The drive to the playoffs is getting underway for a lot of high school basketball teams, and Friday night features a host of games that could go a long way toward determining spots in postseason tournaments.
One of those games takes place in Wilton in a battle of Class S boys teams hoping to get one of the top four seeds. Wilton-Lyndeborough (7-3) hosts Sunapee (8-4) in a game that each team needs to win to have any real chance at getting one of the top spots.
“It’s a huge, huge game for us,” WLC coach Sean Young said. “If could be the difference between us being a low seed, anywhere from six to nine. We’re still trying to get a top four seed. If we win this game, we’ll have a shot.”
This is the second time these teams have met – the Lakers won at home, 57-39, on Dec. 18 – but a lot has changed for the Warriors since that game.
For the first three games of the season, WLC had just seven players dress, four of whom were regular varsity players, due to injuries and disciplinary reasons.
“Everyone knows the expectations,” Young said. “We were really handcuffed. It was such a shake up, it wasn’t until the game at Hinsdale (on Jan. 6) that we finally had the entire team together.”
Young thought he had his team figured out, but then the Warriors lost back-to-back games against Pittsfield and Newmarket. He expects to know after Friday’s game.
“Sunapee is very tough,” he said. “They have, if not the best, one of the best, point guards in the state. They do a nice job with defenses, mixing and matching. They play a match zone, a 1-3-1 zone and man-to-man. They’re super aggressive and they get up to play us.”
Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday at Wilton.
Other games on the schedule for Friday include:
- A game for control of Class L boys basketball: Merrimack (7-0) heads to Bishop Guertin (6-1) for a 7 p.m. game. Doors open at 5 p.m. for fans, and attendance is limited to the first 750 who arrive.
- The battle for Nashua takes place on the north side: Nashua South (2-5) looks to keep its chance at a playoff spot alive when it plays Nashua North (4-3) at 6:30 p.m.
- Alvrine (5-2) heads east to take on a struggling Spaulding of Rochester (1-5) at 7 p.m.
- In Class I action, Milford (8-1) travels down the road to face Hollis/Brookline (3-6) at 7 p.m. The two teams met in Milford on Jan. 5, a game the Spartans won 80-40.
- Souhegan (6-3) travels west to take on Monadnock (0-7) at 7 p.m. in a rematch of a Jan. 8 game the Sabers won 63-32.
- On the girls side of Class L, Bishop Guertin (7-2) heads to Merrimack (3-6) for a 7 p.m. start while Alvirne (4-5) hosts Spaulding (2-7) at 7 p.m.
- In Class I, Souhegan (8-1) goes for its fourth straight win under coach Wiley Billings – and ninth straight overall – when it hosts Monadnock (1-9) at 7 p.m., while Hollis/Brookline (8-1) looks to bounce back from its first loss of the year at Milford (1-9) at 6:30 p.m.
- In Class S, Wilton-Lyndeborough (6-5) heads to Sunapee (10-2) for a 7 p.m. start.
