> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Portsmouth girls basketball beats Salem to return to D1 semifinals - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/portsmouth-girls-basketball-beats-salem-to-return-to-d1-semifinals/ - Published: 2024-03-02T15:50:08.000Z - Updated: 2024-03-02T15:50:08.000Z - Description: PORTSMOUTH – With a fourth straight trip to the Division I semifinals on the horizon, the Portsmouth High School girls basketball team got off to a good start in the first quarter of Friday night’s quarterfinal game against Salem. Then the Clippers turned it up a few notches and emphatically put the - Author: Dan Doyon - Tags: Division I, girls basketball, playoffs, Portsmouth, Salem, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 PORTSMOUTH – With a fourth straight trip to the Division I semifinals on the horizon, the Portsmouth High School girls basketball team got off to a good start in the first quarter of Friday night’s quarterfinal game against Salem. Then the Clippers turned it up a few notches and emphatically put the game away in the second quarter. Fourth-seeded Portsmouth followed a 15-10 first by pitching a shutout in a 17-0 second quarter on its way towards a 58-24 victory over No. 5 Salem inside Stone Gymnasium. Senior Avery Romps led the way for the Clippers with 14 points, while classmate Margaret Montplaisir added 10. “For this group to have an opportunity to go to four final fours, it doesn’t happen all the time,” Portsmouth coach Tim Hopley said. “We’ve been so fortunate the past four years to have senior groups, this year’s senior group of basketball-minded players. They’re not all basketball-first players, but they each have a part and they each have a role. “They each have something that they bring to the table and we saw so much of that tonight.” Portsmouth (17-3) will now get its fourth straight crack at knocking off top-seeded Bedford (19-0) in the semifinals when they meet Tuesday at 7:30\. The Bulldogs advanced with a 74-32 win over No. 9 Exeter (10-10). The winner plays either third-seeded Londonderry (18-2) or No. 2 Pinkerton Academy (18-1) for the Division I championship March 9 at the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gymnasium. Bedford eliminated Portsmouth in the past three semifinals, but the Clippers will come into this rematch with confidence after giving the undefeated Bulldogs their toughest game of the season during a 56-50 home loss on Jan. 23. “Four years, playing them in the same final four is really hard, but I think this regular season game showed the world could really compete with them and we can beat them if we really have it in us,” Romps said. “I think it just comes down to playing really good defense. I think we match up better than other teams in the state, so I think that’ll help us.” After Romps scored the final hoop of the first quarter on Friday, Haley Coombs opened up the second with a bucket and the Clippers were off to their dominant second quarter. The Clippers smothered Salem (14-6) defensively and concluded the quarter on a converted steal by Montplaisir, a 3-pointer by Romps and a hoop by Maddie MacCannell to take a 32-10 lead into halftime. “Defense is really important to us, we spend every practice figuring out who we need to shut down,” Montplaisir said. “They have a couple of really good point guards, so keeping them out of the paint was our main goal. We’re a long team, we’re all tall and our on-the-ball pressure is really good. “Everyone did what they needed to do, it was a great team effort.” Makayla Burns finally broke Salem’s scoring drought with a bucket early in the third quarter, but Portsmouth extended its lead to 45-19 entering the fourth. Salem coach Ricky Oliver knew his team with no seniors would have an uphill battle on Friday. The Blue Devils advanced with Tuesday’s 55-44 first-round win over No. 13, two-time defending champion Bishop Guertin. “They’re tough, they’re older and they’ve got us by five inches at every position,” Oliver said. “They’re just tough, they’re gritty and they’re going to make a great run.” Now the focus for Hopley turns to slowing down a well-balanced Bedford team led by Purdue University-bound center Lana McCarthy if the Clippers want to reach the program’s fourth championship game. Portsmouth lost title games to Nashua in 2000 (Class L), Lebanon in 2013 (Division II) and Bishop Guertin in 2019 (Division I). “I know they respect us and I know they know who we are and they’re going to be prepared and we’re going to see things we haven’t seen yet,” Hopley said. “We’ve just got to remember who we are, what we do and how we do it.”