Telegraph file photo by TOM KING Nashua South's Julianna Martin, left, and Nashua North's Tori Conrad should be huge keys for their respective teams next seson.

The season ended in disappointment for all locals as the tournaments were cancelled or teams’ postseason runs ended on the scoreboard.

Bishop Guertin couldn’t get its fifth straight sole Division I crown, instead sharing it with Goffstown by order of the NHIAA. Hollis Brookline was upset at home in the Division II quarterfinals.

But overall, it was still a strong season overall locally. And, it’s not too early to see how things might shake out for next season.

And all eyes will be on Lund Road. With the nucleus of the last championship run graduating, just how good can the Bishop Guertin girls be in 2021?

Meanwhile, can Hollis Brookline bounce back from both its disappointment and the end of the Christina Balsamo era to forge ahead?

Let’s take a look:

DIVISION I

For Guertin, it’s a new era.

“It’s kind of like going back to the future,” Cards coach Brad Kreick said. “It’s really back to where we were three years ago, when this group of seniors became sophomores. Our current freshmen I wouldn’t trade for anybody.”

Indeed, the Cards will miss the leadership and play of seniors Erin Carney, Bri Wilcox, Hannah Muchemore, Addison Smith and Aria O’Connell.

And now, we’ll see the impact of the Cards having a great divide: They had a strong senior group and strong freshmen group, but as far as the varsity was concerned, not much in between.

“We knew we’d have to rely on the older kids until they were able to show the younger ones the way,” Kreick said. “it went exactly that way.”

But now what? The Cards lost O’Connell for the year in January to a knee injury, and that opened the door for 6-foot freshman Meghan Stack to start. When Muchemore got hurt late in the season, it opened things up for players like Brooke Paquette, Kate Daley, Mazie Barker, etc.

“These kids became much different players than they were,” Kreick said, “which

is good.”

But there’s no substitute for experience, and the playing field could be evened out a bit. “It’ll be the same old, same old,”Kreick said. “Bedford will be good, Pinkerton will be good. … We’ll see.”

The second seed in the tourney, Merrimack, finished 16-2 and will lose six seniors – and its coach. Athletic director Mike Soucy did an incredible job on an interim basis but wants to fill the job long term with someone else. That new coach will inherit the team’s heart and soul, guard Theresa Twardosky, who will be a senior. But the outgoing seniors were the perfect complement.

One team to really look at may be Nashua North. The Titans had a great stretch run to make the tournament, and as first year coach Curt Dutilley said, “I couldn’t have been prouder of the kids.”

In fact, Dutilley said that North’s slow start to the season was partly his fault, as he put in a system that didn’t fit what he had. That quickly changed. He could be strong with a one-two punch of 6-4 center Tori Conrad, who really came on in the second half of the season, and Jordyn Choate. Both will be seniors.

“As the season progressed, Tori started to dominate in the post, drawing multiple defenders on every possession,” Dutilley said. “Jordyn was an outstanding defender There’s a potential of 10 returnees.

Nashua South will also be in year two of a coaching era under the guidance of John Bourgeois. The Panthers not only made the tourney at 8-10, they stunned Manchester Central in the first round.

“We’re still working on the building blocks,” Bourgeois said. “Very happy for this grop. A ton of work left to do, but a good first step, though. … I couldn’t be more proud of the culture we’ve built as a team as it will help us for the long term.”

Juniors Aryanna Murray and Julianna Martin, who got big points when needed, will return, along with key inside player Iruka Obinelo. In fact, the Panthers lose just three seniors, but all played a key role – center Kirsten McIntire, Catherine Covert and Bailey Morin.

Finally, Alvirne hopes to bounce back after an unexpected down year. The Broncos were 2-2 back on Jan. 7 and dropped the last 14 games. They graduate five seniors, but back should be their freshman point guard, Paige McKinley, who led the Broncos in scoring at 8.1 points a game.

As for the powers, Bedford returns a dynamic player in Isabella King, who can score in the 30s (just ask Merrimack). And the Bulldogs graduate just three.

It should be a highly competitive season a year from now.

DIVISION II

The Cavaliers will be strong again, or should be. What happened in the final month of the season was the development of sophomore guard Elisabeth Stapelfeld. She would go strong to the basket and also burn teams from the outside.

“She’s a buzzsaw, man,” Cavs coach Bob Murphy said.

And 5-10 freshman Cheyenne Colbert, who just turned 14 late in the season, has unlimited potential.

“She’s someone you don’t want sitting on the bench at the end of a game,” Murphy said late in the season.

What the Cavs will need to move ahead is depth. They lose Balsamo and two other seniors, inside players Amanda Goclowski and Elizabeth Bonnette (although Bonnette was good from the outside), Maggie Crooks, who was fercious off the bench taking the ball to the basket, could be a key as a junior next year.

Can Souhegan bounce back from a 5-13 year? They have a potential of eight returnees, as remember, the Sabers had five sophomores and two freshman on the roster, some getting good time. For example, in their season ending win over Oyster River, freshman Kate Canavan led the Sabers in scoring. Junior forward-center Hunter Stonebraker averaged nine rebounds a game. A foundation is there.

Milford struggled to 0-18, but the growing pains, first year Spartans coach Mike Davidson, said, will be of benefit. There were no seniors, so “I expect to have the entire roster back next year, so we have nowhere to go but up.”

Four games were decided by seven or less, so Davidson would love to turn those into wins, “and then sneak three or four additional wins, and we might have a shot at a playoff berth.”

Bailey Johnson was one of many freshmen pressed into duty,averaging six points a game. And the 5-10 Sarah Dobbs, who averaged 8.6 points and 7.4 boards a game will be a senior.

DIVISION III

The Cougars took a step forward, as they became tourney tough: They upset St. Thomas on the road in the prelims and lost by just six to Conant in the quarters.

Campbell went 9-9 and their All-State player, junior Tori Allen, is set to return, along with potentially nine others from the roster.

The future looks bright for a lot of teams in 2020-21, to be sure.

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