Date Posted : 02-04-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Spaulding outlasts Winnacunnet, 47-40

 It was my 1^st look at both teams when I went into Friday night's battle in Hampton between 6-4 Spaulding and 5-4 Winnacunnet, so I was hoping to find out just how good these 2 seacoast teams really were.  Spaulding has been more impressive so far with signature wins on the road in OT against BG and at home against Pinkerton, Salem and Nashua South.  However, the Red Raiders did have 2 ugly early season losses at Londonderry and Concord, who have combined to win only 1 other game all season long.  On the other side, Winnacunnet started off the year slowly at 1 and 3, but the Warriors had rattled off a 4 and 1 streak to get over .500 at 5-4 heading into the game against Spaulding.

Fri 02-03-2012	Score
Winnacunnet	40
Spaulding	47
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-03-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 No one had to tell Lebanon head coach Keith Matte or Coe –Brown head coach David Smith where their teams needed to get better. These are two guys who have been around a long time; you don’t need to pull them aside and point out the warts, they see them.

 After losses to Souhegan and Hanover in the past seven days Matte knew his team was going to have to start rebounding if they were going to compete with the best teams in the division. The gap in the paint between Souhegan & Hanover had been  too big to overcome and with Pembroke Academy and a second shot at the Marauders still left on the schedule Lebanon needed to get better defending the paint in a hurry.

Fri 02-03-2012	Score
Lebanon	74
Coe-Brown	48
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-02-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Mabor Gabriel & Trinity may not have seen the last of Alvirne

 Today we take our fourth and final mid-season look, this time at Division I.  Parity doesn't even begin to describe the current state of affairs in New Hampshire's largest class and without a dominant team to be found we choose from some very good ones and take a look at where the next two months may take us.

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Trinity vs. Alvirne

 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by Edible Arrangements

 The coverage of Alvirne is brought to you by greenformygold.com

 Trinity is always a safe pick here (they've been to the championship game four of the last five years) but it's also an educated one. The Pioneers have three aspects going for them that usually lends itself to a string of victories in the post-season. 1) They are experienced even for a young group as they return five players who were on the floor against Bishop Guertin in the Division I final last year. 2) They have size. No other team can match 6'10, 6'7, 6'7 on the block and even though Silvere Aluko comes off the bench he plays enough to alter game plans. Size can often be the great equalizer in high school basketball and for your most recent example of this go back and read about the 2010 Pinkerton Astros. 3) They have a coach who has been there before. Dave Keefe not only does a very good job teaching fundamentals and breaking down X's & O's but he knows how to make his kids feel ready and comfortable in big games. He'll bark out instructions one second and throw his arm around a kid coming out of the game the next. Trinity rarely looks rattled in tight situations. Their head coach is a big reason for that.

Date Posted : 02-01-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Kohl Meyers of Kingswood

 I've decided to try something new this week, if it all goes smoothly and I get positive reviews from our readers we'll make it a format we use once or twice a year. Just thought with all the columns in the past 10 days it was a good time to mix things up a little bit. Call it part of the perks of being your own editor.

 So today instead of previewing the seven or eight biggest games of the weekend we're going to take a quick look at every single game played around the state this weekend. This will either be my best idea or my worst with no in between..

 On to (all) the games;

 Division I

 Nashua South (5-5) at Merrimack (8-1)

 Londonderry nearly pulled off the rarest of feats Tuesday night; a 1-7 team beating a 7-1 team. Merrimack pulled out the one point win and faces a South team that has lost 5 out of 6. This will be a tough road game to try and break that cycle...

 Manchester Memorial (4-4) at Nashua North (7-2)

 The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 Memorial head coach Mike Fitzpatrick is doing a lot of teaching with this group and it is paying off. They may be a year away but Memorial is getting better and getting Tong Akot back was huge. Fitzpatrick raved about the North backcourt in the pre-season; he gets them up close on Friday night. Nashua North is playing good basketball right now. That was a good win at Spaulding.

Date Posted : 01-31-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Darren Doyon & Coe-Brown will be a team to watch

We continue our look at all four divisions at the half-way point of the season today with Division II.

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Portsmouth vs. Pembroke Academy

 The coverage of Portsmouth is sponsored by Craven, Sullivan & Splendore PLLC.

 It's tough to see anybody beating either one of these teams on their home floor so with top 4 seeds in their own hands you ask yourself how they would fare on the big floor at UNH.

 The answer is better than any other teams in the division. For Pembroke it's a matter of spacing out all those shooters and having more room to create in transition. For Portsmouth it's a matter of comfort and familiarity; the Clippers have been to UNH five straight seasons under head coach  Jim Mulvey and many of the kids in his rotation were on the floor there a year ago.

Date Posted : 01-30-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 Two good young basketball coaches were having a hard time explaining themselves after Bishop Brady's 48-44 overtime victory.
 
 Both Mark Yeaton of Bishop Brady ( a former Division I player at UNH) and Pat Quinn of St. Thomas ( a former stand-out at Colby Sawyer) have been around the game long enough to know when a defense was just too good for their offense to function. But that was hardly the case tonight.
 
 They also both knew that there are nights when the other team just wants it more, a night when you are a step slow to every loose ball and your kids were simply out-hustled. But that didn't happen either.
 
 They were also well aware that you can draw up a Double Stack, an Iso or even the Picket fence but if your kids can't hit an open shot,,,there isn't much you can do. They aren't going to let you lace em up anymore. " It was not a good shooting night for either team," said Quinn.

" We played a good team that shot poorly, and did just enough to win," echoed Yeaton.

 Bingo.

Mon 01-30-2012	Score
St. Thomas Aquinas	44
Bishop Brady	48
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-29-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Tony Beaulieu & Alvirne rank 3rd in the state

 Every two weeks we will rank the top 16 basketball teams in New Hampshire regardless of what division they play in. Sixteen teams qualify for the postseason in each division and so we look at the top 16 overall today.

 The picture for this article was provided by our friend Joe Marchilena at NH High School sports. Check out Joe's coverage today at nh-highschoolsports.com. 

 1. Merrimack       7-1
 
 Should these guys feel good about where they are?: Absolutely. Tim Goodridge talked on Pete Tarrier's Saturday morning radio show about the great chemistry this group of kids has, the way each guy pulls for the other and disregards who is doing the scoring (shades of 2011 BG), and called it one of the closest teams he's ever coached. All very good signs indeed. But even though there are only likely to be about eight people in the waiting room as Dimitri Floras gets an MRI on Monday for his injured wrist it is going to feel like there are hundred out there as people are awaiting the results.
 

Date Posted : 01-28-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...No Floras, no problem.  Merrimack beats Salem 63-52.

 On a Friday that started off with some bad injury news for the Merrimack basketball team, the Tomahawks banded together on the court and made sure things were looking up by the end of the night.  Hours before the 7 o'clock tipoff against Salem, coach Tim Goodridge revealed that star guard Dimitri Floras would be out for the season with a broken wrist suffered earlier in the week against Concord.  But after the game which Merrimack won 63-52 behind a game high 22 points from Eric Gendron, both Floras and Goodridge said a more promising 2^nd opinion had given them hope that there might be the chance for a quicker return.  "I got a MRI today.  So I'm gonna find out for sure what the situation is on Monday", said Floras.  "One doctor told me I was done for 12 weeks, the other one told me 2 weeks, so I don't know."  Merrimack fans are no doubt rooting for the better of the 2 medical reports.

Fri 01-27-2012	Score
Merrimack	63
Salem	52
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-26-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Eric Gendron & Merrimack take on Salem

 Before we get to our games of the week we want to introduce the newest member of our Players' Lounge; Campbell point guard Max Gouveia reached out to us and had his parents set him up as our newest member. We are excited to have Max on board and thank his parents for their support of our website. Max's one on one interview, video clips, stats and pictures all are being updated now.

 Max Gouveia's profile:

 http://null/basketball/player.php?player_id=5123&team_id=12&team_type=hs_bb&sport=¤tyear=2011-2012

 On to the games;

 Division I

 Salem (6-2) at Merrimack (6-1)

 When a 37-34 win over Londonderry that opened the season was followed by a 53-35 loss to Nashua South we all said the same thing about the Salem Blue Devils; another season of grind it out 41-37 games. Effective coaching yes but the people who tell you they love those games are the same people who will tell you how exciting those two Alabama/LSU field goal festivals were. And those aren't people I really want to watch sports with..

 A funny thing happened over the Holiday break though; Salem found their offense. Since averaging 36 points in those first two games the Blue Devils have put up 62 points a game since. I mean they're not wearing out the guy operating the scoreboard but what they've shown is that in addition to being a very good defensive team (currently ranked 4^th in the division) they can score points when they need to. A year ago that was this team's biggest question mark; could they keep up with elite teams who were going to get to 60 points no matter what. The answer in 2012 is yes they can.

Date Posted : 01-26-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Curtis Arsenault & Berlin look to get back to the Final Four

 Our mid-season snapshots continue today as we take a look at Division III. Divisions I & II will follow next week along with our updated statewide power rankings.

 Also look for Game of the Week coverage from Pete Tarrier and if you haven't become a regular listener already then check out Pete's ‘NH High School Sports show' he co-hosts with Marc Thaler on Saturday morning on WGIR. You can listen on AM (610), FM (96.7 on the seacoast) or online at http://www.wgiram.com/ . I listen in every Saturday morning as I enter stats from around the state, it's a great show and really does a nice job of re-capping the Friday night games.

 So to re-cap:  two columns today & a whopping six more articles next week that will include two game of the week stories. I'm making sure you get your money's worth.

 On to Division III;

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Conant vs. Berlin

 This one is a no-brainer. Now does that mean there won't be a tournament upset that prevents this match-up from happening? Of course not, everyone overlooked Somersworth a year ago and it could easily happen again with a team like Stevens, Hopkinton or Campbell.

 To be clear though; these are the two best teams in the division and any circumstance that arises to keep these two from meeting for the Division III title will be an upset of the highest level. These two teams are that good.

Date Posted : 01-24-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Marcus Swedberg of Moultonborough is a First Team pick

 We start with Division IV as we will take a mid-season look at all four divisions in New Hampshire high school basketball. Look for the Division III mid-season snapshot on Friday with Division I & II to follow next week.

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Newmarket vs. Littleton

 These were two of the favorites going into the season and nothing has happened so far changes that outlook. You could even argue both teams look better than expected.

 With Trevor Howard's Littleton Crusaders you can press them at your own peril. Littleton has gotten all-state play from point guard Nick Whipple (14 ppg and having recently shook off a shooting slump) and Lounge member Sam Brammer (19.1, 8 reb. & 2 ast) and are a unit that can slice through pressure defense by moving the ball up the floor to finishers like Josh Bogardus (14 ppg) and Jesse Ledoux (9 ppg).

 The Crusaders rank fourth in the division in points allowed (45 ppg) and that defense, with its ability to cause turnovers, has made up for their lack of size on the low block. This isn't a big team but it's not a small team either; they have good size (for Division IV) at the guard spots and Brammer has spent enough time in the weight room to ensure he isn't going to get pushed around down low too often.

Date Posted : 01-23-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Kmahl Walker of Portsmouth ranks 9th in NH

 1.       Patrick Welch of Pembroke Academy                           22.6  ppg

 2.       Chad Knighton of Lisbon                                                     22.1

 3.       Brandon Len of Souhegan                                                  21.3

 4.       Darren Doyon of Coe-Brown Academy                          20.3

 5.       Sam Brammer of Littleton                                                 19.1

Date Posted : 01-20-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 When Campbell point guard Max Gouveia rolled into the Lakes Region with his teammates for a showdown with undefeated Prospect Mountain Friday night it wasn't just the 21 mile Lake Winnipesaukee that he was looking for. "Coach told me Zach Drouin was one of the leading scorers in Division III and that he didn't think I could stay in front of him (defensively)," remembered the junior after his teams resounding win. "It got my attention. I guess I was ready to see how I matched up."

 One decisive win later Gouveia can go back to focusing on all those ice fishing huts out on that frozen lake; Campbell earned another quality win in a season that is starting to see them pile up. Gouveia helped lead a balanced scoring attack and one of their better defensive efforts of the season as they defeated Prospect Mountain 49-33 in a win that firmly places them as a top 4 team in the race to March.

Fri 01-20-2012	Score
Prospect Mountain	33
Campbell	49
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-20-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 When you think of the Portsmouth Clippers basketball team, the 1^st name that usually comes to mind is Kamahl Walker.  But this year, opposing teams are starting to realize you can't sleep on Walker's backcourt mate Billy Lane.  Lane scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the 2^nd half,  11 of them coming in the decisive 4^th quarter as the Clippers improved to 8-0 on the D2 season with a hard fought 55-43 win on the road against previously perfect Souhegan(now 6-1 in the division) in Amherst.  "He was just tremendous", said Portsmouth coach Jim Mulvey about Lane.  "He's the best competitor you could ever coach.  At practice, he works just like this.  I told the kids at sometime during the 4^th quarter that were on the bench, I said you can't all have ability, but you can have spirit and you can have desire like him.  He just plays the game at a different compete level than most kids."    

Fri 01-20-2012	Score
Souhegan	43
Portsmouth	55
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-18-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Chris Light and Pinkerton take on Nashua South Friday

 It's been a bit of a slow week with mid-term exams but we have a few interesting match-ups to look at. As always we take a look today at the games of the week;

 Division I

 Nashua South (4-2) at Pinkerton Academy (4-1)

 Intriguing match-up here as Pinkerton Academy faces their first big test and Nashua South comes in losers of two in a row. This one will showcase two players up for first team all-state honors in Pinkerton guard Chris Light (18.8 ppg) and Panthers shooting guard Anthony Muccioli (15.8 ppg).

 South was held to 39 points in a home loss to Manchester Memorial and it highlights a possible issue for this team and that is getting enough offense to be a top 8 team in the division. The Astros have size with Alex Patrikis on the block and have gotten Kevin Colbert back in the lineup (6 points against Londonderry in his first game of the regular season) and this is a team very capable of making noise this season.

Date Posted : 01-16-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Matt Persons and Pembroke rank 5th in the state

 Every two weeks we will rank the top 16 basketball teams in New Hampshire regardless of what division they play in. Sixteen teams qualify for the postseason in each division and so we look at the top 16 overall today.
 
 
 1. Trinity                 5-1
 
 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by Edible Arrangements
 
 What's to like?: No team in New Hampshire can match their size so playing the Pioneers requires you to change your game plan on most nights. That size makes them a nightmare match-up and this is a deeper team, than they were a year ago, even after several transfers. Patrick Keefe gives the Pioneers a slasher off the bench and his role is only going to get more vital of senior forward Hunter Viscarello (their best on the ball defender) is lost for the season. This is an experienced team that still hasn't peaked, its a rotation littered with under-classman who are only getting better under head coach Dave Keefe.
 
 What's not to like?: When you're talking about a team at the top of the rankings you are obviously nit-picking with this one but Manchester Central was successful offensively after head coach Doc Wheeler went with a high post offense that brought big men Andrew Lauderdale and Silvere Aluko away from the basketball. If you're a team with decent size and players that can knock down jumpers than its an effective way to offset Trinity's size on the low block.
 

