Playoff update: 7 Queen City teams fall, 3 remain

MANCHESTER, NH – The winter high school sports playoff season is fully underway and while a handful of Queen City teams have been eliminated from contention, four teams featuring Manchester athletes remain alive.

Girls basketball

Derryfield School

After completing a 15-3 regular season, the Derryfield girls basketball team has continued its winning ways through the first two rounds of the Division-II tournament.

The third-ranked Cougars (17-3) began with a 46-18 victory over No. 14 Plymouth (7-12) on Wednesday, March 5 before advancing to the quarterfinals where they avenged their first loss of the season with a 50-45 triumph over sixth-seeded Merrimack Valley (13-6) on Saturday.

They’ll be faced with another significant challenge when they face second-ranked Milford (17-3)  this Wednesday, at 5 p.m. at Pinkerton Academy. The winner advances to the D-II championship game to face the winner of No. 1 Laconia vs. No. 4 Oyster River.

Holy Family

The second-ranked Griffins (19-2) earned a 47-21 victory over No. 15 Profile to open the postseason on Feb. 25, and then defeated seventh-ranked Colebrook, 39-33, in the D-IV quarterfinals Feb. 28.

Their season came to an end in the semifinals, however, as they met their match against No. 3 Groveton, 51-29. Groveton (20-2) went on to upset top-seed Littleton (21-1) in the D-IV finale, 36-33, to win the state championship.

Central/West

There, Central/West faced top-ranked Bedford (19-0) in the first round and fell, 79-21.

The Manchester Central/West co-op team earned a place in the Division-I postseason after finishing the regular season with a 6-12 record to enter the tournament as the No. 16 seed.

Boys basketball

Manchester West

The Blue Knights completed the regular season with a 12-6 record and earned the eighth seed and home playoff game in the Division-II playoff tournament

Despite a valiant effort in the opening round on March 4, West fell to No. 9 Bow (13-6) in a heartbreaking 53-52 overtime thriller.

Manchester Memorial

The Crusaders earned a 10-8 record in the regular season to enter the postseason as the No. 10 seed. There, they earned a dramatic 66-65 first-round upset of seventh-ranked Alvirne on March 3.

Three-days later, Memorial (11-9) nearly pulled an even bigger upset, traveling to the seacoast and leading second-ranked Portsmouth (17-3) in the second half before the Clippers managed to edge the Crusaders, 64-61, in the D-I quarterfinals.

Trinity

Following a semifinal run in 2024, the Pioneers came into this season with high expectations, which they, in large part, met after completing a 14-4 regular season and clinching the No. 3 seed in the Division-I tournament.

Trinity opened with a 60-48 home victory over Winnacunnet on March 5, but fell in the quarterfinals to No. 6 Keene (15-5), which upset the Pioneers, 59-58, on March 8.

Holy Family

The Griffins completed a 9-9 regular season and, as the No. 11 seed in the Division-IV tournament, earned a 67-61 upset victory over Portsmouth Christian (12-7) in the opening round on Feb. 24.

They met their match at No. 3 Littleton(17-3)  in the quarterfinals, falling 49-41, on Feb. 27.

Boys ice hockey

Manchester Central/Memorial/West

The Manchester co-op boys ice hockey team completed an 8-8-2 regular season to earn the eighth seed and a home playoff game in the Division-I tournament.

There, they took care of business in the first round, dispatching ninth-ranked Pinkerton, 4-2, on March 5.

Three-days later, the Kings met their match in the form of top-ranked Concord, which soundly knocked Manchester from the playoffs, 8-0, on Saturday, March 8.

Derryfield (co-op with Merrimack & Hollis-Brookline)

Entering the Division-II tournament as the No. 5 seed, following a 12-5-2 regular season, the Merrimack/Hollis-Brookline/Derryfield co-op ice hockey team began the postseason with a dramatic 3-2 overtime upset of fourth-ranked Goffstown in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Next up is top-ranked Spaulding in the D-II semis. The contest is scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Everett Ice Arena in Concord.

Girls ice hockey

Trinity (co-op with Bishop Brady & Bow)

The Bishop Brady/Trinity/Bow co-op girls ice hockey team earned a first-round bye and entered the state tournament as the No. 4 seed following a 13-5 regular season.

Opening the postseason Friday night at Tri-Town Ice Arena in Hooksett, Brinity overcame a 1-0 second period deficit to earn a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Lebanon/Stevens/Kearsarge (11-7-1).

Next up for Brinity is top-ranked Oyster River/Portsmouth. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. tonight at the Everett Ice Arena in Concord.

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