Every Tuesday we will breakdown teams from across all four divisions using scouting reports from opposing coaches. The idea is to give you a coach’s perspective of each team and the quotes are always anonymous.

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 Today we breakdown: Londonderry, Alvirne, Coe-Brown, John Stark, Kearsarge & Portsmouth Christian

 

 Londonderry

 Londonderry team page

 Nate Stanton’s Lancers come into the week 3-3 against a very tough early schedule that saw them play five of their first six games on the road. We asked coaches to break them down.

 Strengths: “Their top three guys (Jake Coleman, Ethan Garofalo & Cole Britting) can really shoot it and when they add Dakota Bertrand off the bench that gives them four guys on the floor who can shoot it very well.” Another Division I coach talked about Coleman, our pre-season player of the year, “They run some really good sets, about five or six different ones, that get him good looks. Where I think he is actually underrated is with his defense. He has those long arms and he does a really good job of picking the ball away. When we played them he always seemed to come up with a defensive play when they needed it.”

 “Cole Britting is a kid I like a lot. Just a tough as nails player who really seems to be the calming influence for that group.” A fellow Division I coach talked about head coach Nate Stanton, “He’s a very good coach. When we played them we got up early but he called a timeout and immediately made an adjustment to get them back in the game.” Another coach agreed, “I really like the stuff he runs and to listen to him communicate down the sideline…he does a good job.”

 “Dakota Bertrand has really come on for them, he does a nice job slipping screens and finishing when Coleman finds him down low. Coleman is a good passer as well, really another part of his game where he can beat you.”

 

 Weaknesses: “They can shoot you back in a game with their habit of taking quick shots. When we played them I felt like they got a lead and then took their foot off the peddle a little bit. Nate had to reel them back in a bit.”  Another coach talked about getting the Lancers into mismatches, “They switch on everything defensively, and so that means you can get your big man against Britting or a small guy in the post. Where they survive playing that way is that they are very physical, even their guards, and they will not give up their position without a fight.”

 “They will press full court and can give some teams fits with it.  They are comfortable playing at any pace but I believe they are at their best when they run that fast break. They just spread the floor so well and Coleman kills you in man to man defenses.”

 

 Kearsarge Regional

 Kearsarge Team Page

 Nate Camp’s team, like Londonderry, had to spend the beginning of the season on the road. The Cougars played six of their first eight games on the road. We asked coaches to break them down.

 Strengths: “It all starts with Tayler Mattos & Tommy Johnson. You have to stop them or at least not let them control the game like they did against Campbell (when they combined for 70 points). You need to scout them and recognize what they are going to run for them. They run a lot of misdirection to get you to follow perimeter players out of the paint, all so they can get you with a lob into Mattos with no weak side defender in the area. You have to see that coming.”

 “Defensively they will play man to man with four guys and leave Mattos (who is 6’7) to protect the middle. That allows guys to play aggressively on the outside, knowing they have a shot blocker behind them.” Another coached talked about their pressure defense, “They will go 1-3-1 in the half court. They have shown some 2-2-1 as well…all in the half court.”

 How would you attack Kearsarge? “You need a big man who can shoot or use Mattos’ guy (that he is covering) as the screener and force them to switch. If you can get him switched out on to a guard that may drive him out of the paint.”

 Weaknesses: “Last year they had a very balanced attack. This year it is two guys carrying the entire load, and that is difficult to win with in March. Those are two very special players in Mattos and Johnson but you are putting everything on their shoulders. A year ago Joe Storozuk hit some really big shots for them but this year teams are guarding him closely and he is not adjusting. He’s averaging 4.5 ppg. and that is because teams know he is option #3 and they are defending him differently.”

 A fellow coach agreed, Kearsarge needs more scorers to step up. “ They don’t have a third player to get into double digits, meaning if you decided to take Johnson away and clog the middle…they will struggle against it.”

 

 Coe-Brown Academy

 Coe-Brown Team Page

 Jennifer Chick’s alma mater is off to a very good 5-1 start under Hall of Fame coach David Smith. We asked coaches that have faced the Bears this season to break them down.

 Strengths: “ They seem to have very good chemistry as a team and they play very hard. They don’t run anything too fancy but they all know their role and Coach Smith really does a very good job of having them prepared. They are extremely well coached.”  Another Division II coach we spoke with agreed, “They have a very good flow offensively and I really like the point guard (Brody Ashley). He is very smooth and you can tell he is an athlete. “

 “ They might be the best offensive rebounding team we’ve played all season. They really are tenacious on the glass and have the athletes to give you fits. On defense they will come out in a 2-2-1 press and go for steals. They’ll gamble a bit, so you can beat them at times if you execute, but they also get a lot of their points off of turnovers.”

 “ If you don’t own the space you have with the ball they are going to be on top of you. They don't take plays off and I thought their head coach (David Smith) did a very nice job. You can see why he is in the Hall of Fame.”

