It felt like it had been a foregone conclusion as Pelham and Conant walked out to center court at Southern New Hampshire University for the Division III Championship game last March. That is, unless, you were too busy to notice how they had gotten there.

 Unbeaten Pelham had to watch Kyle Shaw’s 18 foot jumper fall short at the buzzer as their entire season flashed before their eyes just days earlier. Meanwhile Conant had survived overtime and every punch Mascenic Regional could lay on them before getting out of the quarterfinal round before that. The two best teams arrived that Saturday afternoon and played a highly entertaining championship game before Pelham prevailed behind Keith Brown and Dylan Silvestri.

 With four starters back and eight of their top nine players Conant is the smart pick to reach their 10th championship game in 12 years. Pelham, which returns the best player in the state and reigning player of the year, also are a heavy favorite after finishing second in the recent North Andover (MA) Fall League.

 It would be easy to call a rematch in the Division III final to take place on March 12th at SNHU another foregone conclusion but two prominent Division III coaches will tell you emphatically that you’d be making a big mistake. “ There are quite a few teams that were maybe third tier teams a year ago, Kearsarge, Franklin, Winnisquam, who are dramatically improved,” notes Pelham head coach Matt Regan. “ There are a lot of teams that I think are capable of being there in the end.

 A fellow tournament coach concurs, “ We were a half a second from being knocked out two years ago in a  year when people picked us to breeze to the title,” said Conant head coach Eric Saucier. “ Any game in the tournament is a night where you could be off and it means the end of your season. We know that as well as anyone.”

 Ok so there are two pretty smart guys who don’t believe it’s all about Pelham & Conant….the truth is it is about Conant & Pelham…I have a feeling those two guys may have an agenda….and the twenty five other teams tasked with knocking them out come March.

 Today we will take a look at the Division III basketball landscape in the second of our four high school basketball previews on NHsportspage.

 Remember you can become a supporter of the work our team does at NHsportspageand have access to every single game we cover this season in full by becoming a Gold Level Supporter today.  We will be listing all of our new members here on NHsportspage & on our year end highlight video and would like to begin by thanking Vic & Christine Brown of Pelham, Somersworth head coach Rob Fauci and the family of Bow’s Mike Malette for their support and for becoming Gold Level Members of our team.

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 Division III Predicted order of finish
1.Conant
2.Pelham
3.Winnisquam Regional
4.Kearsarge Regional
5.Campbell
6.Bow
7.Franklin
8.Hopkinton
9.Gilford
10.Farmington

Lurking outside the Top 10: Berlin, Somersworth, Fall Mountain, Mascenic Regional, Inter-Lakes, Raymond & Laconia

 The fact that no team welcomed Pelham to the division with open arms more than Eric Saucier and his Conant Orioles felt like the scene in ‘Heat’ where Al Pacino & Robert De Niro sit and talk over coffee, knowing full well that within the next few days one of them is going down. The truth is Conant relished the chance to play the spoiler for once. In 2016 that role goes back to everyone else. “ Pelham hasn’t lost a game since they’ve been in our division so to me they are clearly the top dog until somebody beats them,” said Saucier, making his case for the champs. “ We have a team that knows what it takes to get to that final Saturday of the season and we will go as far as our seniors take us.”

 For the Orioles it begins with an elite backcourt. Josh Degrenier returns after an all-state campaign as a junior and is joined by point guard Simeon Hodgson, who has grown to 6’2 over the summer. Rowan Niemela opened some eyes over the summer with his ability to knock down jumpers. The sophomore shooting guard will step into a bigger role in year number two in the program. “ He is a kid that just loves the game and he has really come on over the off-season,” said Saucier. The Orioles normally go about eight players deep and will rely on J.P Record and Kyle Dupuis to provide production off the bench as they were both able to do a year ago.

 Upfront it is the big man combination of Brandon Ford and CJ Bilodeau that allows Conant to be able to match up with any team in the division. Bilodeau is your rock/enforcer on the low block while Ford has the ability and now the experience to take his game to a first team all-state level. “ Brandon learned a lot last year and you hope that with all that experience he is ready to take his game up another level for us.” That question won’t be answered until after Christmas as Ford will serve a two game suspension to begin the season for a violation of team rules. Two other starters will miss the season opener against Kearsarge as well.

