In an era where several states contribute to New England's basketball prominence — Massachusetts has the Celtics and AJ Dybantsa, Connecticut has UConn, and Maine has Cooper Flagg — New Hampshire quietly boasts the region's best state association girls program.
Bedford rides a 30-game winning streak, including a perfect 2023-24 season capped with an NHIAA Division 1 championship. The Bulldogs have beaten Bishop Feehan twice during that stretch. They treat scrimmages as importantly as games and tout those victories too, most notably against MIAA Div. 1 runner-up Wachusett and Vermont stalwart Burlington last season.
The town of Bedford didn't even have its own high school until 2007. The Bulldogs found success quickly, earning a state championship in 2012-13. Gibbs joined the program as an assistant nine years ago. Then in 2019, following a controversial firing of then-head coach Sue Thomas after a school investigation into the program culture, Gibbs moved up to the head coaching spot.
The Bulldogs have made at least the state semifinals every season since, and won titles in 2020-21 and last winter. Recent graduate Lana McCarthy now starts at Purdue, a rare high-major talent in today's era who stayed at her local public school. But this year's team with only two seniors on the roster and a sophomore and freshman in the starting lineup, might be even better.
