You can hear what several NH High School hoop coaches and one premier player had to say by clicking on the “coaches interviews” segments at www.FNLNH.com . We put everything we do on the radio ON DEMAND so you can listen on your schedule. Some highlights from Saturday’s show include how Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge is pleasantly surprised about how good his freshman sensation Dimitri Floras has been this year. We also heard Pinkerton’s Ben Proulx talk about about what really happened between him and West’s Richie Valentin when they scuffled at mid court late in the Astros win a couple weeks ago. Check it out!
ON DEMAND: FNL Basketball Coaches Interviews cont. 2/6/10
Final
57-Alvirne (5-5)
68-Merrimack (9-1)
Correspondent: Tom King
Final
50-Trinity (7-3)
52-Dover (7-3)
Correspondent: Jeremy Leveille
Final
56-Winnacunnet (9-1)
55-Exeter (3-7)
Correspondent: Pete Tarrier
Final
43-Pinkerton (7-3)
42-Man. Central (5-5)
Correspondent: Rory Duyon
Tonight on “Friday Night Lights” 2/5/10
By Pete Tarrier
Here’s the line-up of 4 games we’ll have covered for you on “Friday Night Lights”. Tune in to WGAM 900AM-Nashua/1250AM-Manchester or listen online and ON DEMAND at FNLNH.com tonight after the Monarchs game as Chris Shuker recaps all the action! Just can’t wait til after the games? Follow the action WHILE IT HAPPENS on www.Twitter.com/WGAMFNL You’ll get constant updates from all the games. Hope you have a web enabled phone!
Alvirne(5-4) @ Merrimack(8-1)…Tom King from the Nashua Telegraph will be in Merrimack as the Tomahawks try to rebound from the 1st loss of the season, a 56-55 setback at Salem on Tuesday. Merrimack had the lead late in that one when Eric Watson sank 2 FT’s with 16.9 seconds to go before Salem’s Matt Cannone drained a foul line jumper with 3 ticks left for the win. Alvirne was sitting pretty at 5-2 a week ago, but back to back losses at Spaulding(by 1 point in OT last Friday) and vs. BG(60-52 in Hudson on Tuesday) have the Broncos heading in the wrong direction.
Trinity(7-2) @ Dover(6-3)…Jeremy Levielle of the tremendous NH High School hoops blog www.nhnotebook.com will be there on behalf of FNL as the Pioneers and Green Wave square off in a good one. Dover is the ultimate streaky team. The opened the season with hot shooting and 7 straight wins(including a 3-0 mark to win the QCIBT). Then they lost 3 in a row when the long balls were off the mark, before regaining the winning touch in their last 2 games. Trinity has had a tough time beating their Manchester rivals this season(losses to Central and West/tough win over Memorial), but has handled everybody else. Big man David Madol will present a match-up problem for the much smaller Dover frontline if he decides to set up shop on the low block.
Winnacunnet(8-1) @ Exeter(3-6)…I’m headed out on Route 101 East to see the seacoast rivalry game between the Warriors and the Blue Hawks. It’s a mismatch if you look at the records, but don’t count out Jeff Holmes’ team. They may be 3 games under .500 at this point, but 2 of those losses came in the 1st 2 games of the season…a buzzer beating 2 point defeat @ BG and a 3 point overtime setback to Merrimack at home. No shame in that. Winnacunnet on the other hand has quietly taken down all comers except for Trinity who beat them by 4 in OT in early January.
Pinkerton(6-3) @ Central(5-4)…Rory Duyon makes his 2010 “Friday Night Lights” debut with a good one. Remember when people were asking “what’s wrong with Central this year”? No more! That was when the Little Green were 1-4 and still trying to find themselves. Now they’ve ripped off 4 wins in a row and have to be considered a team no one wants to face, especially on their home floor. The Astros are having another one of those Forrest Gump type seasons where “you never know what your gonna get”. One night they are blowing out a tough Manchester West team by 14 and 3 days later they are blowing an 18 point 3rd quarter lead to lose in Exeter.
