KEENE, N.H. (12/28/09) - The third day of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Tournament saw the red and white division championships set for Tuesday. Mascenic and Plymouth will square off at 7 p.m., while Lebanon and Conant will play at 8:30 at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Hinsdale 50, Newport 44

KEENE, N.H. (12/27/09) - On day two of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament, the Hinsdale Pacers defeated the Newport Tigers 50-44 on Monday morning at Spaulding Gymnasium.

The Pacers jumped out to an early 15-11 lead, led by 11 points from senior Riley Coleman on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. Before the half, Newport went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to five heading into the locker room. A three-pointer from Tiger sophomore Greg Beaulieu and a jumper from junior Sam Nelson sliced the Hinsdale lead to 25-20.

The Pacers started out the 2nd half on a 9-1 run of their own to extend their lead to 34-21 on a layup from sophomore Ian Perzan with just over four and a half minutes in the third. The Tigers were hampered by a three point third quarter and were down 38-23 going into the last period.

In the fourth, Newport started the quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 38-30 on a jumper from Beaulieu with 6:40 left. The Tigers continued to cut into the lead as sophomore Ethan Gardner made a layup with 5:26 left to make it 41-34. Newport would get as close as five on a pair of free-throws from sophomore forward Syd Lorandeau with just over three minutes left, but Pacer junior Michael Johnson's steal and fastbreak layup sealed the deal for Hinsdale in the 50-44 win.  

Coleman led all scorers with 15 for Hinsdale and grabbed six boards. Bryant Kenndy pulled down a eight boards off the bench for the Pacers, while Cody Rogers grabbed 12 caroms in the win.

The Tigers were led in scoring by Beaulieu's 11 points. Devin Burnham pulled down 12 boards off the bench in the losing effort.

Hinsdale will play tomorrow, December 29th, against the winner of Stevens and ConVal at 1 p.m., while Newport will play the loser at 10 a.m. at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Con-Val 50, Stevens 62

KEENE, N.H. (12/28/09) - On day two of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament, Stevens defeated Con-Val 62-50.

The first half was led by Con-Val's senior guard Evan Salmonson, who scored nine points on four-of-five shooting from the field.  Jared Orazio's seven first half rebounds for Con-Val helped the Cougars out rebound the Cardinals 20-17.

Stevens High was able to keep pace by shooting 48% from the field and nearly matching Con-Val's points in the paint 12-to-14. The Cardinals were led by junior forward Kevin O'Connor, who scored eight points on four-of-eight shooting. Also chipping in for Stevens, Zach Melcher scored eight points and Cam Blewitt added five points and six rebounds.

Stevens senior Colton Tenney pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the team and had 10 points and an assist. O'Connor led all scorers with 22 points and finished his day shooting 60% from the floor and 80% from the free throw line. Blewitt would add two more points and three more rebounds to finish with seven and nine.

Con-Val's Orazio finished the game with 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Cougars in both categories. Senior guard Terrance Ellis had six points and five rebounds, and forced four turnovers to lead the game in steals. Salmonson finished with 10 points on four-of-eight shooting.

Con-Cal next meets Newport on December 29, at 10 A.M., and Stevens next plays Hinsdale at 1:00 in Spaulding Gymnasium.  

Mascenic 60, Fall Mountain 46

KEENE, N.H. (12/28/09) - On day two of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament, Mascenic beat Fall Mountain by a final score of 60-46.

The Vikings were able to run out to a nine point lead to end the first quarter by running at their pace. The second quarter would see Fall Mountain climb back in and tie the game with about two minutes left in the half. Mascenic would end the half regaining the lead to go up 28-22.

For Fall Mountain, Kevin Plummer had 10 points and four rebounds. Jed St. Pierre also ripped down four boards and chipped in with three points.  Jake Wright had four points off the bench on two-of-three shooting from the floor.

The Vikings of Mascenic were led by Mickey Martel who had eight points, one steal, and three assists. Cam Salo netted seven points and forced three Wildcat turnovers. Damon Salo contributed with five points and four rebounds, three of which were on the offensive end.

In the second half, Fall Mountain was able to climb back in and cut the lead to six, but with about six minutes left, Mascenic went on an eight-zero run and led by 14, and led by as much as 17.  The Wildcats were led by Plummer led the team with 21 points, shooting six-of-fifteen from the field and four-of-seven from three. St. Pierre finished the game with nine points and 11 rebounds. 

