Lingering thoughts from the four championship games…..

 Coming into the 2016 season Littleton head coach Trevor Howard hadn’t simply lost championship games; he publicly took punches to the stomach.

 There was the 2006 Class M (Division III) title game loss to Conant 59-56, where a halftime rant to the officials by Orioles coach Joe Giovannangeli seemed to begin a conga line to the foul line in the second half for the powerhouse Orioles.

 The 2010 Class S (Division IV) final where Howard’s best player and all-state forward Justin Whipple sat out for most of the second half of a back & forth game because he said he had drank too many energy drinks and that his heart was racing. That was a 52-49 loss where a sophomore by the name of Sam Brammer took a contested three to tie the game at the buzzer.

 Then there was the 2012 final where Moultonborough hit a long two that was incorrectly called a three. A late game foul call on Brammer, where the wrong jersey number was reported to the scorer’s table, cost Littleton their best player for long stretches of the second half and swung the balance of a one possession game.

 So when Trevor Howard walks into Foley Gymnasium in Plymouth every March, there are ghosts waiting for him.

 Those ghosts seemed to re-appear when Paul Staude & Kylani LaFleur gave a very tough Portsmouth Christian team their first lead of the second half late in Howard’s fourth championship game.

 It was no accident that a ‘Littleton Division IV undefeated champions 22-0’ banner had already been stitched. People in town who didn’t understand how hard it is to win a single Final Four game let alone two expected this group to break through for their first championship since 1990. The kids knew it, the coaches knew it and Howard felt it.

 So with 8 seconds left in a tie game Ethan Ellingwood, a hard-nosed senior known for his defense and not his 5.1 scoring average, squared up on PCA forward Drew McCormick.

 Howard knew the play he had designed (a weak side screen freeing a guard under the basket) hadn’t been executed but that he had a senior he trusted with the basketball in his hands.

 Ellingwood, who in 31 minutes and 54 seconds of play had exactly zero field goals, didn’t hesitate. He went strong to his right past McCormick and put the ball perfectly off the window for the single biggest basket in Littleton Crusader history.

 PCA, with no timeouts, only had time to get off a desperation heave from half court as the buzzer sounded.

 Howard knew now what it felt like to win his first championship as a head coach, “I think I blacked out for a few seconds after the horn sounded,” he said afterwards.

 He came to on top of a pile of his own players.

 Trevor Howard and his players finished 22-0, one of only two unbeaten teams in New Hampshire. When he spoke quietly to PCA head coach Lewis ‘The Big Smooth’ Atkins after the game he told him the heartbreak he had endured getting to this moment, telling Atkins he & PCA would be back. Howard now knew what it felt like to be on both sides of a dramatic finish.

 That’s a perspective he has waited a long time for.

 Matt Regan and Keith Brown have been together so long they can finish each other’s sentences, and call out the play before the other has time to suggest it.

 At 31 Regan is one of the best young coaches in New England. A two time champion, four time Final Four participant and founder of Next Level Basketball which quickly is gaining a reputation as one of the best developmental programs in New England.

 Brown is the best player in NHIAA basketball and will graduate as one of the best Division III players of all-time.

 With all of this success & ability on their side Pelham still found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard against a very good Kearsarge team in the final minutes of the Division III championship game.

 Kearsarge head coach Nate Camp had told his team, ‘If (Keith) Brown only scores 20 points we win,’ and his game plan of doubling Brown every time he touched the ball and clogging the middle for Cam Deloreto was working.

 Regan can design a play with the best of them but when you are in the final two minutes and staring at your own basketball mortality sometimes you go back to the main reason you were 20-1 coming into the game; you go to Keith Brown and let him figure it out.

 Brown dribbled the ball between his legs at half court with two Kearsarge defenders within arm’s length. He surveyed the zone behind them like a great running back searching for his hole in the line and then made his move to the basket past one, two, three and finally meeting a fourth Kearsarge defender at the rim before being fouled.

 Brown knocked down the free throws and followed that up with a deep contested three on the left side of the floor. (all of the highlights: Division III Championship game )

 That basket put Pelham back on top and as Zach Mattos threw a half court pass up the sidelines in the final seconds, trailing by three points, Brown waited like a free safety before swooping in to make the game clinching steal.

