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By Dave Haley, Posted 03-03-2013
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Sam Thomas and Bedford face Winnacunnet

 

 (16) Pinkerton at (1) Trinity

 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by the Auburn Pitts Bar & Grill.

 With Bedford joining Division I this season it brought the total teams to twenty and that ended the unique ability to have every team play each other one time. So by the luck of the draw Trinity happened to be the one team Pinkerton was not scheduled to play in 2013.

 Funny how things work out sometimes.

 Pinkerton is a fairly young team with a ton of size and four very good players in Scott Bradley (12.8 ppg), point guard Luke Testa (9 ppg), forward Cam Welch (11.9) and freshman center Luke Rosinski (9 ppg). It is an Astros team that has struggled all season long though and this frankly is a very bad match-up for them.

 That is because Trinity has the size with Lounge members Carmen Giampetruzzi and Mabor & Wenyen Gabriel to go toe to toe in the paint with the biggest team in the state (Pinkerton has seven kids over 6'3) and way too much speed on the perimeter. The Pioneers will run that dribble and kick offense and if Pinkerton goes zone (count on that) they'll flash Giampetruzzi high post and find open spots for shooters like Ryan Otis and Brad Rhoades.

 

(9) Winnacunnet at (8) Bedford

 The coverage of Bedford is sponsored by Bedford Dental Care Associates and HK Photography

 A rematch of the ‘the buzzer beater that maybe wasn't' game back on January 11^th that I covered and as it turns out that shot gives the Bulldogs a home playoff game in their inaugural Division I season.

 Both teams come in to this one playing very good basketball.  Winnacunnet has won four in a row & six of eight and right now Richie Ruffen is playing all-state caliber at the guard spot. Jay McKenna will push the pace, pressure the Bedford backcourt of Taylor Grande & Cam Meservey and count on Jordan Cutting to be able to play one on one defensively on the low block against Bedford 6'7 center Sam Thomas.

 For the Warriors it is feeding off the pressure they throw at you and finding what players are on offensively. Some nights that is Ben Gareau, some nights it is Sam Knollmeyer and this team takes on a different dimension when Patrick Lamprey is knocking down shots from behind the arc.

 Bedford has bought into what first year head coach Mike Fitzpatrick is preaching and ended up the season  strong defensively and 6^th in the final rankings at 52.1 ppg.

 Bedford has all the pieces with Thomas and lounge member James Caparell inside and Meservey and Jake Capistran on the perimeter. This will be a game where you want to see who controls the pace and it's something both coaches will be very cognizant of; McKenna wants to go full throttle while Fitzpatrick wants to execute in the half-court. You can usually count on the 8/9 games to be among the best games of the night and this match-up is no exception.

 

(12) Dover at (5) Manchester Memorial

The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

These teams went at it hard in the first meeting and the bad blood on the floor didn't end with the last whistle. It was a 74-62 Dover win that night and now the two teams change venues and get back after it again.

 Dover is a very physical basketball team that isn't interested in style points. They have some big physical guys like Grant Faustino that are very clearly there to push you off your spot. Offensively they share the basketball and have gotten really good contributions from Billy Carroll (13.7 ppg), Josh Cote (13.4) and Colin Shaughnessy (10 ppg). In Memorial they want to control the paint and force the Crusaders to shoot from the perimeter.

 Memorial is as good as any team in the state on the right night but they have been inconsistent at times and come into the tournament having lost two of their last three games. You hear very often and from a lot of different places that all is not harmonious between players and Coach Jack Quirk but we've seen teams under those types of conditions win in spite of it. Memorial has weapons galore on offense and an ability with Tong Akot (15.1 ppg), Zoubel Iradakunda (14.1) and Kabongo Ngalakulondi (14.7) to dominate on the offensive end. It is a group that has played a lot of games together but none bigger than the ones they have the opportunity to play over the next two weeks.

 

(13) Salem at (4) Nashua South

The coverage of Salem is sponsored by Merrimack Valley Sports

 The Blue Devils were a 2 seed playing very well when they were bounced from the first round of the tournament by 15^th seeded Dover a year ago so no one needs to tell them to close their eyes and imagine a scenario where they beat Nashua South Tuesday night. They've seen it happen.