 
 2. Merrimack             4-1
 
 What's to like?: It's been a drama free season for Tim Goodridge's team and while people talk about Bishop Guertin, Nashua North and Manchester West this Merrimack edition is flying somewhat under the radar. Dimitri Floras is setting up teammates early and taking over late (as a great point guard should) and players like Jared Peabody and Eric Gendron know their role and are filling it well. This has been a very consistent team offensively; scoring between 60 & 72 points in their five games this season. Good guard play will do that.
 

Date Posted : 01-15-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Allen Komisarek of Profile ranks 8th in the state

                                                                           ppg.

 1. Nick Peters of Concord Christian                 25.0

 2. Chad Knighton of Lisbon                              22.7

 3. Brandon Len of Souhegan                           22.4

 4. Sam Brammer of Littleton                           21.7

 5. Frank Stanley of Epping                              21.2

 6. Patrick Welch of Pembroke Academy         21.0

 7. Kmahl Walker of Portsmouth                      20.0

 8. Kaleb Marquis of Concord                           19.6

 9. Allen Komisarek of Profile                          19.6

10. Nathan Smith of Groveton                         19.3

Date Posted : 01-14-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Trinity tops Alvirne 50-40

 It wasn't nearly the same atmosphere inside the McHugh Gym on Bridge Street in Manchester for Trinity/Alvirne last night as the one we saw on Tuesday night when the Pioneers lost to Central 41-40 in a Queen City classic.  There was no packed crowd or dueling student sections, and surprisingly little emotion for a battle of teams that both came in at 4 and 1 on the young season.  What we got was a 10 point Trinity win in a game coach Dave Keefe found it hard to find many positives.  "We were very fortunate to come out with a W and that's the only good thing about tonight", said Keefe about his teams' somewhat uninspired 50-40 win.  "If someone called me and said, ‘how'd the game go tonight?', I'd say ‘we won 50 to 40'.  If they asked ‘how'd the kids play?', I'd say ‘we won 50 to 40'."  Another negative for Trinity was the possible ACL injury(according to Keefe) suffered by Hunter Viscarello who went down hard late in the 2^nd quarter.   

 Despite the coach's dissatisfaction with everything but the final score, Keefe has to be pleased that 3 of his younger players stepped up down the stretch on a game closing 11 to nothing run over the final 2 minutes or so.  Alvirne actually led 40-39 when Tony Beaulieu drove for a fast break lay-up, but sophomore Carmen Giampetruzzi nailed a left corner 3 on the next trip down the floor to put the Pioneers back on top for good at 42-20.  Alvirne didn't score another point as they repeatedly misfired from 3 point land and watched as Trinity hit 8 of 10 from the free throw line in the final 1:15.  Freshman point guard Ian Sistare(8 points) and sophomore guard Patrick Keefe(13 points) each hit 3 of 4 FT's in the run, while Giampetruzzi(team high 14 points) hit 2 of 2 from the charity stripe.

Fri 01-13-2012	Score
Trinity	50
Alvirne	40
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-11-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Logan Batchelder returns to the court for Stevens

 Quick note before we get to the games of the week; We will debut our Top 10 statewide scoring leaders on Monday and our statewide Power Rankings next Tuesday morning. We'll run the Power Rankings every two weeks all the way until our annual final Power Rankings column in March.

 Another good slate of games Friday night so let's get to it;

 Division I

 Alvirne (4-1) at Trinity (4-1)

 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by Edible Arrangements

 The coverage of Alvirne is sponsored by greenformygold.com

 Trinity isn't going to have even one practice to lament their last second loss to Manchester Central Tuesday night because they have one of the best teams in Division I rolling in Friday. Alvirne sits tied atop the standings at 4-1 after a convincing win over Exeter and for all us used to the ‘Hey they could give someone trouble in March' Alvirne Broncos that usually are at 2-3 right now well, it's a new year. This is a veteran crew with size and a point guard who is amongst the best in New Hampshire.

 Trinity has owned this rivalry in recent years, as the Pioneers have knocked Alvirne out of the tournament three times in the last five years including twice in Durham. The Broncos though will match up very well with Trinity Friday night.

 Jim Tomaswick gives Alvirne size on the block and Tyler Livingston & Tony Beaulieu are a pair of forwards who can score down low (Livingston with finesse & Beaulieu as a battering ram) and also step outside and knock down jumpers.

Date Posted : 01-10-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 There are few student sections in New Hampshire high school basketball that can match the creativity of Trinity high schools. They know who you are, they probably know your girlfriend's name and if you got beat up once by some kid with one of those winter coats with the wool coming out of the hood..well they probably know that's guys' story as well.

  When it comes to former classmates coming back in a different jersey they've had some practice. Cormac Fitzpatrick, David Madol, to name a few, have all gotten an earful from the kid they sat in chemistry class with the year before and on Tuesday night it was Manchester Central sophomore point guard Dawson Dickson's turn.

  Every time the former Trinity freshman had the ball there was a different serenade and as it turned out the student section was the least of his problems. Trinity ran different defenders at Dickson all night and never gave him a moment's peace in a sold out gym with city bragging rights on the line.

  Dickson was chased, bumped, picked and harassed up and down the floor all night long and all the way into the final minute of the a tie ballgame. But with 53 seconds remaining in a 38-38 game a funny thing happened to Dawson Dickson at the top of the key as he swung around with the ball in his hands; he was left all alone.

Tue 01-10-2012	Score
Trinity	40
Manchester Central	41
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-06-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

 As Alvirne point guard Sean Dunn stood on the line with the ball in his hands and four foul shots in his very near future he had to feel like the thousands of shots he had put up over the summer were about to pay off.

 You see trailing by six points in a back and forth affair that was starting to tilt in the wrong direction Alvirne needed all four of Dunn's free throws. Two out of four wasn't going to cut it and for a 2011 Final Four team that was looking to fill a very big void left by the graduation of their leading scorer well...well there was no better time than the present to step up. " No kid in the state worked harder at getting better over the summer than Sean Dunn," said his very appreciative head coach Seth Garon. " He worked his rear end off in the off-season."
 
 Dunn buried all four foul shots and then finished off his 7-0 Dunn run (couldn't help myself..) to give Alvirne a 59-58 lead as the Broncos would go on to earn a very tough 79-71 win over defending champion Bishop Guertin. Tyler Livingston would lead the way with 20 points while Dunn and forward Tony Beaulieu added 13 as Alvirne continues to thrive through a brutal stretch of games.

Fri 01-06-2012	Score
Alvirne	79
Bishop Guertin	71
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-04-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Trinity downs Merrimack, 64-60 in Manchester

 It was an early season match-up many think could very well happen again come tournament time.  Both Merrimack and Trinity came into the 1st game after the holiday break with 2 and 0 records in D1 regular season play.  The Tomahawks were actually the hotter team, having won the Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament last week where the Pioneers suffered a surprising loss to Manchester West in the opening round.  

 Trinity got on the board 1st on a Mabor Gabriel lay up about a minute in, but Merrimack scored the next 8 points to force a Pioneer timeout with 2:13 left in the 1st quarter.  A Carmen Giampetruzzi 3 cut the lead down to 3 on the next Trinity possesion, but Merrimack managed to take a 15-9 lead thru 1 quarter of play.  A 7-0 Trinity run to begin the 2nd quarter put the Pioneers back on top at 16-15 and it was back and forth the rest of the half.  6-10 Senior bigman Silvere Aluko(6 of his 8 points) and reserve shooting guard/coach Dave Keefe's son Patrick Keefe(7 of his 10) came off the bench to spark Trinity to a 31-29 lead at the break.  Merrimack was led by forward Jared Peabody's 10 points and another 7 by star guard Dimitri Floras in the 1st half.  Peabody was a big factor all night, repeatedly finishing around the rim and on the fast break.  He ended up with 15 points and 7 rebounds against the much taller Trinity front line.  

Tue 01-03-2012	Score
Trinity	64
Merrimack	60
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-04-2012 Written by: Dave Haley

Brandon Len & Souhegan get a look at St. Thomas Friday night

 We are back with our first Thursday Thoughts column of the basketball season. Before we get to the biggest games of the upcoming weekend I wanted to introduce eleven new members of our New Hampshire Sportspage players' lounge.

 Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey and his coaching staff has been a big supporter of our site from day one and Coach Mulvey annually signs up each member of his team to the Players' Lounge. Their membership includes coverage during baseball & football season as well and we could not exist without the support of coaches like Jim and the parents who have signed up the player in their home for the lounge. Each player has his one on one interview, up to date statistics and any video or YouTube highlights they submit on their page.

 Thank you to all the parents and coaches that have supported us through the Players' lounge.

 On to the games of the week;

 Division I

 Bishop Guertin (2-1) at Alvirne (2-1)

 The coverage of Alvirne is sponsored by Greenformygold.com

 How about this slate of games to open up the regular season; at Merrimack (pre-season #3), Manchester Central (pre-season #2), at Manchester West (fresh off an improbable run to the Queen City finals) and Bishop Guertin (the champs, pre-season #5). Not to mention upcoming games against Exeter (better than you think) and Trinity (#1).

 What did Alvirne head coach Seth Garon do to anger his AD like that?

Date Posted : 12-30-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Dimitri Floras and Merrimack are Queen City champs

 Every year the two week Holiday break gives us a pause in the regular season and an opportunity to see teams from two or three different divisions competing under one bracket.

 Experience will tell you that you need to look at holiday tourneys from the proper perspective. Sure the results can be a glimpse of what's to come this season but they also can be affected by coaches playing every guy all the way to the end of the bench and doing more teaching on the sidelines than actual coaching. Sometimes the opening round games feature more effort and enthusiasm than the championship match-up that ends up as the third game in as many days.

 The games don't count in the standings and the bigger picture is to learn and improve for when the games count. Still there is insight to be gleaned from the ‘exhibition' games.

 Today in our last article of 2011 we take a look at what we learned over the past weeks.

 The story in Manchester wasn't the team that won the tournament; it was the team that lost it...

 While Trinity, Manchester Central and Manchester Memorial annually make their runs to Durham Manchester West has become sort of like that relative you only see on holidays; you're happy to see them once a year but you're not all that concerned about what's happening with them day to day. A once proud basketball program has been up & down in recent years and the day Bedford high school opened its doors four years ago was the day Manchester West immediately became the fourth best sports program in the city of Manchester.

Date Posted : 12-21-2011 Written by: Kevin Fillion

 Division I rivals Exeter and Winnacunnet put on a show for spectators Tuesday night. It took impressive comebacks from both sides before the visiting Blue Hawks squad earned a 52-50 victory, their first win of the season.

 David MacLaughlin's deep three-pointer with six minutes left in the game brought the Winnacunnet faithful to their feet as the Warriors posted their first lead of the game since 2-0. Two minutes later Exeter found themselves in a 49-43 deficit with four minutes remaining and a roaring Winnacunnet crowd echoing on the court.

 "We made some mistakes late in the game and turned the ball over at crucial times," said EHS coach Jeff Holmes. "The kids were able to regroup and play tough defense to get a huge win here tonight."

 Exeter's comeback started when free throws from Matt Barr, Max Medley and Elliott Cross cut the Winnacunnet lead to one point with under a minute to play. Barr continued to contribute in the comeback as he knifed his way inside the Warrior defense before dishing a winning assist to teammate Elliott Cross. The senior forward powered to the hoop for two points and added a free throw after being fouled on the play. A backcourt violation ended the hope for the Warriors first victory as Jay McKenna's team fell to 0-2 on the season.

Tue 12-20-2011	Score
Winnacunnet	50
Exeter	52
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-17-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey has been pretty open about the fact that his team has had a tendency in the past to ease into the regular season.
 
 Three years ago his Clippers opened up what would be a championship season with a home loss to a Bedford team that was playing its first ever basketball game. A Bedford team that would go on to win only three more games over the next three months. In the game of life Portsmouth was the guy who hit the snooze button six times on his alarm clock and ended up racing his car into the company parking lot at 8:07 like his hair was on fire.
 
 In an opener at consensus pre-season favorite Pembroke Academy the Clippers weren't going to be allowed to ease into anything. Dipping your toe in to start the season was going to see them get shoved out the door and when Patrick Welch finished a transition drive to put the Spartans up 7-2 three minutes into the 2011-12 season it was time for Portsmouth to either get up now or get run out of the building.
 
 It was at that point of the game the guard tandem of Billy Lane and Kmahl Walker finished off a pair of drives to make it 7-6. As Walker stole an inbounds pass and finished at the rim he looked at Lane who yelled 'Let's go! Come on!' The Clippers weren't only awake, they were ringing the bell.

Fri 12-16-2011	Score
Pembroke Academy	56
Portsmouth	57
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-14-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Anthony Muccioli & Nashua South are back in contention

 Bishop Guertin won the Division I title last March with eight seniors contributing to the school's first state title since 1983. They were eight seniors with different strengths but one common direction and they both looked & acted the part when they got to the final minutes of the last day of the season.

 That kind of senior leadership is invaluable and as we head into 2012 the top teams in the division are looking for the same ingredient. "Just because they are seniors doesn't necessarily mean they are leaders," said one final four coach of a year ago. "You need to have those guys setting the right example or the season can go wrong in a hurry. BG obviously had it and it's what the rest of us are looking for now."

 When you look at the top teams in Division I going into the season you see teams that are going to need leadership from kids who haven't proven they can do it yet. How those players and those teams mature over the next four months is going to be a huge factor in determining who steps to center court on a late Saturday afternoon in Durham. "Some kids rise to it and other shrink from it," said one prominent coach in the division. "That's what makes it so interesting every year."

Date Posted : 12-12-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Kmahl Walker & Portsmouth want another shot at the title

 In a division long on playmakers and short on dominating big men the coaches in Division II make it very clear that they are going to run in 2011-12.

 They're going to run a lot.

"We're going to push the ball every chance we get and if it isn't there then we'll run some offense," promises Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey.

 "We are going to try and get out and create in the open floor," said Pembroke Academy head coach Matt Alosa. "We will run at every opportunity."

 "We want to get out, spread the floor and go," said Pelham head coach Matt Regan. "We want to push the pace on people and get our guys open in their spots."

 And then there are coaches who are going to really, really run a lot.

 "We have a goal of scoring between 24 & 28 points per quarter," said Goffstown head coach Justin Gorham. "Our guys know that if they have an open shot on the first pass you take it. We're going to run all game long."

 They won't be alone. Some very smart coaches know what their strengths are going into the season and with a wealth of good guard play and long range snipers this is a division that promises to be an up & down the floor show every Tuesday and Friday night.

Date Posted : 12-10-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Littleton was too much for Groveton on opening night

 There is a saying in the theatre world that a terrible dress rehearsal usually guarantees a strong opening. Well if you take Littleton head coach Trevor Howard at his word his Crusaders, in the week leading up to its opening night showdown with Groveton, were not only missing their marks but stepping on other peoples lines, knocking over paint buckets & pulling down the curtains. " We had a terrible week of practice and (Sam) Brammer has been off shooting the ball," said Howard of his team. " I had a lot of concerns coming into this one."
 
" I really didn't see this coming."
 
 Neither did Groveton.
 
 Littleton played in your face defense (forcing nearly 20 turnovers on the night), moved the ball at will through Groveton's full court press and shot lights out in their season debut in front of a packed house. Players' lounge member Sam Brammer scored 25 points and forward Josh Bogardus added 20 including four three pointers in a 78-43 victory that left two elite coaches thoroughly confused and in very different moods. " We didn't do anything well, from the very beginning," summed up Groveton head coach Mark Collins. " We tried mixing things up (defensively) to see what works. Nothing did, not tonight."

