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The Sentinel Titles Services Divsion I Tournament Preview

By Dave Haley, 03/05/19, 6:15AM EST

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Ty Vitko and Dover head to Winnacunnet tonight (photo by Matt Parker)

 

 Division I kicks off its tournament tonight with seven first-round games while undefeated top seed Exeter sits it out, awaiting the winner of the 8/9 game between Concord and Alvirne.

 We will have coverage of two games tonight:

 Austin Grass & I will be Keene tonight when the Blackbirds take on Nashua North

 Pete Tarrier & Nichole Marrero will be in Portsmouth when the 2-time defending Division I champions take on Manchester Central.

 Today’s preview is sponsored by our longest running partner (over 10 years of supporting high school sports coverage in New Hampshire) Sentinel Title Services in Rye, NH.

 Mention NHSportspage or this ad when scheduling your closing and receive a $100 off your Settlement Fee!

 (1) Exeter has a Bye

 

 (9) Alvirne at (8) Concord

 Concord Team Page

 Alvirne Team Page

 Video highlights of the first meeting between the two teams

 Concord earned their first home playoff game in over a decade by winning four games in a row to close the season. Dave Chase’s team beat Alvirne in their only regular-season meeting and you can expect this one to come down to the wire again as well.

 Scott Lampron (19.9) has been one of the most consistent scorers in the Division I and will be matched on the other side by Broncos shooting guard Ryan Weston (14.3) who has picked up his scoring considerably since the season-ending injury to forward Joe Canelas.

 Alvirne seems like one of the more inconsistent teams in the division until you look at their pattern of wins & losses. The Broncos don’t have a ‘bad loss’ on the resume and beat Salem 72-47. Marty Edwards’ team is more than capable of going on the road and beating Concord, what it will take is a player like Paul Manzi or Liam O’Neil stepping up as a second scorer behind Weston.

 Chances of an upset: No upset in the 8/9 game…..Concord is the slight favorite playing at home

 

 (13) Nashua South at (4) Londonderry

 Londonderry Team Page

 Nashua South Team Page

 Box score of the first meeting

 Nate Mazerolle’s team pulled a first-round shocker a year ago when they beat Manchester Memorial, can they do it again in Londonderry?

 Not if Ethan May (17.4) can help it, and this season few players in the state have been more determined than the Lancers all-state forward. Jackson Cox has done a very good job running Nate Stanton’s offense while players like center James Buttafuoco & forward Cole Keegan give this team a smart/physical reputation. Londonderry rarely gives up easy baskets and they take care of the basketball on offense.

 The Purple Panthers lost 4 in a row to start the season, then won 6 of 7 games and finished the year losing 5 of 7. That speaks to the number of underclassman Mazerolle has worked into the rotation after losing 12 seniors last season.

 Expect this to be low scoring. Nashua South isn’t a team equipped to win a shootout and the Lancers are one of the better defensive teams in the division.

 May will be the difference, if South can hold him in check they have a shot, if not Londonderry likely hosts a second tournament game Friday night.

 Chances of an upset: I like the Lancers to move on to the quarterfinals….

 

 (12) Dover at (5) Winnacunnet

 Winnacunnet Team Page

 Dover Team Page

 Video highlights of the first meeting

 The Green Wave are going to have to figure out a way to score on the Warriors. It didn’t happen in the first game so what does Matt Fennessy’s team have to do the second time around?

 They have to score off plays for Ty Vitko, without Vitko doing the scoring.

 To be a little more clear for you…Dover needs either the screener rolling to the basket or the player left open in the corner (Griffin Carloni?) to make Winnacunnet pay for all the attention they’ll be sending Vitko’s way. Vitko is going to get his points, he’s been terrific all season, but he needs help to knock off Winnacunnet tonight.

 Coming into the season Winnacunnet 6’4 forward Nick Hepburn (who scored 15 points against Pelham in the Jamboree) was set to be the third major piece behind the all-state duo of point guard Ben Allen (17.0) and Jack Schaake (15.3). But lingering issues from a head injury have kept Hepburn out all season and Winnacunnet has not had a true 3rd scorer step up behind Allen & Schaake.

 Does that become Jay McKenna’s team’s fatal flaw?

 We’ll find out here in the next two weeks, against Dover it comes down to containing Kingsley Breen and Vitko relatively in check and for Dover it comes down to whether they can score into the ’60s and pull off another upset in March.

