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The Sentinel Title Services Thursday Thoughts

By Dave Haley, 02/12/14, 10:45PM EST

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Ryan Cloutier and Pelham are rolling...

As we do every week we look at the biggest games around the state this weekend. Before we start; if you have a spring program that is in need of fundraising contact me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com for a safe and easy way make money for your team.
 

 Division I
 Merrimack (11-1) at Trinity (11-1)
 The coverage of Trinity is sponsored by The Auburn Pitts

 Trinity head coach Dave Keefe admitted a year ago, after a loss to the Tomahawks, that 6’4 point guard Eric Gendron was just a bad match-up for his team. A year later it feels like seeding might be on the line when they get another shot at the very likely Division I Player of the Year.

 Richard Eaton’s Tuesday & Friday night voicemails from the Trinity sideline are starting to take on the same theme we saw a year ago at this time; just substitute the name Wenyen for Mabor. The 6’7 center has pulled down 23 rebounds in wins over Bishop Guertin and Alvirne as his game has started to pick up. Playing alongside double-double machine Carmen Giampetruzzi as well as the addition of Luke Testa (a very good rebounding guard) makes this once again a dominant team on the boards. Shayne Bourque of Merrimack will try and pull Gabriel or Giampetruzzi away from the basket with his ability to knock down shots on the perimeter. Austin Franzen and Brad Rhoades are mirror images of one another, you don't want either to get going against you because they can score in bunches, and they will square off Friday night.

 Both teams now own the tie-breaker over BG, the winner here is in very good shape for a top 3 seed in the tournament in March and the two all-important home playoff games that come with it.
 
 Exeter (5-8) at Nashua South (8-4)
 The coverage of Exeter is sponsored by Chad Fletcher at Blue Water Mortgage

 This one looms large for Nate Mazerolle’s team as they have designs on a top 8 seed (and that home playoff game) with a very tough stretch of games still in front of them. Games against BG (on the road), Londonderry and Central still remain so taking care of business against a solid but struggling Exeter team becomes key.

 The Panthers bounced back from a lopsided loss to Bedford (I’m not ready to crown Bedford this years ‘team no one wants to see in the first round’  but they are getting there...) to earn wins over Alvirne, Nashua North and Keene. The challenge Friday night will be with the size of Jeff Holmes’ team. This is a group that can control the paint with 6’5 big man Max Medley. Holmes’ team did get a big lift with the return of point guard Zack Holler against Winnacunnet and now tries to make their own push after losing 5 of their last 6 games.

 The Blue Hawks remaining schedule; Memorial at home, Timberlane & Concord on the road and a senior night game against Salem. So don’t tell me Exeter cannot win out, but it needs to start right away in Nashua.
 
 Division II
 Bishop Brady (11-2) at Pembroke Academy (12-1)

 All-state point guard Jourdain Bell has just been on lately. If there is a key play to be made he’s getting it done and on Wednesday night he was even savvy enough to time his 1,000th career point at the perfect moment. That devious level of planning takes three years..

 Just as Coe-Brown was making a big run in their own gym Bell scored his 1,000thcareer point to start the celebration and break all of Coe-Brown’s momentum. If you’ve seen a player score his 1,000th point you’ll know the game stops, mom & dad come on out of the stands and the coach poses for pictures with you like you just won a car on the Vegas Strip at the slots like you’re Nick Papageorgio. Coe-Brown coach David Smith was classy enough to understand this was Bell’s moment but…early in the second quarter as opposed to late in the fourth would have been preferred.

 That leads us into this showdown Friday night. The Spartans beat Brady handily over the holidays in a game you won’t see show up on the schedule and since that night the air of invincibility around this team has faded away. Pembroke is still the team to beat but Portsmouth beat the Spartans and Plymouth was a Collin Sullivan three pointer away from doing the same, and both games were played on Matt Alosa’s home court . The Bell brothers have the ability to score on Pembroke but does Mark Yeaton have the pieces to slow down Patrick Welch and Kafani Williams (you can call him Jordan I’m sticking with Kafani)?

 Pembroke can lose the grind it out games, they seldom ever lose a shoot-out though. Which direction will Brady try and take them in Friday night?
 
 Windham (8-5) at Portsmouth (11-2)

 All of these games are big at this time of the year; Portsmouth wants to hold off Lebanon and earn a Top 4 seed while Windham needs to stop from falling out of the top 8.

 The Jaguars are one of those teams that would get killed by Jay Bilas or Joe Lunardi on one of those bubble talk segments. Windham owns only one win all season over a team with a winning record (Hollis-Brookline and that was back on January 7th). Losses to St. Thomas and Plymouth at home raised eyebrows (we can forgive the Plymouth defeat) and with games remaining against the Clippers, Pembroke and Pelham the slide may only be beginning. This is a team with three all-state players in Tucker Lippold (career high 30 points Tuesday night), Andrew Lowman (12.8 ppg.) and David Carbonello (12.3) and a veteran coach in Todd Steffanides. Time for a resume win to keep Bilas & Lunardi off their back.

