Tuesday 1/25 Game Thread

[chicagokid43]

Today has some very nice match ups in both D1 and D2.

D1 you have Memorial hosting BG this to me is the game of the night in D1 and I see BG getting a win but in a very exciting game with some real nice match ups.

Also in D1 is Spaulding and Pinkerton. Pinkerton still seems to be searching for identity so I see Spaulding getting a good win.

D2 has two very nice match ups also. Souhegan and Goffstown play at Souhegan tonight and I can see Souhegan giving up far less than 100 to Goffstown. Souhegan will win this one by at least ten.

Also in D2 is Oyster River and Pelham. Battle of size vs speed. Contrasting styles but I think Pelham has more balance and will get the win. This will be a very good game but in the end speed and Spirou will be too much for OR.

[nhhoopguy]

I have not seen goffstown play this year, but would they be scoring as much if they were playing D1?

[abball]

NO they wouldnt be scoring that much in D1 they were at the bottom of the league most years in DI for basketball they really werent a powerhouse in basketball. Dont think they ever really have been

[chicagokid43]

Doubt it, I think you have to look at the teams they have played so far and realize they are a deep team especially in comparison to the teams they have played so far in D2. The combined records of the teams they have beaten is something like 12wins and 30 losses. So in blow outs which they have been in plenty, the bench they have is often stronger than the bench of other teams. So that allows them to run up scores. The one team they played that most consider a top 6 team is Oyster River and they lost by 23. So would they be scoring that much against D1? Of course not and it is highly unlikely they will score that much against the the better teams starting with Souhegan tonight. Good news for Goffstown is they somehow avoid playing many of the top teams in the state somehow. Pelham,Pembroke,Lebanon and Portsmouth are not on their schedule. That is one of the many issues with D2 this year. There are clearly 5-6 good teams and after that a big drop off in talent.
Tonights game is a big contrast in styles and styles make fights.. I mean good games. This should be very interesting. Unfortunately I will be in Hollis... dang it!

[Guest]

Exeter beat Trinity?? Anyone go to that game??

[Guest]

Milford beat H/B 60-45. Heard it was ugly, was 48-40 with about 4 minutes left. I'll leave any re-cap to chi-kid or someone that was there.

[EBlessNHSP]

Souhegan and Goffstown combine for 189 points. Souhegan wins 97-92. Barn burner. Love it. How you like them scoring apples T&F?

[JAF]

Just got a text from the bride... 79-74 BG over Memorial... McClung got his 1000th tonight. I'll GNG tell everyone about it

[EBlessNHSP]

A little DIII love...Both Somersworth and Berlin won easily tonight. They match up Friday night. Somersworth 8-1. Berlin 9-0. Could be a championship preview.

[goldenbear]

Londonderry beat North by about ten

North scored 24 in the first quarter to go up about ten Burke and Jamison hit a bunch of three

Londonderry chipped way, Colby did not start but hit big shots to pull them with in 3 at the half

Mansfield who might be my favorite player in all of Class L basketball dominated the second half getting Mellin and Oconnor in foul trouble

Williams did not dress for North

North was down 8 mid way through the 4th Gautheir got a steal and a lay up to cut it to 6 but then got T'ed up for yelling at the refs.

Number 4 for londonderry also shot the ball very well

[chicagokid43]

HB as always in their gym plays tough D and Milford's inability to solve the zone kept the game low scoring and a game within reach. Of course as soon as HB had to come out and guard Milford it was different. Milford needs to get better and creating offense against the zone and HB owes their coach a huge raise as he always has his team prepared to compete.
Would love to tell you someone played well for Milford but it was one of those grind it out ugly wins that you cannot feel good about. However a win is a win...

[Tuesday and Friday]

To answer Asst's question:

I LOVE SCORING APPLES

I was at the BG 79 Memorial 74 game. It was a very interesting game between two heavyweight D1 teams. It was old school with the offense even though it didn't seem like it would be this high scoring of an affair after the 1st quarter - Memorial 11 BG 10. I'll post more later.

Exeter 69 Trinity 61 - I heard Exeter shot lights out and Trinity's Bigs were very cold in their layups.

Spaulding with a big 7 point victory at Pinkerton.

Salem 37 Winny 21 ??? How do you like those low scoring lemons Asst ??

[nhhoopguy]

Salem beats winny by 16 or so.
Score at half was only 15-14 salem.
Winny could only manage 6 or so point in 2nd half.

[Thomas]

Happens to the best of us...Souhegan 97 Goffstown 92. Souhegan turned a 10 point end of 1st quarter deficit into a 20 point lead with 6:30 left. Goffstown then closes (with a great run) the gap to two late, but stops and Ft's by Len and Gilligan sealed it. Gilligan 36 points and double figure rebounds for Souhegan. Len 20 Cordts 20. The type of game where you are happy to get out of there with a win.

From what I saw, in all fairness I must give a revised opinion of Goffstown. They did not give up and they stuck with their system and almost pulled one out. Shea is an outstanding drive and dish point guard. They had a long 3rd quarter dry spell or the outcome would have been different. I don't think you want to be in a situation where you get them in the playoffs not having played them before - because if they get hot, well...

Gilligan was not stopped at any time. 3's midrange offensive boards transition had it all. Senior guards (to their credit) pounded Len all
night and he rose to the occasion...just a sophomore he is. Congrats to SHS on a tough win.

[Tuesday and Friday]

Memorial girls were behind to BG at half by 2 and then played an outstanding 2nd half to come away with a big 54 to 34 victory on the road. The Lady Crusaders are on a roll.

