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The Merrimack Valley Sports Thursday Thoughts for 3/1/2018

By Dave Haley, 03/01/18, 6:15AM EST

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Bow & Plymouth are battling for a spot in the Division II Tournament (Photo by NH Sports Photography)

 The final Thursday Thoughts of the regular season (we end the year with two giant ones) looks at the seeding implications in both Divisions I & II as we wrap up the regular season.

 Saturday morning on The New Hampshire High School Hoop Show Pete Tarrier & I will reveal the brackets for both divisions.

  Jeff Baumann of Timberlane will reveal the Division II bracket followed in the second hour by Jay McKenna of Winnacunnet breaking down the 13 team Division I bracket.

 Listen LIVE by clicking the button right on our homepage or you can listen in on 99.9 FM & 1370 WFEA radio in the Manchester area.

 We will re-cap every single game from Friday night as well as the tournament games from Division III & Division IV.

 You may have noticed the first round previews for both Divisions III & IV were for registered members only. That’s our way of once again thanking the families and coaches who support us with a one-time registration.

 The seven of us cover the kids after hours and the people who support us ( families listed in the Players Locker Room and Gold Level members) make the player statistics, videos & columns you read possible.

 We hope you will join them in supporting the coverage of New Hampshire high school athletes.

 Both the Division I & Division II previews next week will be for those families and coaches. We hope it’s for you as well.

 

 Division I

 Manchester Central (12-5) at Winnacunnet (12-5)

 With the way the season has played out it shouldn’t come as any surprise, we won’t know who is going where until late Friday night. This one, in particular, is going to move a lot of pieces around the chess board.

 Here is what we know;

 Division I Standings and Top 20 Scoring Leaders

 Portsmouth is going to be the #1 seed….making their game against Alvirne meaningless (seeding wise) for them. For Alvirne it is anything but..

 Exeter with a win over Pinkerton at home on senior night for Cody Morissette, Bobby Cliche & Co. are the #2 seed based on their regular season win over Bedford. A game we covered back in December.

 Bedford with a win over Bishop Guertin on the road would be the #3 seed, earning the third and final bye in the first round. An Exeter loss would make them the #2 seed.

 Here’s where it gets complicated…..pour a cup of coffee and settle in…

 Winnacunnet, Manchester Central (who I feel like snuck up on us all,,), Manchester Memorial and Alvirne are all tied at 12-5 ..

 Winnacunnet plays Central..settling that tie Friday night and the Warriors own the tie-breaker over Memorial but lose the tie-breaker to Alvirne who beat them Tuesday night Box Score: Alvirne 74, Winnacunnet 72

 Manchester Central needs to win tomorrow night because they lost to both Memorial (in a game we covered) and Alvirne (back in December), meaning if they lose they could fall all the way to #8 (I’ll explain how that can be possible…stay with me). They are in the toughest position of the bunch.

 Alvirne owns the tie-breaker over both Winnacunnet and Central but loses the head to head with Manchester Memorial. Marty Edwards’ team faces #1 Portsmouth but with Calvin Hewitt hobbled and the game meaningless for the Clippers….what does that mean for the match-up?

 Memorial plays Merrimack at home. They own the tie-breaker over Alvirne and Central but lost in double overtime to Winnacunnet.

 Now I know what you’re saying…

 ‘But wait, Dave….earlier you mentioned Central could finish 8th? Out of seven teams tied for the top 7? How much glue did you eat at Gilford Elementary?’

 Its true Central could finish all the way back at #8 as could several other teams in this group.

 That’s because guess who owns the tie-breaker over…get ready for this…..Central, Memorial, Winnacunnet AND Alvirne??

 Nate Stanton’s 11-6 Londonderry Lancers…who by the way also beat Bedford.

 It’s true…if the Lancers win they are leapfrogging any current 12-5 team that loses Friday night.

 I can picture  Joe Lunardi having Londonderry as his  3 seed while screaming at Dick Vitale about quadrant 1 wins…

 So…if Londonderry beats (4-13) Nashua North tomorrow night they will jump any team in the Central-Alvirne-Memorial-Winnacunnet logjam that loses.

 Does that clear everything up?

 Me neither….just tune into the show Saturday morning…we’ll square it all away for you.

 As for the rest of the field…

 

 Concord (6-11) at Spaulding (9-8)

 The Spaulding Fighting McIsaacs are locked into the #9 seed and it’s that time of year again to remind everyone just how good of a coach Tim Cronin is.

 There’s a reason he is the only coach McIsaac & I have ever interrupted a live broadcast courtside to bow down to. He’s just a tremendous basketball coach and he has gotten every ounce out of a team that lost every person on the roster at one point or the other except Keagan Calero.

 Spaulding is your 9 seed and as you saw above they could play anyone from Londonderry to Winnacunnet in the first round.

 Concord is still alive for the 13th and final spot after their win over Pinkerton Tuesday night Box Score: Concord 71, Pinkerton 56

 Concord owns a key tie-breaker with a 48-46 win over Nashua South (in a game Richie Mercado didn’t play in) so a win against Spaulding and they are in. The Tide lost to Dover earlier in the season but if they finish in a three-way tie with Dover and South Dave Chase’s team is in, and Dover is out based on their one tournament win (over Londonderry, who beat everyone else it seems…are you seeing stars too?)

 Nate Mazerolle’s Purple Panthers will host (4-13) Keene on senior night, a win and a Concord loss and they are in at the 13 seed….or even the 12 seed. Their win over Dover Tuesday night gives them the tie-breaker over the Green Wave. So they could rise as high as the 12 seed.

 If all three teams win Dover and Concord are in, South is out.

 Merrimack and Salem are tied at 8-9….with Tim Goodridge’s team holding the tie-breaker. Merrimack faces Memorial as we told you 412 scenarios ago…..if Salem beats Dover they are the 10 seed (with a Merrimack loss) or the 11 seed (Merrimack win). If they lose to Dover the Green Wave finishes 11 and Salem drops to 12.

 My head hurts…..just tune in Saturday morning.

 

 Bow (7-10) at Pembroke Academy (12-4)

 Frank Moreno’s Bow team is fighting for the final spot in Division II, and could cause some problems if they get in.

 Your Top 4 today look like: 1) Hollis-Brookline 2) Lebanon 3) Kearsarge 4) Pembroke Academy

 Merrimack Valley owns the tie-break over Coe-Brown (after beating them 54-50 on January 11th) and it looks like Jennifer Chick-Ruth’s alma mater will finish no lower than 6 after their win over Oyster River last Friday night.

 Which lands them in Kearsarge’s bracket (0-4 without Mattos & Johnson…14-0 with them)….the spot we warned you about back in early January.

 Without all the teams facing each other there are too many scenarios to break down…we’ll know where everyone lands Saturday morning when Jeff Baumann makes his Bracketology debut..

 

 Coming at Noon: The Division IV Quarterfinal Preview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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