 “ We have gotten off to a very good start in the pre-season,” noted Saucier. “ I’ve been happy with the effort level and their commitment. It’s a long season and there’s a lot that will be determined but this is a team that should be able to compete on a night to night basis.”




While you were reading this, Keith Brown hit 6 28 footers. 

 Pelham’s stay in Division III may be a brief one, as they are slated to move back up to Division II next season, but head coach Matt Regan would like to make it a memorable one. Back to back titles would do the trick. With Player of the Year Keith Brown leading four new starters the Pythons will find the second time around will be a bit more difficult. “ We’re not going to walk into gyms this winter and win games by 40 points every night. We lost Ryan Cloutier, who was first team all-state and MVP of the Twin State game, Dylan Silvestri, who is playing college basketball, David Rogers, a top defender for us and Ryan Rondeau who did so many things for us,” said Regan. “This is basically a brand new team.”

 It’s a team though that the head coach really likes, “ They have worked very hard during the off-season. What’s fun about this group is they don’t ever get too high or low. They just play the game and play the same way every night.” When asked if talk of back to back titles has come up in the pre-season Regan answered, “ It really hasn’t. Not once.”

 Keith Brown is not only the best player in Division III, he is the best player in the NHIAA. The 6’3 point guard averaged over 30 points a game in the fall league against bigger Massachusetts schools and is receiving heavy interest from Division II college programs. “ Keith is the hardest working player I have ever coached,” said Regan who has coached Brown since he was a freshman. “ I’ve been around a lot of talented players here; James Roman, Justin Hojlo, Stephen Spiro, but he is by far the hardest worker I’ve been around. He is a basketball junkie.”

 Joining Brown in the backcourt will be Kyle Frank who was Pelham’s most improved player over the off-season and will step into more of a scoring role this season after playing a key role off the bench a year ago. Ryan Nystrom has seen an increase in confidence coincide with deeper range from beyond the arc. The 6’3 senior will immediately step into the starting lineup along with the bruising frontcourt of Cam Deloreto (6’3 220 lbs.) and Joe Pantaleo (6’3 205). “ They have really accepted the Dylan Silvestri role and embraced being the muscle down low. Both have been terrific on the glass for us.”

 Robert Ryan, Trevor Gagnon and John Granfield will see time as well for a Pelham team a bit more familiar with their surroundings than they were one year ago. “ There are a lot of talented players in this division and my concern early on is in our ability to defend against that. We have a lot to prove just like everyone else.”

Winnisquam head coach Kevin Dame correctly predicted he was facing the longest off-season of his career the moment his Bears walked off the floor in Berlin one point losers in the quarterfinal round. “ I may have said I can’t wait until basketball season quite a few times since that night..” Dame admits. After his core players helped lead the school to one of its best football seasons it’s time to focus on the new goal: it’s final four or bust. “ They’re ready to go and it has a lot to do without how much work they have put in over the off-season.”

 Leading the way will be all-state point guard Christian Serrano, who would be your pre-season player of the year if not for the fact he resides in the same division as Keith Brown. “ He really embraces that leadership role, whether it is as the QB or as our point guard,” said Dame. “As teams started to game plan more against him you started to see teams trying to force him left and that is something he has worked hard on; using the entire floor.”

 Mike Lowery and Adam MacLeod, fighting his way back from an injury sustained during football season, will join Serrano in a loaded backcourt. Hunter Tierney, Logan Morrison and Isaiah Singleton are all expected to contribute for the Bears.

 There will be bigger frontcourt players in the division but few with more athleticism and maybe none faster than 6’3 center Tim Harmon. “ Tim is just a great kid and his ability to get up & down the floor and finish at the rim is a big weapon for us.” Harmon added a mid-range jumper to his game over the off-season and Dame expects him to combine with forward Mike Buxton for a very tough inside/out combination against teams that try to go zone against Winnisquam. “ They are a group that really likes a challenge and to compete against the best,” said Dame. “ It’s about taking that next step and getting to the final four.”

