What started in a little cul-de-sac in Eagle River, Alaska seven years ago is now emblazoned on the walls of Conant High School for eternity.
Elizabeth Gonyea wanted to play soccer back then, but her best friend, Kamryn Perry, was a basketball player, and that’s how Gonyea’s journey to 1,000 points began.
“I really only started playing basketball because of her,” Gonyea said Friday night, “because she wouldn’t play soccer with me, so I was like ‘Let’s just try basketball!’ so I could play a sport with my best friend.”
The two played PIG long into those sunlit summer nights in Alaska, where it never gets dark; once Gonyea’s family moved to New Hampshire three years ago, the Alaskan assassin started shooting the lights out in the Pratt Auditorium, and during Friday night’s season-finale 73-29 win for Conant over Campbell, she hit a three-pointer for her 1,000th career point.
“She came right in her freshman year and she really played confidently,” said head coach Brian Troy. “We’ve seen her grow the past few years. It’s really been a good sight to see as a coach. Very proud of her, it’s a good honor.”
If you looked around the Pratt Friday night, you saw posters celebrating the junior star, her phot os plastered on the walls, mixed in with the orange-and-black championship banners, fans cheering her on.
“It shows how much support the community has and how supportive my teammates are,” Gonyea said, “because I never would have been able to do it without all their support. It just shows how loving, how tight this community is. It’s really amazing.”
It was a special night for Gonyea, and it was a special night for hardworking guard Silas Bernier, too, Conant’s lone senior, honored before her final regular-season home game.
“It’s crazy, it’s surreal,” Bernier said. “It seems like just last week I was preparing for senior night with Meg Wheeler and Grace Chadbourne. They don’t lie when they say it goes by fast. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Bernier scored a game-high 16 points to go along with ten rebounds, three assists and three steals.
“Knowing it was one of my last few times playing in this gym was a big push,” Bernier said.
The steady senior guard is the first player Troy’s coached from freshman to senior year.
“It’s been special to see her growth as a person and as a leader and as a player,” Troy said. “It’s just been awesome to see. She’s been huge for this program and she’s earned everything she’s gotten. That’s the thing about Silas that people don’t realize is how hard she’s worked to get to where she’s at. All the freshman girls, they think Silas is an inspiration. It’s been remarkable to see her growth as a person. She’s always learning every day, she’s very humble, and she’s just a good kid all around and a great leader too. I can’t really think of many people better for a freshman girl to look up to than Silas. She has that kind of character.”
Bernier led four Orioles in double figures Friday night; Teagan Kirby scored 13 points with four assists, three steals and seven rebounds, Gonyea had 12 points, Mylie Aho had 10 points and 11 rebounds and Emma Tenters had 11 points and 10 rebounds as Conant finished the regular season undefeated (18-0).
The Orioles will have a first-round playoff bye and next Saturday will host the winner of Wednesday’s game between the eight- and nine-seeds, which will include some combination of Prospect Mountain (10-8), St. Thomas Aquinas (10-8), Campbell (8-9) and Belmont (8-9). Campbell and Belmont have makeup games this weekend to conclude their schedule before the final seeding will be available.
The Orioles will likely open the playoffs without Kirby, who appeared to suffer a high ankle sprain while landing on a half-court buzzerbeater attempt at the end of the third quarter. That will be the biggest test of Conant’s depth thus far this season, as they’ve escaped relatively uninjured throughout; luckily for the Orioles, not many teams have a 6’1” center like Tenters in the starting lineup, let alone coming off the bench to fill Kirby’s role.
“I think it’s going to take us coming together collectively, I think some bench players are going to step up, and we’re going to be okay,” Gonyea said.
Something had to increase the degree of difficulty for Conant after they demolished Division III competition all season long and head into the tournament as the undefeated No. 1 seed. But Bernier and the Orioles have been around long enought to know that the regular season doesn’t mean much once the brackets come out.
“We’re not done yet,” Bernier said. “We’re still hungry. We’ve worked to be where we are right now. We’re not looking past that, because we’ve worked hard. But right now, regular season’s over, and we’re taking it as if it’s 0-0. We’re not going to take any team easy, we’re not going to take the fact that we are undefeated as an excuse to not work hard. We’re going to go into every practice and work just as hard if not harder, we’re going to implement new things and definitely try to get a ‘ship.”
ConVal 76, Manchester West 71 (5 OT)
The Cougars stayed undefeated after weathering an unheard-of five overtimes at Manchester West Thursday.
ConVal’s Mather Kipka had a team-high 21 despite fouling out in regulation. Connor Buffum had 19 and Taylor Burgess scored 16 in the win. West’s star freshman Kur Teng dropped a game-high 29 for the home team.
ConVal (15-0) has won 31 straight regular-season games and remains the No. 1 team in Division II, ahead of Hanover and Bow, both 13-1. On Tuesday, the Cougars have a huge game that could determine the No. 1 seed in the upcoming DII playoffs, as ConVal hosts Hanover at 6:30 p.m. in their final regular-season home game of the year.
Mascenic 35, St. Thomas Aquinas 18
The Vikings put on a defensive showing for the ages Friday night, holding the Saints to 18 points on just seven field goals in the low-scoring win. Trey Shaw had a game-high 11 points; Sam Stauffeneker had nine and Gabe Turner seven.
Mascenic (16-1) has set the program record for wins in a single season. The Vikings have a home rematch with the only team to beat them this winter, Monadnock (10-6), on Tuesday.
Campbell 47, Conant 41
A 19-point outburst from Keegan Mills put Campbell over the top against Conant Friday night in Litchfield.
Anthony Gauthier had 13 for Conant and Connor Hart added nine.
The Orioles (7-8) have clinched a playoff berth regardless, as they can’t be caught by 4-12 Franklin for the 14th and final seed. They could move up a few spots depending on next week’s action, with Raymond (8-8), Inter-Lakes (8-8), Belmont (9-7) and St. Thomas Aquinas (9-6) as the moving parts.
Conant travels to Fall Mountain (3-13) Tuesday night and then hosts Somersworth (11-4) Thursday and Belmont (9-7) Friday to conclude the regular season.
Pittsfield 83, Wilton-Lyndeborough 45
Jack Schwab had 20 points on senior night as the Warriors fell to 5-12 on the season with one game remaining after their loss to Pittsfield Friday. JJ Leblanc had nine points, Sean Brennan seven and Kyler Tremblay five.
WLC hosts Nute (6-9) on Wednesday; a Warrior win could put them into a five-way tie for the final two playoff spots in Division IV.
ConVal 45, Manchester West 34
The Cougars needed a senior night win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and they got one Friday over Manchester West.
ConVal is now 7-9 on the season and the 15th and final playoff spot in Division II – which currently belongs to Kearsarge (7-8) – is still in play. Manchester West is 8-8 and currently the 14th seed, so losses by either of those teams help the Cougars. They can help themselves, too, but it won’t be easy, as ConVal finishes out at undefeated No. 1 Hanover (15-0) and No. 3 Lebanon (14-3).
Portsmouth Christian 42, Mascenic 34
Friday night’s outcome had no effect on Mascenic’s playoff seeding; despite the loss, they’re locked into the 10th seed in Division IV. At 11-7, the Vikings have their best record in quite some time, and certainly the best in senior Shelby Babin’s four years.
No. 10 Mascenic will travel to No. 7 Newmarket (13-5) Monday night at 7 p.m. to open the Division IV playoffs. The two teams did not meet in the regular season.
Colebrook is the No. 1 seed after finishing the regular season undefeated at 18-0.