High School Highlights

Friday, December 30, 2011

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom
Bishop Guertin 120-pounder Cole Fokas puts the clamps on Hollis Brookline's Zach McPherson before pinning him during the finals of a wrestling tournament Tuesday, December 27, 2011, at Hollis Brookline High School.

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MERRIMACK

WRESTLING

Dec. 21: Merrimack 48, Con-Val 30

The Tomahawks gained their first in-state dual meet win of the season thanks to four matches that either never started or were incomplete. Ben Cronin and Brandon Dine were awarded wins at 106 and 126 pounds, and Zach Cronin and Alec Beaulieu won by injury default at 138 and 160, respectively. Other Merrimack winners included Jake Howe by pin at 152, Lucas Gardenour by pin at 170, and Ty Costain at 195 and Nick Klaver at 285, both by pin.

HOCKEY

Dec. 21: Merrimack 6, Goffstown 3

David Downie scored three goals and Dom Valuzzi added two more as the Tomahawks (3-0 in Division II) knocked off the Grizzlies. Connor Powell had a goal and an assist for Merrimack while Chris Fortin chipped in two assists and Brett Glendye made 19 saves.

Rutger Tupper and Mark Feeney played well defensively for the ’Hawks, who will return to the ice on Dec. 26 against Trinity in the Coca-Cola Classic Tournament at JFK Coliseum in Manchester.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Dec. 26: Merrimack 59, Dover 51

Dmitri Floras scored 22 points and Eric Gendron added 16 to lead the Tomahawks past the Green Wave on Monday, in the first day of the Queen City Invitational at Manchester Memorial.

Merrimack took a 10-point lead into halftime and held on the second half. Tyler Gendron added eight points for the ’Hawks, who will play Exeter Tuesday in the second round at 6 p.m.

Dec. 27: Merrimack 58, Exeter 39

Tyler Gendron scored a game-high 13 points to lead the Tomahawks into Wednesday’s Queen City final.

Jared Peabody and Dmitri Floras chipped in with 12 and 11, respectively for Merrimack, who will face Manchester West in Wednesday’s title game at 7:30 p.m. at Manchester Memorial. West reached the final with a 66-59 win over Manchester Central on Tuesday night.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Dec. 27: Campbell 44, Merrimack 43

Kate Cole scored a game-high 19 points, but the Tomahawks came up just short in the team totals for points, falling to the Cougars in the opening game of the Nashua North Holiday Tournament.

Liz Pettis (16 points) and Becca Arnone (15 points) led Campbell to victory, as Pettis knocked down five 3-pointers for the Cougars.

HOLLIS BROOKLINE

WRESTLING

Dec. 21: Bedford 43, HB 28

The Cavs dropped to 2-1 on the season despite wins by Zach McPherson (pin at 120),

Ryan Ahlquist (10-4 at 126), Jake McPherson (by pin at 138), Zach Jennings (pin at 152), Casey Quinn (forfeit, 160), and Hunter Longland (10-6 at 220).

Dec. 23: Cavs sixth at Atlantic Invite

HB finished sixth out of 18 teams at the Atlantic Invitational in Wells, Maine on Friday.

Casey Quinn (160) captured the lone individual title for the Cavaliers with a pin over CJ Bartlett of Fryeburg, Maine, in the finals.

Zach Migneault (285) made the finals for a third week in a row, eventually falling to Nick Ricker of Marshwood, Maine. Rounding out the placers for the Cavaliers were Jake McPherson (138) and Nate Ashe (182), both in third, while Kyle Ducharme (113), Zach McPherson (120) and Zach Jennings (145) each posted wins for HB as well.

Dec. 27: Cavs, Titans tie for top spot at Hollis Nor’Easter

HB and Nashua North tied atop the team standings at the first Nor’Easter Invitational hosted by HB on Tuesday.

Bishop Guertin finished in third, with Alvirne and Bedford rounding out the top five teams.

Winning individual titles for the Cavaliers were Jake McPherson (138), Casey Quinn (160), Nate Ashe (182) and Zach Migneault (285).

McPherson beat Derek Lawton of Bishop Guertin in the finals, while Quinn secured his title over BG’s Nick Christie. Ashe bested Chris Ferri of Windham and Migneault topped North’s Matt Riendeau.

Zach McPherson fell to BG’s Cole Fokas in their final at 120, while Forrest Coon-Roberts lost to North’s Joe Chimelski in the 170 finals.

North’s other champs were Cam Bennett (106), Marcel Laplante (113), Zach Lavoie (220) and Joey Page (152), who also earned the invitational’s Most Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Other local winners at the event were the Alvirne duo of Josh Metivier (126) and Steven Lichtenberg (195), as well as BG’s Bradon Levesque (132).

North also had a couple wrestlers in third – Peter Daniels (126) and Chris Anderson (182).

Also placing for the Cavaliers were Jonathan Lopez (106) in third, while Ryan Ahlquist (126), Zach Jennings (145) and Gavin Shanley (170) in fourth place.

HOCKEY

Dec. 21: Alvirne 7, HB 4

Phil Sweeney had three goals and three assists as the unbeaten Broncos jumped out to a 5-1 lead and held off the Cavs, now 2-1. Reed Vandergraf had a pair of goals while Brian Blanchette had a goal and an assist for the Broncos, who got two assists each from Cam Brock and Pat Devito, Brian Carpentier had 30 saves for the winners. Honza Havlana had a pair of goals for Hollis Brookline, and Griffin Brown added a goal.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Dec. 27: Nashua South 65, HB 34

Anthony Muccioli scored 17 points to lead the Panthers, as 12 of the 13 players on the South roster recorded points in Wednesday’s final game of the Chick-fil-A Holiday Tournament at South. Jack Preston added nine points and Michael Dunham added seven for South, which led 16-5 after the first quarter.

Tim Rencken had eight points to lead the Cavaliers, who also got seven points from James Wilson.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Dec. 27: Bay View Academy (R.I.) 65, HB 57

Olivia Gillis drained four 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 17 points, but the balanced offense of Bay View Academy of Providence, R.I., was too much for the Cavaliers to overcome in their opening round game of the Queen City Tournament in Manchester.

Katie Stopera (two 3-pointers) chipped in with 14 points, while Ellie Flaum (two 3-pointers) added eight in the loss. Hollis Brookline takes the court again Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. versus the loser of Tuesday night’s Manchester Memorial-Lebanon game.