 Luckily Kearsarge Regional head coach Nate Camp is smart enough not to take the old adage ‘you can’t teach size’ literally because that is exactly what he has been trying to do the past three years. In 2016 the veteran coach and former Colby Sawyer player has a team capable of getting Kearsarge back to the final four after a long absence. “ I really like this group a lot and it’s not just the ability, it’s how much they love to compete every day,” said Camp of his team that returns four starters. “ We have some pre-season drills; up & down the floor and shooting exercises that I used to run at Colby Sawyer and they have already reached their goals in the first two weeks. It’s a team of guys willing to put the work in the get better.”

 It begins with the Mattos brothers down low. Brothers Zach, a 6’7 senior, and 6’6 sophomore Tayler, that will make the Cougars the biggest team in the division this winter. “ Zach has been healthy and he’s doing the work to hopefully continue that way,” said Camp of his center who has suffered back issues in the past. While Zach is the anchor of a very solid defense it is Tayler who has averaged 25 ppg. early in the pre-season, “ He’s really a big/strong kid and someone who I think will be a very difficult match-up for teams on a lot of nights,” said Camp.

 Trent Noordsij is a 6’2 point guard with an ability to take smaller opposing guards into the paint. Playing alongside him is sophomore Tommy Johnson (“He’s a scrappy defender and has developed into a knockdown shooter as well.”) and glue guy, every team needs a glue guy, Jack Van Etten. “ Jack is capable of scoring more but he embraces his role as one of our best defenders.” Sophomore Joe Storozuk should provide offense off the bench while Sam Bourcier gives the team more size off the bench at 6’4. “This is a team of a lot of basketball only guys,” said Camp, “ who didn’t play football.  They came in and did the work lifting weights in the pre-season. We know it’s a very balanced division, we’re excited to get going.”

 New Campbell head coach Sudi Lett has spent the past few years grooming Manchester players for their high school basketball careers & beyond. That probably explains his confusion on the first day of practice. “I looked around and said, man we’re going to be the smallest team in the division!” The Cougars starting backcourt of 5’9 Michael Gray & 5’8 Kyle Shaw won’t be pestering Lett to install the flex offense anytime soon but two facts became immediately aware to the new coach that eased his concerns. 1) He was in Division III now not Division I and 2) these kids can play. “ The kids have really come out an competed hard in the first two weeks and that’s a great early sign,” said Lett who took over when longtime head coach John Langlios took a coaching job in Florida to be closer to family.

 Certain to make the transition easier will be the return of junior center Harrison Vedrani (Pete Tarrier’s beloved ‘Ogre’ if you prefer) who made an impression right away. “ I really like him as a player,” said Lett. “ He is a kid who likes contact and he’s a horse down low. He plays the game very hard and that rubs off on his teammates.”

 Lett takes over a program that Langlois led to three consecutive final fours and the message to his players early on has been to not forget what they learned under his highly successful predecessor. “ You don’t go through school forgetting all the lessons you learned from good teachers through the years. We had a practice where Harrison didn’t set a screen properly and said ‘Boy if this had been last year we would have been running for that’. I said ‘Then let’s get on the line and do it right next time.’ I have my own style of play that we will adapt to but these kids learned some pretty good lessons that they should still be applying all year.”

 Where Campbell adopted more of a heavy defensive oriented and ‘three yards and a cloud of dust’ offense the past three seasons Lett wants his team to utilize their athletes in the open floor and learn to make quick decisions in the flow of the game. “ I don’t want robotic players that do exactly what I tell them to do,” explained Lett. “ I want them to be able to think on their feet and make those decisions on their own. If we are able to do that we are going to be able to execute at a much faster pace.”

 Bow head coach Chris Gaudreau returned to the sidelines after taking the Falcons to UNH several times in Division II (Class I) so he has been around long enough to know not all 9-9 campaigns are created equally. “ I really enjoyed coaching this team last season and they’ve picked up right where they left off,” said Gaudreau. With ten of his top twelve players returning that enthusiasm promises to translate on the floor as well as Bow gets back in the conversation with a very talented group led by Adam Nelson and center Nate Alford.

 Nelson was the leading scorer a year ago for a balanced offense and has expanded his game over the off-season while Alford is a double-double machine at 6’4. “ We want to make him more of a focus of the offense this year,” said Gaudreau. “ He’s a coach’s dream, just a kid who plays hard and is eager to learn.”

