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The Bedford Dental Care Thursday Thoughts

By Dave Haley, 01/09/14, 9:30PM EST

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Spaulding hosts Londonderry Friday night

We take a look at the biggest games in all four divisions around the state of New Hampshire.
 

Division I
Manchester Central (2-0) at Exeter (2-2)

The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria
The coverage of Exeter is sponsored by Chad Fletcher at Blue Water Mortgage

 These two teams recently met in the finals of the Queen City Jamboree and if it did not reveal all the slights of hand David ‘Doc’ Wheeler and Jeff Holmes are capable of it did give the players an idea of their respective styles. Both teams are deep; Central’s Nick Makris and Mike Plentzas would be welcome in just about any starting lineup in the state while Holmes is very comfortable going nine players deep…seven of which are seniors.

 Brett Hanson has emerged as one of the state’s best offensive players and the more attention that is sent his way opens up spots on the perimeter for Dawson Dickson and Joey Martin to knock down three’s. The great advantage of having a player like Hanson is he is can turn a terrible offensive possession into a productive one simple with his ability to turn a broken play into two points. Exeter can score with Central, they run some very nice half-court sets and point guard Zack Holler will push the ball up the floor if the opportunity is there. The Blue Hawks stayed in striking range with Trinity all afternoon last Saturday put never had the closing kick to flip the score. Now they see their second Division I favorite in a week. It’s a measuring stick game but it’s also early January and Holmes has designs on the short drive to Durham in March. Controlling Hanson will be critical but Exeter also needs to keep Jon Martin, excellent at getting into the paint, contained on the perimeter. The Holler/Dickson point guard match-up will be one of the better ones you’ll see all season.

 Expect a good one Friday night and I, along with Pete Tarrier & The Great Jon Kesty will be there with full video coverage.
 
 Londonderry (2-0) at Spaulding (2-1)

 I finally was able to see what all the hype was about concerning the Lancers and came away impressed. The Londonderry school disctrict has apparently found a way to clone 6’3 forward/guards who can spot up or take you off the dribble. If they ever decide to all shave their heads in solidarity I’ll be lost without a program. Cody Ball runs the offense and does a nice job with his decision making, the problem with the drive and kick offense on high school teams is you’re just as likely to have a pass sail into the concession stand as you are finding your target in rhythm. Ball though plays under control and with Drew Coveney, Marc Corey, Max Coleman and Joe Kwiatkowski all capable of knocking down jumpers defenses have to stay home on their man. Caleb Green is a very talented freshman which means he makes exciting plays one moment and makes the wrong decision the next, but keep an eye on him, he’s a good one. In Spaulding they play a two time Final Four team that still somehow seems to sneak up on us every February.

 The fighting McIsaacs nearly blew a 20 point lead against Manchester Memorial Monday night but held on to go to 2-1. Tim Cronin is one of the best coaches in Division I basketball (his fellow coaches rave about him) and right now he is doing it with the inside/outside combination of center Charlie Nevejens and shooting guard Darian Berry. The key for Spaulding is keeping Londonderry’s merry band of ball handlers in front of them, the Lancers will attack you from a few different angles to see what’s working and if you sit back in a zone they have too many options for you to accurately keep track of them. A win here would give Londonderry three very strong roads wins in their first month of the season under new coach Nate Stanton.
 
 Division II
 Windham (3-0) at Pelham (2-2)

 Good one at the Snake Pit as Todd Steffanides’ team looks to get off to their best start in program history.
 It will be interesting to see what pace this game is played at; Windham is at their best in the half court and can be careless with the ball when they are forced to play too quickly. Pelham on the other hand wants to turn very game not only into a track meet but an endurance test. They were beaten Tuesday night when Lebanon dominated the second half in a 69-49 win but Matt Regan’s team will have to bounce back quickly. With games already this season against Pembroke, Lebanon, Portsmouth and now Windham Regan’s team isn't exactly easing into the season. The Pythons are working point guard Joe Slattery back into the lineup after he recovered from a football injury and they need consistent scoring from Ryan Frank, who has shown flashes he is capable of it.

