It’s a Division I & II only edition of the Thursday Thoughts as the lower two divisions have moved on to the tournament.

 Today we’ll rank the contenders. Next week we will forecast the seedings and the brackets in both divisions.

 We’ll have coverage of two games tomorrow night;

 Pete Tarrier and Colin O’Neil will be in Exeter when the Blue Hawks, closing in on a Top-8 seed, take on Manchester Memorial.

 I will be in Dover with Patrick Cogan for a Division III quarterfinal as second seed St Thomas hosts seventh seeded Belmont.

 Our coverage today is brought to you by our longtime partners, the sports medicine team at Core Orthopedics!

 Division I

 Division I Standings. Scoring Leaders and Gold Level coaches

 Gold Level Supporters/Coaches: Jaryd Piecuch of Londonderry, Matt Fennessy of Dover, Ryan Cowette of Goffstown, Mike Dunham of Pinkerton, Rob McLaughlin of Salem, Jeff Holmes of Exeter, Jeff Baumann of Timberlane, Leo Gershgorin of Alvirne, Ray Boulay of Keene and Jay McKenna of Winnacunnet

1. Pinkerton Academy- There is a new #1 after the Astros 91-79 victory over Bedford. Jackson Marshall (35 points and 16 rebounds) was immense and Charlie Ludden scored a season-high 21 points. Marshall’s ability to score 35 but not dominate the offense, everyone was getting looks, is rare. Terrific job by head coach Mike Dunham and his staff to have their team ready to knock off the champs.

2. Bedford- My take away from Friday night was Frank Moreno played Pinkerton straight up because, well why wouldn’t he? The Bulldogs had lost one game in thirteen months coming into the game, so why re-invent the wheel? If there is a rematch at UNH next month adjustments will be made, but I understand the reasoning the first time around.

3. Nashua North- While all eyes were on what was happening in Derry the Titans held off a surging Alvirne team, 46-43, for their seventh win in a row. Jaden Pena led the way with 21 points and with closing games at Manchester Central, home for Portsmouth and at Winnacunnet, the Titans are in line for a third consecutive Top Four seed.

4. Trinity- Keith Bike left big shoes to fill but Ray Farmer has been outstanding in his first season as head coach. Kevin Doherty led the way with 19 points Tuesday night in a win over Bishop Guertin while Shawn O’Neil and NHsportspage senior team member Devohn Ellis scored 14 apiece.

5. Exeter- The Blue Hawks have won five of their last six games and a big season finale looming against Jeff Holmes’ alma mater, the Keene Blackbirds. Nate McNeff and Brady Rogers combined for 33 points in a 59-51 win over Spaulding on Tuesday night.

6. Keene- Ray Boulay’s team has won six of eight and it hasn’t come against, as the late/great Jack O’Connor would say ‘The Mascoma School for the Blind’ (there is no such school he just liked saying that when we beat bad teams). The Blackbirds have beaten Nashua North, Alvirne, Nashua South and Windham in that stretch. They’ve been the surprise of the Division I season and it looks like someone is making the drive to Keene when the tournament begins.

7. Windham- The Jaguars losing at home to Londonderry, 68-64, on Tuesday night, was my ‘I need to acknowledge that outside the top two teams anyone can beat anyone’ moment’. That is no slight on the Lancers, a tough team who were led by a terrific (31 points) performance by Mason Paquette, but that was a game Windham needed for a top eight seed. I have not sold my ‘final four sleeper team’ stock, and with a remaining schedule of Concord, Merrimack and Bishop Guertin they still are in line for a Top eight seed.

8. Nashua South- The Purple Panthers have lost three in a row heading into a tough game Friday night at Merrimack. Nate Mazerolle’s team is averaging 65.1 points a game and Josh Caruso & Zac Castonguay are scoring 46.6 of those points between the two of them.