 Brown finished the title game with 22 points. Camp was nearly right.

 When it was over Brown was off to the next chapter of his basketball career in college while Regan was taking his program back to Division II. Their unspoken bond was ending, at least out on the floor.

 I asked Regan if he ever mentioned that fourth quarter three pointer to Brown when the game was over, “Not really, but that might be the gutsiest shot I’ve ever seen.”

 A perfect way to cap an unbelievable career, and a pretty good partnership.

 Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey knew he had a special group as early as a 12 point victory over Merrimack in our Coaches for a Cause Jamboree back in early December. He also knew how thin the line was between champion and runner-up.

 His 2010 team took a loaded Milford team that would win back to back titles, to overtime before losing when his best player (Smilin’ Mike Barton, one of my all-time favorites) badly injured his ankle at the beginning of overtime.

 The Clippers had likewise been good enough to lose late to Pembroke teams that similarly won back to back titles. Ask Jim Mulvey about Division II dynasties. He’s seen them up close.

 The Clippers, with four underclassman starters, had their own dynasty in the making before Portsmouth made the long anticipated move to petition up to Division I for at least the next two years (I don’t see them coming back...). Making their quest for two straight titles in two different divisions as unique as any in NH high school sports history.

 Back to that thin line again…the Clippers were a team built on speed & precision. A backcourt of Shon Parham & Romeo Ingram that beat you even before you reached halfcourt and a front court of Cody Graham, Christian Peete and Joey Glynn who made their living on the baseline and inside the paint.

 The scores coming out of Portsmouth got more ridiculous by the week. A 45 point win here and a 43 point win the next game culminating in a mid-season match-up with fellow unbeaten Milford where they led 55-17 at one point in the third quarter.

 That team built on being precise was anything but in the long anticipated final with 21-0 Lebanon.

 The Clippers turned the ball over 13 times through three quarters and the Raiders were doing a very good job bottling up Glynn in the middle.

 This was not going to be as aesthetically pleasing as the game that preceded them in Division I but no one on the Clippers bench cared one bit about how it looked. After losing in the final seconds a year ago it was about finishing the mission this time.

 Parham drained a three from the left wing and got around fellow all-state guard KJ Matte for a drive off the window to extend the Portsmouth lead and create a hole Lebanon looked incapable of crawling out of. Romeo Ingram was in the middle of everything as usual and Peete buried a corner three that seemed to take all of the tension out of the room.

 The Clippers had their 22-0 season.

“This feels a lot better than last year,” Jim told his son & assistant coach John, who won a title on this same floor seven years ago.

 The Clippers have the unique opportunity ahead of them in Division I next season. That line between winning & losing only gets thinner at the next level but Portsmouth begins that ride as the team to beat in 2017.

 It was with five and a half minutes remaining in the Division I semifinals and with his Manchester Central team trailing Winnacunnet by 10 points that head coach David ‘Doc’ Wheeler decided he had seen enough.

 Wheeler had just watched Warriors forward Freddy Schaake get control of a long rebound and glide in for a lay-up that gave Winnacunnet a double digit lead and all of the momentum in the building.

 Wheeler called timeout to address his team, possibly for the last time in their season.

 He also wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.

 “Doc called the timeout,” recalls all-state guard and team captain Evan MacDonald, “and the first thing he yelled was ‘We are in the semifinals and you guys want to jog back on D. We are down 10 points in the 4th quarter and you guys want to jog back??” said Wheeler incredulously.

 Wheeler then looked every player in the huddle in the eye and continued, “You guys have five minutes left in your careers, forget five minutes left in the game. You guys have five minutes left with a green & white uniform on.”

 “Get in the passing lanes, limit them to one shot per possession, run in transition and attack the zone. You guys are going to be remembered for the last five minutes, at least play hard and leave it out there!”

 “This game is not over. Win one possession at a time.”

 How would your team react to that?

 Central went on a 21-0 run.

 That was the personality of this championship team. Flawless? Seldom. On the same page with one another? Not always…but when the game was on the line no one was better than the Little Green.

 MacDonald knocked down big shots; Jaylen Leroy hit two huge foul shots late against Merrimack to tie the game and was the best player on the floor when it mattered most. Seth Shea did all the dirty work and Jonathin Makori hit the go ahead shot in all four Central playoff wins.

