After a first round that went according to plan (the six higher seeds won and Epping over Mount Royal was not an upset) we take a look at Friday night’s quarterfinal round before Jen, Sam Natti & I arrive at Plymouth State University Monday night for the Final Four.

 Tomorrow night Pete Tarrier and The Great Jon Kesty will bring you coverage of Epping at Pittsfield. All of the highlights plus the post-game interview with the winning team on their way to Plymouth.

 

 Division IV

 (8) Profile at (1) Derryfield School

 Derryfield Team Page

 Rob Bradley’s team beat Justin Stroup’s team 61-32 on opening night (in Profile) so we are going to see how much the gap has been shrunk since early December. The Patriots went nuts in scoring 85 points against Sunapee in Round 1; they’ll find the sledding much more difficult in Round 2.

 Profile goes with basically a point guard by committee but River Baker will handle the ball against pressure. Cam Hoyt and Dylan Laleme are the Patriots bigs…they will rebound but offensively they get most of their production off of offensive rebounds.

 Stroup will set Dylan Robie in the corner for open three’s and Connor Ash is the team’s guard off the bench after an audition earlier in the year as the starting point guard. Jordan Brusseau is a good athlete on the perimeter and if Baker gets a step on you he can get to the rim.

 Derryfield rebounds well (Oliver Sattler is very underrated as a rebounder) and with 6’5 Max Karpawich they have a legitimate rim protector.

 Andrew Dubreuil does a very nice job walling off dribble penetration. Max Byron will spread out the Profile defense with his ability to knock down shots and although he is a streaky shooter, Jeff Pratt can knock down shots in a hurry when he is in a good rhythm.

 Profile will mix up different zone looks and may even apply some full-court pressure, which Derryfield handles very well. They will have to push the pace to try and stay in this game.

 The Profile half-court offense isn’t effective enough to beat Derryfield, they are going to have to get out and run. Utilizing their athletes.

 

 

(5) Newmarket at (4) Woodsville

Newmarket Team Page

Woodsville Team Page

 This is a match-up we have seen coming for three weeks, it became evident these two teams were hooking up the moment Newmarket lost in the final minute to Pittsfield (in a game we covered) in their second regular-season meeting.

 Woodsville gets everything offensively out of their ability to put Garrett Olsen (19.1 ppg.) in good position on the floor. They like to get him the ball moving up the floor and there are few guards in the division better in open space if any (my list would be Josh Woods, Senesombath, and Olsen).

 Olsen’s ability to create off the dribble allows open looks for shooters like Brendan Walker, Corey Bemis and Connor Macccini who don’t have the size (they are all sophomores or younger) to get their own shots against good defenses..yet.

 Olsen is going to be able to create against Newmarket’s man to man defense, but can he create enough attention to get those guards looks on the perimeter?

 The key player for Jamie Walker’s team is going to be his 6’3 center Cooper Davidson. Newmarket has the size with Craig Hounam and Jared Woodman to make Davidson work for his shot and more importantly, guard him one on one. Hayes is not going to have to double the post and that is an advantage for the Mules.

 In the loss to Littleton earlier this season Woodsville’s Billy Green and Adam Cataldo were scoreless, combined. If that happens again or anywhere near it Woodsville is all done. Those two starters need to produce.

 Newmarket is going to run their motion offense with Simon Cote at the point. I’d expect Woodsville to go zone (Newmarket plays man so that is what they face in practice every day) to try and get Newmarket to settle for three-pointers.

 Hayes will keep Anthony Senesombath (21.3) in constant motion and use Woodman, Will Chase, and Travis Moseley to try and sneak behind the defense on the baseline.

 Woodsville is very tough to beat on their home floor but Newmarket matches up very well with them. How Woodsville rebounds is going to be the key because Newmarket has a size advantage and enough shooters to make you pay if you give them second shot opportunities.

 

(6) Groveton at (3) Littleton

Groveton Team Page

Littleton Team Page

 I seem to remember these two teams hooking up in the playoffs last year,,, Littleton was up big in the second half over a team they had never lost to and the next thing I knew my voice was cracking and it was midnight and I was at the Groveton Legion.

 Can Mark Collins’ team do it again after being swept in the regular season by Trevor Howard’s team?

 They can do it again, but they are going to have to win this game in the 40’s to do it.

 Littleton is a much better team offensively and their ability to shoot you out of the gym with Parker Briggs and Danny Kubkowski (42 points against Lisbon in Round 1) is an ability this Groveton team does not possess.

 What Groveton can do is slow the game down, be extremely patient in the half court (Groveton will handle the Littleton pressure well..Matt Guay & Co. are more than capable) and hope to get Littleton to reach or jump passing lanes. Groveton also needs to be very physical and they have to use Cody Charron, Gavin Simpson, Matt Mason and Josh Wheelock to keep Kubkowski and Brody Fillion off the offensive glass. Groveton beat Moultonborough because of their rebounding, it’s their best asset, and they need to utilize it again tomorrow night.

 Littleton is at their best when they get out & go and Kubkowski is as good at finishing transition opportunities as anyone in the division. Groveton can’t allow easy baskets because they get so few of them themselves.

 Matt Mason took over in the last few minutes of their first-round win over Moultonborough, scoring on a pull-up jumper and a key drive while skying for the biggest defensive rebound of the game with under a minute to go. The fact that he is able to play on his injured ankle is huge for Groveton. He & Austin Lesperance played big minutes at Plymouth a year ago so they are not going to be intimated tomorrow night in Littleton.

 Lesperance has to knock down more open looks when he gets them. Moultonborough was never afraid to let him shoot and that allowed the defense to set up inside the three-point line.

 If Littleton gets to 60 points you’ll know they won the game. If you see an update at halftime where this one is around 24-18 you’ll know Mark Collins is controlling the pace and its anyone’s game.

 

(10) Epping at (2) Pittsfield

Pittsfield Team Page

Epping Team Page

 Jay Darrah’s team rolled past Epping in their two regular-season meetings 76-63 and 86-69, so how does Nick Fiset’s team flip the script on Friday night?

 First of all, they are going to need to defend. The Blue Devils gave up an average of 81 points in the two meetings and going to Pittsfield trying to win a shootout is a recipe for the start of baseball season.

 This Pittsfield team runs everything through Cam Darrah (22.6) but I’m not sure this group gets enough credit for how unselfish they are. I talk to coaches all over the division and what comes up again & again is how well they all seem to get along. How much this group seems to be on the same page.

 Garrett Guerreo-Hadley will handle the ball, Casey Clark sets up on the wing and Josh Whittier resists the urge all modern big men in high school can’t resist;  wandering out to the three-point line when their place on the floor is in the post.

 Dylan Bocash scored 17 points in the first meeting against Epping and he has the size to really give Epping shooting guard Doug Nadeau (14.1) trouble getting his shot off on the perimeter.

 The book on Epping is if you limit Hunter Bullock’s (16.6) dribble penetration then Epping has to get their offense off of turnovers or a couple of sets. The advantage Pittsfield has is they run more sets and have been running them for four years together, whereas Epping is a mostly a new group after Tommy Bullock and Jackson Rivers graduated last year.

 Peyton Rivers is going to be a factor in this one. His size and ability give him the opportunity to be a difference maker tomorrow night. If he can crash the glass and find Nadeau for second shot opportunities from the perimeter Epping can stay in this one long enough to flip all the pressure in the room over the high seed.

 

 

 Coming Monday: The Division IV Semifinal Scouting Reports (using blind quotes from opposing coaches)