 Will Holmes is the kind of point guard who isn’t interested in scoring totals as much as getting everyone involved and taking care of the basketball. That’s the kind of player coaches pray for. “ The scouting report probably tells you he can’t score but that’s not correct,” said his head coach.

“ He is a player who wants to set up his teammates and that’s what makes him extremely valuable to our team.” Sophomore Ryan Andrews and senior Colin Plumb will see minutes off the bench as Plumb will back up Holmes at the point.

 One time and hopefully future NHsportspage videographer Mike Malette fits right into the theme of Gaudreau’s group that only is interested in wins and not their own stats. Malette, whose family recently became a Gold Level Supporter of our work, will set the tone for the starting unit with his rebounding and defense, “ He knows exactly where he needs to be on the floor, just the kind of player you win with.” Bow seems to be in heavy supply of those kind of players. That and a year under their belt already at the varsity level could lead Bow back to the final four for the first time since 2011.

 Franklin will feature one of the best inside outside combinations in the state with all-state performers Kenny Torres & Dana Bean. The Golden Tornadoes hung with a very good Mascenic team in last season’s first round before bowing out of the tournament. In 2016 the goal turns to a run to the final four.

 Dave Chase is well known for the fact he will get his team in a van to go just about anywhere to play you in the off-season. If that ‘Mystery, Alaska’ town has a basketball team Chase will get his Hawks out there. It was during a busy pre-season filled with injuries that the longtime head coach realized there was reason for optimism with his Hopkinton team. “ We’ve had several starters go down and we were beaten pretty good by a bigger team in a scrimmage and I simply asked them if this was the kind of team they were going to be all season? Shying away when things didn’t go their way.” Hopkinton responded and with those players coming back and the group around them gaining experience Hopkinton will, as usual, be back in the mix for a spot at SNHU.

 Point guard Jacob Rockwood has shown a real ability to pressure the ball and run the Hawks offense in the mold of former all-state guard Frankie Beane. “ He’s a true point guard and with a team that features as many shooters as we do that’s a great asset to us.”

 Hopkinton will feature a pair of very good forwards in Henry Yianakoplos and Josh Angell. Nick Fleury, one of the pre-season walking wounded, is expected to produce when he returns while lightning quick guard Tucker Windhurst has improved his shooting over the off-season. “ We won’t be the biggest team but we have the athletes to get up and down the floor,” said Chase. “That’s the kind of style we want to play and this group has embraced that.” Add to the mix 6’0 215 lb. bruiser Robert Wilkerson who joins the program after moving from Arkansas, “ He is a true athlete and one tough kid,” said Chase.

 Nick Meserve & Liam Flanagan are a pair of 6’4 big men to man the low block while 6’2 forward Dave Nelson has gained a reputation with Chase as a player who will help in any way he is asked. Cam Cyr may be the team’s best player and adds to a nucleus that will allow Chase, who likes to go the ‘mad scientist’ routine from time to time, to mix & match out on the floor as he pleases. “ We feel like we can execute in the half-court or speed up the pace if the match-ups aren’t right for us in that type of game,” said Chase. “ I feel like once we get healthy we’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”

 If the alma mater is getting back to their fourth consecutive quarterfinal round appearance it will be behind the same formula of balanced scoring and defense that has gotten them there recently. Without a big time scorer Chip Veazey’s GilfordGolden Eagles are expecting production from all nine players in their rotation. “ We have a lot of balance with this group and they have won a lot of games at the JV level playing that style,” said the longtime head coach. Carter Mercer returns at the point and it is his ability as an on the ball defender that triggers Gilford’s half-court defense. “ Carter is a very good defender for us. I think he is capable of more offensive production and early on in the pre-season he’s shown a better ability to hit open jumpers when the defense gives it to him.”

 Tyler Swarthout, Oliver Roy, Shane Podmore and 6’6 transfer Lewis Bernard will give the Golden Eagles a frontline that can match up with anyone. Good news for a team with Kearsarge and Franklin on the schedule. Zach Djabelarbi will assume a bigger scoring role while junior sharp shooter Mason McGonagle will immediately step in to a major role. “ Mason is a player we feel like can come right in and provide scoring for us whether in a starting role or off the bench,” said Veazey. Ethan Carrier & Hunter Stevens will provide Veazey with the depth that allowed Gilford to wear down teams a year ago. “ We feel like we can be a better team offensively than we were a year ago.”