 While Doc Wheeler won his fifth championship.

 He’d immediately tell you it’s all because he has had great players. True.

 Those championship teams also had a great coach.

 NHsportspage and you!

 Pete encouraged me to go with an ‘Up with People’ like title..

 My guy behind the guy Eliot Bless printed out a list of all the registrants from Kansas City. Those people will be given a password and full continued access to this website through next season as we go registration only.

 The readers who have not will not see our columns, videos, statistics and website content, or Pete dancing around with undefeated teams.

 I can’t put it any simpler than that.

 You can still get in at the $50 Early Bird Registration price but that cost will nearly tripled when our web provider takes over. We hope you come along with us and everyone who has already registered..

 Register for your access today

 
 The 12 seniors I’d send to represent the state of New Hampshire against Vermont………..

 Bill Simmons yearns to be an NBA GM; I yearn to be put in charge of naming the New Hampshire Twin State Team. The selection process has been called a mess the last few seasons but members of the committee have been good enough to reach out to me to help with the event & the process.

 This is a game we will have full coverage of but today here are the 12 players I would select to take on Bernie Sanders’ legion of high school all-stars to the West.
 
 The Starters

Center: Brandon Scott of Manchester Memorial

 It’s taken me some time to understand the days of post- players matching up in the paint are over. I’m not entirely over it yet but I’ve come to accept the fact that every 6’4 kid wants to shoot 22 footers instead of dominate on the low block. Brandon Scott gives my team size on the block and offensive versatility. When he is on he is an almost unstoppable force on offense and good enough to start for my team.

Power Forward: Nathan Hale of Nashua North

 Hale has the size to rebound and the ability to finish in transition. This is a team designed to run Vermont off the floor..Hale fits in perfectly at the four.

Shooting guard: Jaylen Leroy of Manchester Central

 No explanation here…Leroy is one of the best players in the state of New Hampshire and his ability to draw contact & finish in the paint is second to none.

Shooting guard Part II: Keith Brown of Pelham

 There’s a reason in a Seacoast tournament game last year with Cody Ball, Joey Martin & Dominic Timbas on the floor it was Brown who was the unquestioned go to guy every time we needed a basket.

 Shooting guard Part III: Joe Bell of Bishop Brady

 Bell is a facilitator. He will be the guy in the middle of the offense creating opportunities for the other four players on the floor and taking his shots when he has them.
 
 The Reserves

 Matt Rizzo of Pinkerton Academy

 Rizzo is a very similar player to Bell in that he does whatever his team needs. Rizzo can score but he is an excellent passer and has a very high Basketball IQ. This is a guy you want on your team.

 Evan MacDonald of Manchester Central & 
 Brennan Morris of Pinkerton Academy

 Let me ask you this; Keith Brown or Jaylen Leroy brings the ball up the floor and flanked out on the wings I have Evan MacDonald (25 foot range) and Brennan Morris (Ditto…range for days) .

 How are you covering that?

 I’m asking you Vermont…..and you McIsaac (game time at 7:30!)

 Christian Serrano of Winnisquam

 I want to get out and run. Serrano is as fast end line to end line as any player in the state of New Hampshire & that full speed spin move should be illegal. He will fit in nicely with this group.

 Matt Vartanian of Salem

 I need a low post defender and Vartanian fits the bill perfectly. You can’t get out on the floor for Rob McLaughlin unless you can defend and in case Vermont walks in with a bona fide post presence, I have Vartanian to handle him.

 Matt Tenney of Sunapee

 I would love to see Tenney run the point with these kind of weapons around him. Tenney can push the ball, he’s a terrific passer and if you leave him at the top of the key he will knock down three’s all day. Just ask Bedford head coach Mark Elmendorf who watched Tenney hit six three pointers against Goffstown in the 2015 Coaches for Cause Jamboree.

 Jonathin Makori of Manchester Central

 The final spot came down to four guys but I went with Makori in the end. Love that quick release in transition, his poise in big moments and his ability to defend in the half court.
 
Coming Friday: Part II where I ask ‘What if?’ in regards to some of the biggest moments & controversies of the season, random thoughts and one final look back at the 2015-16 season.