This week is the final one of the high school winter season in New Hampshire, and two local boys basketball teams remain heading into Tuesday night.
Jamie Holder and the Milford boys basketball team will take on Portsmouth in the Class I semifinals Tuesday night.
The teams from Milford and Bishop Guertin are in the semifinals of Class I and Class L, respectively, and both will play for a spot in the championship games that will be played on Saturday.
Milford, the top seed in Class I, goes first, taking on No. 4 Portsmouth in the semifinals on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the University of New Hampshire.
The Clippers (15-5), last year’s champion, are the only ones to beat the Spartans (19-1) during the regular season. Portsmouth won, 59-53, at home on Jan. 19.
“That will be a big one,” Milford’s Mike Mitchell said. “We definitely want revenge, but I don’t think it affects us. We’re going to stay focused. The regular season is gone. We just need to keep going.”
While the Spartans have won both their playoff games without much pressure down the stretch, there have been moments during each game – wins over Merrimack Valley and John Stark – that have raised a little cause for concern. In both games, Milford had lapses that allowed the opponent to get back into the game. But in both games, the players have focused and taken care of business.
“Sometimes we have to learn to keep it under control,” Mike O’Loughlin said. “We have all the weapons. We have the best offense in Class I. I don’t think anyone can stop us if we play our offense.”
Portsmouth defeated Souhegan and Bedford, two teams it lost to during the regular season, to get to the semifinals.
In the other Class I game, No. 2 Pembroke will take on No. 3 Oyster River. The winners of both games will play for the Class I title on Saturday.
Class L
The Cardinals, the No. 5 seed, may be the lower seed heading into Wednesday’s semifinal game with No. 1 Winnacunnet, but BG isn’t that far away from the Warriors. The Cardinals (14-4) finished the regular season just a game behind Winnacunnet (15-3), and BG won the lone head-to-head matchup, 72-58, on Feb. 26.
BG has lost just one game this season by more than three points. That loss was to Manchester Memorial (64-59) on Feb. 23, against a Crusaders team that the Warriors defeated in the quarterfinals. Winnacunnet also knocked off Goffstown in the first round.
The Cardinals reached the semifinals by beating Alvirne in the opening round before spoiling Londonderry’s upset bid in the quarterfinals.
BG and Winnacunnet will tip off on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. No. 2 Pinkerton and No. 6 Dover will play in the other semifinal, and the winners will play each other on Saturday for the Class L championship.