 Weaknesses:  “ They will overplay a bit so you can get them on set plays. We found that with a good ball fake against pressure or in the paint they would react to it and you could make a play against them. Our set plays gave them trouble, but when we got into a running game because of the pace they set we did not handle that well at all.”

 “ They are not a great shooting team. When we played them we tried to force them to live from the perimeter. They are at their best using their speed and athleticism.”

 

 Alvirne

 Alvirne Team Page

 The Broncos are off to a very strong 4-1 start under 3rd year head coach Brian Lynch. We asked three Division I coaches to break them down.

 Strengths: “ It all starts with Max Bonney-Liles and they play very well off of him. (Head coach) Brian Lynch does a really good job getting him good looks in the flow of the offense and when he catches and squares up there is a very good chance he is knocking that shot down.” Another Division I coach spoke about head coach Brian Lynch as well. “ He comes out of timeouts with some really good plays; whether it is out of bounds plays or sets.”

 Coaches we spoke to also spoke about guard Jack Brown. “ He’s a good athlete and he keeps you honest. If you leave him alone he will knock down shots. He’s not a threat to go off but he will consistently move the ball and bury the shot when it gets to him in the flow of the possession.”

 “ Defensively they played a very active 2-3 zone against us and then went to some man to man. I thought their zone gave us more trouble than their man to man. They have good size, they’re not huge but they have athletes with long arms and the ability to jump passing lanes. They were a tough team to work around when they were in that zone.”

 Weaknesses: “ They rely an awful lot on Bonney-Liles, and he is very, very good. Where they could get into trouble is if he is having an off night or if you have a defender who really causes him to struggle. Who is that next guy who steps up and makes plays for them?”

 A fellow coach echoed that sentiment. “ They don’t have many playmakers, guys that can create on their own. What they have is one really good scorer, one of the best we have seen, and players who really fit the system. They have been playing for (Brian) for a few years and you can see that they know exactly what to run.”

 “I think you can pressure them. They are very comfortable in the half-court offense and I think if you disrupted that with pressure you could get them out of sorts.”

 

 John Stark

 John Stark Team Page

 Mike Smith’s Generals are 3-3 on the season and a contender for a Top 8 seed come March. We asked opposing coaches to break them down.

 Strengths: “ Very physical team, maybe the most physical team we played. Their big man (Drew McQuarrie) is a heck of a player. He controlled the boards and he along with Cooper Gorski made it very difficult for us to get to the basket.”

 “ I thought they did a good job controlling pace when we played them. They want to play at a slower pace because they feel like they can beat you in a half-court game, they work hard to keep the pace slow.” We asked coaches about the Generals defense, “ They will mix up their defenses a bit. We saw zone and then even a triangle & 2. What they do very well is hold you to one shot and McQuarrie can really finish around the basket. He has speed and gets off the floor in a hurry. He was tough to compete against.”

 Weaknesses: “ Their guards do a nice job of handling the ball, I like Isaiah Lovering in particular,  but they are not scorers. What we did was clog the middle and force their guards to shoot it. McQuarrie & Gorski are really tough so we made sure we loaded up the paint, they won't shoot from the outside very often and their strength is really on the interior.”

 Another coach in the division talked about forcing John Stark to run. “ Great athletes and really well coached by (Mike Smith). We tried to get them into a quicker pace because they don’t have the outside shooters to kill you with open transition looks. If we could protect the middle we thought they might struggle to score.”

 “ You have to take away the high/low game because they run that very well and they have the size to wear you down.”

 

 Portsmouth Christian Academy

 PCA Team Page

 Under athletic director and first year head coach Derek Summers PCA has battled injuries in a 3-4 start. With the toughest schedule in Division IV ahead of them we asked opposing coaches to break them down.

 Strengths: “ They have a real toughness down low and it all comes back to Paul Staude. He intimidates other guys on the floor and just competes so hard every night. He’s a player I really respect.” Another Division IV praised Staude as well, “ He had to step up with Kylani LaFleur graduated and he has done that. “

 “They can still cause trouble with their press but this year it is more of a slower tempo for them. They don’t have the guards to play at the same pace they did a year ago. A player they really miss is Shaun Bradley, he was a very underrated player for them.” A Division IV coach we spoke to talked about Drew McCormick and Joe Yoon. “ They are both just very solid players. Yoon is a player who makes good decisions on the floor and McCormick is one of the better big men in our division. When those two are playing alongside Staude they have three players most teams cannot match.”

 Weaknesses: “ Last year they really caused a lot of problems with that 1-2-2 press and without Kylani..It’s just not the same effect. I think they expected some of last year’s role players to step into bigger roles and produce and it hasn’t happened. Last season they got a lot of baskets in transition and LaFleur was such a big part of that. They don’t have that same firepower they had a year ago when they went to the finals.”

 “ They struggle at the guard spot and I think on a lot of nights their toughness keeps them in games.”