Just the facts:
Coach: Mark Elmendorf
Standings: 5-13. Finished in 16th
Schedule: Season is over!
State championship tournament: 3/5 – 16/2019
Team social media: Twitter – @bedfordhsball
Post-season Accolades:
At the winter sports awards night, Justin O’Neill took home the Bulldog Award (MVP), and Noah Kokkinos was awarded the Sportsmanship Award. Justin O’Neill also won an Honorable Mention from the NH Basketball Coaches Association.
Next year’s captains are: Justin O’Neill, Connor Butts, and Jordan Dyer.
Playoffs:
There are 22 teams in Division 1 this year. Per NHIAA by-laws, that means 15 teams make the playoff tournament (two more than last year, in case you were wondering). As a result, only the team that finishes as the regular season champ will have a first-round bye. Everyone else will play to make it to the quarterfinals.
Finishing in 16th, Bedford did not make it to play offs this year! We’ll be graduating six seniors: Thomas Morgan, Harry LeGoullon, Zach Garron, Noah Kokkinos, Tim Galamaga and Kaleb Harrington.
Regular Season:
Game 18: Bedford 37 – Merrimack 36
Game 17: Bedford 41 – Salem 61
Game 16: Bedford 42 – Winnacunnet 54
Game 15: Bedford 51 – Dover 70
Game 14: Bedford 83 – Portsmouth 92
A crazy, crazy game. We went into double overtime with Portsmouth, who’s in sixth place. SIXTH. Justin O’Neill led Bedford in scoring with 33 points.
Game 13: Bedford 48 – Pinkerton 51
A game that we should not have lost, since Pinkerton is in 21st. But alas.
Game 12: Bedford 55 – Exeter 70
Closer than we would’ve thought, especially since Exeter in in 1st. So, A for effort.
Game 11: Bedford 39 – Spaulding 55
Game 10: Bedford 49 – Goffstown 58
A tough loss. The loss put Goffstown in a tie with us for 15th place. Before this game, Goffstown wasn’t even going to make playoffs — and now they’re edging us out. 15 teams make the tournament, but Goffstown wins the tiebreaker because of the head-to-head victory. Harry LeGoullon led Bedford with 15 points.
Game 9: Bedford 52 – Central 66
It was close the entire game, and then Central just started feeling it during the last six minutes. Such a shame. Justin O’Neill led Bedford in scoring with 19 points, followed by Tim Greene with 13, and Harry LeGoullon with 8. With this L, we are right behind Central in the standings. But we’re coming for them.
Game 8: Bedford 43 – Alvirne 70
An annoying loss. With Alvirne ranked at no. 8, the team definitely could’ve pulled off a win, or at least a close game. But don’t worry, we’ll destroy them later. Just wanted to make that comeback look even better.
Game 7: Bedford 47 – Londonderry 49
After a hard-fought game, Bedford lost at the buzzer to Londonderry by two. Thomas Morgan led the scoring with 17, followed by Harry Legoullon with 11.
Game 6: Bedford 59 – Memorial 46
Nice win against Memorial (now 0-7 for the season). Scoring leaders were Trey Ravenelle with 14, and Justin O’Neill with 10. Londonderry game on Friday might be a little tougher, as Londonderry is also 4 and 2 for the season, and has matched up pretty similarly against teams we’ve played. Should be a great game!
Game 5: Bedford 65 – Keene 66
This game went down to the buzzer. Literally. Keene took the lead with 5.4 seconds left. We got the ball at the wrong end of the court and couldn’t convert. Disappointing loss for the team. Justin O’Neill led the Bulldogs’ scoring with 17 points.
Game 4: Bedford 59 – Windham 55
Nice win over Windham. High scorers were Thomas Morgan with 17, Tim Green with 14 and Harry Legoullon with 13.
Game 3: Bedford 41 – Nashua North 56
First loss. Justin O’Neill led the scoring once again with 11.
Game 2: Bedford 53 – BG 50
Another nail-biter. Justin O’Neill led the Bulldogs scoring with 17. Harry Legoullon and Thomas Morgan contributed 10 and 8, respectively.
Game 1: Bedford 65 – Nashua South 63
Too close for comfort. Thomas Morgan was the team’s top scorer with 21. Justin O’Neill had 17 and Zach Garron chipped in 10.
Preview:
The team should be good this year, with the biggest competition coming from Manchester Central and Exeter. They lost some good (okay, great) players last year, but still have a solid team. The team lost to Dover in the quarterfinals last year and lost to Portsmouth in the finals the year before that. They have yet to win state in D1, so it seems like it’s time for a W. You should all be watching senior Thomas Morgan at point guard, senior Harry LeGoullon at power forward, and junior Justin O’Neill at Center. And yes, if two of those names sound familiar, it’s because you’ve heard them all football season long. For whatever reason, the two sports go together. So, we were curious if they called their coach “Elmo” to his face. You all know Mr. Elmendorf from Lurgio — would you have the balls to call him Elmo? Apparently, the team does, and they say it with love.