Editor’s note: With the winter high school season all done, it’s time to take a look back at how the season unfolded in boys basketball.
Milford found its way back to the top of Class I for the first time in 35 years, winning the third boys basketball championship in school history in 2010.
The Spartans finished the season with a 21-1 record, with the lone loss coming against Portsmouth during the regular season. Milford avenged that loss with a semifinal win over the Clippers, which was preceded by playoffs wins over Merrimack Valley and John Stark. The Spartans defeated Pembroke in the championship game.
Souhegan returned to the playoffs for the second straight year, after missing out on the postseason in the previous two. The Sabers opened the year by winning eight of their first 11 games, but lost six of the last eight, including in the first round of the playoffs to Portsmouth.
Hollis/Brookline struggled through the first half of the season, at one point losing five games in a row. But the Cavaliers bounced back to win five of their six games to get into the playoffs. H/B dropped its first-round playoff game to Oyster River.
Class L
In a year that was considered as wide-open as any in Class L, the top two seeds wound up playing for the title, with second-seeded Pinkerton besting No. 1 Winnacunnet.
Bishop Guertin earned the fifth seed and advanced to the semifinals with wins over No. 12 Alvirne (66-54) and No. 13 Londonderry. The Cardinals fell in the semifinals to Winnacunnet.
Londonderry reached the second round by upsetting No. 4 Merrimack, 53-47. The teams had played less than a week earlier in the final game of the regular season, with the Tomahawks winning.
Nashua North earned the 11th seed in the playoffs, and hung with No. 6 Dover before the Green Wave pulled away late, 66-58.
Nashua South struggled to a 3-15 record in Class L and missed the postseason.
Class S
Wilton-Lyndeborough had a rough start to the season, thanks to some illness, injury and suspensions in December. The Warriors bounced back to go 13-5 and clinch the seventh seed in the Class S tournament.
For the second straight year, the Warriors hosted Lisbon in the first round, and defeated the Panthers, 66-57. WLC fell in the quarterfinals to No. 2 Newmarket, 52-40, in a game that was postponed two days and was eventually played at Sanborn.
No. 3 Groveton won the Class S title, defeating No. 8 Littleton, 52-49, in the championship game. Littleton defeated top-seed Colebrook in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Derryfield in the semifinals.
