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DERRY, N.H. — Pinkerton had no answers for Brennan Donnelly.

Alvirne’s 6-5 senior center provided a winning skill set in Class L first round play against the Astros, commanding the low post and defensive paint using his football lineman physique while showing soft hands and a keen awareness of where his teammates were on the court. Owning both ends of the court with 16 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 blocked shots and 2 steals, Donnelly helped deliver a convincing 72-46 upset of Pinkerton at Hackler Gym.

DERRY, N.H. — Pinkerton had no answers for Brennan Donnelly.

Alvirne’s 6-5 senior center provided a winning skill set in Class L first round play against the Astros, commanding the low post and defensive paint using his football lineman physique while showing soft hands and a keen awareness of where his teammates were on the court. Owning both ends of the court with 16 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 blocked shots and 2 steals, Donnelly helped deliver a convincing 72-46 upset of Pinkerton at Hackler Gym.

Zach Mathieu (28 points) and Beau Cassidy (23) combined for a whopping 51 points in Pinkerton's 86-76 win over Dover. Alex Rees joined the duo in double digits with 15 points, as well.

Strong defense from senior Brendan Peguero sparked Pinkerton to a 52-32 victory over Nashua North. Coming out flat with just a three-point halftime lead, Peguero's hard work initiating the Astros' press created six steals for the swingman and kickstarted his squad's offense. Junior big man Zach Mathieu benefitted as he led Pinkerton (11-3) with 12 points.

DERRY, N.H. - In your typical clash of division leaders, high school basketball teams just don't shoot 61 percent from the field. Tell that to Manchester Central. Sniffing the top spot in Class L, the Little Green kicked the door in at hostile Hackler, drilling their first five shots, eight of their initial 12, to coast to a 64-57 victory. "(Central) played hard, we played hard in the second half," said Pinkerton coach Peter Rosinski. "We didn't play the way we should have in the first half. I was surprised. I didn't expect our kids to be that off. We didn't execute and we got caught." Central, almost effortlessly, knocked down 23 of 38 shots - 7 of 9 from behind the three-point arc - keeping the Astros, now 8-2 in Class L, at arm's length for all 32 minutes ... or at least until a final flurry fueled by some spirited and scrappy defensive work from Ben Proulx and Brendan Peguero. "I think our pressure got to them in the second quarter," said coach Doc Wheeler, whose Little Green simply kept up the hellacious shooting pace while the Astros bounced back into this stratosphere. A 35-22 Central halftime advantage slid to 53-29 after three, before Pinkerton finally awoke. Proulx (team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds) flexed his muscle a bit, and the slender senior Peguero had his hands in the passing lanes, helping cause five Central fourth-quarter turnovers. When Colby Verge (15 points) buried a long three, a Central lead that was 19 in the third had been sliced to six, 57-51, with 1:22 left. Verge would knock down two more bombs in the final minute, but Central did just enough from the foul line, hitting 4 of 8, to keep it at least a two possession game the rest of the way. Central and Trinity now share the top spot in Class L at 9-1. Pinkerton and Salem, now knotted in the standings, currently hold the precious 3 and 4 spots.

Colby Verge (19 points), Beau Cassidy (11 points) and Brendan Peguero (11 points) played well for the Pinkerton boys basketball team, which edged Goffstown 56-54.

With the Pinkerton boys basketball team down by two with less than a minute to go, Colby Verge made a steal, drove the lane and completed a 3-point play to put his team up one. Rival Londonderry turned the ball over on the next possession, the Astros hit a pair of free throws and eventually prevailed 57-55.

Beau Cassidy knocked down six 3-pointers en route to a 31-point night as the Pinkerton boys basketball team topped Manchester Memorial, 77-72. Pinkerton, now 3-0 overall, had a trio of players in double digits as Colby Verge and Scott King scored 11 points a piece.

SALEM, N.H. - If Beau Cassidy has his way the Pinkerton Academy senior will hit bigger shots on bigger floors in bigger games before this season is done.

None will ring quite as loudly, though, at least to the competition.

Methuen's Michael Gorman (32 points) buried nine 3-point shots but the Rangers came up short in a 71-59 decision to Pinkerton Academy, in the firth place game of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney. Edwin Gonzalez (10 points) and Matt Richardson (10) each had a pair of 3-pointers for the Rangers (3-4).