High School

New Hampshire high school basketball: Bedford (boys and girls), Pembroke Academy (boys), Milford (girls) win titles

The Division I and Division II boys and girls basketball state championship games took place over the weekend

Roger Brown

Champions were crowned in New Hampshire high school basketball.
Champions were crowned in New Hampshire high school basketball. / Naji Saker

The NHIAA winter sports season came to a close with last weekend’s Division I and Division II boys and girls basketball championship games. Here’s a recap of those four contests:

DIVISION I BOYS

Bedford 51, Keene 50

Senior Connor O’Rourke collected an offensive rebound and scored with 1:08 remaining to erase a one-point deficit, and top-seeded Bedford (18-3) held on to win its second title in the past three years.

Bedford had a 53-32 edge in rebounds and a 29-4 advantage in second-chance points. O’Rourke finished with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Freshman Wiji Dak and junior Landon Ellsmore both grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

“We knew that that was going to be our advantage — getting the ball into the bigs or getting the ball off the glass and letting them go to work,” Bedford coach Frank Moreno said. 

Sixth-seeded Keene (15-6) was seeking the program’s first state championship. The Blackbirds led 46-39 with 3:05 left, but Bedford ended the game on a 12-4 run.

Keene’s Javon Massiah led all scorers with 19 points.

DIVISION I GIRLS

Bedford 50, Londonderry 44

Kate Allard scored 12 points as top-seeded Bedford (22-0) completed an unbeaten season and stretched its win streak to 44 games.

Second-seeded Londonderry received a game-high 21 points from Sammy Sullivan, who tossed in 16 points in the second half. A Sullivan basket cut Bedford’s lead to 40-37 with 5:21 left, but Bedford used a 7-2 spurt to take an eight-point lead with 1:21 remaining.

Annie Zink added 11 points for Bedford, which received nine points and seven rebounds from Mel McCarthy. Brooke Eacrett (11) was the only other Londonderry player who scored in double figures.

“I think this team is so selfless,” Allard said. “At the end of the day, we just want to win together. It doesn’t matter about individual stats. We play together and it shows. We play better when we play as a team.” 

DIVISION II BOYS

Pembroke Academy 63, Sanborn 54

Top-seeded Pembroke used a late 7-0 spurt to take a 10-point lead and held on to win its first championship since 2019.

“They’ve done this all year,” Pembroke coach Mike Donnell said. “When something happens like that, they don’t get too worked up. I called a timeout and we went over what was going on. We knew for a fact we stopped boxing out. We were making bad passes for turnovers. We just told them to settle down and not make the game too big. Keep it simple, and they did. Then they opened it back up. … Composure is a big thing.”

Sophomore Andrew Fitzgerald scored a game-high 26 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds for Pembroke (19-2), which outrebounded Sanborn 43-30.

Sanborn (17-5), which was seeking the program’s first state championship, trailed 52-49 after a Chase Frizzell 3-pointer but was held to five points over the final 6:34.

Frizell led Sanborn with 22 points and seven rebounds. Jesse Cavallo added 15 points, and Dylan Rego had a team-high nine rebounds. 

DIVISION II GIRLS

Milford 43, Oyster River 36

Sophomore Lexi Bausha had a game-high 21 points to help second-seeded Milford (18-3) pull away down the stretch and collect its first championship since winning back-to-back Class titles in 1978 and 1979.

“So much adrenaline is running through me right now, it’s insane,” Bausha said after the victory. “Everyone is so proud; it’s just incredible. We felt confident. We came in here to get our job done.”

Fourth-seeded Oyster River (17-5) held a 20-17 halftime lead before a Bausha layup began a 13-5 run to finish the third quarter. Back-to-back baskets from Avery Fuller (10 points, 16 rebounds) handed Milford the lead for good, 27-24.

Vivian O’Quinn scored a team-high 13 points for Oyster River, which trailed 31-27 entering the fourth quarter.

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Roger Brown
ROGER BROWN

Roger Brown is a University of Maine graduate who has been a professional sportswriter since 1993. He has worked for several New Hampshire newspapers and has also covered high school sports for ESPN and MaxPreps. He publishes the New Hampshire Football Report and New Hampshire Hardball.

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