9. Alvirne- The Broncos have won five of their last six games after a win at Dover on Tuesday night (Sammy DeWitt led the way with 21 points) and get Garrett Hall back from injury this week. They’ll close with three tough ones against Salem, Bedford and Goffstown.

10. Londonderry- Time to give some love to Jaryd Piecuch’s Lancers, who have won three of four after the win at Windham. After a slow start to the season due to injuries Mason Paquette has averaged 18.0 a game over his last five contests. Matt Luongo has been a valuable glue guy (you always need glue guys to win) while Ryan Williams’ ability to knock down shots has spread the floor for Paquette and Ty Miles. Closing stretch is Spaulding and then back to back trips to Manchester to play Central & Memorial, two teams going in opposite directions, with all three teams fighting for a spot in the tournament. 

 Division II

 Division II Standings, Scoring Leaders, and Gold Level Coaches

 Gold Level Coaches: Peter Pierce of Souhegan, David Smith of Coe-Brown, Joe Morin of Pelham, Mike Donnell of Pembroke, Ryan Kelley of Hollis-Brookline, Rich Otis of Manchester West, Ben Davis of Hanover, Joe Faragher of Kingswood, Steve McDonough of Laconia, Don Gutterson of Milford and Ben Cronin of Plymouth

1. Hanover- The Bears finish up with Kingswood and ConVal, and will likely be the #2 seed behind Pelham, unless the Pythons get tripped up by Manchester West or Timberlane. With the depth of good teams at the top of the division, the difference between a one seed and a two seed is not very big.

2. Pelham- The champs have rounded into form…they blew out Manchester West last Thursday (in a game we covered) and did the same to Laconia on Tuesday night. Holding the Sachems scoreless in the second quarter. If they can win out, the extra point from beating Division I Timberlane should give them the top seed. 

3. Pembroke Academy- BIG game on Monday against Coe Brown. The winner leaves that game in great shape for a Top four seed, and a pair of home playoff games.

4. Coe-Brown- We were just talking about you! The Bears might be the most underrated defense in the division. In a 9-1 stretch they have only allowed 41.9 points per game. Connor Bagnell, Ryan Kouchoukus and James McKane have led the way defensively.

5. Bow- Good to see Jake Reardon back, he scored 15 points in a 58-42 win over Manchester West on Tuesday night, as Scott Drapeau’s team won for the ninth time in ten games. The Falcons have two tough games to close the season, Plymouth at home tonight and a season finale at Sanborn.

6. Souhegan- The Sabers climb continues. Peter Pierce’s team, who has now won eight in a row, has been led on defense by Nolan Colby and Max Hayes. Souhegan has only given up 32.8 points per game during the winning streak.

7. Manchester West- The Blue Knights are sliding a bit and now close with Pelham and Souhegan. They should fall no lower than the seven seed though and with one of the best players in the state in Max Shosa (25.9 ppg) and a head coach in Rich Otis who knows how to win in the postseason, well, let’s not bury West just yet.

8. Laconia- There isn’t a bad loss on the resume but their best win since New Years was over Souhegan on January 5th when they were still winless. The Sachems have the look of a team that needs a good match-up, a team they can go toe to toe with in the paint. It’ll be interesting to see how the bracket breaks for them, and in the seven to eight seed territory, there are dangerous teams lurking to take you out early.

9. Sanborn- Did Wayne Souther’s team sneak up on you? They’ve won four of their last five games. If they did, don't feel bad, I add their stats twice a week and had to stop to notice they had climbed back to .500. Chase Frizzell poured in 28 points and Dylan Rego added 22 in a 77-74 Tuesday night win over Oyster River.

10. Plymouth- Tough loss for the Bobcats as Johnny Flaherty went down with a season ending injury (hoping there is some way he is back for baseball). Ben Cronin’s team earned a 47-37 win over Lebanon on Tuesday as Dylan Webster, Chance Twomey, Tevin Stone and Turner Oldenberg combined for forty six of the team's forty seven points.