Girls Basketball Roundup: Goffstown hangs on against Pinkerton, advances to D1 semifinals

Ava Ruggiero hit five 3-pointers and had a team-high 22 points to lead the fourth-seeded Goffstown High School girls basketball team to a 62-53 win Friday over No. 5 Pinkerton in the Division I quarterfinals.

Ava Winterburn added 21 points, with four 3-pointers, and Maggie Sasso was also in double figures with 14 points for the Grizzlies (17-3), who just about from the start but had to hang on in the fourth quarter after the Astros (15-5) almost came back from a 23-point deficit.

Pinkerton got a game-high 31 points from Liz Lavoie, as scored 12 points, including two 3s, in the fourth quarter, and Kaylee Dupuis added 12 points, with two 3s. The Astros shot 45 percent from the field for the game, but were outscored by 13 points at the free throw and turned the ball over 23 times.

Goffstown got out to a 23-12 lead early in the second quarter, but after shooting 7 of 13 from the field in the first, the Grizzlies made just two shots in the second. Pinkerton went on a 9-0 run, cutting the lead to two on a three-point play by Lavoie, and the junior hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to cut Goffstown’s lead to 29-24 going into the break.

The Grizzlies caught fire coming out of the half, as Ruggiero and Winterburn each hit a pair of 3s in the first four minutes of the third quarter to help Goffstown go up 46-26.

“It was weird because when we were shooting around in the morning, I was airballing every shot,” Ruggiero told the GoffstownTV broadcast after the game. “I was like ‘uh oh this could be a bad game.'”

Goffstown opened the fourth quarter with another 3 by Winterburn and a basket by Ruggiero to give the Grizzlies a 56-33 lead with seven minutes on the clock.

But the Grizzlies would go more than five minutes without scoring, as Pinkerton would take advantage, going on a 14-0 run to get within nine points. Lavoie had nine points on the run and Dupuis the other five, but the Astros weren’t done.

After shooting well from the free throw line all night, Goffstown started to struggle and a 3 by Sophia Pollini made it a six-point game, 59-53, with 39.4 seconds remaining. But Pinkerton couldn’t get any closer, and the Grizzlies hit enough free throws, to get the win.

“It’s just a next-play mentality,” Ruggiero said. “People say that, but you actually have to do it. If you get mad, you’re going to play bad the next possession.”

Goffstown moves on to the semifinals for the first time since 2020, where it will face No. 1 Bishop Guertin on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at a site to be determined.

No. 3 Bedford 67, No. 11 Manchester Memorial 37

The Bulldogs turned a close game into a runaway in the second quarter and cruised into the semifinals with a win over the Crusaders on Friday.

Lana McCarthy led all scorers with 19 points to go with nine rebounds while Kate Allard had a double double with 17 points and 10 boards. Sydney Grogan also had 10 points and Ava Dubois added nine.

Bedford (18-2) led by five at the end of the first quarter, but outscored Memorial (10-10) 26-7 in the second quarter to take a 44-20 lead into the half.

Memorial got 13 points from Madison Pepra-Omani while Emma Rossi and Jocelyn Eosue each added six. Torle Adumene had five points and six rebounds and Ny’Asia McKelvey had four points and nine boards.

For the third year in a row, Bedford will face No. 2 Portsmouth in the semifinals, with the game scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at a site to be determined.

No. 1 Bishop Guertin 66, No. 9 Concord 48

The Cardinals got off to a slow start, but bounced back in the third quarter, outscoring the Crimson Tide 17-9 in the frame to move on to the final four.

Brooke Paquette had 18 points, including 7 of 7 at the free throw line, to lead all scorers and Meghan Stack added 15 points, going 5 of 7 from the line for Bishop Guertin (19-0). Olivia Murray, Kate Daley and Brooke Muller each added six points apiece.

Concord (11-9) got out to a 15-5 lead and were up 22-16 at the end of the first quarter, but couldn’t hold off the Cardinals.

Whitney Vaillant had 14 points, including two 3s, to lead the Tide and Delaney Duford hit four 3s for 12 points. Aidah Smalley was also in double figures for Concord with 10 points.

No. 2 Portsmouth 60, No. 10 Londonderry 48

Mackenzie Lombardi came off the bench to score 16 points to lead the Clippers past the Lancers and into the final four for the third year in a row.

The junior had four 3-pointers and Avery Romps added 10 points for Portsmouth (18-1). Bella Slover and Savannah Emery had nine points apiece in the win.

Londonderry (11-9) got 16 points from Samantha Sullivan while Shannon Ball added 14 points and Jordan Furlong recorded nine markers.