Every year, we turn the semifinal previews over to the people who know these teams better than anyone, the head coaches who have gone up against them this season.

 We had three Division II head coaches break down the four teams and the two match-ups using blind quotes.

 Our semifinal scouting report is brought to you by our longtime partners at Great Bay Community College.

 We’ll have coverage tonight of both games as I will be covering Pembroke vs. Hanover with Ben Conant, and Pete Tarrier & Austin Grass will bring you coverage of Pelham vs Coe Brown.

 Division II Tournament Bracket & Box Scores

 (1) Pelham vs. (4) Coe Brown

 Box Score of the first meeting: Pelham 63, Coe Brown 51

 For all the chaos of the regular season, the top four seeds advanced to Oyster River High School tonight for the semifinals.

 We asked the head coaches to break down the teams, beginning with Joe Morin's defending champion Pelham Pythons.

 "I know it sounds cliche, but they have that championship pedigree that you are just not going to find with any other team," said a head coach we spoke to. 

 "A lot of these kids won the football title and were there at UNH a year ago (when Pelham won the title over Pembroke). They have a confidence that you can feel when you go up against them."

  A fellow coach spoke about the Python captains.

 "It starts with Dom Herrling. He is the table setter for that team, and when he locks in defensively, he disrupts your offense. They will bump you and get away with a hold or two, and it is all to get you out of sync offensively."

 "You cannot allow Zach James to set, square to the basket, and shoot. He's going to knock down an extremely high percentage of those shots. He has developed his game where he will take a defender to the post if you try and put a smaller guard on him."

 "Joe (Morin) has them bought in. They don't run a lot of sets (on offense), but the fact that Dom & Zach complement each other makes everything flow. Dom sacrifices a lot of his offense to get other guys involved."

 "Peter Hemmerdinger and Logan Dumont will be big factors this week. Pelham is susceptible to being beaten when it's just James and Herrling scoring. When Hemmerdinger and Dumont get to double figures, they are extremely tough to beat."

 What about the Pelham defense?

 "They will pressure the ball, sometimes in a zone that drops back to man defense. They will trap the ball reversal and are tough, athletic kids who play hard for Joe."

 "They lack a shot blocker, so you can attack the rim."

 "One thing to watch in this game is that Coe Brown's strength is Pelham's biggest weakness, a lack of size down low."

"Quinn Salter and Jack Matson are 6'3 and can do a lot of damage on the glass and in the paint against Pelham, who doesn't have a true center."

 What about the David Smith's Coe Brown Bears?

 "They're methodical. Connor Bagnell is their best option to score, but he is very unselfish; they have three different players who average in the teens, and that balance is the strength of their team."

 A fellow coach agreed.

 "Connor Travis and the Pelham forwards will need to be physical with Salter & Matson, so officiating will play a big factor in this game. If they call it close, that is to Coe Brown's advantage."

"When we played Coe Brown, they let the kids play, and we were able to push them off the low block."

 "Bagnell is an outstanding player, a very smart player. He does whatever they need, and although he is not a great shooter from the outside, he is a very good scorer and passer. He's also their best defender."

 "Coe Brown's defense is better this season than a year ago. Last year, they were a higher seed that wouldn't really scare me; this is a very good team; they're legit."

 "Coe Brown likes to pressure teams; I'm just not sure you want to speed Pelham up."

 "Coe Brown may mix in some zone, but I think they have the athletes to guard them man to man. I don't like pressuring Herrling; he's too good."

 "Pelham is not deep, so if Coe Brown can somehow force them to go to their bench, that would be a big factor in Coe Brown's favor."

 "You won't show Coach Smith anything he hasn't seen before. He's excellent at calling a timeout or using a break to tell his players what changes need to be made."

 So who wins tonight?

 "I see it being a very good game, but I'm going with Pelham."

 "I'll go with Pelham."

 "I like the fact Coe Brown is playing at Oyster River; they're going to have a huge crowd there; I'll pick the upset…Coe Brown wins." 

 

 (2) Hanover vs. (3) Pembroke Academy

 Box score from the first meeting: Hanover 53, Pembroke 31

 On December 15th, our crew went to Merrimack Valley High School, where the Pride earned a 35-32 victory over Ben Davis's Hanover Bears.

 Hanover has not lost since.

 The Bears have been dominant defensively and take on a Pembroke team that is as good offensively as any team in the division.

 We asked our head coaches to break down both teams, beginning with the number two seed.

 "Their defense is very disciplined, and they have four guys (Ryan McLaughlin, Christian Blix, David Frechette, and Roy Lucas) who can switch on anything."

 "They'll show some 1-3-1 from time to time, but they'll primarily play man-to-man defense. They play a pack line defense, so they will give up jump shots to cram the middle of the paint and stop you from driving to the basket."

 "Playing on a neutral floor in front of a big crowd, they will force you to hit jumpers."

 "You have to pick your spots against them. They help hard and recover well."

 "Frechette is terrific defensively; I expect him to spend time guarding Joe Fitzgerald. Another factor is their coach. Ben Davis won a title in Vermont, so he has been in these kinds of games. He knows how to manage timeouts and get his kids focused."

  "Ben is an excellent coach; the kids have completely bought in. It's a winning formula."

 What about the Hanover offense?

 "It's a Princeton offense with a lot of zoom action. The wing will set a pin-down screen, and they like to get Jaysen Oriol the ball at the top of the key to run the offense through him."

 "They have very good floor spacing, and when they need a basket late in games, they get Ryan McLaughlin in position to create."

"He averages 16 points a game, but a lot of that has to do with them being up so big in games; he is a twenty-plus per game scorer. He's legit."

 What about Mike Donnell's Pembroke Spartans?

 "This is an entertaining matchup because Hanover is the best defensive team in the division, and Pembroke is the best offensive team. That being said, Pembroke has also been very good defensively this year."

 "If I had one player in the division to choose to get me a basket, I'd choose Joe Fitzgerald. That pull-up jumper is lethal. I expect to see McLaughlin and Frechette each guarding him at different points of the game."

 "Evan Berkley may be the x-factor for Pembroke because he can score in bunches. He has developed his game where he is a go-to guy late in games. "

 "Devin Riel is underrated. If Pembroke wins, I would not be surprised that he scored fourteen-plus points. Mike (Donnell) will run his five-out offense, but he has to make changes from the last meeting. Hanover embarrassed them on their home floor and can do it again."

 "Can Pembroke speed Hanover up? By jumping passing lanes or pressuring them. That's the big question."

"A low-scoring game favors Hanover, and on the other hand, if Pembroke is up eight in the fourth quarter, I question Hanover's ability to have enough offense to come back and win.

 "The key for Pembroke and any team that plays Hanover is being disciplined on defense. They will run their offense with a particular look they are trying to get. They do not turn the ball over often and don't have to worry about a shot clock." 

 "That means you have to sit in your defensive stance for forty to sixty seconds, and you count on all five guys to be ready and able to do that."

 "Hanover feeds off of their taking a long time on offense, and then you come down, take and miss a quick shot, and put you right back into your defensive stance. That is where Pembroke wins or loses this game."

 So, who are you picking tonight?

 "Hanover beats them again."

 "I like Pembroke the second time around."

 "I'll go with Pembroke in a close one. Fitzgerald wins it late."