Not sure if the heart pounding action we saw last week can be duplicated, but it should be a good night nevertheless! Don’t forget our Saturday morning coaches show between 8a-10am every Saturday morning during the season.
Tarrier’s Take…Merrimack @ Salem 2/2/10
By Pete Tarrier
I headed down to Salem last night to get my 1st in-person look at both the Blue Devils and the Merrimack Tomahawks. Merrimack came in as the only unbeaten team in Class L at 8-0 while Salem was under .500 at 3 and 5, but definately on the upswing after an 0-4 start. It was all Merrimack at the start as the Tomahawks were red hot from beyond the 3 point line, hitting 5 1st quarter treys. Senior Anthony Floras drained 3 of the long balls, while Travis Maser had 1 and Floras’ younger brother Dimitri had the other. The much talked about freshman showed why people are so impressed with him with 3.1 seconds left in the 1st by leaping high over 2 defenders to snare an inbounds pass near midcourt before turning, taking a couple of dribbles and then nailing a straightaway 3 at the buzzer to give Merrimack a 21-11 lead after 1.
Salem coach EJ Perry gave his team an earful in between periods for letting Merrimack get such wide open shots on the perimeter. The Blue Devils responded by holding the Tomahawks to only 6 points in the 2nd quarter and went into halftime down only 5 at 27-22. Salem point guard Alex LaRosa actually outscored Merrimack all by himself in the quarter with 7 points to finish with 9 at the break. The momentum carried over into the 3rd as Salem got big contributions from the 2 football players who teamed up on the game winning touchdown pass that beat Nashua North in the Division 1 Championship game last November. Matt Cannone(QB) buried a clutch 3 to give the Blue Devils their 1st lead of the ballgame at 31-30 with 5:20 to go in the 3rd. Mike Lorenz(TE who caught the spectacular game winning TD) had 5 points in the frame that ended when sharp shooting Jeff Meisser stuck a 3 at the 3rd quarter buzzer to put Salem on top 40-39. It was nip and tuck throughout the 4th, but it looked like Merrimack might be able to stave off the Blue Devils and remain unbeaten when Eric Watson was fouled taking a 3 with 16.9 seconds left and his team down only 1. The confident senior back rimmed the 1st one, but hit the next 2 to give his team a 55-54 lead. Salem then put the ball in the hands of LaRosa who worked the clock down before going inside to Joe Gallant who was surrounded on the low post and kicked it out to Cannone at about the free throw line. The shot was good with 3 seconds to go and the Merrimack unbeaten streak was over, 56-55. LaRosa hit big shot after big shot on his way to a game high 19 points, while the 6-4 junior Gallant dominated inside with 14 points, 16 rebounds and several blocked shots. Lorenz chipped in with 9 points, a few of them coming on his high arching mid range jumpers out of the old Robert Parish tear drop mold. For Merrimack, Dimitri Floras led the way with 16, Maser finished with 14 and Anthony Floras chipped in with 11. Watson didn’t score until the 4th quarter, but wound up with 8.
I knew all along that Salem, now 4-5, was better than what their early season record indicated(0-4 start, 1-5 thru 6 games). They have as good a 1-2 punch in the state as anyone with LaRosa and Gallant, but they need guys like Lorenz, Cannone and Meisser to step up on a more consistent basis. As for 8-1 Merrimack…they’ll be just fine despite the loss, especially with their strong starting 5 led by the brothers Floras and Watson coming off the bench to provide scoring, leadership and intensity.
ON DEMAND: FNL Basketball Coaches Interviews cont. 1/30/10
Coaches Interviewed:
Pete Rosinski – Pinkerton Head Coach
Doc Wheeler – Manchester Central Head Coach
Sam Carey – Manchester West Head Coach
The 6’4 Cardinals senior scored 21 points, and added 15 rebounds and 7 assists in BG’s 82-67 win at Keene on Friday February 5th.
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