This is an annual column where we stop to take a look around each of the four divisions at the midway point of the season. The purpose is to analyze the first half of the season to tell you where the teams stand today and are likely headed over the second half of the season.

 As always I pick the two teams most likely to meet in the championship game, hand out mid-season all-state picks as well as our mid-season player & coach of the year.

 If you are reading this article you have chosen to support the coverage of high school sports and our seven person team which is happy to bring it to you.

 On behalf of Pete, Jen, Jon, Justin, Reed & Eliot I say thank you!

 Thank you to our Division IV Gold Level Coaches who are a big part of our NHsportspage team: Mark Collins (Groveton), Trevor Howard (Littleton), Jay Darrah (Pittsfield), Nick Fiset (Epping), Leo Gershgorin (Wilton-Lyndeborough), Jeff LaBar (Cinderella), Scott Currier (Nute), Paul Greenlaw (Profile), Jamie Walker (Woodsville), Buddy Trask (Colebrook), Rob Bradley (Derryfield) & Jamie Hayes (Newmarket)

 

 If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Groveton vs Epping

 If you take a close look at the Division IV standings there are as many gaps as a topographical map of Utah.

 Today we’re going to breakdown where the gaps reside and who fits in where at the mid-way point.

 Let’s start at the top.

 Littleton, Groveton and Epping are clearly the best three teams in the division. The Crusaders won a very big game on opening night in Epping in game we covered. Big not only for the statement it made but the tie-breaker it created.

 Littleton is getting a ton of production from pre-season Player of the Year Logan Briggs (a triple double threat with his ability to block shots), Cy Kezerian (12.5 ppg. and when looking at the Littleton scoring averages take into account they are only playing the first four minutes of the second half on most nights), Danny Kubkowski (16.8 ppg. this kid is the real deal) and Cooper Paradice (this year’s Derek Maccini and that’s high praise).

 Trevor Howard’s team is crushing opponents with their pressure defense and there is an air of confidence they didn’t have before they won the Division IV championship last March.

 They are going to beat every team on their schedule the rest of the way by 35 plus points except for….

 Groveton.

 Wilton-Lyndeborough put Groveton’s two biggest weaknesses on display for all to see last Friday night.

1. Rebounding against bigger teams
2. A team that can put an elite one on one defender on Corey Gadwah

 Power forward Trey Carrier and center Sean McClure were able to combine for 34 points against the Eagles Friday night and Carrier was able to hold Gadwah to 11 points in a game that went to the wire, as Wilton led by four points with 1:40 left.

 What I love about this team is their toughness and their coach. Daegan Perras won’t get rattled by the Littleton pressure defense or the 500 people watching. Mark Collins will have his team prepared and Austin Lesperance (12.4) allows Gadwah room to operate with his ability to knock down three pointers. The key players in any game against an elite team (and only Littleton qualifies on their schedule) is for players like Isaiah Stone and Ryan Laverty to step up. I like what I’ve seen out of Matt Mason and Dylan Rogers is a known entity, you know what you are getting out of him.

 They’ve been on the big stage at Plymouth State and they have one of the best coaches in New Hampshire. There is also something to be said for seniors, as Tim Goodridge reminds me every year, you win with seniors in March.

 Epping is every bit as good as Groveton and Littleton. I really like the job Nick Fiset is doing in his first season. They run some really nice stuff on offense and he has a very good read on last year’s disappointment, after back to back finals appearances, and knows when to get on his players and when to lay off. You can see these kids like playing for him and he’s done his homework throughout the division.

 A wise man once said ‘Once you get to Plymouth the best player usually wins it’ and look at the results. Last year was the rare season that wasn’t true, as Kylani LaFleur of PCA was the best player at Plymouth, but his team was two points away from overtime in the final.

 Jordan Litts at Wilton-Lyndeborough in 2015, Jimmy Stanley with Epping in 2014, Chad Knighton with Lisbon in 2013 and so on…..Jackson Rivers has the potential to be ‘that guy’ in 2017.

 The Blue Devils are a match-up nightmare for Groveton; they have two elite defenders on the perimeter in Tommy & Hunter Bullock, who can guard Gadwah & Lesperance and an active big man in Rivers who can beat the Eagles up on the glass.

 I mean that is the recipe for beating Groveton. I would anticipate Nick Fiset not even bothering to press Groveton if they meet in the tournament, why would you with an all-state point guard in Perras and the risk of giving up transition three’s to Gadwah & Lesperance.

 Epping plays very good defense and they know their roles. Rivers isn’t scoring 20 a night (he also is often sitting out the fourth quarter) because he is pumping up 20 shots a night. He’s scoring in the flow of the offense and off of offensive rebounds. There was something very off about this team last season and they look back on track at the half-way point.

 So who are the other contenders for a spot in Plymouth?

 Let’s take a quick look.

