Tonight, in front of an invitation-only crowd, the Division III & IV championships will be decided. Today we’ll breakdown both games.

 The four teams squaring off tonight have a combined record of 79-3, so we clearly have the two best teams in each division.

 I’ll be calling the Division III championship with Belmont head coach Jim Cilley and Austin Grass serving as our videographer.

 In Plymouth, Lance Legere will be calling the Division IV championship with ‘The Franchise’ Jennifer Chick-Ruth and possibly Lisbon head coach Sam Natti…if he gets a ticket.

 This is the world we’re currently living in.

 I thought the NHIAA has made the best of a tough situation; they deserve a lot of credit for making sure these kids can still compete for a championship.

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 Division III

 (2) Mascenic Regional vs. (1) Gilford

 Gilford team page

 Mascenic Regional team page

 Box score of the first meeting

 If Mascenic wins tonight it means: That Gilford couldn’t hold the Vikings backcourt in check. Sammy Stauffeneker becomes more of a scorer after a year where he has sacrificed his offense to be more of a facilitator.

 Trey Shaw is knocking down shots on ball reversals against the Golden Eagles match-up zone and Zach Barthel is able to knockdown elbow jumpers while Gabe Turner & Shea Zina are able to get offensive rebounds against a big Gilford frontcourt.

 Head coach Brandon Kear has had a very good sense of when to pump the brakes and make teams chase Mascenic defensively. This is a team that shoots free throws very well, while foul shooting has been an Achilles heel for Gilford.

 What’s interesting about this match-up is that both teams have pulled out a ton of wins late in games. Each played tough schedules and both had to come from behind in the final minutes to beat good teams. If this game gets down to the final 3 minutes with the winner still to be determined, both teams expect they’ll be the team that comes out on top.

 If Gilford wins tonight it means: They were able to hold Stauffeneker & Shaw in check (under 13 points each) and forced the Vikings to try to beat them in the paint.

 It means Gilford forced turnovers at a high rate, as they did against Hopkinton on Monday, forcing Mascenic to have to shoot at a high rate to win the game.

 It means Adrian Siravo put up 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Gilford scored in transition. It means when Connor Sullivan and Riley Marsh were dared to knockdown shots they did, just as they did against both White Mountains and Hopkinton.

 It means the Golden Eagles got production out of Logan Hughes, Malik Reese, and freshman Jalen Reese. Rick Acquilano was able to play Siravo 25 minutes and his defense was able to hold Stauffeneker & Shaw in check. When Shaw is knocking down shots it opens up the entire offense and just as importantly, Gilford has to keep Stauffeneker from bring able penetrate the middle of their match-up zone.

 My pick: Gilford 51, Mascenic 49

 

 

 (2) Newmarket vs. (1) Littleton

 Littleton team page

 Newmarket team page

 Box score of the first meeting

 If Newmarket wins it means: Their defense took away or slowed down both Parker Briggs & Todd Krol-Corliss. Newmarket is the best man to man defensive team in the division and they are one of the very few teams in the division that can match-up with the Crusaders athletically.

 In the first meeting, Littleton was able to beat Newmarket off the dribble all night long. Parker Paradice was terrific in finding shooters on the perimeter. Todd Krol-Corliss was terrific shooting from the wing and corner, Landon Bromley was just as good and Parker Briggs was the best player on the floor.

 Trevor Howard’s team looked a step ahead all night long and what promised to be heavyweight fight felt more like a TKO where Littleton was ahead on all cards.

 To change that the second time around Newmarket has to attack the rim and not settle for jumpers. They need to use Logan Willey, Logan Tower, Will Chase, and Colby Bost to attack the rim over & over again.

 On the other end, they need to run the Crusader's shooters off the three-point line and force them to finish in traffic in the paint.

 The Mules won’t beat Littleton shooting from the outside but they can beat them getting out in transition or being patient enough on offense to find holes in the Littleton zone or man defense.

 If Littleton wins it means: Todd Krol-Corliss had a big night shooting the ball and Newmarket could not contain the dribble penetration of Parker Briggs & Parker Paradice.

 It means Littleton’s zone defense, which gave Newmarket so much trouble last year in the semifinals, again held Newmarket in check. Littleton was able to make sure no one player was going to be able to beat them and Krol-Corliss, Bromley & Briggs were efficient from behind the three-point line.

 It means Josh Finkle was again the best big man in the game, as he was in the first meeting between the two teams and Newmarket did not have a lot of success down low and settle for jumpers.

 Littleton hit their free throws at the end and finished off the only undefeated season of the four divisions.

 My pick: Littleton 57, Newmarket 51