Fri 12-09-2011	Score
Littleton	78
Groveton	43
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-07-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Frankie Beane and Hopkinton will contend in 2012

 Sitting in the Southern New Hampshire University bleachers with three tournament head coaches is not a bad way to watch a basketball game. As Mascoma & Bow played the second semifinal game of the Division III Final Four head coaches Pat Roye (Campbell), Eric Saucier (Conant) and Kevin Rines (Mascenic) sat together discussing both the play on the floor and all that had led up to the game. Two coaches were breaking down the game and reminiscing about the season while the other seemed utterly unsure of how to even act as a first time final four spectator. "This is weird being here and sitting in stands," Saucier remarked as he looked around at his fellow coaches spread throughout the gym. "I'm not used to this."

 Conant doesn't usually buy a ticket to the show; they are the show. Five straight titles will do that. So sitting in the bleachers with his colleagues might have been fun for one night but the look on Saucier' s face told you he planned on getting back on the other side of the court come next March.

 It was a Somersworth team that won an 8^th grade title together as 14 year olds that replaced the Orioles as Division III champions. Lorne Lucas and his team beat Conant (the defending champs), Berlin (the favorites) and a senior laden and physically imposing Bow team (down from Division II the year before) for the title. A run like that leaves little question as to who the best team was and the Hilltoppers win book-ended the five titles by Conant.

Date Posted : 12-05-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Nathan Smith and Terry Bedell have Groveton back in the title chase

 When the Lisbon players tackled each other at midcourt following their 40-33 championship game victory over Derryfield Academy last March it was both the anticipated result of a cross state rivalry that has grown considerably one sided and the end of a very memorable era.

 The northern schools in Division IV (formerly Class S) were celebrating their 14th title in 16 years over their rivals from the south and even a loaded Derryfield team making their second straight final four appearance couldn't contend with a balance of power nearly two decades in the making. Lisbon sent their veteran head coach out a winner but at the same time were a team about to be starting over with a completely new identity.

 Les Poore and his four titles were stepping away, a year later than anticipated as it turned out, and now his program was suddenly someone else's. Lisbon was going to have to find their way back to the last day of the season without him from here on out and for a division that doesn't see a lot of turnover amongst its winning coaches, this was enough to be classified as the headline heading into a brand new season.

 The freshman who was asked to handle the ball for that senior laden team is now a sophomore expected to lead them from day one. Heady stuff for a kid who doesn't even have his driver's license yet. Players' Lounge member Chad Knighton now is the veteran presence and the most recognizable name on one of the divisions' most successful programs.

Date Posted : 08-22-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 New Hampshire Sportspage will be updating players & coaches on the latest news from the Coates Sports and Spartans training program. The program is run by former Keene State College & Winnacunnet Hall of Fame basketball player Chris Coates and is home to many of the top players in the state.

 Craig Favara is the newest addition to Coates Sports and Spartans Training. For the past four years Craig has been designing and implementing advanced strength training routines for high school, college, and professional athletes.  Craig uses advanced training methods and a variety of routines to help his clients stay motivated and meet their results.

 Craig graduated from St Joseph's College ME in 2008 with a bachelor in exercise science. Craig was a member of the varsity basketball team. Craig is a certified personal trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine, and currently a level 2 certified kettle bell instructor through the International Kettle bell Fitness Federation. Craig is also a member of the North American Strongman and competes frequently and places in National strongman competitions.

  Craig is currently running a handful of programs that he has customized to help meet the needs of his cliental. Boot camp is a weight management class for adults that are looking to get back into a fitness routine and Spartan Select is strength and conditioning class solely designed for athletes that are looking to increase their sports performance. Craig also does sports specific training for whole teams. He currently is the head strength and conditioning specialist for Winnacunnet High School's football team.

 To set up an appointment with Craig call (603) 964-2515 or (603) 770-6943

Date Posted : 03-30-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Lounge member Matt Beaulieu of Bedford

 One final round of the ‘Thursday Thoughts' before we move on to our improved baseball coverage with Steve Jusseaume, who we are excited to have back again this year.

 For the second straight year I was able to be at all four championship games. Let's take a look at all four divisions and some final thoughts from four solid months of high school basketball.

 Lingering thoughts from the four championship games....

 There wasn't a nicer moment from the four championship games than veteran Lisbon head coach Les Poore crouching to his knees after winning the Division IV championship in his final game. It felt like entire town was in the gym that Saturday afternoon for the final against Derryfield Academy and for those who thought Derryfield would have the home court advantage playing in a gym literally down the street from their school, well it just didn't play out that way. It was nice to see parents of current and former players congratulating and embracing Poore after his final game.

Date Posted : 03-23-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Wol Majong and Trinity come in at #3

 Today we take a look at the Top 16 teams in the state regardless of division.

 We look at 2011 and give a quick view into how each team stacks up going into 2012.

 1.       Milford                                                        22-0

 How did 2011 end?:  As expected and give them credit for that. This was a nightly event (some of that was of their own doing) for a 22 game stretch and this will go down as a very special basketball team. I thought they could have been beaten on the right night in the tourney once their best outside shooter Scott McCallum went down for the season but they never trailed in the second half of any playoff game. Head coach Dan Murray deserves credit for keeping everyone in line and making some very good in game adjustments along the way.  Does Milford beat Bishop Guertin on a neutral floor? I think 6 out of 10 times they do and when one team is 22-0 and the other is 20-2 you go with the only undefeated team in the state at #1.

 How does 2012 look?:  It's a rebuilding job but not a major rebuilding job. Coach Murray has been very vocal about how much he likes the young guys coming up and this team will have a good center in Logan Barlow and a guard with tourney experience in Richie Moore to build with. It will be an adjustment without Jamie Holder, Kyle Nelson (very underrated), Mike Mitchell and lounge member Mike O'Loughlin but the expectations will be adjusted as well and 11-7 will be considered a nice year. That's the perk for winning two straight titles.

Date Posted : 03-22-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Mike Colby of Lodonderry is a 2nd team selection

 This winning stuff is becoming contagious at Bishop Guertin. Four months after the football team won the Division II title the basketball team followed suit. Led by Connor Green, Sean McClung and a talented & deep backcourt BG dominated the last four minutes of a very tight championship game. The 54-46 win over Trinity made BG champions for the first time since the Skip Barry era and completed the difficult journey from pre-season favorite to champion.

 Today a look at the top performers of 2010-11 in Division I:

Date Posted : 03-21-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Newmarket's Adrian Edgerly is our Player of the Year

 All season long Newmarket, Moultonborough Academy and Derryfield Academy spent time at the top of the Division IV standings in the year the southern teams would prove to be superior to the teams from the north. Or so we thought.

 Quietly Lisbon was winning their last nine regular season games and would win four more when the tournament began. Les Poore won his fourth Class S/Division IV title with a 40-33 win over Derryfield Academy and proved that the elite teams in the division reside up north once again.

Date Posted : 03-21-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Pat Lavin & Matt Fauci of champion Somersworth

 Somersworth was the high seed everyone ignored until you couldn't ignore them any longer. No one thought they would get past Conant at home in the quarterfinals and hardly anyone gave them a chance at all against Berlin in the semifinals.

 By the time they reached the final against Bow people realized that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts with this team. They were a team with limitations but they knew exactly what those limitations were and they wouldn't let you take advantage of them. Led by their head coach Lorne Lucas Somersworth walked off as champions after 45-39 victory in which they led from start to finish.

 Today we take a look at the top performances from Division III in 2010-11;

Date Posted : 03-21-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Milford's big three are all first team All-State

 Milford finished the 2010-11 season as the only undefeated team in the state and the first back to back champions in the division since Souhegan in 2004. They had a target on their back every step of the way and even with the loss of one of their core players (Scott McCallum) to a pre-season knee injury it never slowed them down. They will go down as one of the best teams in division history. The best team in the state? That's for you to decide because we'll never know.

Here are the top performers in Division II

Date Posted : 03-19-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Division II champion Milford

 Mike Mitchell spent the longest two hours of his life last March sitting at home while his closest friends were winning the state title without him while he was suspended from last years Class I final. He wasn't taking one second of Saturday's championship for granted. Every time a very resilient Portsmouth team crept closer Milford got the ball in the hands of the best point guard in New Hampshire and watched him go to work. Anytime Portsmouth switched defenses Mitchell called it out and any time they needed a basket Mitchell got it in to the right hands.
 
 Losing a basketball game is easy to do, especially in high school where kids get sick, go on vacation or roll in ankle all the time. Well Milford doesn't lose basketball games. Not in over 14 months or 40 games. Their 22-0 season and 48-42 win over Portsmouth put them in the conversation for one of the best Division II/Class I teams of all-time. And maybe the best team in New Hampshire period.

Sat 03-19-2011	Score
Milford	48
Portsmouth	42
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-19-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Bishop Guertin are the the Division I champs

 On a UNH campus filled with all the sights and architecture you'd ever want in a New England college it is a corner at Lundholm gymnasium that will always be Sean McClung's favorite spot.

 When the top seeded Cardinals found themselves in a battle with Trinity McClung snuck off into that corner and buried two huge three pointers that changed the course of the game. After two disappointing shooting performances in his first two career games in Durham McClung wanted to save his best for the biggest stage. And he only had one game left to do it. " I always had confidence and it seemed like they lost me a couple of times," said the all-state guard. " That's my favorite spot to shoot from."
 
 McClung buried those two straight three pointers to break open a very tight Division I final. He and teammate Connor Green would score 22 points each, 44 of their teams 54 points in a 54-46 win that makes Bishop Guertin Division I champions for the first time since 1983.

Sat 03-19-2011	Score
Bishop Guertin	54
Trinity	46
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-17-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Milford moves on.  Faces Portsmouth in the D2 Finals on Saturday

 Will it be 2 in a row for Milford?  We'll find out on Saturday.  The 21-0 Spartans are within 1 game of capping a perfect season and winning back to back Championships after a 50-46 Division 2 semifinal victory over #4 Pelham tonight at UNH.  Only #3 seed Portsmouth stands in the way now.  Pelham jumped out to a slim 1 point lead after 1, but Milford started to turn it around in the 2^nd Q and had themselves a 4 point lead in a low scoring 1^st half, 19 to 15.    

 Pelham would not go away, even after they fell behind by 11 late in the 3^rd quarter.  But the Pythons could never get over the hump and they couldn't get leading scorer Stephen Spriou going because of tight defense by Spriou's future Trinity College teammate Mike O'Loughlin.   Mike O shadowed Spriou so tightly all night long that he scored only 7 points on 3 of 8 shooting in 31 minutes(they play 32 minutes in high school).  The 7 points is about 2 touchdowns less than his average for the season.   After the game, O'Loughlin said he's got a little experience guarding Spriou..."I've been playing with him for 2 years on my Jayhawks(AAU) team so we kind of know each other and how we play  so I know a lot of his moves.

Wed 03-16-2011	Score
Milford	50
Pelham	46
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-17-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Andrfew Lauderdale and Trinity play BG for the title Saturday night

 (2) Trinity vs (1) Bishop Guertin
 
 The coverage of Trinity high school is sponsored by Edible Arrangements of Manchester & Concord
 
 The coverage of Bishop Guertin is sponsored by the Blended Solutions Technical Institute
 
 We covered the first meeting between these two teams in what was both a very well played game and sadly, probably my only chance to reference Corey Haim & Corey Feldman in an article.
 
  http://www.nhsportspage.com/display_full_story.php?story_id=570
 
 Trinity came out in a zone defense for the first time all season against Bishop Guertin and in talking with BG head coach Jim Migneault after the win over Manchester Central Tuesday night there is a school of thought that we may see it again on Saturday. There isn't a team in the state that brings the kind of size that Trinity does down low (if you are a division IV player reading this; remember how tough it was going to the hoop against 6'8 Ben Hill of Pittsfield? Now imagine going against three of him) and it affects how teams play.
 
  

Date Posted : 03-17-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Kyle Nelson and Milford try to complete a perfect season Saturday

 (3) Portsmouth vs (1) Milford
 
 The coverage of Portsmouth high school is sponsored by the Law Offices of Jason M Sullivan
 
 
 Let's get right down to it; Can Portsmouth beat Milford?
 
 They absolutely can. So let's look at what needs to take place for that to happen;

 
 1) Use Milford's aggressiveness on defense against them
 
  Milford plays a jump stop style of defense where they like to get immediate pressure on the guy with the ball before he even puts it on the floor. The Clippers have success with this using backdoor cuts and using high screens to create mismatches. When a Milford player jumps into his low defensive stance Portsmouth likes to bring a player like Charlie Duprey or Greg Tsougranis up to create room for the ball handler. When Milford starts overplaying that screen, Portsmouth coach Jim Mulvey will have the screener essentially flash to the ball and cut back to the hoop. You can tell Milford what you're doing but it won't matter because the Portsmouth players are reading the defense and making the plays based off of what is in front of them. If a team is aggressive defensively you need to turn it around on them. The Clippers need to keep the Spartans off balance.

Date Posted : 03-16-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Trinity towers over Alvirne, 51-36 for Championship Game berth vs. BG on Saturday

 The Trinity Pioneers are back in the D1 Boys Basketball Finals for the 3^rd time in the last 4 years.   Coach Dave Keefe was left with a really young and inexperienced team after the offseason departure of star forward David Madol, who wound up playing his senior year at rival Manchester Memorial.  Even without the services of Madol, the Pioneers still have plenty of size in 6'7" junior Andrew Lauderdale, 6'7" sophomore Mabor Gabriel and 6'10" junior Silvere Aluko.  Tonight against #11 Alvirne it was crystal clear that "SIZE DOES MATTER" as 2^nd ranked Trinity advanced to the title game with a 51-36 victory

Tue 03-15-2011	Score
Trinity	51
Alvirne	36
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-16-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 For 31 minutes Souhegan and Portsmouth were two teams that looked like the guy trying to open up his front door with too many grocery bags in his hands. The effort and the game plan were certainly there, the execution sadly was not. Both teams moved the ball around the perimeter, hit the guy flashing to the foul line and then dumped it into the forward cutting to the basket from the wing. Just like their coaches drew it up. What did they have to show for this combination of intelligence and unselfishness?
 
 About 20 points each through most of three periods.
 
 But alas when they talk about this one they won't remember the shots blocked by the backboard or the passes bouncing off of hands and out of bounds. They'll remember Portsmouth junior point guard Kmahl Walker's game winning three. A 22 footer with a hand in his face, down one with the clock ticking under 15 seconds left. "It felt good when I let it go and I was just relieved when it went in," said the Worcester transfer of his game winner.
  
 " We were going to let the clock run a little bit more but if you're open at that point, then go with it," said Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey of his point guards game winner. " We were having trouble getting in our sets against their defense and I was happy with the shot. A lot happier when it went in."
 
 That shot gave Portsmouth a 35-31 win and a date with Milford Saturday afternoon. Someone was going to be waiting for Milford at the last game of their magical ride. Who better than the last team to beat them?
 

Wed 03-16-2011	Score
Portsmouth	35
Souhegan	31
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-15-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Brandon Len and Souhegan take on Portsmouth in the final four

 Before we get to our preview we want to announce two new members of the Players Lounge; Bedford point guard Matt Beaulieu and Manchester Central quarterback Jared Chandler. Beaulieu was one of the top point guards in Division II and helped lead his team to the quarterfinals while Chandler threw for over 850 yards and helped lead Central to a 7-3 season.
 
