Final edition: The land of the unbeaten, Winter 2013

On the night of Feb. 1, there were 11 teams in boys and girls basketball and boys and girls hockey we went into action with an unblemished record.

While none of those teams lost that night, only three made it to the end of the season with the undefeated record intact, and only four of those teams went on to win their respective division. Here's a look at how it all shook out.

The undefeated

Three teams finished off the year with a perfect record - Pembroke boys basketball, Lebanon girls basketball and Hanover girls hockey.

After cruising through the first three rounds of the playoffs, both Pembroke (Division II) and Lebanon (Division II) played a close game in the finals. Pembroke (22-0) was down by seven at halftime against Souhegan before combing back in the fourth quarter for a 49-41 win.

Going into the semifinals, Lebanon (22-0) had won every game by at least 25 points. The Raiders beat Milford in the semifinals by 15 points before holding off Portsmouth in the final, winning by seven.

Hanover beat Bishop Guertin in the semifinals before knocking off Oyster River, 3-1, in the championship game, as the Marauders (20-0) won their fourth straight title.

The rest

The Trinity (21-1) boys basketball team was the last one standing when the Division I tournament was done, and while the Pioneers played some close games in the playoffs (two-point win over Nashua South in semifinal, four-point win over Bishop Guertin in final), they lost just once in division action - Feb. 5 at Merrimack.

Manchester Central (16-4) was the last undefeated team in Division I boys basketball, but when the Little Green lost for the first time - Feb. 19 against South - it started a tailspin. Central lost four of its final five games, including an overtime loss to Bishop Guertin in the quarterfinals.

Newport boys basketball opened the year 13-0 before falling to Hopkinton at Feb. 4. The Tigers would not lose again until the Division III semifinals, when they lost to eventual-champion Conant.

Also in boys basketball, Newmarket went into the month of February undefeated, but the Mules suffered two loses in a week, falling to Sunapee (Feb. 5) and Derryfield (Feb. 12). The Mules then dropped their third game of the season to eventual champion Lisbon in the semifinals.

In girls basketball, both Pinkerton and Hinsdale were undefeated on the first of February. That didn't last long for Pinkerton, as the Astros were about to start a stretch of games against Londonderry, Nashua North, Bishop Guertin and Bedford. The Astros lost the last two and ended their season by getting upset by Manchester Memorial in the preliminary round in Division I.

Hinsdale was a perfect 20-0 going into the Division IV semifinals, but the Pacers came up short, falling to eventual champion Groveton.

Merrimack boys hockey went undefeated against Division II, but only if you remove Bedford from the division. The Tomahawks were 16-0 going into their final two games of the season against the Bulldogs, and lost both. Then, in the championship game, Merrimack fell to Bedford again.

Berlin went into the Division III boys hockey championship game at 20-0 but lost to John Stark/Hopkinton (19-1-1), which avenged its only loss of the season.