We take a look at the biggest games in the state of New Hampshire this weekend.
 

 Division I
 Manchester Central (7-0) at Londonderry (5-1)

 The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria 

  What we see when we look at Central is a team that can beat you from the perimeter (they connected on 10 three pointers against Trinity on Sunday), get to the rim consistently and shares the basketball. Very few possessions feel forced and there is a feeling when you talk to these guys after games that they are on the same page and evolving as a unit by the week.

 What their head coach David Wheeler sees is a team with a lot of flaws but also with the potential to be special. Wheeler would know, he has coached undefeated teams before and you don’t win 80% of your games over a 30 year career without being able to recognize when a team has not reached their potential yet.

 In Londonderry they face a balanced attack that likewise can beat you from long range or up close at the rim. Expect Drew Coveney (12.2 ppg) to match up with Brett Hanson (17 ppg) and Cody Ball or Max Coleman to cover Jon Martin. The elder Martin has really come on in the last three weeks; where a lot of pure scorers will give you the Rip Hamilton 18 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist line Martin is collecting five rebounds and handing out three or four assists a game with his ability to draw defenses in once he arrives in the paint. He has developed a very good feel for where Tyler Kelly and Joey Martin will be cutting from along the baseline and the result is a lot of uncontested lay-ups.

 The Lancers play that same style and it has proven to be a mistake to leave their big men Marc Corey or Joe Kwiatkowski unattended behind the arc. Expect Drew Stanton’s team to look for mismatches defensively and to try & space the floor.
 
Division II
Plymouth Regional (7-1) at Windham (5-2)

 Mike Sullivan’s Bobcats won their match-up with Kennett last week but were bumped off by Hanover Tuesday night for their first loss of the season. Playing without big man Kyle Reisert the Bobcats never got into a flow offensively and ended up with a season low 30 points. They’ll need to get back on track in a hurry against a very good Windham team that took Pembroke to the limit last Friday night.

 This game will feature two very good guards going head to head as Plymouth point guard Collin Sullivan meets up with Jaguars guard David Carbonello. Windham consistently gets into the 60’s behind Andrew Lowman (15.4 ppg.), Tucker Lippold (12.6) and Carbonello (12.7) and if a shoot-out breaks out with the first team to 66 getting the W Windham is winning that battle. Plymouth wants to take care of the basketball and find the hot hand among Sullivan, Jared Kuehl and Gavin Brickley.
 
Division III
Hopkinton (6-1) at Mascoma (3-3)

 Conant is the toughest place to play in Division III basketball, this fact is undisputed, but Mascoma is right behind them and it’s a trip no enjoys making. Not that West Canaan isn’t lovely this time of year but the combination of location, the gym, the crowd and the style of play Royals head coach Jim Barry employs make for a tough road trip.

 For most teams it starts with the drive (won’t be the case for Hopkinton who is relatively close) but the small floor that greets them when they arrive is the second hazard. Barry is smart enough to use his small floor to his advantage by pressing & trapping in the corners. The crowd is right on top of you and I speak from personal experience when I tell you they can come up with some clever insults when they are motivated to do so. Mascoma will face a Hopkinton team that is the biggest team in Division III and their goal Friday night will be to quite literally steal 12 to 14 points off of turnovers in the backcourt.

 Dave Chase knows all of this, what he will combat that with is his own recipe of making this game feel like it is being played in a phone booth. Chase has the ability to go zone and use their length & size to clog the middle and get their hands in the passing lanes. That floor will feel even smaller when you have 6’6, 6’5, 6’4 and even 6’3 guards with their hands in your line of vision so look for two styles to meet smack dab in the middle of that floor Friday night.
 
Berlin (6-2) at Somersworth (4-2)

 Two of the best coaches in the state go at it when Berlin makes the very long bus trip to Somersworth Friday night.

 Both are dealing with issues on the fly as Berlin looks to lock up two home playoff games while Somersworth wants the best possible destination in round one. Picard’s team was dealt a major blow when 6’5 center Nick Foder went down with a broken ankle that may sideline until the end of the regular season. The loss of their starting center makes Levi Arsenault  (16.7 ppg) at 6’2 their biggest starter. Picard has applied full court pressure all season and is bringing it behind maybe the deepest team in Division III basketball. Berlin can go 11 guys deep and if their pressure doesn’t get immediate results there is a very good chance that a 10-0 or 12-0 run is looming when teams either relax or get worn down. Berlin wants to push the tempo to a frantic pace and let their defense & depth win out by the end of 32 minutes. They trailed Gilford for the entire game last Friday night before their pressure finally paid off in a 9-0 run to end the game and earn the win.