 Both players and their parents supported all the work we do here on the site by becoming members. Thank you to all the families who support what we do and the athletes in their homes.
 
 On to the games;
 
 
 
 (4) Pelham vs. (1) Milford
 
 The coverage of Pelham high school is sponsored by Bottomline Realty
 
 
 First of all the good news is lounge member Stephen Spirou returned from his ankle injury and will go Wednesday night. Is he 100% healthy? Only he knows and I'm sure he wouldn't tell us if we asked. Either way the Pythons realized right around Christmas that they were going to be in the mix and that to win the title they were going to have to get through Milford. So here we are.
 
 Can Pelham beat Milford? Well let's throw out the 'anyone can beat anyone on a given night' cliche, we all know that plus when you get to the final four then obviously you are talking about four very good basketball teams. So can they really beat them? They can but Milford is a bad match-up for Matt Regan's team because they are at their most successful when they get out into the open court and push the pace. The idea is for Brett Bailey or Derek Defranzo to get out and look for Spriou or any other number of spot up shooters like Dean Joyce on the wing. This is not a half court basketball team, they like to dictate pace and they are generally better than anyone at playing that style.
 
 The absolute best team at playing that style happens to be the 14 guys in the opposite lay-up line Wednesday night. And there is your problem if you are Pelham. 
 

Date Posted : 03-15-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 Bishop Guertin head coach Jim Migneault has long been known for his affinity for playing a lot of guys off his bench. Migneault likes to go as deep as 10 guys seeing action in the first half alone and if you're on that bench, don't fret you may be in there real soon. If you're on the floor, well don't get too comfortable because he may quickly exile you back to the pine.
 
 It's these deep rotations that keep people talking about 'all those Bishop Guertin guards'. They've almost become a faceless bunch with names like Kelly, Remillard and Cuipa. Without a true center on the roster BG feels like a group of players where if you spun yourself around in a circle amongst them and stopped randomly on any player, well there's about a 90% chance your pointing at a shooting guard. And only about a 5% chance you've found a point guard.
 
 You see going into the second half of the season a lot of people felt like BG really didn't have one (guilty), all of which makes it very understandable why Nick Pyzocha gets a little annoyed you never noticed it was him all along. "It did get kind of annoying hearing that all the time," he admitted.
 
 He's being polite.
 
 Pyzocha has been one of the most improved players in division I over the last two months and if you hadn't noticed him before then the 2,000 people who watched him tonight will spread the word for him. Pyzocha hit his first eight shots of the game and made the best pass of the night at the most crucial moment. He's a huge reason why Bishop Guertin is back in the title game for the first time since 2002 after a 64-55 win over Manchester Central. 
 

Tue 03-15-2011	Score
Bishop Guertin	64
Manchester Central	55
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-14-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Alvirne took down Memorial Friday night...now they face Trinity

 (4) Manchester Central vs. (1) Bishop Guertin

 The coverage of Bishop Guertin is sponsored by the Blended Solutions Technical Institute

 The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria of Manchester

 Sometimes you just have a feeling about certain things and after BG won a close and contested battle against Manchester Central on opening night there was just a strong sense that these two teams weren't done with each other. They renew acquaintices Tuesday night at 7:30.

 Both were pushed to the limit to get here. In fact Central may have been pushed way past it.

 BG beat a very game & very well prepared Spaulding team that had every intention of taking over their gym Friday night and ending the Cardinals season. Jim Migneault's team survived though, making enough key plays at the end to move on. BG got 20 points from Connor Green on a night when all-state shooting guard Sean McClung (9 pts.) was held in check. After a regular season loss and the 62-59 win over Spaulding in the quarterfinals you can be sure Migneault and his team are happy to be done with the Red Raiders. They can now set their sites on going a step further than they did a year ago.

Date Posted : 03-12-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Jamie Holder & Milford face red hot Bedford in the quarterfinals

 (9) Bedford at (1) Milford
 
 The coverage of Bedford is sponsored by Bedford Dental Care Associates and HK Photography
 
 People have wondered all season long if Milford was going to be challenged before they get to Durham for the final four. They certainly weren't in a 80-38 first round demolition of Laconia, but they will be tonight. Bedford comes in winners of seven in a row and eight of their last nine. This was thought to be an underachieving basketball team a month ago, turns out maybe they were just coming together slower than expected.

 Bedford travels to play everyone's elephant in the room; the champs and a team that is 40-1 over the past two seasons. One thing is for certain, if Bedford allows lounge member Mike O'Loughlin or Jamie Holder to get into an early rhythm the way they did Wednesday night its going to be lights out early. Bedford needs to give Milford something to think about early, whether it be a new look defensively or added intensity, to keep them on their toes. If Mike Mitchell is flying down the middle of the floor with Holder & O'Loughlin finding space on the wings then Bedford isn't going to be able to stay with the Spartans and the coronation will continue.
 
 After Coe-Brown , a team playing equally as well at the end of the season, lost to Bedford their all-state power forward Skylar Mitchell remarked that Bedford's size was tough to deal with down low. Bedford features 6'4 Joey Mahar and 6'5 Trevor Fahmy and speed in the backcourt with Matt Beaulieu (who had 20 points against Coe Brown and has been the heart and soul of this team all year long) and players lounge member James Caparell. Milford will counter with Logan Barlow and Kyle Nelson, how those two protect the boards is going to be a key because although Milford can dissect you in the half court they are a team at their best when Mitchell is able to gather the outlet pass and go.
 
 

Date Posted : 03-12-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Lisbon high school the 2011 Division IV Champions

 As Les Poore's players piled on top of each other near center court the veteran Lisbon head coach walked off towards the foul line alone and crouched down as the moment seemed to hit him. Poore's fourth championship as head coach will be his last. After having announced his retirement last season Poore was forced back in when his assistant was unable to take the reigns. " It was destiny," he said after it was over. " I wasn't even supposed to be here today."
 
 Very few people knock it out of the park in their final at bat, people still remember Ted Williams' last game because he did just that. Poore knocked his last go around out of the park today too. Lisbon led from start to finish and six clutch foul shots by Jake Clement gave them a 40-33 win over Derryfield Academy and the north their 14th title in 15 years against their southern school rivals in Division IV. " My system is perfect for these guys, you know we're not pretty, we'll milk the clock when we need to but they just persevered. They don't give up and they don't get rattled."

Date Posted : 03-12-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Central ousts Salem in triple OT, 57-55

 In the final minute of the 4^th quarter of a very low scoring NHIAA Boys Division 1 tournament contest between Manchester Central and Salem last night, the score was tied at 37 and I thought to myself, "this has to be one of the best games I've ever seen...and both teams are probably going to be under 40."  As it turns out, I was wrong about neither team being able to top the 40 point mark, but I was right on about it being one of the best games I've ever seen!   

Fri 03-11-2011	Score
Manchester Central	57
Salem	55
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-12-2011 Written by: Eliot Bless

2011 Division III Champion Somersworth

 When your core group of Seniors goes undefeated as Freshman, the expectations are high for great things later in their career.  Although it took another 3 years to accomplish, the #3 Hilltoppers and their Seniors pulled out a tough 45-39 victory over the #5 Bow Falcons to earn the Division III State Championship in front of over 1,200 fans at Southern NH University.

 In a game that was led almost start to finish by Somersworth, it was far from a given fact that they would walk away with the win until the final minute.  Somersworth is anchored by 3 of those Seniors that went undefeated as Freshman back in 2008 in Matt Fauci, Bobby Shatinsky and Patrick Lavin, all ball-handling guards under 6' 2".  Bow counters with size, strength and toughness in the form of Josh Faber and several big men off the bench including Greg Froleiks and Greg Roemer.

Sat 03-12-2011	Score
Somersworth	45
Bow	39
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-12-2011 Written by: Rich Wentworth

 Offensive fireworks took place in the fourth quarter of an otherwise defensive Portsmouth Hanover quarterfinal game last night. The Clippers outscored the Marauders 26 to 20 and won 58-50. The Marauders fought back early in the quarter to tie it at 36 early in the quarter behind Dan Gorman (16) and Sam Greenwood, but the Clippers answered with a 10-0 run highlighted by a Gregg Tsougranis 3 point play and put it away late with excellent foul shooting.

 Both teams opened with man to man defenses but Hanover was able to get the shots they wanted early and raced out to an 8-2 lead behind sharp shooting by Sam Carney, who had 8 of his team high 18 in the first. After a quick timeout by Coach Jim Mulvey, the Clippers answered with a 10-2 run of their own to take the lead going into the second quarter, 15-14. Kyle Dicesare scored 9 of his game high 20 to lead the Portsmouth attack.

Sat 03-12-2011	Score
Portsmouth	58
Hanover	50
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-12-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...#10 Souhegan advances to UNH with a 53-45 win over Pembroke

 The Souhegan Sabres know there's a recent history of 10 seeds going all the way and winning the Championship in the Division formerly known as Class I.  So their double digit seeding and the fact they had to win 2 road games against 2 higher seeded teams on the way to the D2 semis at UNH hasn't fazed them yet.  And it didn't affect them one bit in Pembroke tonight when they were able to rally from a 10 point 1^st half deficit(17-7 Pembroke midway thru the 2^nd Q) to win 53-45 thanks to a dominating 2^nd half led by junior standout Devin Gilligan.   

 2^nd seeded Pembroke led by 6 at halftime behind the scoring of freshman sensation Patrick Welch(8 1^st half points) and super soph Matt Persons(7 in the 1^st half).  Gilligan had only 3 points(all on FT's) at the break, but he was dominating in other areas, especially on the boards where he snared 7 1^st half rebounds.  Seth Cordts did most of the damage offensively for Souhegan in the 1^st 2 quarters with 10 points.  Gilligan's 1^st hoop of the game came with 6:15 left in the 3^rd and it gave the Sabres the lead for the 1^st time all night at 24-23.  It would go back and forth from there and the 3^rd quarter ended with Souhegan on top 33-32 and the home crowd growing a little antsy and the visiting fan section growing a little louder.

Sat 03-12-2011	Score
Pembroke Academy	45
Souhegan	53
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-10-2011 Written by: Rich Wentworth

 #3 Portsmouth defeated #14 John Stark, 73-51, with a terrific second half effort.  The
score was 45-34 at halftime but the Portsmouth defense held the Generals to five third quarter points effectively ending the game after three quarters.  Kyle Dicesare led the way with 22 points followed by Kamahl Walker with eighteen. Riley McCarthy recorded a double-double with fifteen points and fifteen rebounds while anchoring the interior defense for the Clippers. 

 Both teams seemed to be fighting nerves early in the contest.  Multiple turnovers for each side kept the score close early.  The Generals zone press forced the Clippers to throw bad passes which turned into a pair of threes for Greg LeBlond.  It wasn't enough to take the lead as Gregg Tsougranis  hit three baseline jumpers and Walker buried a three at the buzzer for an eight point lead after one.

Wed 03-09-2011	Score
Portsmouth	73
John Stark	51
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-10-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 If the Goffstown Grizzlies learned 1 thing in their inaugural season in Division 2, it's that they are definitely in a league that is deep in teams capable of knocking off anybody when they are playing well.  Take the 12 seed in this year's D2 tourney, the Oyster River Bobcats.  A semi-finalist last year, Stuart Mitchell's team stumbled at times this season, but still finished with 11 wins...unfortunately, in a stacked Division 2, the best their 11 and 7 record could muster was the 12^th spot overall and a playoff road game vs. the high scoring Grizzlies in Goffstown. 

 Oyster River, had pounded the Griz 83 to 60 earlier in the season, but tonight was a lot tighter...at least until the 4^th quarter when the Bobcats took complete control.  It was 16-13 Oyster River after 1 quarter and the Bobcat lead stayed at 3 into halftime(33-30).  Despite the deficit, Goffstown looked like the fresher team thru the
1^st 2 quarters thanks to coach Justin Gorham's 5 in, 5 out substitution pattern which he instituted halfway thru each period.  Oyster River appeared tired at times with a rotation only 7 or 8 deep, and a strong reliance on their starting 5.

 Lucky for them they have senior guard Chris Walker on the team.  Walker came in averaging just under 20/game.  He drove and spun his way into the lane for 17 points before intermission and would up with 29 in the game to go along with 6 rebounds in the 79 to 63 OR win.  A 2 point Bobcat lead at the end of 3 quarters(52-50), quickly became double digits about midway thru the 4^th as Goffstown went a 3:45 stretch without scoring a point. 

Wed 03-09-2011	Score
Goffstown	63
Oyster River	79
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-10-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Zach Stevens & Trinity face Londonderry in the quarterfinals

 (8) Spaulding at (1) Bishop Guertin

 The coverage of Bishop Guertin is sponsored by the Blended Solutions Technical Institute

 Rare is the game that a one seed is pumped for a second shot at the 8 seed but it's exactly what you have here. BG went to Rochester and was beaten by Spaulding 84-78 in overtime on January 14^th. They haven't lost since. All-state power forward Connor Green (18.8 ppg) missed that game but will be a central figure in the rematch Friday night. BG battled a Concord team that refused to go away in a 63-50 win and now gets a shot at a second straight trip to Durham next week.

 Spaulding avenged a loss earlier this season to local rival Dover and beat the Green Wave in round one behind a balanced attack led by Connor Noe, Nick MacGregor, Dominic Paradis and Justin Slattery. To beat BG again they'll need a big game from, shooting guard Brian Cronin (12 ppg) to compliment the inside work of Paradis.

 Spaulding will run motion sets and make BG work on defense. They'll pressure the ball and try to be sure Sean McClung is never left alone on the wing and Green always has a man shading over behind him in the lane to help. Jim Migneault's offense runs through their big two and although this is an uncommonly deep team it begins & ends with those two.

Date Posted : 03-10-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Anuj Vadalia & Derryfield face Lisbon for the Division IV title

 (4) Lisbon vs. (3) Derryfield Academy

 In the highly anticipated match-up Saturday afternoon between top seeds Newmarket and Moultonborough the keys to watch will be,.....wait...who is this in the final now? What happened to the favorites?

 You mean little Adrian Edgerly won't be taking on big guys Patrick Cotter and Marcus Swedberg?

 How did those guys lose? Better yet how did these guys beat them?

 Defense. Neither Newmarket (13 for 47 on field goals or 27 percent from the floor) or Moultonborough Academy (28%) could ever get anything going offensively. Neither team ever felt comfortable, ever felt confident or even showed for a flash that they were going to figure out the other teams' defense.

 Derryfield Academy used their speed to beat Moultonborough's size (take note Somersworth) and instead of settling out on the perimeter with the other short people they attacked the basket. Gus Davis, Anuj Vadalia, Bryan Rivard and Marty McCormick all aggressively went to the rim. They also used a suffocating man to man defense to frustrate Moultonborough and cause 21 turnovers. Once the ball was loose Derryfield was gone. Anuj Vadalia converted a pair of steals into lay-ups and the #2 seed could not get any closer than 5 points in the second half. A Derryfield team that lost an overtime heartbreaker to Littleton a year ago dispensed some wisdom of their own this time and it takes them to Saturday afternoons final.

Date Posted : 03-09-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Alvirne beats Merrimack at the buzzer, 50-48.

