» Home is sweet :: Inside NH Preps

Mar122009

Home is sweet

Filed under Uncategorized by gary fitz at 12:43 pm

There have been some big upsets in the boys and girls NHIAA tournaments so far. The biggest on the girls side was 14th-ranked Nashua South shocking No. 3 Merrimack in the preliminary round. Then on Wednesday night in the boys L prelims, a pair of bracket busting stunners, as No. 12 Alvirne beat No. 5 Pinkerton Academy and No. 13 Londonderry stunned No. 4 Central. The result is Alvirne hosting a 12-13 quarterfinal game on Saturday night.

But for the most part, the home court advantage is just as big as ever. In the eight boys and girls basketball tournaments the home team went 54-10 (84 percent) in preliminary round games. Not such a big surprise.

But when the NHIAA took the quarterfinals away form neutral sites and put them at the home of the higher seeds, the home court advantage has been nearly as effective in the quarterfinals. Home quarterfinals teams are 20-4 (83 percent) going into Saturday night’s L and M boys semifinals.

If home teams continue to dominate on Saturday, including Alvirne hosting Londonderry, the argument will remain strong to put quarterfinals games back at the neutral sites, where diehards will be able to see all the quarterfinal games like they did before.