Don’t expect to see any basketball fans from the Lisbon area asking for directions to Wilton on Tuesday.
Wilton-Lyndeborough's Aaron Davis had 21 points, including five 3-pointers, in the Warriors' regular-season finale.
By now, you’d expect the Panthers to know their way to the Wilton-Lyndeborough gym.
For the fourth straight year, the Lisbon Regional boys basketball team will make the nearly three-hour drive to Wilton to take on the Warriors.
In 2007 and 2008, during the regular season, the Panthers suffered road loses at the hands of the Warriors. WLC knocked Lisbon out of the Class S playoffs in 2008 in the semifinals, although that game was at Plymouth State University. In 2009, Lisbon lost to WLC in the preliminary round of the Class S playoffs in Wilton.
The No. 7 Warriors (13-5) will try to make it five-for-five when they host the seventh-seeded Panthers (10-8) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the first round of this year’s Class S playoffs.
After starting the season 4-3, WLC won eight games in a row – including a road victory over previously undefeated Derryfield – and had a shot at a top four finish that would bring home court advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
But back-to-back losses to Newmarket and Portsmouth Christian dropped the Warriors down to seventh. They were able to bounce back with a season-ending win over Nute of Milton last Thursday, and a win over Lisbon would likely mean a trip to No. 2 Newmarket in the quarterfinals.
Lisbon stumbled into the postseason, losing four of its final six games, and has lost its last four games against the Warriors.
Class L boys
- The game of the night might be taking place in Derry, where Merrimack (12-2) faces off against Pinkerton (10-4). This one will go a long way toward seeding in the tournament. Right now, there’s not much separation in Class L. While there’s just a two-game difference between these two, the Tomahawks are tied for first while the Astros are seventh.
- Two more teams with more separation in the standings than in their records are Bishop Guertin (11-3) and Manchester Memorial (8-5). The Cardinals, who are currently tied for third, head for Manchester on Tuesday to take on the Crusaders, who are eighth.
- Two teams headed in opposite directions have games Tuesday against what appear to be weaker teams. Salem (8-6) has won seven of its last eight games, and will host Nashua South (2-11). Meanwhile, Nashua North (6-8) has lost four in a row and five of six, and heads to Goffstown (4-10) trying to right the ship.
- Alvirne (7-7) looks to get back above .500 with a trip to Concord (0-13).
Class I boys
- Hollis/Brookline (6-9) and Souhegan (9-6) meet in Amherst in a game that has a lot more meaning than one might have thought a few weeks ago. The Cavaliers have won three in a row to play themselves back into the
Souhegan's Devin Gilligan drives around Milford's Kevin Cyr and Jamie Holder during a game last week.
playoff picture, while the Sabers have lost three of four to fall out of the top eight in Class I. Throughout the night, Souhegan senior Stephen Daigneau will be taking donations for the Child Advocacy Center of Hillsborough County as a part of his senior class project.
- Milford (14-1) will look to extend its winning streak to nine games when it heads to Monadnock Regional (0-13). The teams also played on Jan. 15, with the Spartans winning 88-39.