 Tony Beaulieu followed up his own miss with a game-winning putback as time
expired leading #11 Alvirne to an upset of #6 Merrimack in NHIAA Boys Division 1
preliminary round basketball action.  Alvirne moves on to play #3 Manchester
Memorial in the quarterfinals on Friday night in the Queen City.  The Tomahawks
trailed almost the entire night, but they rallied to tie the game at 48
when junior forward Tyler Gendron hit a top of the key 3 pointer with :19
seconds to play.

  Alvirne inbounded the ball and brought it up court before 1st
year head coach Seth Garon called timeout to set up a potential game winning
play.  Coming out of the timeout, Garon decided to reinsert Beaulieu into the
game who had been on the bench for most of the 4th quarter nursing wrist
and ankle issues.  "We wanted him in there A:, for rebounding.  And 2:, we set
up a play for him that allows him to get to the rim.  We knew they were going to
try to shut Caleb(Donnelly) off.  It didn't work out exactly
the way we wanted it, but he adjusted on the fly and pretty
much made the same thing happen, and we got a tip-in in the end so it was
good." 

Tue 03-08-2011	Score
Merrimack	48
Alvirne	50
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-09-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Somersworth will look to disrupt Bow's offense on Saturday

 (5) Bow vs. (3) Somersworth

 These two teams began the season against each other and now will end it back on the floor together again Saturday evening in Manchester. We covered that first meeting as our game of the week, a 44-38 Somersworth victory, back on December 10^th and what you will see Saturday will hardly resemble what we saw that night. The philosophies though will remain the same.

 On Tuesday night Somersworth looked like a Golden Retriever that had been let out of the kennel to run in a 3 acre field. They sprinted up and down the bigger floor at SNHU for 32 minutes and let it be known from the beginning that if they were going down to Berlin again they were doing it with their tongues hanging out at the end. The Hilltoppers did not walk the ball up the floor once in the first half or even take a three pointer until late in the half. It was a constant flow to the basket and if Berlin was the stronger team well, you can't hit what you can't catch.

 Bow seems like a team almost comprised of two separate units. You have your guard rotation led by Erik Michaud, Ryan Hill and Connor Hill looking to get out and go. Then you have big men like Greg Froleiks (a shooter on the perimeter with size), Max Heindl and Josh Faber looking to hammer it into the paint. Bow looks like it could beat you doing it both ways and therefore sometimes they look like they aren't exactly on the same page as to what they ultimately decided on doing. Their Tuesday night semifinal win over Mascoma, while impressive, was a very choppy, very physical game and filled with turnovers.

Date Posted : 03-08-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Riley McCarthy & Portsmouth face John Stark Wednesday

 (16) Laconia at (1) Milford

 The Sachems are back in the tournament after a final four appearance in 2009. Laconia beat Kennett in their season finale and then sat back and rooted for St. Thomas to lose to Coe-Brown and subsequently punch their ticket in. Coe-Brown won 65-62 in OT and Laconia at 6-12 and with two of their wins coming against Division III teams (Belmont & Winnisquam) is in while St. Thomas, also 6-12 with one loss coming to Division I Dover, is out. Can someone again explain this point system to me?

 Anyway give Chad Davis credit for getting Laconia back into the dance. Babcar Kamara has been a revelation at power forward for Laconia in averaging 18.6 ppg and will get a lot of attention Wednesday night from Milford big men Logan Barlow and Kyle Nelson. Laconia has some good size but not a lot of speed at the guard position and in Milford they play best backcourt in the state in point guard Mike Mitchell and shooting guard Jamie Holder.

 The way a lot of the first round games played out in the lower divisions last week was that the lower seeds had enough to hang around into the second half before the superior teams took over late in games. Milford is going to go for the knockout blow early in this one and they'll try & let it be known to Laconia early on that they are making a 32 minute appearance in the playoffs. The Sachems will look to run their offense through the post and be sure Kamara is touching the ball on nearly every possession.

Date Posted : 03-08-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 The Berlin and Somersworth's boys basketball teams will never look at the March Madness highlight CBS plays every year of Christian Laettner's buzzer beater over Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional final the same way again.
 
 The Berlin kids will take particular notice of former Kentucky guard John Pelphrey who stood and watched Laettner's shot and then had his shoulders drop in amazement and agony as the ball went in as the buzzer sounded. These Berlin kids won't even notice Laettner, they'll be watching the Kentucky kids. They'll watch them because they know how they feel.
 
 The Somersworth kids on the other hand, all they'll see is Laettner, and when that Duke team chases him across the floor in pure joy after the shot goes in they'll think of Dillon Lanctot. They chased him the same way tonight.
 
 Trying to get off a shot in a tie game as the clock wound down to zero Lanctot launched a near impossible shot that looked like it was going in as soon as it released. " I said there's no way when he shot it," said Somersworth head coach Lorne Lucas. "But then I watched the flight of the ball and I thought, 'That might go in!!'.
 
 It did. Lanctot's 25 foot three, off glass no less, was the dagger in a Hilltoppers upset of heavily favored Berlin 55-52. Twelve kids from Berlin immediately hit the floor like a punch to the gut while twelve kids from Somersworth made their own March Madness you tube clip. " That last shot really told the story of our night ," said Berlin head coach Don Picard. "They got the loose ball that enabled them to get that shot off and it felt like they were the ones getting those loose balls all night."

Tue 03-08-2011	Score
Berlin	52
Somersworth	55
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-07-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Nick Martinez & Londonderry face arch-rival Pinkerton Tuesday

 (16) Concord at (1) Bishop Guertin

 The coverage of Bishop Guertin is sponsored by The Blended Solutions Technical Institute

 The coverage of Concord high school is sponsored by the Makris Lobster and Steakhouse

 It's not easy hyping a game between two teams that were involved in an 85-36 decision only 10 days ago so let's focus on the positives. Concord is back in the tournament after a long absence and this is a program that seems to be headed in the right direction under head coach Dale Emerson. If coveted point guard Jourdain Bell (now an 8^th grader at Rundlett middle school) joins the Crimson next season then the building blocks are there for a solid run. CJ Woods (11 ppg) and Kaleb Marquis (9 ppg) lead a balanced attack for a unit that has wins over Pinkerton and Winnacunnet on the resume.

 BG goes into the tourney as the top seed and with wins over Trinity, Manchester Memorial and Manchester Central this is your favorite. The draw sets up nicely for them and this is a team with two dominant scorers and a three guard rotation that will wear you down with their defense. It's championship or bust for Jim Migneault's team.

Date Posted : 03-07-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Patrick Cotter and Moultonborough take on Lisbon

 (4) Lisbon vs. (1) Newmarket

 The hopes and dreams of schools from the north country, a region that has won 13 of the last 14 Class S (now Division IV) titles rests squarely on the shoulders of Les Poore and his Lisbon basketball team. Lisbon beat Colebrook 58-57 at home Friday night and now faces off with the top ranked team in the tournament.

 Newmarket won a sometimes physical, other times downright chippy affair with Wilton-Lyndeborough, eliminating Wilton in the quarterfinals for the second straight season. Wilton head coach Sean Young directed his team to double team Newmarket all-state shooting guard Adrian Edgerly every time he touched the ball and the result was open shots for players like Christian Fillion, Christian Hawkins and Josh Eisefeller.

 Lisbon is a disciplined team that takes care of the basketball and won't shoot themselves out of games. They have nice balance across the starting five and look to Jake Clement, Jamsie Myers and Dylan Chase for scoring. Poore's team has won 11 games in a row and in that stretch have only given up over 60 points only once. Lisbon came out of the north as it best team, the question now is how big of a difference is there in the level of play between the northern teams and its southern rivals?

Date Posted : 03-07-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Connor Hill and Bow get another shot at unbeaten Mascoma

 (5) Bow vs (1) Mascoma

 Friday night Bow did what no other playoff team in Division III or Division IV was able to pull off; they won on the road. Traveling all the way to Lancaster and White Mountains Regional high school for the first time Bow came away with an impressive 56-49 win behind 15 points each from brothers Connor and Ryan Hill. The win gets them not only to their first Division III final four after the move from Class I a year ago but also gets them another shot at a Mascoma team that beat them 70-59 back in January.

 Bow has the pieces to match up with anybody. Both Connor and Ryan are each able to get to the rim off the dribble and both can stroke it from long range. Point guard Erik Michaud has been one of the better playmakers in the division all year and has been able to create room for shooters like Greg Froleiks because of his ability to handle the basketball. Bow gets quality minutes down low from Josh Faber and it will be his assignment Tuesday night to try and slow down Mascoma big man Connor Torrey.

 The issue with Bow is playing undisciplined at times; they can turn the ball over a lot and when they're struggling its because they are too impatient on offense. There are a lot of shooters on this team and when some begin to worry about how many shots they're getting it can hurt the flow of the offense.

Date Posted : 03-05-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Central ruins Senior Night in Merrimack, 57-22.

 After the starting line-ups were announced on Senior Night at Merrimack High School, the Manchester Central Little Green felt better about their chances when star sophomore Dimitri Floras wasn't among the 5 players coach Tim Goodridge sent out at the beginning of the game.  That honor, as is tradition for the final home game of the regular season went to the 4 Tomahawk seniors on the roster...Ryan Brownell, Pat Paulson, Tyler Amigo and Kyle Barka, along with junior forward Tyler Gendron.  Once it became clear Floras wasn't going to be in the game at least for a little while, Central bigman and player of the year candidate John Wickey said his team saw it as an opportunity to get off to a good early start.  "When we knew that they were going to start their seniors...I mean, you gotta take advantage of everything, so we went full court press and tried to get some turnovers, tried to go thru the post like we did...and it was working for us so we stuck with it."  It was working so well for the Little Green that they jumped out to a 17 to nothing lead just over 4 minutes into the game and never looked back in a lopsided 57-22 win.  

Fri 03-04-2011	Score
Merrimack	22
Manchester Central	57
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-05-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 You play, practice and work together for 18 games and four long months to become a unit. You don't adopt an identity in December that pleases you, you find one in March that suites you. It's shaped by the dozens of practices, all the games you've played and even the bus trips you've endured. When you get to March, to the postseason and its big stage you hope you have that character as a team and an identity to count on when you need it most. It's the moments where your back is against the wall and as a team you only have the guy to the right and left of you to lean on.
 
 After surrending a halftime lead in their own gym and watching the five time defending champs roll off a 20-8 third period head coach Lorne Lucas told his team they were going to come back. He reminded them they had come back on Prospect Mountain, on Raymond and even against Marshwood, a team from Maine in a holiday tournament. It didn't matter that Marshwood was a school they played in December and a team that was already getting ready for baseball season somewhere up north. That game and others like them shaped a 15-2 team into one that could play from behind. A team that could rise to the occasion and one that was going to dig themselves out of the hole other teams would bury their head in. Lucas told his team they were going to come back and beat Conant. They believed him. And they did.
 
 Somersworth erased a ten point deficit to force overtime. In the extra session the Hilltoppers jumped out early and made sure they were done playing from behind. 22 points from Bobby Shatinsky, 12 from Matt Fauci and a gritty floor game from point guard Pat Lavin sent Conant home from the playoffs without a win for the first time in six years and Somersworth back to the final four with a 64-61 overtime win.
 

Fri 03-04-2011	Score
Somersworth	64
Conant	61
Box Scores

Date Posted : 03-03-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Kevin Paynter and Raymond face Berlin in the quarterfinals

 (8) Stevens at (1) Mascoma

 When you step back and really take a look at the season Mascoma has put together they have been every bit as dominant as Milford has in the division above. 18-0, wins over Conant and Bow plus a win over Hanover in their holiday tournament. They've won only three of their eighteen games by under ten points. They may not always look like it when you watch them play but this has been a dominant team.

 The Royals are led by their all-state center Connor Torrey who had 23 points in an easy 74-56 win over Newfound in the first round. It is a team, coached by Jim Barry, that is no work of art on the offensive end but they scrap for rebounds and are good in transition. Ryan Coleman, Codie Wardwell, Kyle Welenc and shooter Ethan Dickinson rotate in the backcourt while Tim Perrier (an undersized power forward) and John Fitzgerald (their Ron Artest..in the good ways...) man the frontcourt. Mascoma has a smaller gym that is always packed for big games and never easy to play in as a visitor. Take it from a guy who once had a wad of gum thrown at him as he ran up the floor. True story.

 What they will do with Stevens is try to hurry them on offense and force them out of their sets. Stevens can be a very good dangerous three point shooting team and if they are able to move the ball and find shooters like Cam Blewitt ( a scorer who plays inside as well as away from the basket), Zach Fitzherbert (who can shoot it and get to the rim when he is under control) and point guard Zach Melcher. There are enough weapons here to stay in the game and when you face a lower seed playing with house money that can shoot the three, well there is your nightmare scenario for any favorite.

 Stevens needs to space the floor and Melcher needs to handle the pressure Mascoma will bring on that small floor. That will be the key to staying in the ball game.

Date Posted : 03-02-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Jake Clement and Lisbon square off with Colebrook Friday night

 (9) Wilton-Lyndeborough at (1) Newmarket

 The coverage of Wilton-Lyndeborough is sponsored by Bob Hayden at State Farm Insurance

 Third meeting of the season and the second straight year these two will meet in the quarterfinal round. Newmarket had an easy time with Concord Christian in the first round while Wilton-Lyndeborough picked up the only road win in any of the 16 games played in the Division III & IV first rounds by beating Profile 49-48 behind 18 points from AJ Gersky and 11 from Steven Heck.

 No one has been able to slow lounge member Adrian Edgerly down all season and the task for Wilton-Lyndeborough Friday night is to try and get easy transition points off of turnovers. In a half court battle Newmarket wins every time; they have more skill players, the best player on the floor and they are far more disciplined. Sean Young's team has to create chaos defensively and force Newmarket to get out of their game plan playing from behind.

 Jamie Hayes's team has been to the final four three straight seasons (once in Class M, twice in Class S) and this team has had that look from day one. Take care of business Friday night and they'll get a south vs. north match-up in the Division IV semifinals at Plymouth State next Tuesday.

Date Posted : 03-02-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Connor Green and BG will be the top seed in Division I

 Back with a condensed version of the weekly thoughts column as both Division III & Division IV are down to the final 8 after a busy Tuesday night. One issue that came up as the tournament games went to a three referee format for the postseason was the level of officiating in those playoff games. With a full slate in Division I's and II you had approximately 78 officials working boys' basketball games Tuesday night. This leads to the question; do we have 78 quality officials in New Hampshire?

 The feedback from coaches I spoke with seems to be that we don't. It was very common on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to hear from coaches that talked about officials who seemed overwhelmed or intimidated by the home crowd in packed gymnasiums. If the NHIAA had Division IV play Tues./Friday and Division III Wed./Saturday it would alleviate the problem altogether. Division I & II playoff games are staggered in that manner so why not the two lower divisions?

 When you battle all season, travel and practice with a group of kids for four long months and the difference in a tight game is an overwhelmed official making a call 50 feet away from the play when a fellow official is seven feet from the action...well that is tough to swallow. So stagger the games and make sure you're putting the best officials out there in every playoff game.

 On to the games;

 Division I

 Bishop Guertin (15-2) at Salem (13-4)

 The coverage of Bishop Guertin is sponsored by The Blended Solutions Technical Institute

Date Posted : 02-28-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Damon Ness and White Mountains want another trip to the final four

 (16) Newfound at (1) Mascoma

  Before we start with our first round preview a quick rant if you'll allow; here is hoping the ‘All 23 teams in Division III make the tourney ‘ format is a one and done endeavor. First of all I never understood the logic behind every team making the tournament to begin with. I had a coach for a sub .500 team in the division say to me late in the season, "We told the kids don't worry if we lose this game, we're all in tourney anyway what does it matter?" He's right and the whole system is wrong. All seven home teams, the teams that would have been seeds 10 thru 16 in the main draw, won their ‘play-in' games by an average margin of 18.5 points per contest. Only 16^th ranked Newfound beating 17^th ranked Franklin 59-54 kept that number under 20.

