Championship Games and The Season

Here are my season ending thoughts on a great basketball season for 2010 - 2011:


- I can't help to think how hard it is to win a championship. You have the long season with ups and downs. You have opponents competitively trying to beat you every night. You have the culmination drama of the playoffs and the last few minutes of a championship. It makes me think of what Tom Hanks said to Geena Davis in the movie "A League of Their Own"......... "It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!"

- I wonder if Dave Haley found the end of the game stats for the BG - Trinity game yet? He was bewildered in looking for them in a nearly empty Lundholm gym after the D1 championship. He looked like a son looking for his mother at the beach on July 4th.

- Seeing Mikey Mitchell on the shoulders of the Milford masses while holding the state title plaque made me think of what a difference a year makes. At the conclusion of last year's game Mike Sr called him and said, "You're off the hook." Nice to see a different scenario for the end of this season for the best point guard in D2/State of NH.

- I learned Pete Tarrier really sees EVERYTHING at a gym when he is reporting on championship games.

- Still felt kind of weird not to see Memorial and Madol not in the Final Four.

- I held my breath when the Central and Milford student bodies dispersed powdery substances into the air to celebrate the start of their playoff games. I was waiting for the Durham fire marshal to escort 2000 people onto the UNH deck.

- 2 good BG student body chants directed at the Trinity student body: "BG Rejects" and near the end of the game, "Beat the Traffic."

- I heard this with my good functioning ears during the Milford semi-final game concerning an official's call: "That was the worst call I've ever seen since I've been watching basketball." I'll give you 10 guesses who it was and the first 9 don't count.

- I don't know which weight was heavier coming off BG shoulders near the end of the championship game. The weight sliding off Sean McClung's shoulders for having a good shooting performance or the weight sliding off Coach Migneault's shoulders watching the final seconds count down ??

- This double championship Saturday is still a great afternoon. There is just enough time between games to reset your basketball mind and body with food and drink. The atmosphere was electric for both games.

- Speaking of atmosphere, the zenith came on Wol Majong's 50 foot nothing but net heave at the end of the 3rd quarter. The Trinity stands were rocking and rolling for a bit while a pall was cast upon the BG stands. This pall was broken up by GNG who boisterously stated, "What a shot. What a shot." GNG does respect and appreciate the opponents more than the opponents know. I have first hand knowledge of that.

- I still can't believe the performance Nick Pyzocha had against Central in the semis. He pulled a Cornbread Maxwell "Get on my back boys."

- I always thought Audie Melendez was a good player last year. He was caught in a rotational shuffle the first half of the Central season, but showed what type of player he is by hitting big shots and defending the last half of the year and continued it right into the playoffs.

- I still feel bad for Salem losing the 3 OT game to Central. They should've let the Blue Devils do some "feel good" thing at the UNH semis or finals.

- How about the nearly 10 minute delay for the slippery gym floor in the D1 championship. Did some one drop some ski wax at that end of the floor?

- Zach Stevens is one of the nicest people I've ever come in contact with in all my years of following HS basketball. When he listens to you he hears you. When he talks to you he looks you in the eye. Seeing Zach at a gym is like receiving a warm basketball hug. His smile and personality is like sitting at the Red Arrow with a fresh cup of coffee and a 3 egg omelet. It's so comforting.

- I'm trying to remember what Tully's over/under bet was on Doc's black tops? I saw Central play around 10 times this year and Doc was Black on the Back every time. Tully said something about a royal blue top I think for one game, so what say you Tully??

- I would do a early pre season top 8 for next season, but I'm hearing the Transfer Highway might be busy again, so I'll reserve judgment until mid September 2011.

- Is Mike Mitchell Sr really not going to be around next year? It'll feel like red rims, black nets and referees with big smiles.

- Rumor has it T & F might be attending a couple of championship banquets. My closet has 2 nice new additions that'll be a good fashion choice for wearing to those banquets.

- Speaking of shirts, it is kind of tough when Trinity fans were using T & F along with the words murder, kill and lynching in the same sentence. Those Catholics from the Bridge St hill are a funny group.

- Actual text I received from MM from Milford as to why he might be moving from NH to another state: 1) Weather is warmer. 2) Cost of living is cheaper. 3) Refereeing is better.

- The nice thing about Jim Migneault coaching the first championship for BG since 1983 is that he coached the 2011 team into "Forever." 10, 20 or 30 years from now Migs will run into Cuipa, Remi, Green or McClung and they'll say, "Heh coach remember what the last 2 minutes were like in the Trinity game?" Migs will just smile and say, "Yeah, I remember." That's "Forever" and this is what makes winning a championship so special. You think about it forever, it remains forever and forever you keep that piece of basketball time in your mind.

