High school basketball season ended early in the Ledger-Transcript’s coverage area, as only two local teams qualified for the postseason and none went further than the quarterfinals.
Mascenic was the only school with a playoff team this winter; both the boys’ and girls’ teams made the Division IV tournament.
The Viking boys (14-6) were the sixth seed in DIV and took care of business in the opening round, beating No. 11 Nute 58-46 in New Ipswich behind a balanced scoring attack from Parker Ketola (11 points) Cayden Emerson and Colin Koukkari (10 points each). But after Mascenic took the three-plus hour trip to No. 3 Groveton, their season ended at the hands of the Eagles, who won it 50-34.
Senior Chuck Phillips ended the year as the team’s leading scorer at 11.2 ppg, with Cayden Emerson shortly behind at 8.7 ppg.
Mascenic’s girls’ team earned the 13th seed in DIV and a bus ride to No. 4 Colebrook, where the Vikings lost 66-32 to end their year at 9-10. Haley Saari scored 12 points to lead her team in the game.
The Vikings’ scoring duo of Breanna McCabe and Sienna Gregory finished up likely All-State campaigns; McCabe’s 13.8 ppg was good for 10th in the division, and Gregory’s 12.8 was 13th.
The ConVal girls ended up near the bottom of Division II, but went out with a bang, picking up their second win of the year in their final game Friday by beating Kennett 38-25 to finish at 2-16.
The Cougar seniors got it done on Senior Night, as Brielle Proctor had a career game with 15 points and three three-pointers and Savannah McCarthy added 16. McCarthy and Olivia Healey both averaged 7.1 ppg on the year to lead the team.
ConVal’s boys’ team missed the playoffs as well at 4-14, losing 82-46 at Kennett Friday night. Senior Max Cail led the team with 12.9 ppg, 25th in DII, while Henry Taylor averaged 6.8.
For the first time in recent memory, both of Conant’s basketball teams finished out of the postseason. The Oriole boys ended at 3-15, with underclassmen leading the scoring; Jaiden Nagle (9.3 ppg) and Carter Letourneau (7.8 ppg) promise a bright future. The girls ended on a high note, beating Belmont 44-30 in their final game to secure their second win of the season and finish with a 2-16 record. Ella Desrosier (7.8 ppg), Myla Jones (6.5 ppg) and senior Violet Bennett (6.4 ppg) all finished in the top 50 in Division III scoring.
Wilton-Lyndeborough, too, missed the playoffs on both sides. The Warrior boys won just two games, both over Mount Royal, and finished with a 2-16 record, while the Warrior girls fared a bit better at 4-14 including a season-ending 38-28 win over Hinsdale. Senior Maddy Labrecque (8.1 ppg) and McKenna Crouse (6 ppg) were both top-50 scorers in Division IV.