 I predicted on twitter and in this column last week that at the very least six of the seven home teams would win. Do you know why? Very simple; bad teams do not win on the road. I thought 5-12 Gilford had an outside shot at Inter-Lakes, a team they spilt with during the season. I was wrong, they lost 72-55 and the reason is that Gilford is not good enough to win in that environment. They played 17 games proving that point, so why a 18^th?

 The Golden Eagles finished 2-7 on the road. Winnisquam was 1-8 on the road. Farmington finished 1-8. You get the point. These weren't tourney teams. If I was Rob Carpenter at Prospect Mountain ( #12 seed) or Kevin Rines at Mascenic (#10) and one of my rotation guys sprained an ankle against a 2-16 Winnisquam team or a 1-17 Monadnock team I'd be very upset that they were even out there. It should mean something to make that top 16, to all tip off simultaneously around the state at 7 pm Tuesday night. The play-in round made the final two weeks of the season meaningless for about 12 teams.

 As for Mascoma they earn the top seed and finished as one of only two unbeaten teams in the state of New Hampshire (Milford being the other). The Royals can put away the purple road jerseys until next December and will face a Newfound team they beat twice during the regular season by 20 points or more.

Date Posted : 02-27-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Brian Brewster and Sunapee come into the tourney red hot

 (16) Concord Christian at (1) Newmarket
 
 
 Newmarket is a deserving top seed and faces a Concord Christian team who makes the tournament for a second straight year but had their aspirations severely cut back when top scorer Nick Peters went down for the season in January with an injury. Concord Christian had been led early in the season by a trio that later became a duo after Peters went down. Jesse Kelley and Wesley Pincince are both capable scorers while Lucas McLaughlin gives the Kingsmen solid minutes as well. This is a team that started the season 4-0 but ended it on a five game losing streak. Depth was never a strength with this team, it was a team with three very good players that kept them in games. The injury to Peters changed that and they now face a daunting task on the road Tuesday night.
 
 Many coaches you speak to see a rematch of the 2009 final between Moultonborough and Newmarket looming down the road but Mules head coach Jamie Hayes doesn't head into the playoffs struggling to find faults with his 17-1 basketball team. Newmarket had some mental lapses down the stretch and the concern with this team remains whether players step up around Division IV's leading scorer and probable player of the year Adrian Edgerly (20.9 ppg). With all that being said this is a better team defensively than they were a year ago and Newmarket played as tough a schedule as anyone in the division. This was a well earned 17-1. When Newmarket is getting production from Christian Hawkins (7.9 ppg) and Christian Fillion (9.1) they can spread the floor and let Edgerly operate. A year ago this team struggled against Groveton's zone defense in the final four. Hayes believes that won't happen again & it will all start with a 1 vs. 16 match-up in front of some of the best student fans in the division.
 

Date Posted : 02-23-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Greg Leblond and John Stark try to slow down Goffstown Thursday night

 We have an interesting weekend of games as teams hit the home stretch. Division III starts their ‘play in' round on Friday night with the bottom fourteen seeds squaring off for the right to get into the 16 team main draw. Division IV starts their tourney next Tuesday night with three of the top four seeds set to come from the southern part of the state and Lisbon and Colebrook fighting for the #4 seed.

 As we do every year we will preview every tournament game played in all four divisions. This is the time of year I start feeling like an accountant in April.

 On to the games;

 Division I

 Salem (11-3) at Manchester Central (10-4)                         Thursday

 The coverage of both teams is sponsored by T-Bones & Cactus Jacks

 As I tweeted last week (and there is a sentence I never thought I'd write..) the Blue Devils win at Trinity last weekend ends the ‘Is Salem for real' debate. Not only was that a good road win but they had to come back on Sunday morning and play the second half trailing by six. The legend of Jeff Meisser added another chapter as his three pointer won it and now first year head coach Rob McLaughlin can all but wrap up a top 4 seed (and a chance at two home playoff games) with a win at Central.

 At 10-4 Doc Wheeler's team is right in the thick of it but a loss to Salem would make them 0-4 against the teams they are looking up at in the standings. A win gets them back in the top 4. Salem still has to face Bishop Guertin (trying to clinch the #1 seed) which makes this a crucial game for both teams. If Meisser has been a revelation for Salem Joe Gallant has been consistently good night in & night out and will square off down low with lounge member John Wickey.

Date Posted : 02-22-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

David Madol of Manchester Memorial

 Statewide scoring leaders

 * denotes member of the players lounge

 1. Stephen Spirou of Pelham    *                      24.5

 2. Dimitri Floras of Merrimack                          22.8

 3. Patrick Welch of Pembroke Academy          21.0

 4. Adrian Edgerly of Newmarket *                   20.6

 4. Josh Morgan of Campbell                              20.6

 6. Chris Walker of Oyster River                       20.2

 7. David Madol of Memorial    *                        19.5

 8. Caleb Donnelly of Alvirne                             18.9

 9. Mike O'Loughlin of Milford *                        18.8

10. Sean McWilliams of Belmont                       18.7

10. Sean McClung of Bishop Guertin                 18.7

12. Devin Gilligan of Souhegan *                      18.6

13. Connor Green of Bishop Guertin                 18.4

13. Babcar Kamara of Laconia                          18.4

15. Jamie Holder of Milford                               18.0

15. Tyler Griffin of Colebrook                           18.0

Date Posted : 02-19-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Madol's big night leads Memorial over Central, 64-54

 On a night when Manchester Memorial's David Madol was honored before the game for being nominated to the McDonald's All-American team, the Crusaders senior showed the near capacity crowd just why he made that exclusive list.  The 6-6 senior poured in a game high 31 points with 8 rebounds and 5 blocks as Memorial beat rival Manchester Central 64-54 to improve to 12 and 2 on the season.  The loss for Central dropped the Little Green's record to 9 and 4. 

 Central started fast with 4 1st quarter 3 pointers and led 20-18 after 1.  Audie Melendez hit 2 of the long balls, while Gabe LaCount and John Wickey added one apiece.  Madol kept his team close with 10 1st quarter points, but Memorial went cold to start the 2nd and didn't score a point until a Dylan Haynes bucket halfway thru the period.  Luckily for Mike Fitzpatrick's team Central wasn't exactly lighting it up either and the game went to halftime with Central on top 30-28.  Madol finished the 1st half with 15 thanks to a buzzer beating bank shot 3 from straight away that brought his team within 2.

Fri 02-18-2011	Score
Manchester Memorial	64
Manchester Central	54
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-18-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 The funny thing about those friendly high school rivalries is it may only seem friendly to one of the participants. You see Portsmouth has had their way with a solid Coe-Brown basketball program in recent years and coming off of back to back blowout wins the Clippers had every reason to expect that they were welcoming their neighbors to the West into Stone gym Friday night for a solid win and a hearty pat on the back on their back to Northwood.

 Only Coe-Brown wasn’t there to merely renew acquaintances. The Bears came in winners of four in a row, albeit against teams with losing records, a win against Portsmouth though, that would grab the attention of a lot people in division II. Coe-Brown was here for their signature win. And it took Portsmouth far too long to realize it.

 The coverage of Portsmouth is sponsored by the Law Offices of Jason M Sullivan

 Coe-Brown won the battle of two good backcourts as they got 33 points combined from Dan Lang and Tom Darling in an impressive 65-58 win that officially makes this a rivalry again.

Fri 02-18-2011	Score
Portsmouth	58
Coe-Brown	65
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-16-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Mike Lorenz and Salem take on Trinity Friday night

 You can now follow NH Sports Page on Twitter by visiting http://twitter.com/nhsportspage and clicking the "Follow" button.  The NH Sports Page Twitter feed will have site updates, live in-game scores and periodic insight into the NH High School sports scene.

And yes Eliot Bless browbeat me into joining Twitter.....off we go.

 Division I

 Manchester Central (9-3) at Manchester Memorial (10-2)

 The coverage of both schools are sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria of Manchester and T-Bones & Cactus Jacks

 City rivalry game between two very similar teams (Pete Tarrier will have full coverage for us tomorrow night). Central lost point guard Joe Stisser for the rest of the season with a re-occurring knee injury but still has top 4 seed aspirations. A win here puts them in good shape while a loss drops them back into a cluster of teams that includes Spaulding, Merrimack and Dover.

 Big time match-up between two all-state big men; lounge members John Wickey and David Madol. Who does Central head coach Doc Wheeler assign to slow down Crusaders forward Shomari Morgan? Expect Junior Brown to draw the initial assignment with Audie Melendez and Gabe LaCount providing help as well.

 This is the first of three Manchester rivalry games in the next four contests for Mike Fitzpatrick's Memorial team. Central meanwhile shook off a lackluster effort against Spaulding with a quality road win Tuesday over a Pinkerton Academy team that is starting to round into form.

Date Posted : 02-15-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Dimitri Floras of Merrimack leads Division I in scoring

 We take our second look of the season at the top 16 teams statewide. Rankings are based off of results (obviously), opinions of the network of coaches we talk to, resume (who have they beaten, who have they lost to) and lastly my own two eyes. On to the top 16;

 1. Milford                                                      14-0

 What's to like? What's not to like? 14-0 and they are right where everyone thought they would be. Do they get enough production down low from Logan Barlow and Kyle Nelson to hold their own in the paint? They do. You aren't going to see many high scoring games from this duo and in fact most of their points are off of put backs and dump down passes from messrs O'Loughlin, Holder and Mitchell but they battle on the boards and have enough size to keep opposing big men in check.

 What makes you nervous?: If Jamie Holder or Mike O'Loughlin are having a tough shooting night or are bottled up by a good defender can they get enough scoring from Mike Mitchell and the rest of the team to still beat a very good team? This is where the loss of their best outside shooter (in the opinion of head coach Dan Murray) Scott McCallum really could hurt them. Everyone seems to believe Mitchell would be scoring 20 points a game if he was playing for Hollis-Brookline, would he? Can they get 22 points out of him when it absolutely has to happen?

Date Posted : 02-12-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Pelham goes OT to beat Pembroke 73-70

 On paper, the match-up between the Pelham Pythons and the Pembroke Spartans looked to be relatively even.  Both teams came into the game with a solid chance at an all-important Top 4 seed in the Division 2 tournament with only about a third of the regular season left to play.  The Pythons, led by player of the year candidate Stephen Spirou had the edge in experience, but the young and talented Spartans had the advantage of playing at home.  What we got was an epic  game that went back and forth all night and right down to the wire, and a game that should go a long way in helping both teams prepare for the postseason. 

 The coverage of Pelham high school is sponsored by Bottomline Realty

 In the end, Spriou and his Pelham teammates had just enough to hold on for a big 73-70 overtime win.  The star senior saved his best for last, scoring 14 of his team high 27 points in the 4^th quarter and overtime, dominating inside as the Pythons rallied back from a 3 point deficit with only 14.5 seconds left in regulation.  But it wasn't Spirou that hit the biggest shot of the night.  That honor went to senior sharpshooter Dean Joyce who drained a 3 pointer with 7 seconds left to tie the game at 61.  The shot by Joyce(22 points and 5 big 3's in the game) was made possible after a crucial Pembroke turnover on an inbounds play when the Spartans had the ball up 3 and a golden opportunity to ice the game.  The loud Spartans student section was so sure they had the game won that they broke out the chant that usually means the home team has things wrapped up, prompting Pembroke coach Matt Alosa to say..."I've never heard ‘warm up the bus'...and then lose...EVER in my career.  And you heard em say ‘warm up the bus'...and they came back and got us.  They did a good job."  Even after Joyce's heroics, Pembroke still had the chance to win it in regulation, but point guard Rene Maher(10 points before fouling out in OT) missed a runner in the lane at the buzzer that sent things to extra time.      

Fri 02-11-2011	Score
Pembroke Academy	70
Pelham	73
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-09-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Stephen Spirou and Pelham square off with Pembroke Friday night

 Division I

 Merrimack (8-2) at Manchester Memorial (9-2)

 The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by T-Bones & Cactus Jacks of Manchester and 900 Degrees Pizzaria of Manchester.

The coverage of Merrimack is sponsored by The Blended Solutions Technical Institute

 Two of the top 5 teams in Division I as well as a pair of fast/athletic teams that can put points on the board. Dimitri Floras is back in the player of the year discussion after a 35 point effort against Spaulding Tuesday night in a game in which they needed every one of them to win. Tyler Gendron continues to put up points and Merrimack has quietly won six in a row.

 Memorial won back to back road games on consecutive nights against Dover and Winnacunnet, never an easy feat, and now will make a push for a top 4 seed. Teams know what they are going to get from the Crusaders; lounge member David Madol from 10 feet in and Shomari Morgan coming in from the wings. That doesn't mean opponents have been able to stop it as they have made up the second highest scoring duo in the division. Expect both teams to get out and push the basketball Friday night, this one could be a high scoring affair.

Date Posted : 02-07-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Sam Brammer of Littleton is the newest member of the Players Lounge

 Statewide Scoring Leaders;

 *- denotes member of the New Hampshire Sportspage Players Lounge

 1. Stephen Spirou of Pelham    *                     24.4 ppg

 2. Patrick Welch of Pembroke                         21.1

 3. Dimitri Floras of Merrimack                         20.6

 4. Devin Gilligan of Souhegan *                       20.5

 5. Sam Carney of Hanover *                            20.2

 6. Adrian Edgerly of Newmarket *                   20.0

 7. Matt Persons of Pembroke                            19.8

 8. Chris Walker of Oyster River                        19.7

 9. Sean McClung of Bishop Guertin                   19.0

10. Babcar Kamara of Laconia                           18.8

11. Sam Brammer of Littleton *                        18.6

12. Connor Green of Bishop Guertin                  18.1

13. Jamie Holder of Milford                                18.0

14. John Wickey of Manchester Central *         17.8

14. Curtis Arsenault of Berlin *                          17.8

14. Shaun Munson of Winnacunnet                    17.8

Date Posted : 02-05-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Tarrier's Take...Wickey leads Central past Londonderry

 John Wickey scored 26 points to lead the Manchester Central Little Green to an impressive 55-48 win on the road in Londonderry tonight. The victory over the Lancers upped Central's record to 7 and 2 in Division 1, while Londonderry slipped under .500 at 4-5 at the halfway point of the season.

 The Lancers started fast and led 13-6 after the 1^st quarter thanks in part to 7 points from senior Ian McMullen(team high 15 on the night) and some good early defense focused on collapsing on Wickey. The Little Green offense was also a problem for Doc Wheeler's team in the opening 8 minutes as they went a whopping 6:01 of the 1^st quarter without scoring a single point. An 8-2 run to start the 2^nd quarter helped Londonderry extend their lead to 13 points, at 21-8 with 6:44 left in the half, but Central took control of the game from that point on, outscoring the Lancers 18-3 to close out the 2^nd quarter for a 26-24 halftime lead. Diminutive senior guard Audie Melendez provided a big spark off the bench by scoring 9 quick points with 2 3-pointers, including the go-ahead 3 that put Central on top just 5 seconds before the buzzer.

