Sports

Boys’ hockey: No. 11 Exeter stuns No. 3 Concord in overtime, knocks Crimson Tide out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

CONCORD – Concord keeled over in disbelief.It hadn’t yet been five seconds since a shot from Exeter’s Ryan Wallace found the back of the net at 12:03 of overtime to win the game for the Blue Hawks, 4-3. The stark reality already set in. The Tide...

Girls’ basketball: Pembroke off to the D-II semifinals after beating Bow for the third time this season

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

PEMBROKE – Over the previous two seasons, no team has caused Pembroke girls’ basketball more disappointment than Bow. Each of the Spartans’ last two years ended with a loss to the Falcons in the playoffs. But Saturday was different.Pembroke was the...

Boys’ basketball: Joe Fitzgerald’s 26 points lift Pembroke over Merrimack Valley in D-II quarterfinal

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

PEMBROKE – The No. 3 Spartans (18-2) had ample reason to feel concern, trailing No. 11 Merrimack Valley (9-11), 23-22, at halftime of Friday night’s Division II boys’ basketball quarterfinal.With the Pride having just come off an upset overtime win...

Boys’ hockey: Coming off back-to-back losses, Concord looks to right the ship in the playoffs

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

It’s not too common to see Concord boys’ hockey lose back-to-back games. When it happened last week in losses to Keene (2-1) and Hanover (3-2), it was the first time the Crimson Tide program had dropped consecutive contests in seven...

Boys’ basketball: Familiar foes, Pembroke and MV prepare to do battle in the D-II quarterfinal Friday night

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

When No. 11 Merrimack Valley (9-10) shows up to play No. 3 Pembroke Academy (17-2) on Friday night in the Division II quarterfinals, there won’t be much the two teams don’t already know about each other. They squared off twice during the regular...

Girls’ basketball: Bow throws a wrinkle at Merrimack Valley, advances to D-II quarterfinal

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

BOW – The No. 6 Bow Falcons (14-5) had really only played man-to-man defense all season. But entering their Division II first round meeting with No. 11 Merrimack Valley (9-10), head coach Cassidy Emerson decided to employ a zone. The gamble worked in...

‘We learned a lot’: After 3-15 season, Tim LaTorra still optimistic about the future for Concord boys’ basketball

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

The 2023-24 season for Concord boys’ basketball was supposed to be one of promise. In head coach Tim LaTorra’s first season last year, he’d taken a team that finished 2-16 the year before to 6-12, a tiebreaker away from reaching the playoffs.But the...

High schools: John Stark, Pembroke advance in D2 girls’ hoops, plus more tournament results

D-II Girls’ BasketballNo. 4 John Stark 61, No. 13 Milford 46Key players: John Stark – Eleanor Girardet (26 points, 14 rebounds), Avery Geaumont (13 points), Abby Duclos (12 points)Highlights: The Generals consistently put up points throughout the game...

Stacy Wakefield dies less than 5 months after her husband, Tim Wakefield

The Associated Press

Stacy Wakefield, the widow of former Boston Red Sox pitcher and two-time World Series champion Tim Wakefield, has died. Her family said in a statement released through the Red Sox that she died Wednesday at her Massachusetts home, less than five...

High schools: MV boys win on Simonds buzzer-beating 3 in OT, Pembroke also advances in D-II

D-II Boys’ BasketballNo. 11 Merrimack Valley 60, No. 6 Laconia 57, OTKey players: MV – Aiden Gray (16 points), Trevor Simonds (16 points), Andrew Suprenant (11 points); Laconia – Keaton Beck (20 points)Highlights: Simonds hit a buzzer-beating...

Boys’ basketball: Connor Bagnell’s 28-point night leads Coe-Brown into the quarterfinals

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

NORTHWOOD – Tuesday night’s first-round Division II playoff matchup between No. 4 Coe-Brown (15-4) and No. 13 Kingswood (8-11) was the type of game any coach in Dave Smith’s position dreads: the third time playing a team you’ve already beaten...

Boys’ basketball: Bow controls fourth quarter to beat Souhegan in D-II prelims

By DAN ATTORRI

Not even three weeks ago the Sabers handed Bow a 32-point loss. The Falcons weren’t about to let that happen again. Not on their home court, not in the playoffs.Souhegan erased an 11-point deficit to lead by one point at halftime and by one heading...

Girls’ basketball: Six area teams qualify for Division II playoffs, led by Concord Christian

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

Area teams make up three of the top four seeds in this year’s Division II girls’ basketball playoffs, which begin on Wednesday.Concord Christian, playing in its only season in D-II before moving up to D-I next year, took the top seed after finishing...

Monitor Sports Podcast – Previewing the D-II basketball and D-I hockey playoffs

On this week’s episode, Eric Rynston-Lobel and Dan Attorri recap Saturday’s D-III girls’ basketball championship game win for Kearsarge over Hopkinton and the D-III boys’ semifinal loss for the Cougars, while also previewing the D-II boys’ and girls’...

Hockey: Concord and Bow boys, Concord girls enter playoffs on cold stretches

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

It had been roughly three years since Concord High boys’ hockey last lost a regular-season game, but on Feb. 13, the long winning streak finally came to an end in a 4-1 defeat against Hanover. Previously 11-0-1 on the season, the Tide finished just...

Boys’ basketball: Pembroke, Coe-Brown and Bow lead the pack among D-II area playoff teams

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

Like last season, the Pembroke Spartans top the list among area teams to qualify for the Division II boys’ basketball playoffs. At 16-2, last year’s runner-up turned in another impressive season with a mostly new group of players.Returning senior Joe...

NHTI Athletics: Lofton joins 1,000 point club; Men host playoff game Saturday

NHTI Lynx women’s basketball had its season come to an end over the weekend. They fell in the opening round of the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) Tournament to the two-seed, University of Maine-Augusta (UMA). The Lynx women’s basketball went...

Wrestling: Bow’s Moura wins state title; Concord’s Beauregard wins girls crown

By DAN ATTORRI

Bow High’s Adler Moura set high expectations for himself heading into this wrestling season. He already had three major awards to his name heading into Saturday’s Meet of Champions and left the Bedford High School gym with a fourth.Moura, a senior,...

High schools: Saturday’s hockey results

Boys’ HockeyHanover 3, Concord 2, OTKey players: Concord – Jack Shoemaker (goal), Carter Doherty (goal), AJ Dow (2 assists)Highlights: Concord tied the game twice, including a game-tying goal from Doherty with 3:28 left to force overtime, but it...

Girls’ basketball: Hopkinton’s title run falls short against Kearsarge; Cougars win first state title in 22 years

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

In the Division III semifinals against Winnisquam, Hopkinton seemed to be able to score whenever it wanted. On Saturday, with a state championship on the line against No. 4 Kearsarge at Keene State, the Hawks’ offense mostly vanished.After taking a...