 Chances of an upset: We’ll go with low but Dover has proven us wrong before…

 

 (15) Goffstown at (2) Salem

 Salem Team Page

 Goffstown Team Page

 Box score of first meeting

 Incredible job by first-year head coach Ryan Cowette, who got the Grizzlies into the tournament in their first year back in Division I. I didn’t think they were going to win three games, and here they are.

 Goffstown is a scary match-up for a defensive-oriented team like Salem because Goffstown is not a team that can out score you but a team that can beat you in a low-scoring, slow tempo game. Connor Hujsak (12.4) has been very good for Goffstown while TJ Dutton has been their best defender this season.

 Salem needs to push the tempo behind their backcourt of Zack Caraballo (13.7) & Trevor DeMinico (11.4). They want this at a fast pace because they are the better team in a game with more possessions.

 Look for Mike Ference and Jared Burns to take turns defending Hujsak. Salem head coach Rob McLaughlin wants to make Goffstown play at a faster pace by applying pressure to the Grizzlies guards.

 Chances of an upset: High alert……beware of Grizzlies.

 

 (10) Nashua North at (7) Keene

 Keene Team Page

 Nashua North Team Page

 Box score of first meeting

  Keene hosts their first home playoff game in more than a decade and we’ll be there to cover it.

 This is a game where both teams could get into the ’70s. Keene will apply pressure to try and get out & push the basketball behind sophomore point guard Tate Matte. Noah Timmer (14.9) has become a consistent scorer for Kevin Ritter’s team and Alex Opsahl gives them a rim protector.

 They’ll need one because both Curtis Harris (11.2) & Brendan Choate (13.6) can get to the rim with regularity. Steve Lane’s team will also look to play at a faster tempo and apply pressure. Nate Kane gives them a shooter on the wing and this is a team that beat Alvirne, Portsmouth, and Goffstown on the road this season.

 Expect a high scoring game here with the winner facing either Salem or Goffstown.

 Chances of an upset: Hard to call either team a winning an upset…the only upset is if this one is low scoring.

 

 (14) Merrimack at (3) Spaulding

 Spaulding Team Page

 Merrimack Team Page

 Merrimack beat Spaulding at home last week and now gets them again in Round 1. Tim Goodridge’s team looked dead & buried until they won 4 of their last 6 games to get in the tournament.

 Merrimack has a big size advantage over Spaulding with 6’4 center Jared Dyer and Patrick Yudkin. Spaulding doesn’t have a starter over 6’0 tall beside Arie Breakfield and when Breakfield is shooting from the perimeter they have to gang rebound to hang in with bigger more physical teams like the Tomahawks.

 Keagan Calero is back in the lineup if still not 100% and you can expect Shane Hudson to match up with Merrimack point guard Adam Ellis. Spaulding forward Ryan Bernier will play a key role for President Tim Cronin’s team, as they will need to keep Dyer off the glass.

 The last time Spaulding lost a home playoff game I had no idea who Jen Chick was and Justin McIsaac was probably being poked in the eye repeatedly at some wrestling event at the Littleton Opera House so even with the win last week this will be a tall task for Merrimack tonight.

 Chances of an upset: I’m going with my President.

 

 (11) Manchester Central at (6) Portsmouth

 Portsmouth Team Page

 Manchester Central Team Page

 Box score of the first meeting

  Manchester Central is the scary lower seed because of their ability to score, pressure you defensively and their unpredictability. They rely on motion offense and not set plays, so that takes away one of Portsmouth’s great strengths; their game planning.

 Jim Mulvey and now son/head coach John Mulvey follow the Bill Belichick mantra of ‘We’re going to take away what you do best’ but with Central, it is too hard to predict what they’re going to do play to play, because they aren’t running plays for anyone.

 Add to that the fact that Central can get their scoring from any of a number of players. Jesus Milan (13.0), DeDe Niyang (11.3), Royce Williams (11.1) and Daniel Infante (10.1) all average double figures a game and have each scored 22 points or more in a game this season. Meaning any two could combine for 50 points in a game.

 Going to Stone Gymnasium and winning a playoff game is a tall task though and stopping Division I scoring champ Alex Tavares (24.0) makes it all the more difficult.  Tavares went for 29 points in the first meeting, how Central defends him differently will be interesting to watch.

 Chances of an upset: Central is a scary lower seed……keep an eye on this one.

 

 

 

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