Fri 02-04-2011	Score
Londonderry	48
Manchester Central	55
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-04-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Milford got a big win in front of a packed house

 Is there anything worse than inviting everyone you know over to a party at your house and then watching two other guys steal all the laughs? I mean this is YOUR house and its supposed to be your moment and next thing you know these two guys are holding court in the living room while you find yourself freshening up their drinks.
 
 The boys from Souhegan know how you feel. They had a standing room only crowd, plenty of banners on the wall to create some intimidation and a backdrop behind the basket that will remind you of that movie Jerry Seinfeld made about Bee's. It all was set up to be their night in their house until two seniors from Milford grabbed the mic and drained all the attention in the gym. You see Mike O'Loughlin and Jamie Holder have done this before, you know what you're getting when you invite them in and they've even worked bigger rooms than this. Tonight O'Loughlin would go for 26 points and Holder was right at his side with 20 in a performance a standing room only crowd had to respect even if they didn't necessarily enjoy it. Milford came back from a halftime deficit and won a hard fought 66-59 battle against one of the best teams in Division II. Milford moved to 11-0 and added another stop to a two year tour that they may be talking about in Milford for a very long time to come.

Fri 02-04-2011	Score
Souhegan	59
Milford	66
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-04-2011 Written by: Eliot Bless

 Whenever two 11-0 teams get together, in any sport, game or competition, you're likely to see a high-quality contest.  For the fans that packed the Derryfield Academy Gym on Friday night they were not disappointed, as they were treated to two of the best teams in NH's Division IV.  Both Derryfield and Newmarket came in at 11-0 and to the victor would go the spoils of 1st place in the Division.  Riding the coat tails of Adrian Edgerly and his 27 points, Newmarket escaped Manchester with a 60-56 win over Derryfield, but not before a balanced Cougar attack cut the lead to 3 in the final minute forcing Edgerly to seal the game from the free-throw line.

 Derryfield controlled this game early when 6' 5" Center Barrett Lamp tapped the ball to a breaking Marty McCormick who finished for a 2-0 lead.  Edgerly answered right back with a floater through the middle of the lane off a pick and roll.  That would be the closest the Mules would get in the first quarter as Gus Davis penetrated the lane twice in three possessions elevating for layups over the Newmarket big men.  With 3:00 left in the quarter Derryfield looked in control, managing a 16-8 lead with tough defense and rebounding.  

 "We weren't executing.  We had a game plan but didn't execute.  A tournament type game on the road, and after settling in we got our heads together and it turned out ok" said Newmarket head coach Jamie Hayes about his teams flat start to the game.

Fri 02-04-2011	Score
Derryfield Academy	56
Newmarket	60
Box Scores

Date Posted : 02-03-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Javon Williams and Nashua North face a tough test Friday night

 Before we get to our weekly thoughts column we wanted to congratulate one of our players lounge members for making his college choice this week. Bishop Guertin quarterback Steve Cuipa has committed to play locally for St. Anselm College next season and will compete right out of the gate for the quarterback position as a freshman. Steve will pursue a degree in Psychology and suit up of for head coach Patrick Murphy in the fall.

 Steve's 2010 statistics;

 http://www.nhsportspage.com/football/player.php?player_id=3510&team_id=498&team_type=hs_fb&sport=¤tyear=2010-2011

 Now on the games;

 Division I

 Nashua North (5-3) at Manchester Memorial (6-2)

 The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by T-Bones & Cactus Jacks of Manchester and 900 Degrees Pizzaria of Manchester.

 The Titans are off to a nice start at 5-3 but they have only beaten one team with a winning record all year (Exeter). This game begins a stretch of games where they will face six teams ahead of them in the standings to close the season. For North it is all about their backcourt play and they get production every night out of Javon Williams and Lounge member Ryan Gauthier. North also boasts one of the more underrated players in the division in Anthony Farmer who connected on the game winning buzzer beater against Nashua South after having a tooth knocked out during the game. That would have sent Jay Cutler to the emergency room; Farmer cleaned it up and kept going.

Date Posted : 02-02-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Silvere Aluko of Trinity dunks over Dover

 If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Bishop Guertin vs. Manchester Central

 Let's get one thing straight; this is a division that can be won by about eight different teams and that is a very good thing for basketball fans around the state. Bishop Guertin (whose coverage is sponsored by the Blended Solutions Technical Institute) was the favorite to get there last year but they were run off the floor in the first half by a Winnacunnet team that looked more prepared for the moment. That experience and its sour taste only will help them this season. This is a team that likes to go 10 guys deep in the first 16 minutes and as we illustrated last week; they have two of the best closers in the state in Sean McClung and Connor Green. Head coach Jim Migneault is pleased with the recent play of his point guard Nick Pyzocha and is getting nice minutes in the backcourt from Kyle Remillard (your resident ‘Glue guy' for this team) and football star Mike Kelly. BG has played a lot of tight games into the fourth but taken over and won games late. That has a lot to do with depth but it's also a sign that these kids know how to finish games. McClung and Green are both very good foul shooters and they rebound well as a unit. Closing out games can come down to aspects of the game as simple as securing defensive rebounds/not allowing second shots and making your free throws. They survived the loss of Green to an ankle injury early on and are in line for a top 4 seed in March.

 Manchester Central (whose coverage is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria and T-Bones & Cactus Jacks of Manchester) is a team playing well but the thought is that they will be peaking in March. Head coach David ‘Doc' Wheeler has Lounge member John Wickey (17 pg, 5 Reb. and he has been as good as any player in the state this year) as his alpha dog with Gabe LaCount (13 pg, 3 Reb.) playing at a high level and a defense that is giving up a Division best 43 points per game. Several coaches we have spoken to have said no one has played defense against their teams than Central and with Joe Stisser continuing to move forward and Junior Brown, Audie Melendez (7 ppg) and Andrew Lam contributing Wheeler feels comfortable with an 8 man rotation.

Date Posted : 02-01-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Jamie Holder and Milford are unbeaten in Division II

 We're back at it this week with our mid-season looks at Division I & Division II. We'll be back with our statewide Power Rankings next week and will be in Amherst Friday night for the game of the week between...

 If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Milford vs. Souhegan

 Oyster River proved two theories many people have had about the defending champs all along; 1) They can be beaten if they suffer through a sluggish/off night and 2) teams are going to test them by playing very physical and will try talking junk to them all game long if they think it gives them a better chance to win.

 Lounge member Mike O'Loughlin had a rare off night shooting the basketball so it was Jamie Holder and Mike Mitchell (who committed this week to play college basketball at SUNY Plattsburgh) who shot them back in it after facing a 17 point deficit. Holder had some huge buckets (just as he did in both final four games a year ago) and Mitchell was all over the place on both sides of the ball. Division II teams are no doubt tired of hearing it's a one horse race and players will challenge Milford in different ways. Dan Murray's kids though have played all over the United States and they're not going to be thrown off by someone getting in their face. They should be poised enough to handle it.

 Milford isn't getting a ton of scoring production down low and that relates back to Scott McCallum's season ending injury. Defense has been the strength of this team and with Mitchell running the dribble/drive offense points are not going to be hard to come by. There is a cluster of coaches out there who feel like Pembroke Academy  has a real shot to knock them off down the line because of the fact that they have three legit scorers and take care of the basketball. The second part carrying more weight than the first; you cannot beat Milford if you turn the ball over. They look the Miami Heat in transition and they feed off of your mistakes. It's going to take a very good backcourt (Portsmouth with Walker and Dicesare?) or a great point guard (Pembroke's Rene Maher?) to knock these guys off.

Date Posted : 01-29-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 There is no mystery to what makes up a good tag team; the first guy loosens you up and then the other guy comes in and knocks you over. End of story. Good night. Whether it be by charm (Clooney & Pitt), A 2x4 (Bret ‘The Hitman' Hart and Jim ‘The anvil' Neidhart), brilliance (Haim & Feldman) or annoyance (Oprah & Gayle), the idea is to come at you from every angle and wear you into nothing.  To this illustrious group we add Sean McClung and Connor Green. McClung shoots over you early and Green runs over you late. And someone better figure out a way to stop at least one of them or Bishop Guertin may take the act all the way to the final weekend in Durham.

 In a very emotional and well played basketball game Friday night BG got 19 points apiece from their dynamic duo on route to a 57-52 win over Trinity that puts them back in a tie for the top spot in Division I.

Fri 01-28-2011	Score
Bishop Guertin	59
Trinity	52
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-29-2011 Written by: Pete Tarrier

 Sophomore guard Dimitri Floras tossed a beautiful alley-oop pass to teammate Kyle Richardson who layed in the game winner with 2.8 seconds to go as Merrimack came from behind to beat Salem, 63-62 in OT. After trailing almost the entire night, Floras willed his team back in it with a big 13 point 4^th quarter, highlighted by a fast break jam off a steal and a key 3 pointer fueling a run that helped tie the game at 57 at the end of regulation. Tyler Amigo hit a clutch 3 of his own to knot the game at 55 with 1:23 to play. Salem helped the comeback by missing 7 FTs in the 4^th quarter and overtime. Floras would finish the night with 26 as Merrimack improved to 5-2 on the season. Junior forward Tyler Gendron tapped in a key follow shot with 35 seconds left in OT and joined Floras in double figures for the visitors with 15.

Fri 01-28-2011	Score
Salem	62
Merrimack	63
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-26-2011 Written by: Steve Jusseaume

 Salem High harassed and at times seemed to confuse a young and inexperienced Winnacunnet Warrior squad with suffocating defensive pressure Tuesday en route to a convincing 37-21 win in Div. 1 basketball. The win, the Blue Devil's fifth straight, improved the club's record to 7-1 in the state's top division, a sign that this Salem club might be a team to reckon with as the season progresses and the playoffs loom in the March distance.

 Led by 6-5 senior forward Joseph Gallant, who scored a game-high 18 points and seemed to be everywhere on the court, Salem cruised to the victory, holding the Warrior offense scoreless during a key four and one-half minute stretch in the third quarter to seal the win. In fact, the stingy Blue Devils did not allow a WHS bucket the entire fourth quarter; the Warrior's four final period points coming only from the foul line.

Tue 01-25-2011	Score
Winnacunnet	21
Salem	37
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-26-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Jeff Meisser and Salem sit atop the Division I standings

 A very good slate of games this week so we're going with more games with a little less depth to each preview. Being succinct has never been a strong point so on we go to the top games of the week (in under 3,000 words I hope..);

 Division I

 Trinity (7-1) at Bishop Guertin (6-2)

 The coverage of Trinity high school is sponsored by Edible Arrangements

 The coverage of Bishop Guertin high school is sponsored by The Blended Solutions Technical Inst.

 When our basketball writer Eliot Bless bumped into Trinity shooting guard Zach Stevens at the Derry Sports zone earlier in the week Stevens made a point several times of saying in effect ‘We can't look past Exeter with BG coming up.' Well what happens to the last slice of cake you keep telling yourself not to eat? You eat it. Exeter caught Trinity napping Tuesday night (Jeff Holmes is doing a terrific job with that team) and now it seems like old times with Trinity and Salem tied at the top of the standings.

 Stevens is a very good player and a better shooter but he's not your typical go to guy. He has trouble creating his own shot; he's a Cormac Fitzpatrick type rather than a Shomari Morgan. He needs screens to get open. He's also Trinity's best scorer and that is why they struggle offensively at times. Other players need to grow into bigger roles offensively. Defensively they look like they have it figured out.

 Connor Green returned for BG and in a division where every team seems to have a flaw here or there Jim Migneault's team has enough quality depth to make you look past the blemishes. Green will challenge Silvere Aluko by going hard to the basket and hope to convert or get the 6'8 center into foul trouble. Sean McClung rang up his 1,000^th career point in a very good win over Manchester Memorial Tuesday night.

Date Posted : 01-25-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Are Berlin and Conant headed for a rematch in Division III?

 Division III

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Berlin vs. Conant

 Ever see those movies where someone is about to put pen to paper to sign their final divorce papers or to buy some used car and they just can't seem to go through with it? The mind is telling them to just get it over with but they just can't go through with it? That's exactly how I felt when I decided to leave Conant out of the championship game pick. So I won't fight it, I still think they're going to be there again. They are gaining big game experience by the week and they have an alpha dog (Ezra Hodgsdon) to lead them. They also have that name on the front of their jerseys and they're the only team you'll see where you notice the other team keeps peaking over at them during warm-ups. Conant lost to Division I Brattleboro in a game that went down to the wire and on the road at Mascoma in a game they should have put away in the second period. They're three minutes away from being undefeated.

 Eric Saucier needs to find his point guard, replacing Kemph Kim was never going to be easy anyway but Conant has not yet found a ball handler to set the offense and control the tempo. Dan Sirios is more of a defensive specialist and Nate Roberge is learning on the job. The fact that Saucier has even given Devin Springfield (a natural small forward) reps in the 1 spot tells you they haven't found the answer yet. Conant though is playing a tough schedule, they've played; Brattleboro, Mascoma, Bow, Souhegan, Keene and Coe-Brown and this is a unit that needs those kind of reps, they need to play better teams so they learn how to win tight games. They're starting to do that as the win over Bow proved.

Date Posted : 01-24-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Players Lounge member Adrian Edgerly of Newmarket

 We start with Division IV as we take a mid-season look at all four divisions. A look at Division III will follow on Wednesday and also look for a Game of the (mid) Week report from Pete Tarrier. Pete is the former host of Friday Night Lights and will be contributing to New Hampshire Sportspage throughout the season. We also hope to have a link soon to his new radio program as well as podcasts that can be listened to right off of this site.

 On to Division IV;

 If forced today to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Newmarket vs. Moultonborough Academy

 In what is New Hampshire's truly only North vs. South division the power has shifted to the south. Last season Groveton defeated Littleton in a close final at Plymouth State between the top two teams from the north. This season it's not out of the realm of possibility that no northern team even makes it to the semifinals. That's not to discount Buddy Trask and Colebrook Academy (Trust me I'm not) or a late run from a team like Lisbon or Profile but the strength is in the south and a team like Pittsfield that may finish 11-7 would be closer to 14-4 up north. Hey sometimes the southern teams need to win too you know.

Date Posted : 01-21-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Players Lounge member Daniel Shennett of Epping

 We were planning to cover Souhegan at Portsmouth tonight for our Game of the Week but the game has been canceled due to the weather and no make-up date has been set yet.

 The other game we planned to have covered has been re-scheduled. Manchester Memorial at Spaulding will be played tommorow night.

 We'll have box scores and stats of any games played this weekend on the site and on Tuesday and Wednesday we will take a mid-season look at Division IV and Division III with the larger two classes to be covered the following week.

Date Posted : 01-19-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Shomari Morgan and Memorial travel to play Spaulding Friday night

 Division I

 Manchester Memorial (4-1) at Spaulding (5-1)

 The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by T-Bones & Cactus Jacks and 900 Degrees Pizzaria of Manchester

 Nice match-up of two teams with top 8 seed aspirations. Spaulding will put pressure on an inexperienced Manchester Memorial backcourt and look to contain Crusaders forward David Madol down low. This game begins a tough stretch for Memorial where they will face Bishop Guertin, Pinkerton and face Dover on the road in the next two weeks.