- One thing I've come to the conclusion on in an exciting and intense basketball game is that a lot of times it's about taking an emotional punch and how you react to it and what you do about it as a player and coach. It could be a dagger 3, an And 1, a team mate fouling out or a 50 footer swished at the end of a quarter. I saw a lot of teams, coaches and players take emotional punches during this playoff season. From the Epic 3 OT game between Salem and Central to the pressure on Milford's Big 3 to repeat in an undefeated way to BG finally becoming the team having "Their championship to lose" to "The State Championship Cardinals", I saw a lot of HS basketball people take emotional punches and fight back and recover. I took a huge emotional punch by losing a close family member on March 4th. It hit me very hard. The Grief Demons were constantly attacking me, like an intense full court press. Going to these gyms the last 2 weeks to see the passion of the fans, coaches and players helped me recover from my emotional punch. Whether it was BG's Remi diving after a loose ball (Twice) in the Trinity game, seeing a freshman hit some big shots like Carmen Giampetruzzi or watching Milford play another team's game twice, but win THEIR championship, this all combined over the last two weeks to help me recover from my life's emotional punch. This is why the basketball gym is the thing. For this I have a lot to be grateful for.

T & F - your reflections on the season were thoughtful and to the point. I'll go one step further and say that the Girls games had their fair share of emotion, wonder and excitement. The state of high school basketball in NH is healthy - the packed houses at SNHU and UNH are proof of that. I know this is being discussed in another thread, but it's too bad that this is as much about $$$ as anything. Having the quarterfinals in four locations instead of one means mo' money, mo' money, mo' money!!! There are reasons why the boys remain in Durham (at least I've heard rumors....). Perhaps the folks in Maine could put together a "how to make it work" paper for their counterparts here in NH. Think about it - four girls games one day, four boys another. Or all D3 and D4 one day, D1 and D2 another. All held at the VWC - there are certainly enough open dates there!!!

Who from what anyone hears is transferring? Anyone hear anything?

All conjecture at this point. It takes a while for the emotional dust from a season to fall to the floor of the gyms in NH.

Thanks NHRamFan. I did notice i forgot to mention the girl's side a bit there with my season ending thoughts. So, here is an epilogue to my thoughts:

The 3 best time periods of basketball I saw this year:

1) The 3 OTs of the Central - Salem Triple OT playoff game. Salem loses their 2 best bigs early in the 2nd OT and almost pulled out a win in this game for the ages.

2) The 2nd quarter of the Winny vs Londonderry D1 Championship game. Londonderry outscores Winny 22 - 19. 2 power house programs going at each other with up and down action. Morrison outside and Corcoran inside for Winny. Butterfield doing everything for Londonderry and that retro fro blowing in the SNHU basketball air.

3) The 4th quarter of the Central at Memorial girl's playoff prelim game. Memorial is up 36 - 20 at the end of the 3rd. Central does everything right and Memorial does everything wrong over the next 8 minutes and Central outscores Memorial 26 - 11 and nearly pulls off the unbelievable come back upset in losing 47 - 46. Olivia Lacroix scores 15 points in the 4th quarter for the Little Green and shows why the most dangerous thing in the playoffs is a senior who doesn't want their carrer to end.


The 3 best games this season:

1) Salem at Central Triple OT classic in the quarterfinals. It was Religious. It was Biblical. It was........ EPIC.

2 Memorial at Trinity girl's rescheduled game on a Sunday where Allie Hartford banked in a 3 at the buzzer. It was Marro and Elezovic in a "I can do better than you" duel with a very high level of basketball being played from start to finish.

3) BG - Trinity D1 Championship. Until BG spaced it out at the end no one could question which team wanted it more. Every loose ball, rebound and possession was played as if it was each player's last. The competitive drive displayed by both teams in this game was clearly evident. Majong's 50 footer, Remis 2 Michael Phelps-like dive for gaining possession of loose balls and the two corner 3 point swishes by McClung put the stamp on this memorable championship game.


The Winny girls last lost to Merrimack. who will be the next team to beat them, if any next year? Five is alive for the Warriors. Will six be in next year's mix? I thought they would take a step down this past season and see more teams give them a game and possibly see a loss or two. It didn't happen and they return a worthy group next season.

All streaks come to an end eventually - UCLA men and UConn women will attest to that. However, Winnacunnet is the (very) early favorite to "six-peat" until further notice. They return what amounts to four starters - Morrison was the best 6th man in all of NH girls hoops - a proven system, and most importantly, the knowledge of what it takes to win....

Don't be surprised if it's Winny and Londonderry again next year at the end. Coach Fagula has an extraordinarily talented group of Freshmen, and from what I hear, an even better group coming in. I'm already looking forward to next year....when do the summer leagues start?????!!!!!?????

Bst starts in june

Great post T and F. I have to add a game that not many saw but those who are there will remember for some time... Milford at Oyster River and the 17 point 4th quarter comeback. Holder,Mitchell and some stifling defense completely rattling the Oyster River guards into our brand of hoops. That has to be in the one of the best by momentum swing and eventual undefeated glory.

I remember that game ChiKid. It was exciting just to hear the details on it. It would certainly make a lot of top 5 games lists for this past season.

