The New Hampshire Basketball Coaches’ Association has selected Salem’s Josh Jones and Pembroke Academy’s Alex Hall as the state’s Mr. Basketball and Miss Basketball, respectively, for the 2008-09 season.
Jones, a 6-foot-3 guard, scored 1,345 points and helped the Blue Devils win 78 games during his four-year varsity career. Salem won back-to-back Class L titles when Jones was a sophomore and a junior. Manchester Memorial upset Salem in this year’s Class L semifinals.
“He’s such a selfless guy,” Salem coach E.J. Perry said. “We went as far as he took us.”
Jones averaged 17.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 4.2 assists per game during his senior season, when he served as a team captain. He was also regularly assigned the task of defending the opposing team’s top scorer.
Jones was an all-state selection in each of the past two seasons, and he has made the honor roll for the past seven semesters. He also volunteers as a coach at the Salem Boys Club and with the New Hampshire Special Olympics.
He has yet to finalize his college decision.
Hall, a 5-foot-6 guard, displayed a deadly shot during a varsity career that began at Trinity High School in Manchester and ended at Pembroke, where she became the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,617 points.
“She is probably the finest young woman I’ve ever coached,” Pembroke coach Rose Galligan said. “She’s a tremendous player and an even better person.”
Hall led Pembroke in almost every offensive category during her junior and senior seasons. In addition to averaging 27.6 points a game, Hall set single-season records in five offensive categories as a senior.
Hall, a National Honor Society student, earned a basketball scholarship from the University of Hartford. She received certificate of merit honors in science and math from the Society of Women Engineers the past three years.
Hall, who was a team captain, completed her career as the No. 2 rebounder in the program’s history.
Hockey: Make-A-Wish Roster Announced
The following players have been selected to represent New Hampshire against Vermont in this year’s Make-A-Wish All-Star Game, which will be played in June at the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse:
Forwards: Liam-House Myers (Goffstown), J.B. Mulvey (Manchester West), Trevor DeVitto (Timberlane), Ryan McDonough (Manchester West), Sean White (Bishop Guertin), Ben Rollins (Oyster River), Nick Bundzinski (Timberlane), Jason Carace (Pinkerton), Ward Gleason (Bishop Guertin), Jack Mullen (Concord), Martin Tomanik (Lebanon) and Jon St. Charles (Manchester West).
Defensemen: Frank Davis (Somersworth), Mark Baroni (Salem), Tom Wickham (Bishop Guertin), Jamie Knight (Hanover), Andrew Dugal (Bishop Brady) and Tyler Pratte (Manchester Central).
Goaltenders: Dave O’Brien (Bishop Guertin) and Ryan Rothwell (Timberlane).
Volleyball: Seasons Change
Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, NHIAA boys volleyball will become a spring sport, bringing it more in line with men’s volleyball at the collegiate level and boys volleyball seasons in many other states.
Because spring sports teams are often forced to share gym time early in the season, when poor weather prohibits teams from practicing outdoors, the start date for boys volleyball practices will likely be at least one week later than the start date for other spring sports.
A survey of NHIAA schools prompted the decision to change boys volleyball to a spring sport.
