In the middle of one of our busiest weeks of the year, we preview 6 games from around the state on Friday.

 To our, Gold Level Members keep sending in those Players Locker Room videos answering our 8 questions. We’ll feature five new videos every Monday…so far the kids have been great.

 The news that our friend Steve Siravo is going to “direct” the four Gilford players locker room members answering their 8 questions could be the scariest decision I’ve made since I shot an intro with McIsaac & a mannequin dressed in Milford Spartans gear.

 If you haven’t joined as a member you can support our eight-person team, be featured in the Locker Room re-cap & shoot your own video and have access to every single full game video we produce. For coaches it allows them to scout without leaving their house and for parents & players they own these games they play in.

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 We will be out at two games tomorrow night:

 Jen & I will be in Hampton for a huge Division I showdown when Dover takes on undefeated Winnacunnet.

 Lance ‘Caged Heat’ Legere and Austin Grass will be at Newmarket when the Mules take on defending champion Pittsfield in a rematch of last years title game.

 As always we will have all the highlights and the post-game interviews with both winning teams.

 

 Today’s column is sponsored by our longest running partner (over 10 years of supporting high school sports coverage in New Hampshire) Sentinel Title Services in Rye, NH.

 Mention NHSportspage or this ad when scheduling your closing and receive a $100 off your Settlement Fee!

 

 Division I

 Dover (4-4) at Winnacunnet (7-0)

 Dover Team Page

 Winnacunnet Team Page

 Our pre-season #1 is about to get into the toughest part of their schedule, with upcoming games at Salem, at Exeter followed by Londonderry, Alvirne, Nashua South & Nashua North.

 Tomorrow night they need to hold Ty Vitko (a Division I leading 27.4 ppg.) relatively in-check and make Matt Fennessy’s team prove they can stop them in the paint.

 The Warriors will run the offense through Jack Schaake in the post and attack the basket with Ben Allen & Lucas Schaake. Dover has to be able to prove they can stop dribble penetration. Winnacunnet can beat you from the perimeter but if they’re getting high percentage looks from close range they have a chance to jump out early on the Green Wave.

 Dover has been playing better by the week as Fennessy is letting the rotation work itself out. Kingsley Breen has begun to emerge as the much needed second scorer (he’s averaging 16.5 ppg since scoring 3 points in the loss to Portsmouth) and players like Josh White have given Dover scoring off the bench.

 Friday night it will be about rebounding, Dover will score enough points to win, but can they protect the glass & the paint enough to pull off the upset?

 

 Concord (5-2) at Manchester Central (3-5)

 Concord Team Page

 Manchester Central Team Page

 This will be a game of contrasting styles. Concord likes to run a specific offense with quick hitters & sets off it while Central really doesn’t run any plays on offense and just allows their players to create.

 Sudi Lett ran a similar offense as the head coach of Campbell. What it produces are teams that tend to turn the ball over a lot but, are very hard to guard.  It’s very hard to gameplan for Central because you can’t anticipate where they are going on offense and so far we have seen teams like Exeter & Portsmouth have a lot of trouble with the Little Green.

 Central is playing very hard and they have players like Jesus Milan & De De Niyang who are terrific scorers and are getting it done on both ends of the floor.

 Don’t let Central’s 3-5 record fool you, they’ve lost to Portsmouth, Winnacunnet, Exeter & Spaulding, four of the best teams in Division I. That tells you the toughest part of their schedule is behind them. A win here could jumpstart a very good second half of the season.

 Concord, on the other hand, doesn’t play Exeter, Winnacunnet or Portsmouth (Go all the way back to my pre-season preview for my rant on the new Division I), they play Keene & Windham twice. A win in Manchester Friday night would look very good on their tournament resume.

 

 Division II

 Laconia (2-6) at Pelham (8-2)

 Pelham Team Page

 Laconia Team Page

 While everyone hopes for Oyster River/Pembroke III in Durham the team that might be playing the best basketball in the division is Pelham.

 Since giving up a second-half lead in a 67-57 loss to Oyster River Mike Larson’s team has won five in a row, including handing both Pembroke & Campbell their first losses of the season.

 Derek Crowley has been player of the year worthy in averaging 18.2 ppg while Blake Woekel is making plays that win you games, and doing it on both ends of the floor.

Woekel, along with players like Cam Loring, has helped set a tone of unselfishness that has them firing on all cylinders. The chemistry has been really good with this group after some ups & downs a year ago and the results on the scoreboard speak for themselves.

