Nashua South's Nicole De Jesus (0) swats the ball far away from Pinkerton's Rebecca Osanya during Monday night's prelim win over the Astros. South hosts Exeter tonight in the Divison I quarterfinals, rescheduled from Thursday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

The fifth day of the local NHIAA winter tourney season is one of the lighter ones, as today (Friday) features just three basketball games, including the resheduled Exeter at Nashua South girls Divsion I quarterfinal.

That game will be at the Belanger Gym at 6 p.m., as it was surprisingly completely moved to tonight while the other three quarters were played despite the bad weather the region was expecting.

The night really belongs to Division II boys hoop, as its quarterfinals will be played with two area teams in action. Top ranked unbeaten Hollis Brookline hosts Coe-Brown at 6 p.m. No. 11 Souhegan was supposed to head to No. 3 Manchester West at 6,but that as moved to join Saturday’s frenzy at 2 p.m.

It’s actually the calm before the storm. Saturday there are also three locals in the Division I boys hoop quarterfinals, two in the Division II girls hoop quarters, and three hockey teams in the Division I-II quarters.

Here’s a look at tonight:

DIVSON I GIRLS QUARTER

No. 4 South, 16-3, hopes to join the other top four seeds, Concord Christian, Bedford and Londonderry in Monday’s semifinals at a location still to be determined.

The Panthers and the No. 5, 13-5 Blue Hawks did not meet during the regular season, which gives this game some intrigue. Exeter is led by seniors Jessica and Nicole Melick.

Nashua, of course, escaped Pinkerton the other night thanks to senior Addie Borden’s 3-pointer with five seconds left. But Borden injured her knee on the celebration jump, and won’t be available. Sophomore forward Anya Challinger is also questionable with a concussion.

But Nicole De Jesus will be there, and the Panthers point guard simply is their engine. “Never count Nicole out,” South coach John Bourgeois said. “She’s the leader to our team. She’s the one that makes the engine go. And she draws attention that leaves other people open.”

As for Exeter, Bourgeois knows South will have its hands full. After losing to BG on Jan. 23, the Blue Hawks went on a seven game win streak, and have won nine of their last 10. The only loss was to Concord Christian.

DIVISON II QUARTERFINALS

The No. 1, 18-0 Cavaliers also have some intrigue. Led by 6-6 Alton Williams and a host of others, the Cavs stormed through the division but did not play No. 8 Coe-Brown, 12-7 after its prelim win over Oyster River. HB had a bye.

When CBN beat OR in the prelims, it avenged a 74-56 loss on the road. The Bears haven’t faired well against the iron, however. HB is a big favorite to advance to Monday’s semis in Rochester.

Defense is the key for HB. “We can switch it up, we can tweak, and quite frankly, we can suffocate,” Cavs coach Ryan Kelley said.

Souhegan, meanwhile, avenged a last second loss to Kingswood with a solid win on the road. They’d love to avenge another close one, as they lost to West 58-56 at home on Jan. 23.

The Blue Knights went ahead with four seconds to play and were led by Max Houde’s 21 points. It could be a shootout between Houde and Souhegan’s Wes Hickman, who had 24 in that game.

West eliminated Milford 58-46 in Tuesday’s prelims.