the prelims. Memorial won the regular season game 60 – 58. Both teams are guard oriented and love to get up and down the court, shooting 3’s and putting offensive pressure on their opponents.

South at Bedford – Sue Thomas’ crew won the regular season tilt by 29. Me things the Bulldogs will be playing in the quarterfinals.

Merrimack at Alvirne – Merrimack is not your typical #11 seed. Many of their losses have been tight. Alvirne won the regular season game by 9. This is closer to an 8/9 game than it is to a 6/11 game.


POY – Hands down it goes to Meg Knollmeyer of Winnacunnet.


COY – Dan Casey of Dover. The Green Wave had the upset of the season when they beat Londonderry 54 to 49. Coach Casey extracts every ounce out of a program that is not a perennial power. Dover had a solid season finishing 9th. When you look at the Top 8 teams and the order they are in, all of them are very close to where they should be.

From the UL:

NHIAA Roundup: Merrimack upsets Alvirne in prelims

Sabrina Johnson collected 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead the 11th-seeded Merrimack High School girls’ basketball team to a 55-39 victory over sixth-seeded Alvirne on Wednesday night in the preliminary round of the Division I tournament. Merrimack (9-10) trailed 10-9 after one quarter, but led 23-20 at halftime and 39-30 after three quarters.

Marissa Sweeney had 11 points and nine rebounds for Alvirne (13-6), which was without injured forward Amanda Wetmore.

Dover 38, Manchester Central 32 (OT): In Manchester, Katrina Krenzer scored 12 points to lead ninth-seeded Dover past eighth-seeded Central in the opening round of the Division I girls’ tournament. Krenzer forced overtime by making a shot at the end of regulation and the Green Wave (10-9) outscored the Little Green (9-10) 6-0 in overtime.

Winnacunnet 53, Trinity 43: In Hampton, Meg Knollmeyer tossed in a game-high 30 points for fourth-seeded Winnacunnet (16-3). Trinity (7-12), the No. 15 seed, trailed 28-20 at halftime and 40-32 after three quarters. Maddy Haynes (17) and Hannah Fabiano (16) were Trinity’s leading scorers,

Bedford 52, Nashua South 27: In Beford, Courtney O’Connell and Alexis Meservey each tossed in a team-high eight points for the third-seeded Bulldogs (16-3). Jocelyn Chaput scored a game-high 14 points for 14th-seeded South (5-14).

Nashua North 59, Manchester Memorial 52: In Nashua, the No. 7 Titans held the 10th-seeded Crusaders to single digits in three of four quarters to cruise to the win. A 17-8 third quarter in favor of North helped seal the deal early.

Sara Cordova posted 20 points and six rebounds for the Titans (12-7), while Adaeze Okorie had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists to go along with four steals. Abbey Morrison led Memorial (8-11) with 18 points annd Melanie Presseau pitched in 12.