This is an annual column where we stop to take a look around each of the four divisions at the midway point of the season. The purpose is to analyze the first half of the season to tell you where the teams stand today and where they are likely headed over the second half of the season.

 As always I pick the two teams most likely to meet in the championship game, your most likely final four teams, hand out mid-season all-state picks as well as our mid-season player & coach of the year.

 Gold Level Coaches/Programs: Nate Stanton of Londonderry, Jay McKenna of Winnacunnet, Jeff Holmes of Exeter, Jim Migneault of Trinity, Jim Mulvey of Portsmouth, Marty Edwards of Alvirne, Rob McLaughlin of Salem, Mark Elmendorf of Bedford, Matt Fennessy of Dover, Dave Chase of Concord & Matt Regan of Bishop Guertin

 

 If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final: Manchester Memorial vs Winnacunnet

 A year ago at this time, we questioned if any team could push Portsmouth as it headed towards an undefeated season (the answer: not really..).

 There won’t be a similar question posed to any of the 19 teams in the division this season as there is no dominant team and very few nights off.

 Even teams like Nashua North (1-8), Bishop Guertin (1-8) and Pinkerton (2-7) have been very competitive in most of their games and the 13th and final tournament spot could come down to a tie-breaker.

 A lot of very good teams and no truly great ones makes for a very exciting race and Division I will be as entertaining as any of the four come March.

 Manchester Memorial, in a double overtime loss at Winnacunnet last night (a game we covered (LIVE) hardly resembles the run & gun, Jekyll & Hyde outfit we’ve watched the last four years.

 Those Memorial teams could beat the best teams in the division or lose by 20 to the worst teams in the division, and you’d hardly bat an eye. That’s no longer the case.

 First-year head coach Danny Bryson took the fall to get to know his players and slowly gain their trust & loyalty. The result is a team that can play at any speed, defend as well man to man as any team in the state and has four or five guys capable of taking & making the last shot of the game. Elvin Barbosa has done it, Jake Santiago drilled a three plus the foul late against Central, Michael Roumraj has made game winning plays, Tyson Thomas drilled the game-winner a week ago and if Manny Alisandro gets a step on you going left it’s already too late.

 Your eyeballs tell you this is a team winning games with their offense but they are not. This team is winning games in the 50’s week to week.

 You know who wins games in the 50’s? The teams that usually get to Durham.

 The questions around Winnacunnet in the pre-season were 1) Can Ben Allen run the point at 6’5? 2) After losing Liam Viviano and Freddy Schaake do they have enough scoring left over? and 3) Can you win playing five guys’ big minutes?

 Yes. Yes. Yes.

 Zach Waterhouse has been outstanding, and his evolution into a big-time scorer (he’s currently 2nd in all of Division I) has been one of the great surprises of the 2018 season. His production has taken the pressure off of Jack Schaake & Ben Allen and allowed them to pick their spots offensively. Matt F Doyle is grabbing rebounds, making the extra pass, stepping into driving lanes and shoveling driveways in his spare time, whatever Winnacunnet needs…

 Travis Arsenault also understands his role and fills it nicely. He makes a lot of plays defensively that don’t show up in the box score but they help you win games.

 Evan Welch gives them attitude off the bench and it’s a group that seems to have the chemistry to go deep into March. It’s another outstanding coaching job by Jay McKenna, who has to be ranked among the best coaches in the state.

 Bedford has settled right into a seven-game winning streak since a 0-2 start and looks poised to make another run to Durham.

 Max Chartier has been as good as advertised (in other words he’s been terrific), Nolan Anderson has begun to really produce in the paint and Nick Mokas has been very good on both ends of the floor. The spacing has improved as the season has gone along as both Liam O’Connell and the very underrated Connor Crowley has settled into the starting lineup.

 There’s depth with Chris Chartier and Harrison LeGoulion plus the experience that comes with an appearance in the final a year ago.

 Mark Elmendorf is pushing the right buttons and their schedule is about to get much easier in the second half of the season with games against five teams that have a combined six wins today.

 All of which means Bedford, who owns the tie-breaker with Portsmouth, Winnacunnet & Alvirne, should be hosting a pair of home games come March.

 The schedule is going to get more difficult in the second half for the defending champs. Portsmouth will have Exeter (9-1), Winnacunnet (9-1) and Alvirne (8-2), making their bid for another Top 4 seed difficult.

 This is a team that isn’t elite defensively and struggles to score at times. They are smart enough (Calvin Hewitt rarely seems to make mistakes)  and so well coached by Jim Mulvey that they are getting by but the second half schedule is going to expose every weakness they have.

