This weekend marks the end of the NHIAA basketball season with the Division I and II girls’ basketball championships being contested on Saturday, and the D-I and D-II boys’ title games being played on Sunday.

Pembroke senior captain Evan Berkeley is one of the players vying for a championship this weekend, but he already has a major award this season to his name. Berkeley was named the boys’ Division II Player of the Year, Franklin sophomore Kourtney Kaplan was chosen as the girls’ Division IV Player of the Year and several area players were 

Berkeley, a guard, is one of the best shooters in the division, shooting 58%  from the field, 51% from 3-point range and 68% from the foul line. That, combined with his defensive prowess (48 steals this season) and his willingness to share the ball (he leads Pembroke in assists), is what makes Berkeley stand out.

“Most unselfish player I have ever coached,” Pembroke head coach Mike Donnell said. “Evan could have scored 30 or more a game, but he made his teammates around him better and shared those points.”

Berkeley is on the floor an average of 24 minutes a game, and his contributions on both sides of the floor led the Spartans to a 16-2 record and the top seed in D-II. Now 18-2, Pembroke will play Sanborn (17-4) for the title on Sunday at the University of New Hampshire at noon.

Kaplan, a guard, led Division IV in scoring for the second year in a row, this year averaging 25.4 points per game. 

In 19 games played this season, Kaplan was a leader for Franklin on both sides of the floor, amassing 109 rebounds, 77 assists, 110 steals and 23 blocks. Kaplan scored her 1,000th career varsity point in a win over Wilton-Lyndeborough on Jan. 13 and led the Golden Tornadoes to a 14-5 record and the No. 5 seed for the D-IV postseason tournament.

“Kourtney is currently one of our captains, which holding that role as a sophomore says a lot about her character,” Franklin head coach Cat Robbins said. “She is a player whose work ethic never waivers, no matter the scenario. She is eager to learn new things, which has helped her become a well-rounded student athlete. I am excited to see all the ways she will continue to grow in her next (two) years of high school.”

Another major award went to Franklin senior Cole Johnson, won the D-IV boys’ Jack Ford Memorial Scholar Athlete Award, which is one-third basketball performance, one-third academic performance, and one-third community service and citizenship, according to the NHBCO website. 

Capital Area coaches swept the D-II Sub-Varsity Coach of the Year awards, with Pembroke boys’ JV coach Julia Labrecque and Bow girls’ JV coach Kate Walsh taking home those accolades.

All area D-I, D-II and D-IV All-State selections are listed below. The D-III championship games were played on March 1 and the area D-III All-State and award winners were published in the Monitor on March 8.

Division I

Girls’ Second Team: Lilli Carlile, sr., Concord Christian; Emma Smith, jr., Concord Christian.

Division II

Boys’ First Team: Evan Berkeley, sr., Pembroke; Jake Reardon, jr., Bow; Aiden Gray, sr., Merrimack Valley.

Boys’ Second Team: Jack Matson, sr., Coe-Brown; Devin Riel, sr., Pembroke.

Boys’ Honorable Mention: Ryan Casey, jr., Bishop Brady; Nic Oglesby, sr., MV; Peyton Larrabee, jr., Bow; Ryan Kouchoukos, sr., Coe-Brown; Andrew Fitzgerald, so., Pembroke.

Girls’ First Team: Kayla Smith, sr., MV; Kate Stephens, jr., Pembroke.

Girls’ Second Team: Peyton Vaughn, fr., Bow; Emma Lapierre, so., Coe-Brown.

Girls’ All-Defensive Team: Jada Lucas, jr., MV; Kate McGovern, sr., Bow.

Girls’ Honorable Mention: Izzy Navoy, jr., MV; Claire Jackson, sr., Bishop Brady; Kaitlin Arenella, sr., Pembroke; Bry Szepan, sr., Bow; Haley Stafford, sr., John Stark; Payton Bryson, sr., Bishop Brady; Lexi Korbet, so., John Stark.

Division IV

Boys’ Honorable Mention: Luke Farland, so., Concord Christian; Brayden Pelletier, sr., Pittsfield; TJ Charbono, sr., Concord Christian; Harrison Kaplan, sr., Franklin; Concord Christian, sr., Logan Duffy.

Girls’ First Team: Kourtney Kaplan, so., Franklin.