RallyNorth.net

READING — Central Catholic survived 27 sectional quarterfinal turnovers against Lowell.

Last night here before about 1,500 fans in the Division 1 North semifinals, No. 5 Charlestown inflicted damage with each of Central's 26 giveaways, pounding out a 54-47 decision and earning a trip to Tsongas Arena for the North title game Saturday.

North Andover dropped another tough postseason decision last night as fifth-seeded Wakefield handed the top-seeded Scarlet Knights a 47-45 defeat in the semifinals of the Division 2 North Sectionals at Woburn High School.

Windham's boys basketball team had its work cut out for it yesterday, facing No. 1 seed Hanover in the Division 2 tournament, but the 16th-seed Jaguars gave a good account of themselves. After falling behind 20-6 in the first quarter, Windham matched Hanover point for point in a 59-45 setback. Joe Lorenz and and Andrew Lowman both had 13 points for Windham.

PELHAM — Running uphill all night, No. 8 Pelham High ran out of time and energy, falling to No. 9 Lebanon, 47-42, last night in the New Hampshire Division 2 playoff opener.
"We just kept digging holes for ourselves, and we never quite recovered," said Pelham coach Matt Regan, whose club actually led twice, 1-0 and 19-18.
Most of the night, though, belonged to Lebanon, which built advantages of 16-8 after
one quarter and 28-19 at the half.
"They killed us inside, on the offensive glass," said Regan. "It was 1-2-3 shots every possession. We did a better job in the second half."

SALEM — In the final minute of a one-point playoff game, seedings and regular-season records simply don't matter.

Londonderry started off 8 for 8 from 3-point range and led 21-16 after one quarter. 

But the No. 14-seeded Lancers cooled off and lost to No. 3 seed Nashua North 55-53. 

Salem boys basketball launched two shots in the final seconds. One was no good and the other was blocked as the No. 2-seeded Blue Devils were stunned 63-62 by No. 15 seed Dover in a Division 1 first round game. 

No. 5 seed Pinkerton lost a heartbreaker 37-35 to No. 12 seed Manchester Memorial in the first round of the Division 1 tournament.

Manchester Memorial (9-10) went ahead 37-35 with approximately 50 seconds remaining.

LAWRENCE — Four score and four wins to go, Central Catholic's bounding ballers kept their postseason drive alive, rumbling past Lowell High, 61-49, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals before about 1,500 crazed fans here last night.

HAVERHILL – Last night, Whittier became the second Commonwealth squad in as many days to find out how tough the Northeastern Conference is.