 Lucas like Picard is a recent Division III champion and so he knows his current outfit doesn’t fit that description. What he has though is some young talent in players like freshman Vincent Loho (growing in confidence by the week)& Chance Ennis as well as a team that is willing to get after it defensively (a staple of Lucas’ tenure). They do a nice job on the boards behind Hunter Kretschmar (always battling for rebounds), Drew Colbert and Jeremy Jacques (7 rebounds against Sanborn Tuesday night) and have the ability to pressure the ball out front with Elijah Dejoie and Loho. It is offensively where they struggle and so the need to get points in transition off of turnovers becomes fairly critical. Zach Hamilton has the ability to score (13.7 ppg.) but for a team that has featured true #1 scorer like Bobby Shatinsky and Drew Francoeur in the very recent past it isn’t a fair comparison for Hamilton. He isn’t that kind of scoring option.

 So causing havoc and developing on the fly are the course of action for Lucas and his 2014 addition. This is a team that has a chance to be pretty good next year but also will be a team you don’t want to face come March. Lucas has been there too many times before and he knows how to beat you with whatever style he is able to put his kids into.
 
 Division IV
 Epping (7-1) at Derryfield School (6-0)

 A lot of pretty informed people would tell you these are the two best teams in Division IV (Sunapee is certainly allowed to state their case..) and this will be a rematch of a game Derryfield won 66-59 in Epping two weeks ago.

 Roger Larrivee still has not returned to the Derryfield lineup after suffering an injury in a holiday tournament. The real bad news for the rest of the division is that even without the 6’5 senior center Rob Bradley’s team is still the team to beat. Robert Rizois has taken over for his older brother Chris at the point guard spot and played very well for an underclassman. With all of the weapons around him Rizois has been smart enough to simply take care of the ball and find shooters like Tyler Zorn and a much improved Bennett Doherty out on the wings. Max Anderson has been steady after an all-state season a year ago but it is his freshman younger brother Sam who has opened eyes. Anderson might be the best freshman in Division IV and at times he has been the best player on the title favorites. Add the dependable Patrick McGinley to the mix and you see why Derryfield would be in the Final four conversation in the division above them.

 Sean Young will do what he does best; he’ll apply pressure for 32 minutes, mix up his zone looks and generally try to confuse Rizois. Derryfield does such a good job beating pressure because Bradley has his big men (all over 6’3) come back, flash the middle and hit the wing man. That gets the ball up for the floor without the ball ever having to be dribbled, and that is exactly the idea of beating full court pressure. Each of these teams has designs on a Top 4 seed, the result Friday night moves the winner closer to obtaining that goal.

 The Great Jon Kesty and I will be in Manchester covering this as our Game of the Week Friday night.
 
Colebrook Academy (5-2) at Groveton (6-2)

 We expected Colebrook to be right about here…we certainly did not expect that of Groveton. This will be the first meeting of these two big time rivals (Jen Chick and I will be at the second..yes…. the Game of the Week will be coming to you from Colebrook on February 8th) and Hall of Fame coaches (I can’t remember if Mark Collins is in the Hall or not but he should be so I will refer to him as one going forward..).

 Groveton has had a lot of success in creating turnovers with Collins’ 2-2-1 press. Groveton will try and trap you in the corners or at half court and like we discussed with Berlin earlier, if it doesn’t work early it tends to pay off over the course of 32 minutes. The 12-0 run is looming with freshman guard Corey Gadwah (16.3 ppg) and Christian Guay leading the assault. Colebrook knows what’s coming, and they’ll apply their own brand of full court chaos behind their Hall of Fame head coach Buddy Trask.

 The question in this game will be who can score when they get locked into a half court possession. Groveton will fall back into a 2-3 zone and needs to keep an eye on shooters like Jake Scherer (14 ppg.) and point guard Sedrick McKinnon (12 ppg.). Both teams will get their transition points, the team that is more effective in the half court has the upper hand Friday night. In a year when the northern teams will all tell you they are down from years ago both of these teams have a chance to emerge.

Remember to listen in LIVE to The New Hampshire High School Basketball Show Saturday morning on WGIR & online from 8 to 9 am as Somersworth head coach Lorne Lucas will be our guest on the show.

Then catch ‘McIsaac on Sports’ on WTSN or online from 9 to 10 am