 The Sachems are coming off a 63-45 loss to Division III Inter-Lakes on Wednesday night and are in need of a confidence-building win in their first year back in Division II.

Getting that win in the Snake Pit Friday night will be a very tough task.

 

 Division III

 Somersworth (8-2) at Hopkinton (7-2)

 Somersworth Team Page

 Say what you want about Bryton Early but this is a game he would score 28 points in and let Hopkinton know almost immediately what they were in for.

 Evan Gray, the pre-season player of the year in Division III, has that kind of game in him and I think he needs to bring it Friday night. When you’re the Alpha on your team there are nights you hang back and get everybody else involved and others where you lead from the opening tip.

 Ten games into their title defense; this is one of those games.

 Rob Fauci’s team is going to have to take care of the basketball and take advantage of the open looks they’ll see on the perimeter. Ethan Johnson will be able to match up with Kevin Newton-Delgado in the post while Caleb Yianakopolos will likely draw the assignment of covering Gray.

 How the perimeter players perform will give you a very good sense of whether the defending champs can pick up their best road win of the season.

 

 

 Inter-Lakes (5-4) at Belmont (6-3)

 Belmont Team Page

 Inter-Lakes Team Page

 The Lakers picked up an eye-opening win over Laconia on Wednesday night and head into this Lakes Region rivalry game winners of 5 in a row since a 43-41 loss at Hopkinton.

 Mike Rathgeber is doing a really nice job of putting Eli Swanson in a position to make plays without forcing him to play four different positions and run the concession stands at halftime.

 Swanson is at his best when he handles the ball in transition or can get open on the baseline. He shoots very well when he takes shots in rhythm and he’s become a better rebounder & passer as a junior. When he feels like he has to do everything the turnovers come with it, he’s cut down on those as a junior.

 Tae Miller (18 points against Laconia) is their best on the ball defender and has emerged as their #2 option on offense as well. Miller likely draws Belmont point guard Griffin Embree (when Rathgeber goes man that is…expect the Lakers to mix up their defenses) while Quinn Taylor & Swanson will match up with Aidan Rupp & The Red Raiders best outside shooter Keith Landry.

 These are two teams fighting and clawing for a home game in the first round, something both teams had a year ago.

 Games like this matter when it gets to March, Inter-Lakes feels like they are still climbing out of the hole of their 0-4 start. A win here would be a huge step towards getting back into the Top 10.

 

 

 Division IV

 Groveton (8-3) at Littleton (10-1)

 Groveton Team Page

 Littleton Team Page

 Groveton finally gets their shot at the Crusaders, and it will be a very aggravated Littleton team that will be waiting for them.

 Littleton controlled the first half at White Mountains on Tuesday night before a late 5-0 run cut their halftime lead to 2 points. The Spartans took over from there and may have given teams down south (I’m thinking maybe Newmarket or Epping) a blue print for how to beat Trevor Howard’s team.

 Parker Briggs scored 14 points in the first quarter, reminding anyone who plays Littleton once again that A) you can’t press them and B) you cannot let Parker Briggs set up for open looks, because he is knocking them down.

 When you pressure Littleton they do a very good job of getting the ball up the sidelines (ask Hanover) and that sets up Danny Kubkowski (the best finisher in the division) or Jason Brammer (Top 5) going to the rim or Briggs setting up for the dagger 3.

 In the second half, Mike Curtis’s White Mountains Spartans sped Littleton up in the half-court and blanketed Briggs with Connor Bosse. The Spartans held Briggs to 3 second-half points and only allowed Kubkowski to get his points off of the offensive glass or rare transition opportunities.

 White Mountains also was so much bigger than Littleton that it forced Howard to go big, putting Josh Finkle in at center to battle Zeke Pribbenow, and taking point guard Parker Paradice off the floor. Does Groveton have enough size with Gavin Simpson & Josh Wheelock to dictate who Littleton has out on the floor?

 We’ll see. The player to watch in this one is sophomore point guard Matt St Cyr, who has played better by the game and now faces his biggest test of the season against Littleton’s zone press, with Kubkowski out in front of it.

 Few people in the North Country think Groveton can win this game, but there are an awful lot of people curious to see if they can play with them for 32 minutes. Count me among that group…

 

 

Listen LIVE to the New Hampshire High School Hoop Show Saturday morning from 9 to 10 am with Pete Tarrier & I. We will re-cap every single game from the Friday night schedule and our guest on Saturday will be Pelham head coach Mike Larson.

 You can listen by clicking the listen live link right on our homepage or on 99.9 FM & 1370 WFEA radio in the Manchester area Saturday morning.