Here are three words that give you the feel that spring is right around the corner, despite winter’s harsh return:

It’s Tourney Time.

Yes, the high school winter tournaments are in full swing this week, as Division I and II boys and girls basketball joins III and IV, and hockey also gets in the act.

We’ve had track, wrestling, gymnastics, bowling, swimming and skiing state team titles already decided. Now it’s time for the second half of the winter post season to begin.

The winter tourneys probably capture more attention than the other two seasons, wouldn’t you think? Sure, it’s great at soccer or football when there’s 2,000 fans, but when you get that many indoors it’s even more loud and intense, and that’s what we’ll see at the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gym on March 12 when four state titles – Division I and II boys and girls – are decided.

Last year three of the four games were nailbiters; only the last one, Division II girls, was not close. Trinity edging Goffstown for the Division I boys title, Souhegan beating ConVal in overtime for the Division II boys crown. And who can forget the performance Brooke Paquette put on in the final three minutes of Bishop Guertin’s Division I girls title win over rival Bedford?

Playing at Lundholm often impacts the game; teams that often score in the 70s are held down in the 50s. First halves are often low scoring as teams have to battle nerves and get used to their shooting surroundings; then suddenly things usually erupt in offensive flurries. It’ll be interesting to see.

As for hockey, it’s fun to have the finals at Manchester’s SNHU Arena, but for local teams, it’s been awhile. Not for being in finals, mind you – in 2021 the Guertin girls won the state title, and that night the Hollis Brookline-Derryfield boys fell to Berlin-Gorham in the Division III title game. But they were held at separate venues due to the pandemic, BG winning at the Dover Ice Arena and HBDS bowing at Concord’s Everett Arena.

Last year the tourney finals returned to its usual same-site home, SNHU Arena. The last time a local team played there in the finals was in March of 2016 when Bishop Guertin bowed to Bedford, 4-3. The guess here is at least one, maybe more, of the foursome of BG, Merrimack, HBDS boys and BG girls make it to Finals Saturday, March 11. The HBDS Warriors and BG girls came close, the Cards losing to Hanover in the semis at Everett Arena, and the Warriors bowing in the semis at Plymouth State at the hands of Belmont-Gilford, whom they have split with this year.

When they left PSU – the tourney atmosphere there is great – on a snowy Wednesday night last March, the Warriors had the feeling of a team that felt it had let a good opportunity slip away. Those teams usually come back if there is enough talent returning, and that is certainly the case with HBDS.

Look, tourneys are fun in the fall and the spring. But nothing beats the winter postseason atmosphere, the increased intensity, the fast pace, etc. There are prelim rounds Tuesday and Wednesday, then things continue Friday-Saturday and by the end of next weekend we’ll be in semifinal mode as we’ve entered March. There’s one night of potential February Fun left if the weather doesn’t KO the first night of the Division I and II

Yup, that’s the March Madness part Enjoy.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

Newsletter