Two schools of thought on holiday basketball tournaments
Dec. 23—When it comes to holiday basketball tournaments, there are two types of high school coaches: Those who experiment with their lineups hoping to answer questions that will help their team in the long run, and those who are playing to win.
Pinkerton Academy's Mike Dunham is in the latter category.
The Astros will compete in the Greater Lowell (Mass.) Holiday Tournament, which begins Wednesday and ends Saturday. All games will be played at Westford (Mass.) Academy.
Pinkerton will open the tournament against Groton-Dunstable on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m.
"I don't think we're going to tinker too much," said Dunham, who was an assistant with Pinkerton last season. "We're going to the tournament. We're keeping score. We want to win."
The tournament features three New Hampshire teams and five teams from Massachusetts. Wednesday's other first-round games are Merrimack vs. Lowell at 2 p.m.; Leominster (Mass.) vs. Haverhill (Mass.) at 5:30 p.m., and Pelham vs. Westford Academy at 7:15 p.m.
Pinkerton, which improved its Division I record to 3-0 with a 94-60 win against Exeter on Friday, beat Windham in last year's championship game.
"I like playing Mass. teams," Dunham said. "I think it's going to be good for us. It really prepares us for teams up here.
"Last year we played Haverhill and Lowell, which was really good for us. Playing against quicker teams. Playing against a couple more physical teams, too. And playing with a shot clock, which I think is fun. (There's no shot clock in NHIAA competition). I don't think the shot clock will have any effect on this team. We shoot it pretty quick, but I think it's good for them to play with one — especially if kids are going to play at the next level."
Dunham said if Pinkerton falls into the consolation bracket, he may use the rest of the tournament as a second preseason, so to speak, but otherwise the Astros will be all about winning.
"I love Christmas tournaments," he said. "The trophy from last year is right up there (in the locker room). You obviously want to win a championship."
Manchester tournaments
Trinity's bid to win a third straight Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament championship begins with a matchup against city rival Memorial on Wednesday night (7:30 p.m.) at Memorial. Trinity will enter that contest with a 2-2 record. Memorial is 3-0.
Trinity topped Memorial 63-61 in the 2021 QCIBT championship game, and beat Bedford 64-60 in last year's final.
Here is the full schedule for the QCIBT at Memorial, as well the Doug Chandler Girls Christmas Tournament at Manchester Central. NOTE: The QCIBT schedule has changed since originally released:
QUEEN CITY INVITATIONAL
Wednesday
Game 1: Central vs. West (3 p.m.)
Game 2: Bow vs. Exeter (4:30 p.m.)
Game 3: Salem vs. Bedford (6 p.m.)
Game 4: Trinity vs. Memorial (7:30 p.m.)
Thursday
Game 5: Loser G1 vs. Loser G2 (3 p.m.)
Game 6: Loser G3 vs. Loser G4 (4:30 p.m.)
Game 7: Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 (6 p.m.)
Game 8: Winner G3 vs. Winner G4 (7:30 p.m.)
Friday
Game 9: Loser G5 vs. Loser G6 (3 p.m.)
Game 10: Winner G5 vs. Winner G6 (4:30 p.m.)
Game 11: Loser G7 vs. Loser G8 (6 p.m.)
*Game 12: Winner G7 vs. Winner G8 (7:30 p.m.)
*championship game
DOUG CHANDLER TOURNAMENT
Wednesday
Game 1: Derryfield vs. Bow (1:30 p.m.)
Game 2: Trinity vs. Lebanon (3 p.m.)
Game 3: Central-West vs. Monadnock (4:30 p.m.)
Game 4: Memorial vs. Merrimack (6 p.m.)
Thursday
Game 5: Loser G4 vs. Loser G2 (1:30 p.m.)
Game 6: Loser G3 vs. Loser G1 (3 p.m.)
Game 7: Winner G3 vs. Winner G1 (4:30 p.m.)
Game 8: Winner G4 vs. Winner G2 (6 p.m.)
Friday
Game 9: Loser G6 vs. Loser G5 (1:30 p.m.)
Game 10: Winner G6 vs. Winner G5 (3 p.m.)
Game 11: Loser G7 vs. Loser G8 (4:30 p.m.)
*Game 12: Winner G7 vs. Winner G8 (6 p.m.)
*championship game
Strong girls teams meet in Londonderry
From a competitive standpoint, the best holiday basketball tournament in New Hampshire may be the tourney being held at Londonderry High School. The event features four strong New Hampshire teams and four strong programs from out of state.
Bedford, Londonderry and Pinkerton Academy — three of the top NHIAA Division I teams — and Concord Christian will represent New Hampshire. Concord Christian won last year's Division III championship and is off to a 4-0 start in Division II this season.
Bishop Feehan (Attleboro, Mass.), the Division I runner-up in the Bay State last season, headlines the out-of-state teams, which include La Salle Academy (Providence, Rhode Island), Barrington (Rhode Island) and Hall-Dale (Farmingdale, Maine).
Bishop Feehan returned three starters from the team that lost to Andover in last season's Division I title game: senior captain Julia Webster, junior Charlotte Adams-Lopez and junior Maddy Steel.
The tournament begins Wednesday with three games: Pinkerton vs. Bishop Feehan (10 a.m.), Bedford vs. La Salle (11:30 p.m.) and Londonderry vs. Barrington (1 p.m.). There will be five games Thursday and five more on Friday.
Bedford's Lana McCarthy enters the tournament with 951 career points.
Mike Lee tournament tradition continues
The Mike Lee Holiday Basketball Bash in Farmington is one of the largest holiday basketball tournaments in New England. This year's event kicks off Tuesday and features 24 teams (14 boys and 10 girls).
Games will be played at Farmington High School and the Henry Wilson Memorial School:
Tuesday
Boys: Raymond vs. Franklin (9 a.m.)
Boys: Nute vs. Concord Christian (9:30 a.m. at HW)
Boys: Windham vs. Sanborn (10:15 a.m.)
Girls: Raymond vs. Franklin (10:45 a.m. at HW)
Girls: Profile vs. Sanborn (11:30 p.m.)
Boys: Profile vs. Derryfield (12:45 p.m.)
Girls: Portsmouth Christian vs. Coe-Brown (2 p.m.)
Boys: Belmont vs Coe-Brown (3:15 p.m.)
Girls: Belmont vs. Kennett (4:30 p.m.)
Boys: Portsmouth Christian vs. Kennett (5:45 p.m.)
Girls: Farmington vs. Noble (7 p.m.)
Boys: Farmington vs. Noble of North Berwick, Maine (8:15 p.m.)
