Division I

Londonderry (10-0) at Manchester Central (10-0)
The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

Doesn’t get better than this in February…two undefeated teams, a pair of Player of the Year candidates, a 38 game winning streak on the line along with a healthy dose of uncertainty on how they will match up once they take the floor.

 Central and Londonderry may only be separated by a few exits up 93 but they play in different fall & summer leagues and haven’t seen much of each other the past twelve months. Now we find out who the best team in Division is today and who sets themselves up for a Top 4 seed with a win.

 Londonderry’s great strength is in their ability to spread you out and either knock down three pointers or take you off the dribble. If there is a team that can slow that attack down its Manchester Central. Give Doc Wheeler the basketball players to follow his instruction and the Little Green will extend out to defend you with a lot of success. The Lancers can certainly score but they’re going to have trouble getting to their usual 68 points per game clip against a Central team that has given up that many points only twice all season.

 On the other end Londonderry has to limit the open looks Evan MacDonald gets (12 ppg) on the perimeter and hope to contain Jalen Leroy (17 ppg) in the paint. Wheeler raves about what Leroy has brought to the team and he has probably been unfairly overshadowed by the play of Joey Martin (17.7) & point guard Oumaru Kante (19.9).

 With both team’s having beaten Pinkerton on their home floor there is little doubt these are the two best teams in Divison I right now. Friday night Pete Tarrier and The Great Jon Kesty will be there when we find out who is #1.
 
Division II

Lebanon (9-1) at Bishop Brady (10-2)

 We will also bring you coverage of this game to be played Sunday afternoon at 2:30 as part of The Frank Monahan Foundation Basketball showcase at Bishop Brady.
 
Marshall Crane and his team have done a terrific job of gathering some of the best prep school talent in the Nation under one roof in Concord as Brewster Academy takes on Worcester Academy in the following game before the final game between Notre Dame Prep & New Hampton. The next time you’ll get to see a lot of these players live they’ll be playing against the Celtics so for a great cause it is also a tremendous opportunity to see the game played at the highest level.

 As for our game this is the first of two meetings and Brady finds themselves with a little less wiggle room after their loss to Merrimack Valley. Cole Etten’s team likes the pace Keith Matte’s team will play at as both teams will push the tempo and apply pressure. Etten will put Jourdain or Joe Bell on KJ Matte and try to make Lebanon initiate anything in the half court from the wings. Jake Hansen has the task of trying to stop Brady’s leading scorer Brendan Johnson (18.4 ppg) while Lebanon has to prove they can rebound against elite teams. The loss of Greg Roberge (likely for the season) makes that task even more difficult for Matte’s team. A player to watch for Lebanon will be Ryan Milliken who is going to be a tough match-up for Brady.

I am back on The New Hampshire High school Hoop Show with Pete Tarrier Saturday at 8 am and done traveling through The Caribbean & The North Country. Lebanon Head Coach Keith Matte will be our guest to discuss his team and the state of Division II this season.

 Listen live on 96.7 FM on the seacoast, WGIR 610 AM in Manchester or listen all over the state online at  
http://www.iheart.com/live/WGIR-AM-610-2752/
 
Division III

Newport (10-3) at Pelham (13-0)

 The smartest way to knock the biggest guy off the top of the hill is to lull him into a false sense of confidence. You tell him how big he is and how there is no way you have even the faintest chance of knocking him off. Then after you give him a healthy dose of love & adulation you try and push him down when he’s not paying attention to you. History tells you that’s your best shot. (Jim Valvano mastered this with NC State when his team knocked off Houston in the 1983 National Championship game as chronicled in the terrific 30 for 30 film ‘Survive and Advance’)

 Your best shot is certainly not complaining about him to anyone that will listen and voicing the opinion  that he doesn’t belong at the top of the hill. You do that and he’s going to be looking for you amongst everyone else, and he’s going to try and steamroll you when you come calling.

 Expect the two top player of the year candidates in Division III to square off and for Keith Brown to line up right across from Andrew Houde. Has Newport faced a team that can take Spencer Coronis and Jesse Stiffler away  yet? Can Newport attack Pelham in the post with Houde and Zach Whalen?

 All to be answered Friday night but you do get a very strong feeling that Pelham has been looking forward to this one every bit as much as Newport has..
 
 Berlin (11-3) at Mascoma (9-4)

 Just a brutal three games in four day stretch for Berlin who beat Kennett Tuesday night and battled Winnisquam last night until dropping a 55-51 decision. Now they travel to one of the toughest road destinations in Division III trying to avoid a 3rdloss in 4 games.

 Jim Barry is doing another terrific job at Mascoma and gave Lebanon all it could handle Tuesday night in the re-birth of what was a very good local rivalry back in the 1980’s. Walt Hammond gives the Royals production in the frontcourt while Andrew Cashe is a lightning quick shooting guard who can cause havoc defensively. The player you are not hearing enough about is the lone underclassman in the starting lineup, point guard Alex Schwarz, who went head to head with KJ Matte for 32 minutes. One of my favorite parts of doing this is watching a team for the first time and picking out the player maybe some might miss (I was in early on Cody Ball ask his coach) and after watching a pre-season practice it was Schwarz that caught my eye. Always has his head up with the ball, sees the floor, is under control and although not the fastest guy on the team, always first in sprints.

 Mascoma takes the game and compacts it when it plays on its home floor, at least it is meant to feel that way. This is another great test for Berlin and a match-up we have not seen very often in the past.
 
Division IV

Wilton-Lyndeborough (10-2) at Derryfield School (13-1)

 Sometimes less is more and Rob Bradley’s Derryfield team has looked lately like a team that knows exactly what its identity is because of that.

 Last season’s top seed, which was knocked out of the semifinals by Sunapee, had every piece you needed to win but didn’t always look like those pieces connected. Roger Larrivee missed a chunk of games in the middle of the season, Pat McGinley may have been a better player than Tyler Zorn by the end of the season but wasn’t getting his minutes and the player people thought was their best player (Max Anderson) was actually not their best player (Bennett Doherty).

 Then throw in the fact that you had a freshman in Sam Anderson that was a beast on some nights and looked lost on others (in other words he was a freshman). Through it all your constant was Rob Rizos, just dependable throughout.

 Do you see how that team might be harder to coach than you’d think?

 Well all you need to do is go back to our pre-season preview to see how Coach Bradley adjusted .. I’ll save you the time and give you his quote:

 “We decided as a coaching staff that we needed to clearly define what our approach is going to be this season and that approach includes building this particular team around three players,” said Bradley. “The kids have to understand their role may not call for them getting a lot of shots but still providing really important intangibles like defense and rebounding.”

 Boom, he hits it out of the park right there in December. Rob Rizos is my point guard, he is handling the ball in every situation. Sam Anderson is our best player, we’re setting screens and making space for him to operate. We need to get Pat McGinley shots and the freedom to create off the dribble. At the end of the game either Anderson or McGinley is taking the last shot and anything else is Plan D (Rizos).

 Griffin Lamp will rebound and defend. Joe Holden moves on the floor, sets screens and defends. Everyone else brings energy to the floor.

 That’s a formula that has produced a 13-1 record with little or no drama attached.

 Bradley is never going to get the credit he deserves because he has as much or more talent than everyone else on a year to year coaching at Derryfield. Even though he gets to the Final Four annually with that talent.

 Fair enough, but this season he doesn’t have more talent than everyone else and he’s 13-1….he’s a pretty good coach too.