 They have enough to win another title but today this doesn’t look like a team’s built to win three straight games against elite teams in the one & done phase.

 We’ll see…as Cody Graham gets his quickness back this team becomes better offensively, his shooting woes this season (he’s shooting under 35% from the field) won’t continue through 18 games. He’s too good.

 Alex Tavares is playing at about 80% because of a sore foot and making it look easy. He’s been one of toughest players in the state this season. Mike Sanborn has been a knockdown shooter and spreads the floor with his range.

 Max Lincoln made a game winning play to beat Nashua North last night. More performances like that and the Clippers might get right back to Durham and when Jim Mulvey gets there, he understands how to manage those games for 32 minutes and come out on top.

  Fair or unfair everyone is watching Exeter and waiting for it to fall apart. I’m not sure why, and it’s been interesting to see that teams are going after freshman Josh Morissette both mentally & physically to see if he’ll crack (he hasn’t).

 Jeff Holmes’ teams are known to play a lot of seniors, so this year is unique in that two of their best four scorers are a freshman and a sophomore. They have enough ability to ride the hot guy night to night (against South it was Josh Morissette, against Winnacunnet it was Ryan Grijalva,,,on a lot of nights it’s been Cody Morissette) and that is an asset a lot of teams don’t possess.

 Do they have the chemistry to allow that to happen?

 Sometimes I think they do and sometimes I hear they don’t. They are going to ultimately answer that question themselves but in a year with no dominant team, there is an opportunity to raise a different kind of banner in a gym full of them.

 They’ll get one shot at it in March like everyone else…

 The jury is still out on: Alvirne ( A very fun team to watch, does a second scorer emerge behind Max Bonney-Liles or does their depth of scoring give them enough to win games in the tournament?)…Londonderry (as sophomore Jack Anderson emerges as the go-to scorer this team will be tougher & tougher to beat..forget the hiccup against Pinkerton, this is a very well-schooled basketball team)………Manchester Central ( Pete Tarrier really likes what he’s seen from Dave Keefe’s team….good enough for me..) Salem (their second-half schedule is really tough…including Winnacunnet, Portsmouth & Alvirne back to back to back…I say it every week on the show but Rob McLaughlin is doing a terrific job with this team)……….Merrimack ( Can they win a game if anyone gets to 50? They’re taking grinding it out to a new level)……….Spaulding (the loss of Isaiah Rose, whose family moved to Maine last week..is huge,…and now there is word that Dante McKenny is out with an injury…it’s a lot on Arie Breakfield’s shoulders now)……..Nashua South (Richie Mercado is the best player in the state you’re not talking about)…Dover (they can score….they can score on anyone…but can they get stops? They’ve been very impressive in going 2-1 without Johnny Cantwell, who should be back soon from an injury) Concord (Dave Chase is doing a terrific job at Concord…they’re still looking for a marquee win but the schedule gives them a chance to get back into the tournament, which would be very big for the program)

 

 Player of the year at the mid-point: Zach Waterhouse of Winnacunnet

 The Warriors shooting guard has been excellent in helping to lead Winnacunnet to a 9-1 start…he’s scoring, defending, handling the ball and shooting the basketball as well as anyone in the state.

 I knew he was good, knew it….I didn’t know he was this good…he’s been terrific.

 Runner-up: Max Bonney-Liles of Alvirne

 

 Coach the of the Year at the mid-point: Nate Stanton of Londonderry

 This is a very crowded field….you could make compelling arguments for Jay McKenna (Winnacunnet), Rob McLaughlin (Salem), Dave Chase (Concord), Marty Edwards (Alvirne) and Danny Bryson (Memorial) ….

 Stanton is the pick because he had to convince his team that their season didn't end when Ethan Garofalo went down in the pre-season with a really unfortunate injury. They’ve been very good and they’re trending to be even better in the second half of the season.

 

 First Team All-State (First half of the season)

 Zach Waterhouse of Winnacunnet

 Max Bonney-Liles of Alvirne

 Max Chartier of Bedford

 Cody Morissette of Exeter

 Alex Tavares of Portsmouth

With apologies to: Arie Breakfield & Isaiah Rose of Spaulding, Cody Graham of Portsmouth, Ian Cummings of Merrimack, Trevor DeMinico  of Salem, Richie Mercado of Nashua South, Cole Britting & Jack Anderson of Londonderry, Ben Allen & Jack Schaake of Winnacunnet, Josh Morissette of Exeter, Manny  Alisandro & Jake Santiago of Memorial, Kyler Bosse of Central, Ty Vitko of Dover, Nick Mokas & Nolan Anderson of Bedford.