Today, we break down the four quarterfinal games played tonight in Division IV.

  Every year, we hand our semifinal previews over to opposing head coaches, using blind quotes, in our semifinal scouting report, so look for that next week.

 Our preview is brought to you by our partners at White Mountains Community College!

 Division IV Tournament Bracket

 Gold Level Coaches/Supporters: Jamie Walker of Woodsville, Jay Darrah of Pittsfield, David Bedard of Franklin, Mark Collins of Groveton, Nick Tzannos of Mascenic, Greg Farland of Concord Christian, Mitchell Roy of Profile, Matt Manning of Lin Wood, Josiah Riley of Pittsburg Canaan and Trevor Howard of Littleton.

 (8) Portsmouth Christian at (1) Profile

 Box Score of the Regular season meeting: Profile 49, PCA 39

 My Take: It’s to Portsmouth Christian’s advantage that they have faced Profile already, but I’m not sure it will be enough of an advantage for them to go to Bethlehem and pull off a stunner.

  The good news for Derek Summers’ team is that both Cai Summers (17 points) and Connor Hickey (16) were able to play in a 53-40 first-round win over Franklin. Hickey had missed the Eagles regular-season finale against Holy Family, and your chances of beating the Patriots with Hickey and without him go from slim to none.

 Hickey is one of the few players in the division who can match up one-on-one with Profile all-state forward Alex Leslie. That allows your defense to stay home on the Patriots' perimeter shooters.

  PCA has the athletes to match up with Profile, but can they defend well enough to win the game?

  Josh Robie scored 34 points, while Alex Leslie scored 20 in a 79-21 blowout victory over Epping. 

 The Patriots are looking to advance to their first final four since 2004 and will be big favorites tonight and in the next round as well (if they make it).

 To beat Profile, Portsmouth Christian will need to slow the pace. They cannot win a shootout with Mitchell Roy’s team, so they’ll need to pull Profile out of their packed-in zone and create second-chance opportunities on the offensive glass.

 PCA is not a great shooting team, but Summers and Hickey are no doubt all-state selections.

 They can get to the rim, and if they can knock down mid-range jumpers from the elbow against the Profile defense and force Robie to do his damage inside the three-point line, they have a chance to stay in the game long enough to put the pressure on the last undefeated team in the state.

 The Pick: The Patriots advance to the Final Four for the first time in twenty years.

 

(5) Holy Family at (4) Farmington

 My Take: Both teams come into this quarterfinal rematch battle-tested after Concord Christian gave Holy Family all it could handle on Monday night. Farmington had to erase a ten-point fourth-quarter deficit against Colebrook to advance.

 Gabe Lacasse led four Griffins in double digits in a 67-61 over Concord Christian, while the rebounding of Dylan Zappala and shooting of Aiden Place (12 points) helped the Tigers come from behind to beat the Mohawks.

 Colebrook got good looks against Farmington’s zone defense but struggled to shoot and could not close, getting outscored 22-6 in the fourth quarter.

 Zappala was terrific on the glass, creating second-shot opportunities for shooters.

 At the same time, Shawn Murphy (12 points) and Place sealed the game in the final minutes to advance to a quarterfinal date with the team that eliminated them in this round a year ago.

 Holy Family shoots the ball better than Colebrook, so Adam Thurston’s defense will have to extend. Four different Griffins (Jeremiah Guererro, Gabe Lacasse, Paul Williams, and Chase Paquette) hit threes on Monday night against Concord Christian. 

 Both teams will go zone, so rebounding and knocking down open threes will decide the game. Enzo Yonkeau will battle Zappala on the glass, while Gabe LaCasse (19.9 ppg) gives Holy Family a closer if this one goes to the final minute as expected.

 The Pick: Toss-up game….I’ll go with Holy Family in another close one.

 

(6) Woodsville at (3) Derryfield

 My Take: Every season, there is a quarterfinal game that feels like it should be played a round later, and this one is it.

 If you broke down this game on pedigree, on who has the experience to move on to the final four, the pick is clearly Woodsville.

 But this game is being played tonight, not in March of 2023. Derryfield has been the better team this season.

 Engineers' head coach Jamie Walker was open on our preview podcast about the fact that this team does not move the ball or have the on-the-court chemistry it did on its previous three championship teams. 

 To beat the Cougars, they're going to need to return to that form, which means Connor Houston & Jack Boudreault, two essential pieces to their title team last season, have to not only slow all-state forward Jack Krasnof down but knock down jumpers.

 In a 66-53 quarterfinal win over Profile a year ago, Boudreault scored 23 points, and Houston scored 15 on five corner three-pointers. If they have any chance to win in Manchester tonight, they will need to step up the way they did a year ago.

 Ed Meade's team is better this season because of their scoring balance.

 Jack Kasnof is averaging 20 points a night, while Alex Comire (20 points in a 78-49 first-round win over Pittsburg Canaan), Alex Drake (12 points), and Zach Martin (9.3 ppg) have all been steady and reliable contributors.

 Derryfield swept Holy Family and beat Division III quarterfinalist Belmont by sixteen points. They can get to the championship game at Colby Sawyer next weekend.

 It's been a disappointing season for Woodsville, but four of their losses were against the top teams in the division, and the other was a five-point loss to a good Gorham team.

 They know what it takes to win tournament games better than any other team in New Hampshire, and they'll go in expecting to win tonight.

 Derryfield feels like it's their time, and they likewise expect to be the ones to end Woodville's three-year run.

 All of which makes this a terrific match-up tonight…and we'll have all the highlights and the post-game with the winners.

The Pick: I'll go with Woodsville by one.

 

(10) Groveton at (2) Littleton

Box Score of the first meeting: Littleton 65, Groveton 54

Box score of the second meeting: Littleton 64, Groveton 46

 My Take: The Eagles upset seventh-seeded Gorham on Monday night when they held a Huskies team that averaged 61.8 points per game during the regular season to just 27.

 A big part of that success was Hall of Fame head coach Mark Collins putting a box and one defense on leading scorer Isaac Langlois (22.5 ppg), who was held to just five points.

 Littleton rolled to a 71-36 win over Moultonborough, setting up the fourth meeting of the season (they squared off in a holiday tournament game that Groveton won) between the two rivals.

 Groveton will need point production from Kaden Cloutier, Liam Shannon, and Ashton Kenison. Still, the more significant focus will be on how they will need to defend the high-scoring Crusaders.

 Groveton will need to run Kayden Hoskins (20.7) off the three-point line and do the same in defending Grady Hadlock on corner threes and Landon Lord on ball reversals. 

 Trevor Howard’s team shoots a lot of three-pointers. Groveton can't win a shootout with the Crusaders. Their offense is too good, so they’ll need to give up mid-range jumpers and hope to throw off Littleton’s rhythm.

 The Pick: Littleton pulls away in the second half and goes back to the Final Four.