The land of the unbeaten, Part II

The final weekend of February is approaching and the high school basketball playoffs are upon us - and have already started in some divisions.

In early January, there were 22 boys and girls basketball teams in New Hampshire who were still undefeated. A few had played just a handful of games while others were already well into their seasons.

Now, more than six weeks later, there are just five undefeated teams remaining - two boys, three girls - and none in the same division. Let's take a look at who is left, and who has fallen.

The undefeated

Two of the remaining undefeated teams are defending champions and working on lengthy winning streaks.

The Milford boys enter the final week of the Division II regular season with a 17-0 record (20-0 overall) and winning streak of 35 games dating back to last season. The Spartans will likely extend that streak on Monday - they host Con-Val (3-12) - and will open the playoffs as the No. 1 seed for the second straight year.

While Milford's streak is something, its not the longest in the state - not even close. The Winnacunnet girls have won 65 straight games in Division I; the Warriors are 17-0 this season, with their regular-season finale against Merrimack on Friday.

The Souhegan girls took control of Division II by beating Lebanon last Saturday and Hollis/Brookline on Tuesday. The Sabers (16-0) finish out the regular season Thursday at Kingswood and Friday at home against Con-Val. Souhegan should be 18-0 when the playoffs start on Tuesday.

The Derryfield girls completed the regular season without a loss, and are 19-0 after winning their first Division IV playoff game last Tuesday. The Cougars, who were the runner-up in Class S last year, need three more wins to complete an unbeaten season.

The Mascoma Valley boys also finished their regular season undefeated, going 17-0 in Division III. Mascoma awaits its first playoff game on Tuesday, where it will face either Newfound or Franklin in the preliminary round.

The fallen

Here are the rest of the teams who were undefeated on Jan. 11, listed in the order that they lost.

Five teams suffered their first loss of the season on Jan. 11. The Manchester Memorial boys fell to Londonderry that night, while the Memorial girls returned the favor to the Londonderry girls. Also losing were the Concord Christian (to Hinsdale) and the Moultonborough boys (to Inter-Lakes). Moultonborough rebounded nicely from its loss, winning 10 in a row and finishing the season 17-1 in Division IV. And in a battle of unbeaten teams, the Hollis/Brookline girls suffered their first loss of the year to Souhegan.

On Jan. 13, the Conant girls lost their first game to rival Campbell. The Orioles finished the season with just two losses in Division III, both against Campbell.

Three more teams went down on Jan. 14. The Raymond boys dropped their first game of the season in Division III to Bow, while the Colebrook boys fell to Profile in Division IV. The Londonderry girls took out their frustrations of losing a game on undefeated Pinkerton, handing the Astros their first loss.

In another battle of undefeated teams, the Groveton girls handed Colebrook its first loss on Jan. 21 in Division IV, and four days later, another unbeaten fell, as the Trinity boys were upset by Exeter on Jan. 25. The Pioneers then dropped their second game of the season three days after that against Bishop Guertin.

The game of the year in Division IV took place on Feb. 4, and it was the undefeated Newmarket boys handing Derryfield its first loss of the year on its own floor. The Cougars got their revenge 11 days later, going on the road to give Newmarket its first loss on Feb. 15.

The Groveton girls dropped their first game of the year on Feb. 11, losing to Littleton, while the Kennett girls saw their undefeated record vanish in a loss to Portsmouth.

The Berlin boys were two games away from a perfect regular season, but suffered their first Division III loss to White Mountains on Feb. 15.

The Souhegan girls once again came out on top in a battle of unbeatens, as they handed Lebanon its first loss on Feb. 19.