MANCHESTER, N.H. – The semifinals are set for the 2019 Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament following Thursday’s first-round action.
Exeter gets a chance to repeat as champion, easily defeating Bedford in their opening contest, 72-49.
The Blue Hawks exploded to 28 points in the third quarter, with junior Matt McConnell, senior Mike Leonard and junior Tom Delgado each contributing a pair of three-points as Exeter entered the final frame with a 25-point lead.
Leonard led the way with 24 points in the win, with McConnell contributing 15 and Delgado finishing with 11. Senior Justin O’Neill led the Bulldogs, grabbing 14 points in the loss.
Exeter will face Lebanon in Friday’s first semifinal matchup, scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m.
Lebanon earned their trip to the next round thanks to a 53-42 victory over Salem in the day’s first contest.
Multi-sport star John Willeman led the Marauders with 21 points, including a trio of scores from beyond the arc and six successful free throws. Sophomore Jackson Stone also contributed ten points for Lebanon as they held the Blue Devils without a single scorer in double digits.
On the Manchester side of the tournament bracket, Memorial defeated Trinity, 56-40 and West defeated Central, 73-45.
Memorial’s victory came largely on the back of a 17-4 first-quarter run, with a 12-point second quarter from Trinity’s Royce Williams unable to build enough momentum to eventually eliminate the gap.
Williams finished with 29 points while Memorial got double-digit efforts from senior Julius Hargis (13), senior Jack Fitzgerald (11), and junior Deng Lual (12).
In West’s blowout victory, the Blue Knights opened up a 26-11 advantage in the first quarter, building that lead to 18 by the half. Central’s respectable third-quarter rally didn’t last though, with the Little Green failing at the line in the final quarter (2-for-8) compared to West (8-for-10).
Freshman Kur Teng led the way for the Blue Knights with 21 points, with Jabari Dowell leading Central with 11 points.
West and Memorial will square off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in the tournament’s other semi-final.