For the Vikings, Martel led the team with 25 points, shooting nine-of-sixteen from the field, and five-of-nine from behind the line. Israel Shaw contributed with 11 points and eight rebounds.  Daman Salo had nine points on four-of-seven shooting.

Mascenic will next meet the winner of Goffstown vs. Plymouth at 7:00 P.M. on December 29, and Fall Mountain awaits the loser at 11:30 A.M. at Spaulding Gymnasium. 

Plymouth 64, Goffstown 62 (OT)

KEENE, N.H. (12/28/09) - On day two of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament, Plymouth scrapped out an overtime nail biter 64-62 against Goffstown.

On four-of-seven shooting, Alec Stephens led the Goffstown to a 26 to 23 lead over Plymouth at the end of the first half. The Grizzlies were able to turn the Plymouth over 13 times en route to the first half lead.  Connor Shaw and Matt Riehl added four points of their own and each had an assist.

For Plymouth, Tayor Newberry and Jack Ringlein had seven points each and shot a combine five-of-nine from the floor. Aaron Dow and Newberry each pulled down five rebounds.

In the second half, the Goffstown led by as many as 12 points, only to see Plymouth storm back and tie the game with 2:25 left in the game. The fourth quarter saw five ties and five lead changes, all of which came with under 2:30. With 17 ticks left on the clock, Brandon Shea hit a free throw to take the lead for Plymouth. Going back down the other end for the Grizzlies, Stephens went to the line and hit one of two to send the game into overtime tied at 56-56.

In overtime, Plymouth jumped out to a quick 59-56 lead, but with 35 seconds left, Goffstown would climb back and tie it at 62. Plymouth raced down the other end and got a quick layup from Dow with 19 seconds left. The Grizzlies would hold the ball for one last shot, only to see it clang off the back rim and the buzzer sounded.

Goffstown was led by Stephens' 14 points and Riehl's 12 rebounds.

For Plymouth, Ringlein scored 22 points to go along with four rebounds and three steals. Newberry completed a double-double by scoring 14 points and pulling down 16 boards.

Plymouth next meets Mascenic in the championship game at 7:00 P.M. on December 29, and Goffstown will play Fall Mountain at 11:30 in the Spaulding Gymnasium.      

Coe-Brown 47, Smithfield (RI) 52

KEENE, N.H. (12/28/09) - On day two of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament, Smithfield (R.I.) defeated Coe-Brown by a final score of 52-47.

Midway through the first quarter, Smithfield (RI) stormed out to a thirteen point lead, which they would sustain until two minutes left in the half, when Coe-Brown would come back and tie the game. The half would end closely with Smithfield leading by one.

Leading the way for the Smithfield Sentinels in the first half was junior forward Kyle Morvan, who had seven points and four rebounds. Senior guard Brandon Viens also had seven points on perfect shooting (3-3) and two rebounds. Terrence Manning added six points, three assists, and four steals.

For Coe-Brown, junior guard Dan Lang had nine points off the bench on 60% shooting from behind the three point line. Senior guard Sam Bassett chipped in with eight points, shooting a near perfect five-of-six from the free throw line. Krystian Lucey shot thereof-three from the floor, scoring six points and pulling down six rebounds.

Morvan led Smithfield in the game with 16 points and 9 rebounds as the Sentinels held off a 7-3 Coe-Brown run late in the fourth.  Also for Smithfield, Manning totaled 13 points, while Aaron Brown scored nine. The Sentinels led by as many as six in the second half and only trailed one time.

For Coe-Brown, Skyler Mitchell led the team with 16 points on seven-of-thirteen shooting, and also grabbed seven rebounds. Bassett scored 12 points and Lang ended the contest with 11.

Smithfield awaits the winner of Keene and Monadnock on December 29 at 5:30 P.M., while Coe-Brown will take on the loser of the same game at 2:30 P.M. 

Keene 75, Monadnock 56

KEENE, N.H. (12/27/09) - On day two of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament, Keene dropped Monadnock by a score of 75-56. Keene scored 27 points off of turnovers, while Monadnock scored only 6.