[Tulliver]

Central girls AND boys beat Keene tonight.

[chicagokid43]

Pounded? What do you mean pounded? Trapping or doubling? Or just playing him physical? I am a big fan of Len I have been singing his praises since last season. I really thought he could have helped the team last year. He has great court awareness and is very relaxed under pressure. I real solid player with two more very good years ahead of him.
Pelham over Oyster River tonight. Looks like it was a good game though.

[Thomas]

...is that they pounded him.

[chicagokid43]

Just physical play I take it? I know they press a lot and trap... no calls?

[Tuesday and Friday]

BG- 10 23 22 24 - 79

Memorial 11 17 18 28 - 74


What is funny is this. I was at the Memorial at Trinity 41 - 38 girl's game on Sunday and there was some pretty good offense being shown. At this BG 79 Memorial 74 game there was actually some good defense being played. Funny how the game of basketball can be. This game started out like your typical D1 boys 2 tractors in a corn field affair. A funny thing happened in the 2nd quarter and for the rest of the game. Shooters started shooting, players started making plays and the offenses got some nice 1980s and 1990s flow and rhythm going. It was almost shocking to sit and witness some good D1 boy's offense on both sides. Connor Green looked real good elevating on his outside shots and taking it strong to the hole. McClung was McClung slinking and slunking his way around the court in route to scoring his 1000th point. Shomari Morgan was the best player for Memorial. He must have had around 30 points. He slashed, dashed and cashed in a lot of his shots.

The difference in this game was very simple. BG had a game plan to annoy David Madol and get into his head. BG accomplished this with precision. Kyle Remillard was on Madol from the start. You could tell very early that Remillard's main focus this evening was to act like a huge black fly around Madol. Now, Madol cooperated very nicely by operating a lot from 15 to 25 feet even though he had 6 to 8 inches on most of his defenders all night. Kelley and what seemed like a cast of a thousand 5'9 to 5'11 players muscled, pushed, aggravated and annoyed the heck out of Madol ALL NIGHT. Sometimes it's not the 5th foul that is key to fouling out. Sometimes, it's a couple of mental errors that leads to a 2nd or 3rd quarter foul that comes back to haunt a player. This happened to the defending POY. He picked up 2 offensive fouls away from the ball where the BG Black Flies were getting under his skin. On one in particular Remillard goaded Madol into his second foul mid way through the 2nd quarter. Remillard and Madol started having a discussion. Wouldn't you love to know the details on this conversation??.............

........ OK, I'll guess what they said. Remi: "Heh, David, didn't you win the POY last year?" Madol: "Yes, Remi, I did." Remi: "Do you think you'll win it again this year?"
Madol: "I certainly think I stand a very good chance." Remi: "Not with me playing defense on you."

All right, conjecture on my part, but you get the point. The BG defenders, all 5 to 6 of them, got into Madol's head and this was the key part of the game.

The defense and play was becoming real physical. A double foul was called mid way through the 3rd to calm things down. Some fans from both BG and Memorial looked as if they were checking to see if they had any eligibility left. They were so close to the court it was like they were going to play. They certainly had no problem giving their opinion. Any time any player drove to the basket they had to be ready for contact and plenty of it.

BG just had too many horses for Memorial tonight. The main horse for Memorial never really stretched himself out on the court tonight. His mental game was askew from the get go and it forced him into bad decisions during the game. Chalk this victory up to BG. These 2 teams will make a lot of noise in the month of March.

Some memorable moments from tonight's game:

Migs called TO and was very displeased with his team and was yelling in caustic overtones as his team came over to the sidelines. A Memorial student shouted out:

"YOU GUYS ARE IN TROUBLE NOW!!!" This brought a pretty good chuckle to the crowd.

Madol made one play I've never seen before. There was a sequence where he attacked the offensive glass with a vengeance. He put up a shot, missed, got his rebound and tried to dunk and missed, hung on to the rim to protect himself. As he was hanging on the rim one of his mates gathered the rebound and shot, but it came up short. Madol released from the rim and caught the short shot and almost put the ball in. I have never seen that sequence before around the rim. It was an extremely athletic play.

I had an effervescent conversation with GNG at Halftime. The BG faithful were very disappointed I didn't produce another year book for him this season.

My yearbook search continues.

[abball]

Looks like thier was a good slate of games tonight. BG back on there winning ways. Souhegan over Goffstown very high scoring. Again though i am shocked, how do you only score 21 points in a game? just doesnt make sense too me. Thats twice so far in d1 that there are very low scores.

[Tuesday and Friday]

21 points for the Winny boys is shocking. I had to look twice when I saw the score. At first I thought it was one of those D4 girls' scores. THIS WAS AT WINNY !!! I wonder if they gave the Winny fans a free coke or bag of chips to go home with after that scoring debacle.

[chicagokid43]

Anyone think Salem is the real deal now? I mean defense wins ball games right?

[abball]

I believe they are ChiKid, if you can hold your opponent to score only 7 points in the second half at their home court i believe they are legit. But again with all the Upsets and no clear front runner in D1. Its hard to say. On any given night any team could go down. But no question they are playing very good basketball right now.

[chicagokid43]

Same across the state. I watched Hollis Brookline push Milford into a tight slow affair tonight and if it weren't for officials that put Milford on the line a lot in the second half this was a game Milford could have had to sweat out. With the lack of real truly dominant athletes and teams that do not have great depth any team is at risk on a given night. Playoffs in D1 and D2 at UNH are going to be crazy and I would not be surprised to see some major upsets along the way.

[Sponsored content]