 With three starters returning Adam Thurston’s Farmington Tigers have a chance to sneak up on a few people in what likely is their last season in Division III for some time. With a move down to Division IV looming Thurston will put the ball in the hands of his talented point guard Shaine Bodio to try and go out of the division with a bang. “ We will run the offense through him. We are comfortable with his decision making and there is no doubt he is one of the best point guards in the division,” said Thurston of his 5’7 senior. “ What I want to see from him is more leadership and leading the team by example.”

 Spencer Deland and Kane Texeira return to the starting lineup and will be joined by impressive sophomore Chris Demers, “ He’s going to come in and play right away. I think he’s a player who will produce for us,” Thurston said of Demers.

  DJ Hersom, Zach Gilman and Derek Poulin provide depth for a Farmington team that wants to push the pace and create easy scoring opportunities with their defense. “ We have a good mix of size & speed. We are going to try to get out and pressure the ball to control the pace of the game.”

 The success of your season at a program like Berlin is judged by where your season ends. For Dave Morrisette, who helped guide the Mountaineers to the final four in his first season after taking over for legendary head coach Don Picard (I’m anointing Don legendary status), 2016 will be about looking nothing in March like the team he has today.

“ We’re young, to the point where our team leader is a sophomore,” said Morrissette, “ we won’t be as strong as in recent years but this is a group that has a chance to be very good down the line. This season will be about how much we grow as group.”

 Evan Arsenault gives you a very good place to start. The sophomore point guard is the latest in a long line of brothers who have led Berlin to multiple final fours and a 2012 Division III title. “ Evan has played all over and really worked to get better every year. I think he will be one of the top guards in the division this season.” Austin Demers will join him in a starting lineup that includes 6’3 sophomore Joey Fodor and senior Nick Cote. For Fodor it is all about the on the job training, “ Joey just needs time out on the floor. He and Evan have been playing together since they were in grade school so there is a real connection there. He’s one of a few players we have who will just need playing time and experience to improve as the season goes along.”

 Last season may have felt at times like Mascenic Regional’s best shot at a final four appearance but in reality a strong senior class and a pair of talented underclassman guards could have Jay Starr’s team in conversation once again. “ You have a player like Jared Stauffeneker come through only once in a very long time but we have a very good group coming back and they feel like they have more to accomplish,” said Starr. It begins with those two talented backcourt mates; Daimon Gibson seemed to have improved by the week last season while Jared’s younger brother Brett is ready to step into a bigger role in his junior season. “ Jared helped the younger guys see how hard you have to work to be successful and I feel like that will have an impact on our team this season.”

 Roman Ojala leads a talented group of seniors that includes Cooper Wayrynen, Mike Phillips and Chase Holombo. “ Those guys have really set the tone from the first day of practice this pre-season,” noted Starr. “ We are going to be a team with more ball movement this year. When you have a big time scorer like we did last year you are obviously going to run a lot of plays to get him good looks. With this group it will be about playing up tempo basketball and trying to get some transition opportunities out of our pressure defense.”

 Rob Fauci takes over as head coach at Somersworth after eight years of serving as Lorne Lucas’s top assistant at the school and most recently, Oyster River. He inherits a Hilltoppers team that gave up nearly 60 points a game last season on their way to missing the Division III tournament for the first time in over ten years, “ It’s going to start on the defensive end with us, that’s the commitment we need to make,” said Fauci, “ This was a program known for its pressure defense and ability to hold teams in the 40’s if that’s what it took to win. Two weeks into pre-season we aren’t there yet, but that is where we need to get to if we are going to get back in the tournament.”

 Bryton Early will run the point for Fauci while Chance Ennis and newcomer Parker Williams, a senior who hasn’t played since his freshman year, will help lead Somersworth. Matt Menz has shown flashes in the pre-season of being a difference maker with his ability to get up & down the floor in hurry. “ Matt is very fast and maybe our most athletic player,” said Fauci. “ What we are working on is getting him to understand what we want to do defensively in the half-court so he can be an asset there for us as well.”

 Whether the new emphasis leads to more wins is yet to be seen but Fauci has wasted no time getting his message out. “ It’s about playing team basketball on both ends of the floor. If we are going to compete with the teams on our schedule we are going to do it together as a team.”