Tully, if this weather keeps up Summer League won't start until September. One thing to look forward to with summer league is Doc expanding his coaching wardrobe. Black is sometimes put on the Back......Burner. I still can't get the image out of my mind when Doc had his own fashion White-Out going from head to toe. These are the things that make summer league worth while

Great post T@F, here is my list.

The first Central game, watching Wickey and Green go at it. You just knew we would see them again.

Losing to South. They learned they had to bring it EVERYNIGHT.

Losing to Spaulding in overtime. FREE THROWS would not haunt this team again after that game.

Beating Memorial and Trinity in the same week. That was a good week.

Coming back from 16 down in the 3rd quarter at Dover. They showed how much HEART they had that game. I had a pretty good hunch after that game that Guertin would be a tough out in the tourny.

Senior night against Merrimack. God certainly righted alot of wrongs that night.

Salem on their senior night.

The city of Rochester invading BG for a playoff game, and being such great sports. Watching that 3 bounce out of the rim. It was THAT close.

PSYCHO showing everybody what we already knew in the Central game. The kid is a quiet WARRIOR.

The Trinity game, being so happy for SEAN for those three's.

The parents. Pregame, postgame, day before a game, day after a game. What a great bunch of lunatics.

MIGS with a net draped around his neck, cuips wife on 1 side, my wife on the other side. With a smile on his face that is probably still there this morning.

Having to claim T@F on my taxes because of his allergies. He is allergic to picking up bar tabs.

You know GNG, I have picked up a few allergies in the last few years, but picking up bar tabs? Will I have to make an appointment with my doctor to get medication for this newly discovered allergy? I look at it this way. I found the nice fans of BG to be very gracious in how they handled things in a bar when that tab came floating over to our vicinity. I showed respect for this graciousness. I think I should be commended for that.

then consider yourself commended. I got you into the banquet, and get ready for the post banquet. It will be 1 for the books. I will be well rested.

I presume your diet calendar has the banquet day marked off as DIET HOLIDAY. Funny, I've seen quite a few of these Diet Holidays the second half of the basketball season in your calendar.

I finally got that boxscore T & F....figures you cover all those games and the last one is the toughest to get..
Great re-cap, I'm excited for my year end column on the site Friday. Always my longest and favorite to write.

I just wanted to say I really enjoyed all the great conversations I've had with parents, coaches and even players over the last three weeks. The BG parents are great and I must have talked to 20 current & past coaches in the stands about their season and what they're already doing to get ready for next year.

And BTW my D II all-state picks are on the site tommorow but,,when you're the best point guard in N.H..that makes you first team all-state in your division. That's a no brainer.

Thanks Dave. I appreciate the kind words. I'm glad you finally found the BG - Trinity stat sheet. I was thinking of calling in some of my markers or my people to get things done for you. I could've used heavy weight GNG to strong arm the UNH people for the stats, but he isn't a heavy weight any more. He called me today and informed me he's lost mucho weight and this with all the BG partying. I believe we'll be able to use svelte and GNG in the same sentence shortly.


We'll look forward to your year end column. It's always fun to read and a great exclamation point on the season.

The more time that goes by the more it doesn't make sense on the 3rd player from Milford that DIDN'T make 1st team AS in D2. I have some strong opinions on this AS slight, but if I post them I will upset some people. I try to build bridges as opposed to burning them. It is a no brainer and unfortunately some people used no brains. Apt description and I concur totally.

Maybe NH should look into video corrections for scoring three pointers like the NBA. Seems Mitchell had 7 points not 6 and Milford actually beat Portsmouth 49 to 42. Mitchell was only given credit for a two on his obvious three pointer. I just watched it on video. Not that I care about stats or anything but this would have been huge if this game was an overtime game or if Portsmouth would have won by one.

Sorry Chikid, but while this would be a nice idea in a perfect world, surely you are kidding.

We all know there are many issues concerning officiating, but the incorrect call either for or against a 3pt basket has not been one of them here in NH. In the grand scheme of a game the incorrect call on a charge, the no call on an over the back, the allowing of hacks, etc...are more of a concern to me than trying to outfit every HS gym with video equipment to maybe correct a single point one way or the other a couple of times a year. The NBA & D1 college games do this because there is usually the technology already in place. You do not see this at the D3 level because every school does not have it.

Before someone says we only need to do it at UNH, remember the 1st 2 rounds are still played at the schools and are just as important as the championship game.

The season ending column should be titled "Hale Storm", that would fit in nicely with Tarrier's Take". Mine would be Rem's Gems. Tullivers Travels would be an interesting column.

GNG wrote:The season ending column should be titled "Hale Storm", that would fit in nicely with Tarrier's Take". Mine would be Rem's Gems. Tullivers Travels would be an interesting column.

Tulliver's Travels could not be published..... it'd be too much like Wiki leaks (I am now going to wait for two inevitable forumites to text/harass me for this post)

Yes was only kidding, however I would like Mikes total points to be listed as about 600+1

Oh Tully, if only we could publish all of our Travels and information we know....yes, it would be like Wiki leaks.