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

 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 : 02-04-2012 Written by: Pete Tarrier Share  Tweet

 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 : 02-02-2012 Written by: Dave Haley Share  Tweet

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 Share  Tweet

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 Share  Tweet

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.