Nashua South's Cody Rocheleau and Bishop Guertin's Jordan Robichaud.will be keys for their respective teams this winter during the shortened season that ends with an open tournament. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

There were so many questions left unanswered last March.

Would Nashua North or South advance to Durham with Division I quarterfinal wins? How about Hollis Brookline, which looked on track to make a Final Four in Division II?

We never found out, thanks to the pandemic which cancelled both state high school boys basketball tournaments at the quarterfinal stage.

But now the seasons are set to get underway tonight locally with a somewhat limited schedule.

One team that suffered a premature ending last winter, but on the floor, not in a decision making conference room, was Bishop Guertin. The Cards were upset in the prelims by Salem, but thanks in part to a couple of transfers plus key returnees, they look loaded for this winter.

Elsewhere locally in Division I, North and South are on pause, of course, and can’t open the season until the week of Jan. 25. Alvirne has some key players back, while Merrimack has a young team – no seniors – and a new coach in Austin Denton as longtime coach Tim Goodridge is taking at least this season off. Denton has long been Goodridge’s right hand man as well as a former Tomahawk player.

“There is a ton of talent on North, South, Alvirne and Merrimack,” Guertin coach John Fisher said. “I believe the competition in the Nashua area will be fierce.”

In Division II, the Cavs should be a contender in what appears to be a wide open division. Campbell has a young team and the division’s youngest coach in first-year mentor Justin DiBenedetto. Wilton-Lyndeborough got off to rough start in losing to Conant the other night in its opener and play mainly out of its division, like Campbell. But, remember, it’s an open tourney.

Here’s a look:

DIVISION I

The Cardinals had an interesting off-season, likely much to the chagrin of other locals. Nate Kane, a key cog in the Nashua North attack, transferred in along with sophomore Javari Ellison and former Alvirne senior Gianni Ungarro. AsFisher said, adding them to the lineup “certainly helps our chances. … I look forward to seeing how this group (the entire team) performs.”

Put them together with returnees Lucas Baker (6-5 senior forward), 6-0 senior guard Jordan Robichaud, 6-1 senior forward Dylan Santosuosso, and 6-3 forward John Sullivan.

At Nashua North, athlete supreme Curtis Harris-Lopez hopes to go out on a high note; the Titans are still wondering how a quarterfinal with Merrimack would have gone last year after a 14-4 regular season and first round win.

He’s one of six seniors, the others being 6-3 forward Sam McElliott, 5-10 guard Jayden Espinal, 6-0 swingman Spencer Labreque, 5-10 guard Stephen Norris, and 6-5 forward Tom Mason.

Improvement, Lane said, is the key.

“We’ll compete, appreciate, and be thankful for the abbreviated season,” he said. “We’ll incorporate and transition the younger players to gain valuable varsity experience.” And with an open tourney, the Titans can do it freely.

The Panthers had a fine 12-7 season last year, capped by a great road prelim win over Winnacunnet. Now, graduation took its toll but four keys return: 6-3 senior swingman Cody Rocheleau, 6-0 junior guard Alex Hulfachor, 5-11 senior guard Jaden Murphy and 6-8 senior center Rhett Medling.

As always, Panthers coach Nate Mazerolle feels the defensive end will be the key. “Tough man-to-man defense will always be our identity,” he said. “We have several memebrs to our team, so as always, we hope to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season.”

Even with no seniors, Merrimack has a key returnee in 6-1 junior guard Jack Tarleton, who led them in scoring last season with 12.5 points a game. Other keys include sophomore Issac Ynfante, junior Shea Goodwin, plus 6-0 juniors Aidan Ponder and Kobe Pimentel.

Watch out for Alvirne. They upset Bedford in the first round last year after a 9-9 regular season and coach Marty Edwards team is ready to pick up where they left off.

The Broncos have size, with 6-6 senior Liam O’Neil and 6-8 junior Brendan Graham. They’ll be run by 5-11 senior point guard Charlie Thomas and he’ll look to get seniors Jake Hibbard (6-1) and Nick Jacques (6-4) involved.

“We should be strong on the inside,” Edwards said. “We’ve got some athletes and our transition game should be good.”

DIVISION II

The Cavaliers have six key seniors back: Forwards Matt Dias, Blake Bergerson and Matt Kelley, plus guards Rob Haytayan, Brian Szewczyk and Ethan Smith.

Their keys to success? “Staying together as a team,” HB coach Cole Etten said. “Coming together to work hard at practice, staying healthy.”

The Spartans will be co-coached this year as Dan Murray, due to some physical issues, will share the job with Don Gutterson. Two starters are back,junior guard Ryon Constable and junior forward Caden Zalenski. Seniors Mike Philbrick (shooting guard) and Nick Sloan (forward) are also keys and there are at least eight other Spartans to provide depth.

“We are young, inexperienced, extremely undersized,” Murray said, “but work hard and are starting to put together a competitive basketball team. I really like our improvement, as our roles get filled this is going to be a lot of fun.”

At Souhegan, Matt Lemieux takes over on an interim basis this season for Sabers coach Peter Pierce, and the team has just begun tryouts after athletics haven’t been able to start until earlier this week.

But last year they graduated four seniors and have the potential of having seven seniors on this year’s squad, led by senior scorer Matt McCool and rugged senior forward Mike Maroun.

DIVISION III

DiBenedetto feels playing the bigger schools will help. The Cougars have some keys in sophomore Dylan Rice and senior Will McPherson

“We feel as the season goes on we will grow and get better by playing these tougher opponents,” the coach said, “and should have us prepared and battle tested for the playoffs.”

DIVISION IV

New Warriors coach Wiley Billings feels playing out of division will make his team better. Point guard Kyler Tremblay will look to pace the Warriors along with sharpshooter J.J. Leblanc. Look for Hunter Scales and Paul VanBlarigan to help out as well.

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