 Windham has an all-state guard in Andrew Lowman and one of the more underrated guards in Division II in David Carbonello. This will be their toughest test of the season but this should be a confident bunch, coming off a very good win at Hollis-Brookline Tuesday night.
 
 Division III
 Gilford (3-0) at Laconia (3-1)

 Two teams that met over the Holidays in a game that didn’t count, Friday night they get it on for real with a lot to prove. The Sachems, a team that wasn’t consistent enough to crack the top 16 a year ago, believes they are a top 10 team, an opinion I happen to agree with. The eyeball test is one thing, getting it done on the floor is entirely another and so after squeaking out wins over sub-.500 teams to start the year Steve McDonough’s team needs a resume building win. Here is their opportunity.

 For the Golden Eagles it is all about taking the next step. This was a team that finished fourth in Division III a year ago and was one possession away from a Final Four appearance. With Josh Joyce back and returning talent like Caleb Orton (24 points Tuesday night against Newfound), Max Troiano, Andrew Caufield and sophomore Coby Goodwin around him this is a trip to Southern New Hampshire in March or bust expedition. What that means for Chip Veazey’s team is coming out of the regular season as the best Lakes Region team, a group that includes Winnisquam (flying under the radar..), the Sachems and Prospect Mountain. Laconia applies pressure from their guard duo of Aiden Dean and Matt Swormstedt and can hurt you in the paint with Jake Sullivan and an improving by the day Cody Greenwood.

 Joyce will as usual be the focus of the defense but shooters like Goodwin and Caufield give Gilford better outside shooting than they had a year ago (John Langlios practically invited anyone but Joyce to take a jumper in last year’s quarterfinals).  This is the beginning of a very tough three game stretch for Veazey’s team as they face Winnisquam at home and a dominant Berlin on the road next week.
 
Division IV
Pittsfield (3-1) at Portsmouth Christian (1-2)

 Pittsfield head coach Jay Darrah has done a very nice job building up his program and with young talent like point guard Xenthois Cyr , Kris Perkins and the coaches’ son Cam Darrah he has a team capable of outscoring you on a nightly basis. Pittsfield has averaged 76 points a game in their first three games and happens to be the answer to the question; Who is the only team that swept Derryfield last season? Yep…Pittsfield, and it is a group either too confident or too young to know better because they have no fear of the Division IV favorite.

 Lewis ‘Big Smooth’ Atkins’ PCA team has stumbled out of the block and suddenly has to see their schedule resembling a land mine. PCA has to play Division III Farmington (much improved and possibly a sleeper team), Epping, Newmarket, Pittsfield and Derryfield twice each…they won’t be favored in any of those ten games. Their task Friday night is to take care of the basketball because Pittsfield wants to get up & go. With an offense that averages 76 to contend with Atkins wants to slow things down and make sure Pittsfield is forced to execute in the half-court. Easier said than done.
 
Littleton (4-0) at Woodsville (3-1)

 Trevor Howard’s Littleton Crusaders, whose annual team wide flu bug should be arriving in about three weeks..you can set your watch to it, had an obstacle of an entirely different kind when cancellations, snow storms and even black ice kept his team from practicing for eight days. Howard’s team was still able to pull out wins over Pittsburg/Canaan and Colebrook (after trailing 13-0 to open the game) but this is a team still finding its legs. Friday night they get a good road test against Jamie Walker’s Engineers who dropped their first game of the year Tuesday night to a Rivendell (VT) team that plays in a division above Woodsville across the border.
 Walker has a good big man in Tom D’Angelo and pre-season all-state pick Joe Abrahamsen. Littleton’s strength is Woodsville’s weakness; they go 11 guys deep and try and find the right combination night to night. Owen Stone (11 rebounds against Colebrook) has begun to assert himself as has sophomore Danny Brammer. The Crusaders are getting good guard play out of first year starter Kuba Kubkowski and improved play on the low block from sophomore Eric Schafer.
 
 Remember to listen in LIVE to The New Hampshire High School Basketball Show Saturday morning on WGIR & online from 8 to 9 am as Littleton head coach Trevor Howard will be our guest on the show.
 Then catch ‘McIsaac on Sports’ on WTSN or online from 9 to 10 am 

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