 A Laconia team returning its core from a tournament team a year ago was dealt a huge blow when 6’4 center Carter Doherty and guard Jacob Filgate decided not to come out for the team in 2016. Doherty wants to concentrate on baseball while Filgate is a two time all-state defensive back in football. “ That was tough, losing Carter especially,” said head coach Steve McDonough. “ Jacob is a terrific athlete and anytime you lose an athlete at this level it’s a tough loss. We will move on with the group we have and rely on our guards to really create some opportunities for the offense.”

 The Sachems will be led by their backcourt of Andre McNeil and Cody Greenwood, who each contributed a year ago. “ They are going to be asked to take on more of a scoring role for us but I believe each of them is capable of setting up Brendan and our big guys for easier looks,” said McDonough. Brendan would be forward Brendan Mooney, another standout football player who will run the baseline for the Sachems looking for scoring opportunities & rebounds. “ He’s a great kid and very coachable. His ability to rebound at the rim will be big for us.”

 Jake Ellis is a ball of energy off the bench (“The kids play harder just because of his effort out on the floor.”) while Ryan McCrea will step up into a bigger role as a sophomore.

 The bad news in regards to key starters not returning wasn’t only relegated to the Lakes Region as Mascoma head coach Jim Barry goes into the 2016 season without his starting center and power forward. 6’5 center Jeremy Batten and 6’4 forward Will Morrison will not be playing this season, leaving all-state point guard Alex Schwarz to not only run the offense but become it. “ Alex has been terrific and he will do as much as one person can,” said Barry. “ Ideally he is setting up a balanced offense and using his passing abilities to help his teammates but we don’t have enough around him right now to make that happen.” Barry will try and play Killian Dowd at point guard in an effort to get Schwarz better looks on the wing. “ We have two players with varsity experience so it’s going to be process for us this season.”

 Is Belmont ready to make a run? After starting four freshman two years ago big man Trevor Hunt will try and lead the Red Raiders back to the tournament in his junior season. Raymond should be back in the post-season again behind forward Wesley Oates, Dylan Greenwood and Connor Cole. Inter-Lakes will look to build on a big football season behind Zach Swanson and Moultonborough transfer Matt Norton, a very good rebounding power forward. Fall Mountain is a team that could surprise behind sharp shooting guard Ryan Murdoch and Kam Bushway.

 
Pre-Season First Team All-State
Keith Brown of Pelham
Christian Serrano of Winnisquam
Josh Degrenier of Conant
Dana Bean of Franklin
Tayler Mattos of Kearsarge Regional
 
 Second Team
 Evan Arsenault of Berlin
 Brandon Ford of Conant
 Harrison Vedrani of Campbell
 Kyle Frank of Pelham
 Trent Noordsij of Kearsarge Regional
 
With apologies to: Alex Shwarz of Mascoma, Shaine Bodio of Farmington, Ryan Nystrom & Cam Deloreto of Pelham, Kenny Torres of Franklin, Roman Ojala & Daimon Gibson of Mascenic Regional, Tim Harmon of Winnisquam, Zach Djabelarbi of Gilford, Cody Greenwood of Laconia, Zach Swanson of Inter-Lakes, Tommy Johnson & Zach Mattos of Kearsarge Regional, Henry Yianakopoios of Hopkinton, Adam Nelson & Nate Alford of Bow, Trevor Hunt of Belmont, Simeon Hodgson & Rowan Niemela of Conant,Ryan Murdoch of Fall Mountain, Parker Smith of Stevens and Jesse Stiffler of Newport.
 

The ALL NEW New Hampshire High school Basketball Show makes it debut Saturday morning from 9 to 11 am on ESPN NH on 900 & 1250 AM or simply listen to the show online from anywhere by clicking the LISTEN LIVE button on the NHsportspage homepage or on the Tunein Radio App.

 Pete Tarrier and I return with Sean Young of Epping as our first guest to talk about his pre-season #1 team and Saturday afternoon match-up with Salem in our Coaches for a Cause Jamboree.

Justin McIsaac will join us every Saturday at 10:30 and we will break down all the Friday night scores and preview our two day Coaches for Cause Jamboree.

 

 Coming Tuesday: Division II