We’ve introduced you to all 64 teams that made this year’s high school boys’ basketball tournament and now we’ll dig a little deeper into the teams that made it through round one.
 

 Our semifinal previews will again give your insight from coaches who have faced the final four participants using anonymous quotes & critique. For the quarterfinals we’re going with the strategies you’re likely to see from each team as 32 teams fight for a trip to the final four.
 
(8) Exeter at (1) Manchester Central

 The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria
 The coverage of Exeter is sponsored by Chad Fletcher at Blue Water Mortgage 

 Doc Wheeler’s Manchester Central Little Green are the most talked about team in the state and the most common topic is; are we seeing one of the best teams of the last 20 years?

 Coaches I speak with marvel at how they share the basketball, their willingness to play defense and the ability of not only all five guys in their starting lineup but in the first two players they bring off the bench. In the discussion of best high school basketball coaches in New Hampshire I’ve never heard the conversation not include Wheeler’s name. His team has bought it into his concepts and when you see Central get into their stances on defense it is unison. They understand the principles Wheeler and assistant coach Tom Dickson are teaching and they realize all five guys have to be active for them to be effective. Is this one of the great teams of the past 20 years? We’ll wait until after March 15th to make that assessment, but that is their ceiling and it is certainly lofty company.

 Jeff Holmes’ team watched Central put up 30 points on them in the first quarter of a game we covered back in January. The Blue Hawks have to obviously avoid falling that deep into a hole again and the way they stay in this one is knocking down jumpers to keep Central spread out on defense. Bryant Holmes, Ben Swett and point guard Zack Holler are all capable; it will simply be a matter of getting clean looks. Defensively Exeter could not keep players like Jon Martin and Brett Hanson in front of them and the results were the aforementioned 30 point quarter. Expect Exeter to come out with adjustments but they’ll need that and the best game they have played all season to have a chance Friday night.
 
 (12) Manchester Memorial at (4) Londonderry

 The coverage of Manchester Memorial is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 Give a lot of credit to Jack Quirk and his Crusaders for going into Bishop Guertin and pulling the upset (the 12 over the 5 occurred in Division IV as well). Memorial’s ability to take BG off the dribble was just too much to overcome and it was another big night for Trevon Moughn, Kabongo Ngalakulondi, Wade Gop and the underrated Malo Roumraji.

  In Londonderry Friday night they will square off with another team happy to go dribble/drive for dribble/drive with them and the results could be a game with a lot of big scoring swings. Salem was my sneaky upset pick in round one (Justin McIsaac is my off the record witness…I didn’t feel like 100 ‘You are disrespecting us!!’ tweets from Londonderry) and nearly pulled it off but the Lancers made the plays they had to in the end and now stand just a win away from Durham. If Memorial can’t stay in front of Cody Ball, Drew Coveney and Caleb Green Friday night they’ll be on the wrong end of a shoot-out. Londonderry has more guys that can beat you on the offensive end than Memorial has and they are better equipped for a 32 minute track meet.

 Look for Londonderry to try and limit Memorial to one shot per possession and not let Moughn or Roumraji get out in transition where they are most comfortable. Both teams can flat out score, it’s the team that rebounds and takes care of the ball that wins and moves on to the final four.
 
 (7) Bedford at (2) Trinity

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

  Mike Fitzpatrick’s team comes in winners of eleven in a row and tries to extend their season in the very place it ended a year ago. Trinity beat Bedford on route to an eventual Division I championship in last year’s quarterfinals but will have to repeat that effort without their starting point guard Ryan Otis Friday night. The senior was suspended from school for a rules infraction and won’t be eligible to return until the Division I championship if at all. It’s a big loss, Otis has done a very underrated job handling pressure and getting the Pioneers into their offense. He’s also hit some very big shots for this team and so now the responsibilities of running the offense will fall to Brad Rhoades, Luke Testa and even Patrick Keefe in some instances. “I’m giving Luke reps as well as Brad and guys will have to step in to new roles for us to have a chance to move forward,” said Dave Keefe yesterday afternoon of the changes.

 Bedford has a very good point guard of their own in Taylor Grande and how Dave Keefe’s team is able to cover him bears watching.

 The Pioneers will be scrambling in the backcourt but it is their play up front that won them the title a year ago and again in 2014 they’ll go as far as Carmen Giampetruzzi and Wenyen Gabriel take them. The Bulldogs need a big effort out of Ryan Brown on Giampetruzzi and a team effort to try and push Gabriel off of his spot on the low block. This is a Bedford team playing with a ton of confidence playing against a Trinity team that has always been incredibly resilient. They want to take Dave Keefe for one last trip in his final year as head coach; Bedford is the team standing in their way Friday night.
 
 (6) Winnacunnet at (3) Merrimack

 This should be a terrific game Friday night. Merrimack has, from day one, been one of the elite teams in Division I this season under Tim Goodridge while Winnacunnet has really come on under head coach Jay McKenna.

 When you are playing Merrimack it all starts with how you cover Eric Gendron. Winnacunnet has a few options but don’t be surprised to see Sam Knollmeyer (he has the height & the speed) and Alec Boucher (the strength & size) get turns guarding the likely player of the year. Gendron has been able to carry the Tomahawks to wins on certain nights but that is going to be harder to do the deeper you get into the tournament.

 Winnacunnet has become more dangerous as guys like Boucher, Seth Edwards and Chris Doyle (two big three’s in the win over Spaulding) have stepped up. Mckenna can mix and match his backcourt combinations as Eric Dunn and Anthony Primavera have improved and that takes the pressure off of Knollmeyer and Richie Ruffin. It comes down to rebounding with Winnacunnet and if they can control the glass against the likes of Shayne Bourque and Dylan Richardson they have a very good chance to pull the upset on the road.