 Rob McLaughlin's team is not very big but they are physical and they'll get in your shirt. The obvious first item on the to-do list is slowing down all-state center Jack Preston in the post. The second is finding a rhythm offensively because Salem is a whopping 7-2 in games when they score 55 points for more and 1-8 in games when they don't.

 Statistics do not always tell you the story..but that one does. 7-2 is hard to argue with.

 To get those points they need Andrew Ruffin involved and guys like Mike Felix, Jack Hartman and Steve Nugent to step up.

 

 (11) Alvirne at (6) Bishop Guertin

 Another very fun match-up as two Nashua teams play in a win or go home showdown.

 For a young BG team it has been very simple; every team ranked behind them in the Division I standings, they've beaten. The five teams ranked ahead of them, they've lost to. Oh if only life was so predictable, but it isn't so expect a very good game Tuesday night.

 Seth Garon's team has an all-state big man in Tyler Livingston to match up with Jeff Lunn of BG as well as guards on the perimeter that can defend BG's C.J Boykins and Kyle Gavin. The Broncos have been getting scoring consistently from Livingston (16.6 ppg) and Tyler Brown (13.5), that they can count on, what they need to win a road playoff game is players like Alec Yoksh and freshman Dan Brown to step up. Tournament games can be turned simply on someone stepping up and having a big game when you least expect it. When teams are as evenly matched as these two it could easily be the difference between a spot in the quarterfinals this weekend or an early end to their season.

 

(14) Keene at (3) Spaulding

 Nice job by first year head coach Dave Sontag as the Blackbirds are back in the tournament after a three year absence. Their reward is facing a very good Spaulding team in a very tough gym to play in.

 Spaulding is coming off an impressive 61-60 win at Memorial on Friday night and unlike last year's road to the final four in which they had to go on the road to Nashua North in the quarterfinals they will host a pair of home games as the 3 seed if they win here.

 Sontag has gotten very good production from Brian Boulay (14.8 ppg), Mason Blanchard, Hunter Downs and center Taylor Sarrette (14.2 ppg). They are a team that needs to get in the 60's to stay competitive but the Red Raiders will pose a big obstacle in getting there as they rank 5^th in the division defensively at 51.9 ppg.

 Lounge member Dominic Paradis has been outstanding all season long but the real story has been the job in the paint done by Charlie Nevejans and Anthony Ciccotelli. They will be tasked with slowing Sarrette with a trip back to the quarterfinals on the line.

 

(10) Exeter at (7)Merrimack

 The coverage of Exeter is sponsored by Chad Fletcher at Blue Water Mortgage

 And here is your upset watch match-up in round one as a lot of people think Jeff Holmes's team  is capable of knocking off the defending champs

 The Blue Hawks will go ten guys deep and feature a very balanced scoring attack that is led by Tyler Russ (12 ppg.), Zack Holler ( 8 ppg) and big men Max Medley (9 ppg) & Chris Stowell. This is an excellent team defensively that has not given up over 60 points in a game since way back on January 4^th against Manchester Central, a game in which they gave up 61.

 Merrimack runs everything through Eric Gendron; he is playing point guard, shooting guard , small forward and running the 50/50 raffle at halftime. Tim Goodridge likes to have his team set a lot of high screens for him with Connor Whelan & Brad Jarry and find guys cutting to the basket off those sets. Brandon Malloch and Austen Franzen can both knock down shots on the perimeter and both are able to spread you out defensively.

 We have said all season long that this division was deeper than past years and the winner here absolutely will pose a high seed problems in the quarterfinal round. Merrimack won the title as a 7 seed a year ago and land there once again as their title defense begins.

 

(15) Londonderry at (2) Manchester Central

The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 Doc Wheeler's team has lost three games in a row but each game was a play or two from going the other way. This is a veteran crew with a lot of big game experience and their March back to Durham starts with a game against a Londonderry team they beat 73-48 on January 11^th.

 The Lancers have lost seven of eight games and are 14^th in the division in offense. It is a team that has struggled to score the past three years but unlike last season they do not boast an elite defense. Max Coleman (11 ppg), Cody Ball (8 ppg), Taylor Simpson (9 ppg) and Rob Wilson (8 ppg) have all contributed for a team that won only two road games all season.