 Pittsfield: I love what Jay Darrah is doing with this team and power forward Josh Whittier (11.4) gives them a presence down low they didn’t have a year ago. The Panthers though are 2-1 against teams with a winning record. Wins against Newmarket (8-1) and Farmington (4-3) and a loss to 7-1 Epping. That’s very solid; it just simply illustrates the issue with the schedule this year that we highlighted in the Division IV preview. Darrah’s team plays four of their next five games at Epping, At PCA, at Farmington and against Newmarket at home. That will tell us more..

 Newmarket: The Mules are also 2-1 against teams with plus .500 records and like Pittsfield one of those wins is against a Farmington team that is 4-3. It will get tougher in a hurry and we will learn about Jamie Hayes’ team after games against Derryfield (8-1 and they face them twice), Epping (7-1 and also…twice), Farmington and PCA twice as well. This team defends very well man to man and has an elite player in Anthony Senesombath (26.6). This is a team that is built for Plymouth with their ability to rebound, a coach who has been there and a player who could own the tournament like Litts, Stanley & Knighton did in the recent years...if they can get there.

 Woodsville: The Engineers could go 17-1 with their best wins of the season being over Colebrook and Profile. Groveton isn’t on the schedule this year and their cross-over opponents, Wilton-Lyndeborough and Sunapee, are not the teams they were a year ago (how did we miss out on a Derryfield/Woodsville cross over game?). We’ve talked about the strengths and weaknesses of Jamie Walker’s team; they do not have a point guard or any guard who can handle pressure. They have a very good frontcourt in Sam Pushee (13.9) and Cooper Davidson (10.9). They will not be tournament tested when they get to March but if they finish 17-1 someone is coming to Woodsville in the quarterfinal round and for a team like Pittsfield or Newmarket that is a tough trip. Garrett Olsen (13.9) has been shooting the ball very well of late for Walker’s team.

 Derryfield School: The Cougars are 1-1 against teams with plus .500 records…I promise you I’m not trying to hammer you over the head with our pre-season theme that no one plays anybody but….I mean here we are. Rob Bradley’s team will have two games against Newmarket in the second half of the season and one apiece with Farmington and Epping in the season finale. Sam Anderson (17.7 ppg. and over 12 rebounds a night) is a double-double machine, Andrew Dubreuil (8.4) has put together back to back strong campaigns,  Jeff Pratt (9.4) has been consistent as a third scorer and freshman Max Byron is starting to pick up the speed of the varsity game. He’s a future all-state point guard for Bradley’s team who are in the mix annually. Can they get back to Plymouth for the sixth time in seven years? We will find out over the second half of the season…

 

Your lower seeded team that will be a nightmare in Round 1:  Wilton-Lyndeborough

 And coaches already know it….WLC can come into anyone’s house boasting a 30 ppg. scorer in Trey Carrier (facing the end of his excellent career) and a 10 plus rebounds per game forward in Sean McClure. Throw in one guard, maybe Jake Levert, who can get hot from behind the three point line and you are looking at a higher seed going down in round one. A lot of the top seeds are not going to be battle tested. Leo Gershgorin’s team (who faces Division III Mascenic twice every year) will be, and they are playing much better since scrapping the running game and becoming a good half-court team.

 

 Player of the Year at the mid-point of the season: Jackson Rivers of Epping

 It’s a loaded field but Rivers gets the very slight nod over Sam Anderson, Logan Briggs, Trey Carrier, Anthony Senesombath, Corey Gadwah and Cam Darrah.

 Like we said……the second half is where we see how everything shakes out in Division IV. Player of the year included.

 Runner-up: Those six players…it’s wide open.

 Coach of the Year at the mid-point of the season:  Jay Darrah of Pittsfield

 This goes back to the work he has done with this group over the past two seasons in particular. Cam Darrah would have a lot of fun on that big floor at Plymouth State…

 Runner-up: Sam Natti of Lisbon

 

 First Team All-State (First half of the season)

 Jackson Rivers of Epping

 Sam Anderson Derryfield

 Logan Briggs of Littleton

 Cam Darrah of Pittsfield

 Corey Gadwah of Groveton

 Anthony Senesombath of Newmarket

 Trey Carrier of Wilton-Lyndeborough

 (Picking seven instead of five isn’t a cop out at the mid-season point…we need more competitive games to shake this out. There’s little art in judging players performances in forty point wins)

 With apologies to: Daegan Perras & Austin Lesperance of Groveton, Cooper Paradice, Cy Kezerian & Danny Kubkowski of Littleton, Sam Pushee & Garret Olsen of Woodsville, Andrew Dubreuil of Derryfield, Tommy Bullock of Epping, Krys Demers of Farmington, Josh Woods of Lisbon, Bryson Raymond of Gorham, Paul Staude of PCA, Sean McClure of WLC, Jose Alvarado & Garrett Purrington of Colebrook, River Baker of Profile, Travis Moseley of Newmarket & Josh Whittier of Pittsfield.

 

Coming Tomorrow: Division III