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 where they are likely headed over the second half of the season.

 Division III today

 Division II Thursday

 Division I Friday

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

 Gold Level Coaches/Programs: Eric Saucier of Conant, Mike Rathgeber of Inter-Lakes, Steve McDonough of Laconia, Jim Cilley of Belmont, Tom Bourdeau of Newfound, Jim Hill of Monadnock, Dave Morissette of Berlin, Jason Starr of Mascenic Regional & Greg Madore of Gilford Basketball

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

 Ok, allow me to explain…..

 Berlin and Somersworth were #1 and #2 in the pre-season, and today I still believe they are the two best teams in the division. I also think there is now a very good chance they end up on the same side of the bracket. Meaning there would be no way for them to square off in the final.

 Berlin has three losses on the season, Somersworth one, and one of them in losing again Friday night when they square off in Somersworth. A game Justin McIsaac & I will team up to bring you all the highlights of.

 This race is shaping up to be one of the best in the state and if you had told me that walking out of NHTI after Berlin had gone toe to toe with Manchester Memorial (currently the #1 team in the state) for 32 minutes I would have accused you of eating too much snow.

 What has happened is Somersworth, a team that seemed to hold it together like a rickety ship for most of the pre-season has been excellent and they’re playing as a team. Hopkinton has been solid, Mascenic is a year ahead of schedule, Gilford is the lower seed no one wants in the quarterfinals and quietly lurking with very little fanfare, are your 8-2 Conant Orioles.

 We’ll get to each and every one of them in this column.

 Let’s start with Somersworth.

 It begins with the evolution of Evan Gray (18.1 ppg.), who is now a first or second team all-state performer. His emergence gives Rob Fauci’s team a true 1-2 punch and the ball movement has improved as he has become more of a scorer.

 This group is sharing the basketball and players like Luke Monesmith (who joined the team after the season started), Kaleb Witham and Ethan Johnson are allowing Fauci to play with different combinations depending on whom they are playing night to night.

 Pre-season player of the year Bryton Early is the best scorer in the division, Tyler Clark does all the little things that help you win and Gray gives them a match-up issue with his size and agility.

 Add to that the fact that this team has already played a game on the big stage at SNHU and you have the makings of a title run. Head coach Rob Fauci does a terrific job keeping his players focused on today and not anything that could come down the road in March.

 Conant is a team that can get to the final Saturday of the season if they rebound & defend. Defending is something they can control with effort, but rebounding may be something they can’t.

 Peyton Springfield (23.3 ppg.) gives them a closer and a big-time scorer while players like Jake Drew & Ryan Smith give them the athletes to be able to defend at a high level.

 Conant features the best coach in the division in Eric Saucier and the pedigree to finish the job once they get to the final four.

 Their Achilles heel is rebounding. A team like Berlin could really give Conant problems with their ability to extend possessions with offensive rebounds. Conant needs to speed up any team they face in the one & done round and call on Springfield to close teams out from the foul line.

 It seems pointless to do a deep dive on Berlin until we see them again in person Friday night in Somersworth. The loss to Somersworth was more about the Hilltoppers (they were terrific) than the Mountaineers, the loss to Gilford can be forgiven because they were missing two starters.

 I’m surprised though by the loss to Kennett. The Eagles are playing better of late and they are a solid team but they are a middle of the pack Division II team and the best teams in Division III usually take care of those games, collect the extra points and move along.

 Let’s see how they fare in Round 2 on Friday night before we draw any conclusions. I still believe in Evan Arsenault, Seth Balderrama & company.

 Mascenic Regional is going to be tested over the second half of the season. Right now head coach Jay Starr is doing a nice job fitting the pieces together and players like TJ Hiott & Jake Zina are filling their specific roles in the rotation.

 Sammy Stauffeneker has the ability to draw fouls and get to the rim and although this is not a great outside shooting team they rebound better than past Mascenic teams. You win games with players like Drew Rines & DJ Turner.

 The question will be in their ability to defend when you get to the tournament where games are won in the 40’s on a lot of nights. The second half schedule will challenge a relatively young team, let’s see how they fare.

 

 The Verdict is still out on: Hopkinton (They are playing very good basketball right now, and with their schedule the rest of the way they could easily finish 16-2…)… Gilford (Not having Adrian Siravo (coming off 19 points, 9 rebounds & 3 blocks against Somersworth) really hurt them in a 3 point loss at Inter-Lakes but those are games you have to win. When this team is whole & playing together they are a handful down low and defensively their help defense has been so good that teams are settling for a lot of 3-pointers. They’ll have good tests at Belmont & White Mountains but after losses to Inter-Lakes & Laconia they cannot afford another slip-up or they are going on the road in the quarterfinals)….Monadnock (Bonus points any time you have a player who can win you games late and Joe Minson gives head coach Jim Hill that. The freshmen don’t play like freshmen and Tim Santaw gives them rebounding they sorely lacked while he was out…they need a secondary scorer to emerge for them to make a run. That’s my diagnosis)…Campbell (Can they defend at a high enough level to beat a very good team on the road? I don’t think will….)

 

Your lower seeded team that will be a nightmare in Round 1:  St Thomas

 Teams that upset higher seeds usually feature two things; a player who goes off for 25 points or more and athletes that can defend, rebound and give your team trouble running its offense.

 The Saints feature both, Andrew Cavanaugh is a big man a lot of teams have trouble containing and with players like Shawn DeKorne & Tim Bouchard you have two terrific athletes who will compete for 32 minutes.

 That spells out trouble for the higher seed that gets them in Round 1.

 

 Player of the year at the mid-point: Bryton Early of Somersworth

Early has been a better teammate this year than he was a year ago and when he needed to come up with another big-time performance on the road at Berlin he went up and scored 33 points. In watching the game it felt like 45….

 Runner-up: Evan Arsenault of Berlin

  Coach the of the Year at the mid-point:  Mike Curtis of White Mountains

 The Spartans are back in the conversation and Curtis is a big reason for that. They may be a year away but this is a team that can give you problems with their ability to rebound if you find them in your half of the bracket come tournament time.

 Runner-up: Jim Barry of Mascoma

 

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

Bryton Early of Somersworth

Evan Arsenault of Berlin

Eli Swanson of Inter-Lakes

Peyton Springfield of Conant

Joe Minson of Monadnock

With apologies to: Seth Balderrama of Berlin, Sammy Stauffeneker of Mascenic, Evan Gray of Somersworth, Dustin Rose & Kevin McGrath of Hopkinton, Greg Madore & Adrian Siravo of Gilford, Matt Pluskis of Belmont, Jayden Torres of Franklin, Andrew Cavanaugh of St Thomas & Griffin Crane of White Mountains.