Keene quickly jumped out to a 14-5 lead and never looked back.  Shooting four-of-nine from the floor, Theodore Speas had 11 points in the first half to go along with six rebounds. Nicholas Nelson chipped in with eight points and four boards, three of which were on the offensive end. Sam Galloway added two assists and two steals.

In the first half for Monadnock, Matt Tommila scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds and a blocked shot. Jay Perry hauled in three rebounds and had two steals.

Keene, who never trailed in the game, went up by as much as 22 and held the Huskies to 22-of-62 shooting from the floor (34%). Speas ended the game with game highs in both points, 19, and rebounds, 10. Nelson finished with 12 points and six rebounds, and Josh Dutilly added ten points.

For the Huskies, Corey Barnes had 17 points and was three-of-eight from behind the three point line. Tommila had five points and eight rebounds and was three-of-four from the free throw line.

Keene will play on December 29 at 5:30 P.M. against Smithfield (R.I.) for the third place game, and Monadnock will take on Coe-Brown at 2:30. 

Lebanon 55, Milford 53

KEENE, N.H. (12/28/09) - On day two of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament, Lebanon defeated Milford 55-53 in an impressive come from behind win.

Milford would go up by as many as 11 in the first half as they led at the end of two quarters by a score of 34-25. The Spartans were led by guard Mike Mitchell who shot three-of-three from behind the arc for a total of 11 points, and had three assists. Guard Jamie Holder was five-of-nine from the field scoring 10 points and hauling in three rebounds and blocking two shots.

For Lebanon, Jacob Woodward scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Raiders in both categories. Cody Patch scored five points and had three offensive boards.

The second half saw Milford continue to run well, but the running was cut short as Lebanon clawed its way back into the game, slicing the lead to three at the end of the third quarter. The lead would be extended again to nine in the fourth, but with 3:36 on the clock to make it once again a three point game. James Kane made four clutch free throws for Lebanon on the next two possessions for the Raiders to take the lead for the first time in the half.

The rest of the fourth quarter would be back and forth with no team seeing a lead larger than two points. There were three lead changes and one tie, with the last lead change going in Lebanon's favor.

For the Spartans,  Mitchell finished with 12 points on four-of-eleven shooting and three assists. Holder led the team in points with 19 and rebounds with 10. Mike O'Loughlin added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Raiders were led by Woodward who tallied 20 points and 11 boards. Kane's four free throws gave him 13 points, and he also added a game high 13 rebounds.

Lebanon squares off with the winner of Souhegan vs. Conant on December 29 at 8:30, and Milford will match up with the loser of the same game at 4:00.

Conant 70, Souhegan 61

KEENE, N.H. (12/28/09) - On day two of the 2009 Cheshire Tire/Ted's Shoe & Sport Holiday Basketball Tournament, Conant defeated Souhegan 70-61. The Sabers were hurt by shooting just 7-of-16 (43%) from the line, while the Orioles shot 24-of-26 (92%).

The first half was an up and down game, seeing a Conant six point lead diminish to one,  but then regained and brought up to as many as 11 to end the half.

For the Orioles, Jimmy Peard shot four-of-eight from the floor and had a team high 11 points and four rebounds. Ezra Hodgson ended the half contributing 9 points and went four-of-four from the free throw line.

The Sabers saw three-of-five shooting from Sam Protzmann for six points to give him the team high. Protzmann and Ryan Redmond led the team with four rebounds apiece.

 Midway into the third quarter, Conant's 15 point lead was the largest of the game. The lead would be cut to eight at the end of the period when Souhegan's Jack Nelson drilled a three at the top of the key as time expired. The Sabers would take the momentum with them into the fourth quarter and just a minute in Nelson hit another three to cut the lead to three at 52-49. The lead would stay at no more than five, until 1:27 when Peard hit two free throws to extend the lead to seven. With 14 ticks left on the clock, Peard went back to the line and hit another pair of free throws which would be the dagger in the side of the Sabers.

 The Orioles were led by Peard who finished the game with 24 points and eight rebounds. Sean Martin was second on the team in scoring with 18 points and was five-of-five from the charity stripe.

For the Sabers, Seth Cordts had 15 points, while Protzmann contributed 10 points and seven rebounds. David Gilligan added 17 points on eight-of-fourteen shooting.

Conant will meet Lebanon on December 29 at 8:30 P.M. for the championship, and Souhegan will face off against Milford at 4:00 P.M. at Spaulding Gymnasium.