FNL Basketball Post-Game 1/27/12
Recap of the final scores on the night.
FNL Basketball Hour 2 1/27/12
Games come to an end with South unable to unleash a last second shot and ultimately fall to North by 2, and Merrimack comes away with a big win over Salem in their first game without Dimitri Floras.
FNL Basketball Hour 1 1/27/12
First half play with the Gendron brothers of Merrimack scoring 23 of their teams 32 first half points and North and South battling in a tight Civil War Game.
FNL Basketball Pre-Game 1/27/12
Preview of Salem visiting Merrimack and North hosting South.
FNL Basketball Scoreboard 1/27/12
Final
57-Nashua South
59-Nashua North
Correspondent: Tom King
Final
52-Salem
63-Merrimack
Correspondent: Jeremy Leveille
Winnacunnet 56 at Salem 62 – 1/24/12
Chris Shuker
Friday Night Lights
Sports Radio WGAM The Game
It’s not the marquee matchup it was just a few years ago, and probably wasn’t even considered one of the top three games in boys Division I hoops on Tuesday night, but the two blue and white schools were only missing a red matador cape in this running of the bulls {or, more accurately, point guards}.
Both Jonathan Klecan of Salem {6-2} and Ryan Gigliotti of Winnacunnet of Hampton {3-4} played all but a few minutes of the game, and kept the fast breaks going throughout most of it, especially in the second half. Both teams tried to move the offense a little too fast in the opening half, causing numerous unforced turnovers, something Blue Devils coach Rob McLaughlin and Warriors coach Jay McKenna called quick timeouts to attempt to rectify. With the Warriors holding a 13-9 lead after one, McLaughlin installed a full-court press to open the second quarter, and his team went on a 10-3 run before the scoring leveled off to a tenuous 21-20 halftime lead for the home team.
Each team tried something different in the second half. Salem, who didn’t attempt many three’s, now was hitting them all over the floor, mostly off of fast break opportunities, as both Klecan and classmate Dan Salvo started to drain open looks. Each finished with a team-high 11 points. Sophomore Michael Felix, who’s both an incredible athlete and knowledgable basketball player, contributed 9 points, but had many jumpers go in-and-out. It seems Felix will be the next in a long line of outstanding basketball players to roll through Salem High School. Those three combined to give Salem an eight point lead halfway into the quarter.
Winnacunnet, on the other hand, brought in their only healthy bug guy, with 6’6″ Christian Oweifie out, in the name of 6’1″ junior Jordan Cutting. Cutting also has some girth to him, which makes it unfortunate that the majority of high schools don’t put player weight on their rosters. After playing sparingly in the first half, Cutting {13 points} came off the bench midway through the third, and had three quick, unguarded layups off the left block, which prompted an aggressive timeout call by an irate McLaughlin, who had seen his teams lead shrink to four. They were able to extend it to 43-34 with one quarter remaining.
McKenna is trying to teach ball security to his first year varsity point guard, but Gigliotti {game high 17 points} and his teammates turned it over on each of their first four possessions to begin the fourth, bumping the Blue Devils lead to 47-34. Gigliotti did his best to keep his team in it, including swishing a 3-pointer from about four feet behind the arc, that even got a shocked glance out of the ref nearest to the shot. Salem also tried keeping Winnacunnet in the game, giving numerous unnecessary fouls, and while the Warriors free throw percentage wasn’t great {56.5%}, the sheer quantity {22-39} helped. Unfortunately for them, the 17 misses did them in, as even a triple by Gigliotti with 20 seconds left that cut the Salem lead to three wasn’t enough. A Joe Dube layup “and 1″ cemented the final score of 62-56 Blue Devils.
Winnacunnet might be able to get back to .500 on Friday, when they host the 1-6 Londonderry Lancers. Salem will be featured on our program this week, as Jeremy Leveille from www.nhnotebook.com will be our correspondent at the Blue Devils-Merrimack Tomahawks game. You can catch week four of “Friday Night Lights- New Hampshire High School Sports in Action” live at 6:30 for the pregame reports, before the games tip off at 7pm. The other two games we’ll highlight are defending champ Bishop Guertin at Trinity with Nick Montecalvo, and the “Civil War Game” between Nashua South at Nashua North, with Tom King, fittingly of the Nashua Telegraph, as our correspondent.
Peak Performers- 1/20/12
NH Dairy Promotions Player of the Week
Chris Light- Pinkerton- 21 points and 10 rebounds, plus a key block on a lay up attempt in the final seconds to nail down a 2-point home win over Nashua South
Alex Patrikis- Pinkerton- 18 pts, 9 reb, 3 blk
Tim Preston- Nashua South- 11 pts
Jack Preston- Nashua South- 11 pts
Aaron Martin- Manchester West- 15 pts
Ian Sistare- Trinity- 17 pts
Michael Felix- Salem- 14 pts
Dimitri Floras- Merrimack- 22 pts
Jared Holmes- Keene- 21 pts
Taylor Lawrence- Keene- 14 pts
Mike Wons- Dover- 24 pts
Mike LeBlanc- Dover- 19 pts
Ben Flanders- Londonderry- 21 pts
Zach Jones- Concord- 14 pts
Joe McCarthy- Bishop Guertin- 14 pts
Matt Barr- Exeter- 18 pts
Tony Beaulieu- Alvirne- 14 pts
Josh David- Timberlane- 12 pts
Trevor Fahmy- Bedford- 17 pts
Billy Lane- Portsmouth- 20 pts (11 in 4th quarter)
Charlie Duprey- Portsmouth- 16 pts
Brandon Len- Souhegan- 16 pts
Aliza Simpson- Londonderry- 19 pts, 8 ast, 9 stl
FNL Basketball Coaches Show 1/21/12 Part 2
In the second hour of the program, Chis and Nick talk with Pinkerton Astros Coach Pete Rosinski. Later the guys speak with the Union Leader’s Eric Emmerling on all the weeks action, and the state of NHIAA Basketball.
FNL Basketball Coaches Show 1/21/12 Part 1
In the first hour of the program, Chris and Nick discuss a exciting Week 3 in NHIAA Basketball. Later the guys talk with with Coach Danny Bryson of the Manchester Blue Knights, fresh off an upset win against the Trinity Pioneers.
FNL Basketball Post-Game 1/20/12
Post-game discussion and correspondent Nick Montecalvo live in studio to talk stats from Trinity and West, also a little NFL Championship weekend talk.