 Portsmouth is right back in position for two home playoff games (they may be sparse during the season but the students get Stone Gymnasium rolling come the post-season….they’re a bit spoiled at Portsmouth..) and have the best defense I’ve seen all season. Nick Mackey, Pat Glynn and Donovan Phanor would be all-defensive picks if there was such a thing and Charlie Lehoux is one of those smart weak side defenders Mulvey had in Greg Tsougranis , Charlie Duprey and one of my all-time favorites, 'Smiling' Mike Barton.
 
Division III
Franklin (4-9) at Berlin (10-2)

 Don Picard is regarded by many to be one of the best three or four coaches in Division III, those skills are now being put to the test after the season long suspension of power forward Levi Arsenault (violation of team rules). Berlin lost center 6’5 Nick Foder to an ankle injury earlier in the season and now will qualify as one of the smallest teams in the division. Picard will try and negate his lack of height on the roster by pushing the pace and feasting off of turnovers.
 
Division IV
Newmarket (8-6) at Epping (11-3)

 Newmarket has beaten Epping 23 consecutive times, a streak even a hammer would envy in his rivalry with the nail. As Levi Arsenault exits at Berlin Jimmy Stanley returns for Epping. Very happy and more than a little winded, Stanley scored 20 points in his first game back and is just in time for a push for a top 4 seed.

 Jamie Hayes’ team has had an eventful week as the Mules were part of a bizarre game Monday night in which Sunapee decided to hold the ball for four straight minutes with a 15 point lead late in the third and into early in the fourth quarter. Decide for yourself whether it was odd to you that Hayes’ wouldn’t come out of a 1-1-3 zone (not a 1-3-1 that was reported) down 15 or that Ed Tenney didn’t have enough faith in his 80 points per game offense to not stall for half a quarter but what was clear is that his players weren’t happy with the exercise (or lack thereof..) as tension mounted on the Lakers sideline (as four different people in attendance told me).

 The overall pace of the contest was a peak into March for a very good Lakers team. Teams are not going to go 94 feet with Sunapee in the post-season, if they do they’ll have to explain afterwards why they gave up 94 points in a tournament game. Coaches are going to run offenses designed to hold the ball while looking for backdoor opportunities similar to the half court to foul line flex offense Hayes used against Sunapee in a 43-28 loss.

 Newmarket matches up well with Epping because they know the personnel and they have the size down low to rebound with the Blue Devils. Can Newmarket get enough scoring to hang with an offense that features Stanley, Jake West and Colby Wilson? That may be the deciding factor Friday night.
 
 Colebrook Academy (11-2) at Profile (10-3)
 The coverage of Profile is sponsored by Cross Town Motors

 Profile needs to bounce back after a tough overtime loss at Groveton Wednesday night that they couldn’t really afford. For this preview let’s go quick hitter observations on two teams I saw in person last weekend;

 Profile: Paul Greenlaw’s team has three all-state caliber players in point guard Bailey Johnson, shooting guard Ian Baker and power forward Zach Knowlton. They’ll go zone on you and occasionally extend pressure to mid-court but this is a team that wants you settling for jumpers. Johnson is easily one of the best point guards in Division IV, he has great handle & is a terrific passer. Baker is their energy guy and although he was quiet against Woodsville he has been one of the best players in Division IV to this point in the season. Knowlton has a good stroke and solid range for a kid his size. He’s the anchor on the back end of the zone and when this team is getting shooting from players like Reed Weekes (two monster three’s against Woodsville) they have enough firepower to get them to the 60 point mark. When Profile gets to 60 points they nearly always win.

 Colebrook: Buddy Trask is doing a really good job with this group. They have five different guys who can hit three’s and that kind of depth will win you games in March. They really need Nick Bouchard to rebound because this is one of the smallest teams in Division IV. Bouchard played very well Saturday against Groveton and carried that over to a win over Pittsburg-Canaan & their big front line Tuesday night. Kids like John Zavala & Bryce Hicks give them good energy off the bench and Justin Swewierski is the kind of player you win with; he can shoot from the outside, handle the ball and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. If The Mohawks (have you seen the size of that Indian on the gym wall??) get a pair of home games this is going to be a very tough place for a team down south to win at. The fans are on top of you, Trask gets a lot of love from the officials (as most veteran head coaches do) in his home gym and his kids know all the angles of their small floor. A win here gets them a step closer to staying in town for a pair of playoff games.

Remember to listen in LIVE to Pete Tarrier and I on The New Hampshire High School Basketball Show Saturday morning on WGIR in Manchester, 96.7 FM on the seacoast & online from 8 to 9 am as Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey 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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