 Both teams are comfortable in the half court as Spaulding runs a motion offense under head coach Tim Cronin while Memorial will run some nice sets under head coach Mike Fitzpatrick. The Crusaders feel like Madol and small forward Shomari Morgan can get any shot they want one on one and they'll look to move the ball until they get either one of them in a position to attack the basket. On the opposite end Spaulding will look to wear a Memorial team, that isn't that deep, down with their pressure and free up shooting guard Brian Cronin on the perimeter.

Date Posted : 01-17-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Devin Gilligan of Souhegan

First of all we are coming off a record setting week at New Hampshire Sportspage and we wanted to thank all the people who read us every day. Thank you for choosing us as your source for information on box scores, previews, standings, game articles and scoring leaders. We had more unique visitors last week than any other week in our four year history.  Three years ago we were excited to break 1,000 unique visitors per day and had three sponsors on our website, we've come a long way in a short time.

We're excited to be your source for New Hampshire high school athletics and we want to thank you and our 18 business sponsors for your daily support.

Now on to the power rankings.

Every two weeks we'll have our rankings of the top 16 teams in the State of New Hampshire. Same rules as in past years apply: rankings are based off regular season record, resume and the thoughts of coaches in the four divisions. "Does 1-4 Winnacunnet of Division I beat 9-0 Newmarket of Division IV, head to head on a neutral floor?" Yes, but a team's resume and the division they play in are taken into account. So, Newmarket is in; Winnacunnet is not.
 
 On to the rankings:
 

 
 1. Milford                                   6-0
 
 
 Clearly, Milford is the best team in the state right now. Let's put it this way: if Vermont declares some sort of war on us and it's to be settled over their best high school boys team against our's, I'm sending these guys without reservation. The "big three" have been as good as advertised and they play in front of the best group of bench players in Division II. Lounge member Mike O'Loughlin is averaging 18 points per contest, Jamie Holder is right behind at 17 ppg and all-state point guard Mike Mitchell is coming off a 15 point/5 assist performance at Hanover Friday night. With a bulls-eye on their back every night Milford has gone unscathed through the regular season and Holiday tournaments. With games this week against Windham and Sanborn it isn't going to be ending anytime soon.

Date Posted : 01-17-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Stephen Spirou leads the state in scoring

 A 3,000 word Power Rankings column will be posted on Tuesday morning. Here are your statewide leaders in scoring;

 1. Stephen Spirou of Pelham                          25.0 ppg

 2. Shaun Munson of Winnacunnet                  21.8

 3. Kohl Meyers of Kingswood                          21.5

 4. Patrick Welch of Pembroke                         20.8

 5. Matt Persons of Pembroke                         20.2

 6. David Madol of Manchester Memorial         20.0

 7. Taylor Russell of Keene                              19.8

 8. Adrian Edgerley of Newmarket                   19.2

 9. Josh Morgan of Campbell                           19.0

10. Mike Colby of Londonderry                        18.8

Date Posted : 01-13-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Mike Colby and Londonderry face rival Pinkerton Friday night

 As we've done every Thursday for the last four years we take a look at the biggest games around the state this weekend.

 Next Tuesday we will have our first state-wide Power Rankings of the season. No column seems to stir more annual debate than that one.

 On to the games;

 Division I

 Bishop Guertin (4-1) at Spaulding (4-1)

 The coverage of Bishop Guertin high school is sponsored by the Blended Solutions Technical Institute at http://www.bstinh.com/

 Nice match-up here. Is Spaulding for real? We'll get a better sense after this one.

 Bishop Guertin is hoping to have Connor Green back from an ankle injury. Sean McClung has stepped up and averaged 21 ppg in his absence while both Kyle Remillard and Brad Holler have moved into bigger roles. The story for the Cardinals early on has been their offense as they lead Division I at 66 points per game. The chink in the armor early on is defense. At 57 ppg only Pinkerton Academy is .500 or better and giving up more points than BG. Call it the flip side of playing at a high scoring pace but Milford is scoring three points more and giving up seven points less. BG faces a Spaulding team with balanced scoring from Ian Christie (12.8 ppg), Dominic Paradis (11.5) and Brian Cronin (8 ppg) who is capable of being more of a scoring threat than he has in the first five games.

Date Posted : 01-08-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

 The funny thing about what turns out to be the most memorable times of your life is they don't always look that way at the start. Sometimes that first car you always dreamed of owning and end up loving is an Aries K with 120,000 miles on it & A lot of people wake up to rain on their wedding day. Life is sort of funny that way.
 
 The game that John Fitzgerald and his Mascoma teammates will never forget began with him missing a wide open lay-up 2 seconds into the game. The next 7:58 of the period didn't get a whole lot better. Mascoma kicked, passed and shot the ball out of bounds as a capacity crowd tried to stay behind them.
 
 The Royals though stayed with it. They kept scrapping their way back when it seemed like they were going to be run out of their own gym and they had enough left at the end of the game to turn a cold Friday night in West Canaan to the best basketball night of their lives. Fitzpatrick picked off an inbounds pass intended for Conant center Ezra Hodgson and converted that steal into the decisive two points of the game, a 47-43 win that gave Conant their first loss to a Division III opponent in three years.

Fri 01-07-2011	Score
Mascoma	47
Conant	43
Box Scores

Date Posted : 01-05-2011 Written by: Dave Haley

Devin Springfield and Conant travel north Friday night

 Division I

 Manchester Central (2-1) at Manchester West (2-1)

 The coverage of both schools is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria of Manchester and T-Bones & Cactus Jacks

 Manchester West gets center Jose Gonzalez back just in time for an inner-city rivalry game against Manchester Central. You hope the ankle is back to near 100% because even on two good ankles Lounge member John Wickey is a handful and this is a Central team that feels like their season is championship or bust. Quintin Hunter did not play in West's 45-42 win over Alvirne Tuesday and his availability will be important with Gabe LaCount playing well and the Junior Brown/Joe Stisser combo rounding back into form for Central.

 The Manchester teams are going to beat up on each other all season and if you're coaches Bryson, Wheeler, Fitzpatrick or Keefe you'll gladly take 2-1 out of the three you're going to play. Central and Trinity get back at it next Tuesday with enough subplots to fill a three act play. No one is going to have to coach effort in any of these games..

Date Posted : 12-31-2010 Written by: Dave Haley

John Fitzgerald and Mascoma have beaten Hanover in back to back years

 Every year the two week Holiday break gives us a pause in the regular season and an opportunity to see teams from two or three different divisions competing under one bracket.

 Experience will tell you that you need to look at holiday tourneys from the proper perspective. Sure the results can be a glimpse of what's to come this season but they also can be affected by coaches playing every guy all the way to the end of the bench and doing more teaching on the sidelines than actual coaching. Sometimes the opening round games feature more effort and enthusiasm than the championship match-up that ends up as the third game in as many days.

 The games don't count in the standings and the bigger picture is to learn and improve for when the games count. Still there is insight to be gleaned from the ‘exhibition' games.

 Today in our first article of 2011 we take a look at what we learned over the past weeks.

 ‘Hey thanks for coming fellas, what a blast....really we'll have to do it again soon...don't let the door hit you on the way out..'

 Ever host a Christmas party where everyone seems to be having a blast except for you? The house is a mess, the DVR has been erased, valuables are getting broken and the dog has a look on his face like he witnessed something he is never quite going to recover from? I'm pretty sure the Keene high school boys' basketball team can relate.

 The school hosted the 16 team Cheshire Tire Holiday tournament (one of the best run tournaments in the state by the way) and came away as one of only two teams out of the sixteen to not win even one game. And they were the only Division I team there.

Date Posted : 12-17-2010 Written by: Dave Haley

 Only after Dover point guard Kenaan Al-Darraji's 24 footer with 3 seconds left came up short could the Trinity basketball team finally exhale, relieved that they were not going to pay for their mistakes with a loss. The Pioneers had cruised out to 15-4 lead early in their home opener and with several members of past championship teams in attendance (including a certain power forward now at Manchester Memorial) it was all the more clear that this was a team searching for its own identity. They turned it over with uncharacteristic frequency and missed open teammates under the basket but were able to lean on their all-state shooting guard just enough to get by. No apologies necessary after this one. A 44-40 win over a very good Dover team was a nice place to start.

 Players shook hands while coaches shook their heads and as both teams made their way to locker rooms on the opposite side of the building one thing started to become clear; Trinity may have been the team that got the well earned win but it was Dover who may have found their identity going forward. "We are further along defensively than I thought we were, we got down big and we dug in" said longtime Dover head coach Mike Romps. "I am very happy with the way we fought and how we played defensively."

 In the opposite locker room Dave Keefe is a man with titles on the resume and he's smart enough to know when to just be happy you won. "Hey we'll take it, we have a long way to go but that is a very good, very well coached team we got by tonight and I told the kids to feel good about that. We're young, we made a ton of mistakes but we'll get better and I think come January or February this could be a pretty good team."

Fri 12-17-2010	Score
Trinity	44
Dover	40
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-15-2010 Written by: Dave Haley

Sean McClung and Bishop Guertin look like the team to beat

 The NFL network has a great series called ‘America's Game: the Super Bowl Champions' which chronicles the season of every Super Bowl winning team in history, if you love football even a little bit you should be watching.

 During the episode on the 2001 New England Patriots Adam Vinatieri tells a great story about Bill Belichick showing his 5-5 football team footage of the Preakness horse race. At the mid-way point of the race he pauses the film and asks his players to pick the eventual winner.

 As players yelled out one horse after another Belichick stopped them in their tracks. " Who cares who you think is going to win? The point is no one can tell. There's a whole half of the race left to go. No one knows who's winning this thing!'

 Picking who is going  to win Division I in December is going to be just as futile.

 Leaving a gymnasium in Londonderry last January after a Pinkerton win over the Lancers you would have saw a team whose guards couldn't handle pressure, a power forward built like a house who liked shooting 20 footers instead of running people over down low and a big man who was very comfortable shooting 5 footers instead of pounding the ball off the glass.

 Well guess who was the best team two months later in March?

 The guards not only handled pressure at UNH, they were four deep in the backcourt and hit all of their critical foul shots. The power forward kept his head about him at all times and wouldn't allow second shots in the paint while the big man next to him got 5 feet closer to the basket and was an unstoppable force.

 Who saw that coming on January 15^th?

 With an eye towards March we take a look at Division I where what you see today may look very different in four months.

Date Posted : 12-13-2010 Written by: Dave Haley

Mike O'Loughlin and Milford are the clear favorite to go back to back

 Hey has anyone else heard Milford is supposed to be pretty good this year? I heard they have some kids back.

 It seems everyone has heard.

 It hasn't quite escalated into Jamie Holder, Mike O'Loughlin and Mike Mitchell coming out to a packed house and a laser show talking about winning six or seven championships or a daily feature on a website labeled ‘The Spartan index' but it's close. Milford was on the tip of coaches' tongues from Division I and Division III we talked to so you can imagine what Division II coaches are saying. There is even a website that counts down to when Milford's tips off Friday night in their opener at Kearsarge Regional if you're interested. Counts it down to the second.

 No word on whether there is a Google Earth image of the Kearsarge gym.

 Milford returns 12 of their 14 players and 5 starters from a 21-1 championship team of a year ago. So where does that leave the other 22 teams in the division? Playing for second? Not exactly.

"Milford is the heavy favorite and honestly I hope they get all the attention all season long. We're one of those teams that think they can have a chance to sneak in and spoil the party," said one rival coach. "It only takes 32 minutes."

 Other coaches aren't so optimistic. " No one is beating those guys. There's no way," said one prominent coach. " We are all playing for second."

 It only takes 32 minutes. If the tournament were a best of three series then it's a safe bet Milford could clear space on the wall for the banner but it takes only one game to topple a season and high school basketball has shown us repeatedly that it can happen. So take comfort you 22  ‘other teams' of Division II. There might be something to play for after all.

 Today we take a look at Division II.

Date Posted : 12-10-2010 Written by: Dave Haley

 You could count on one hand the coaches around the state tonight who marvel at the execution their team showed in game one of the season. Try to find the coach who talks about how well his team handled the ball and limited turnovers. The Coaches that will look at you after the opener and tell you ‘You know, we might be peaking as a team right now.."

 In fact you aren't going to find a single one.

 December basketball is about getting better, learning from mistakes and in some cases, just being happy to get out of the gym with a win. Count Somersworth head coach Lorne Lucas as a member of that second group.

" It looked like a first game," sighed Lucas after the home win, " but it was never a question of effort. To the kids credit when we made adjustments they responded and we'll certainly take the win."

 It was often sloppy, mostly physical and never pretty but two teams that figure to be very good in March battled in a game where effort was never an issue and only consistency was. Somersworth beat Bow 44-38 behind 18 points from Bobby Shatinsky and got a win that is going to look very good on the resume for four months.

Fri 12-10-2010	Score
Somersworth	44
Bow	38
Box Scores

Date Posted : 12-08-2010 Written by: Dave Haley

Can Conant win their sixth title in a row?

 It was Conant basketball at its best in the little gym in Jaffrey last week. Jimmy Peard ripped a rebound off the glass and fired an outlet to point guard Kemph Kim. As Kim spend down the middle of the floor he looked off the defender before firing a bounce pass to Sean Martin who took the feed in stride and scored at the rim. For once though they were doing it against Eric Saucier's team. " The alumni game is a big deal over here," said Saucier after the clinic was over. "At one point we were going against five former first team All-state players!"

 With five consecutive Class M titles the discussion always begins and ends with the Orioles. Five rotation players depart including three all-state performers but if there is a movement to hand the title to someone else in December coaches around Division III aren't buying it. " Til someone beats them I don't want to hear about anyone else," said one tournament coach. " They're the champs and until they lose in March they are the team to beat. I don't care what their record is in January," said another rival coach. It went on and on with every coach we spoke to. So it's agreed; Conant still is the team to beat.

 But are they the best team today heading into the season?

 Today we take a look at the newly named Division III where every team makes the playoffs (much more on that later..) and two new schools come down from Class I; a team that won the title just three years ago that no one thinks will be a factor in March (Monadnock) and a team that has never won a title and everyone has their eye on (Bow).

Date Posted : 12-06-2010 Written by: Dave Haley

Will Shillieto and Profile look to crack the top 10 this season

 It was a case of Class S basketball playing true to its form last March when Groveton and Littleton defeated Newmarket and Derryfield Academy in the semifinal round at Plymouth State. This is a division separated into two halves; the north and the south, and since 1996 it's been dominated by the north. And it hasn't been close.

 The north has won 13 of the last 15 titles. Only Moultonborough Academy (in 1996 & recently in 2009) has broken that trend.

 2011 though may see a switch in the balance of power. The southern teams return a ton of firepower while traditional northern power schools like Groveton, Littleton and Colebrook have a lot of re-tooling to do and in many cases, are dealing with low turnout numbers. Unbalanced schedules and distance between opponents wreaks havoc for this division come playoff time and a three hour bus ride is worth quite a few points in a game that will decide your season.

 If you are a Division IV coach your nightmare scenario is to find out on a Monday morning that you are playing an opponent 140 miles away that you've never seen play, has no common opponents to yours and oh by the way the game is in 36 hours.

 Call it part of its charm but no division deals with the obstacles that these teams do on a year to year basis. In the end they will all meet in the middle in Plymouth. Will the North rise once again or is it time for the south to breakthrough to the winners circle?

 Today we take a look at the newly named Division IV; a division with maybe the best collection of veteran coaches the state has to offer as well as some of its most passionate fans.