Alvirne’s Lady Bronco basketball team took another step in the right direction this year, as they managed to finish the regular season at 9-9, good enough for the 11th seed going into the tournament. Not only did the Lady Broncos beat their regular season record from a year ago by a game, but they were able to come from behind and beat #6 Goffstown before ultimately losing to #3 Londonderry in the quarterfinals.
At the beginning of the season, it was far from sunshine and roses for the Lady Broncos, as they opened up with three consecutive losses to #4 Portsmouth, #2 Pinkerton, and #9 Exeter. The team knew it was not all doom and gloom for them, however, as they had gotten two of their hardest games on the calendar out of the way already, as well as having some momentum from a competitive loss against Exeter, as they only lost by 11 in that contest.
Alvirne’s final game before the Christmas break was against Nashua South, who would eventually finish as the 13th seed, and, in front of their home crowd at Alvirne, got their first win of the regular season, pouncing on the Purple Panthers 59-33.
Coming out of the break after mixed results in their Holiday Tourney, Alvirne dropped a one-point heartbreaker 37-36 to Windham just six days after falling to the Jaguars by two points in the tourney.
Alvirne, thanks to a slightly easier schedule from that point, rattled off four straight victories against Merrimack, Winnacunnet, Trinity, and Manchester Memorial. The run of four straight non-playoff opponents was exactly what the Broncos needed to get their season back on track, moving their record to 5-4 and getting themselves into the thick of the playoff hunt.
Alvirne then took to the road to play Keene after their game against Londonderry was postponed, causing an eight-day layoff for Alvirne. The Broncos showed some rust in that game, and despite battling the Blackbirds to the very end, Alvirne lost a tough game by a final score of 49-47.
Their next game was against another of the teams to make it to the final four in the Londonderry Lancers. The mission for the Broncos wasn’t necessarily to beat the Lancers, who entered at 8-2 with their only losses being against Bedford and Pinkerton, but to just keep things competitive because if there is one thing that was a theme across all sports this winter, it was that anything could happen on any given night. Alvirne, unfortunately, was unable to come away with the upset, as they lost 44-27 on their home court, dropping their record to 5-6 on the season and back below .500 for the first time since January 19.
After their loss to the Lancers, Alvirne bounced back, rattling off four straight wins for the second time this year, beating Spaulding 62-33, Nashua North 49-33, upsetting Dover 51-44, and routing Manchester Central-West 52-36. At this point, the Lady Broncos knew they had accomplished a major goal heading into the season: they were in the Division I playoffs. Now they were just playing for seeding the rest of the way.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, the end of their season was almost as difficult as the beginning as they drew Salem, Bedford, and Goffstown to finish the season off, losing all three games and finishing at 9-9 in the regular season, which left them in the 11th seed with a second game at Goffstown against the Grizzlies in a matter of four days on the heels of a 36-30 loss that was as close as 33-30 with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Despite the loss less than a week earlier and playing back-to-back games in Goffstown, Alvirne came into the preliminary round with a lot of confidence, knowing that had a couple of shots bounced differently, they would have beaten Goffstown to close out the regular season.
Alvirne proved just that, as with time winding down, the Grizzlies held a two-point advantage 49-47 over Alvirne with 3.6 seconds on the clock.
Pressed for time, Julia Adams inbounded the ball to Ella Hartson, who made a heads-up pass to Rachael Allard. Allard was able to get the shot off as time expired and was fouled from behind the three-point arc. Her shot missed, but she would have a chance at immediate redemption. Hitting all three shots, Allard did what nobody believed to be possible just three seconds prior. Alvirne was going to the Elite Eight.
The Lady Broncos would end up being pitted against #3 Londonderry in the quarterfinals, and the Lancers turned out to simply be too much for the Broncos to handle, beating Alvirne 51-36 behind several strong performances, ending Alvirne’s season as the Broncos finished at 10-10 and 8th in Division I.
When asked about his thoughts on the team’s success this season, Broncos’ Head Coach, Frank Girginis, said, “In a season of a lot of ‘what if’s’, the girls responded better than I could have ever hoped for. Not only did they overachieve as far as their regular season record and advancing to the quarterfinals, but they put Alvirne girls’ basketball back on the map with foundational pieces that will help us in the upcoming years. These girls believed, trusted, and played for each other. They believed in what we were doing and no matter what I asked of them, they did it without hesitation or question. As their coach, I cannot be more grateful for that as well as their effort and faith in how we needed to attack this season. It started with our three seniors, Rachael [Allard], Sadie [Rodgers], and Taryn [Macklin] leading the way and translated down not only the varsity team but JV as well.”
“I can already see the excitement of next season as the returning players are already asking about off-season work and summer tournaments. However, even though we had a lot of success this past season we know we can’t sit down now and have to work twice as hard to prepare for the next. However, following in the footsteps of previous leaders, new ones will arise and a new road will be traveled. This time with our eyes on a road called the….the Final Four,” Girginis added when asked about the outlook on next season.
The future looks bright for the Lady Broncos, only graduating three players this season. This means that, despite the major impact Allard, Rodgers, and Macklin made this season, next year’s group will be able to carry on their legacies, being more experienced and better equipped for another deep playoff run.
