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The Sentinel Title Services Thursday Thoughts for 2/14/2019

By Dave Haley, 02/14/19, 6:15AM EST

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Groveton picked up a huge win over Littleton on Wednesday night

 This is the annual column where I preview every single game on the Friday night schedule.

 An idea that feels like a lot of fun as I’m breaking down Manchester Memorial vs. Alvirne and like a wrong turn I will never pull myself out of as my left eye starts to twitch during Raymond vs. Franklin 3 hours in...

 Before I delve into the madness I want to thank the people that became Gold Level Members last week, supporting the efforts of our 7-person team.

 Eric Stanley of Monadnock football/basketball, Derek Tremblay of Mount Royal, Nate Camp of Kearsarge & Rob Walker of Woodsville basketball.

 Also the McCool family of Souhegan basketball for supporting our team for a second time this year.

 On behalf of Jennifer, Pete, Justin, Eliot, Nichole, Austin & Lance I thank you all.

 We are covering two games tomorrow night:

 Austin Grass & I will be at St Thomas when the Saints take on Mascenic Regional

 Jennifer Chick-Ruth & Lance Legere will be back in Hanover for a huge girl’s game when the Marauders square off with Kennett on senior night.

 Our Gold Level Families & Coaches

 

 Ok here we go….

 Division I

 Goffstown (5-7) at Trinity (3-9)

 Trinity Team Page

 Goffstown Team Page

 I wouldn’t call this a loser leaves town match-up but it’s going to be very hard for Jim Migneault’s Pioneers to make the tournament with a loss here. Trinity has lost 7 games in a row and just hasn’t been able to get over the hump against good teams.

 Is Goffstown a ‘good team’?

 They’re trending in that direction.

 When the Grizzlies were bumped up to Division I after winning just 3 games last season they looked like the Washington Generals being put in the Atlantic Division (actually the Knicks are there so…bad example).

 Ryan Cowette has done a terrific job winning with a lot of very good athletes (Connor Hujsak to name just one) who aren’t basketball players 9 months a year.

 Making Goffstown one of the pleasant surprises of the 2019 season.

 

 Concord (6-6) at Spaulding (9-3)

 Concord Team Page

 Spaulding Team Page

 Happy to hear that the biggest college programs in New Hampshire are recruiting Arie Breakfield.

 Programs like UNH, St Anselm & Southern New Hampshire (two of the best Division II programs in the country) have missed out on players like Keith Brown (Endicott), Joey Glynn (UMass Lowell) and Cal Connelly (Assumption). Glynn had 13 points and 9 rebounds against UNH last week and Brown is an All-American at Endicott.

 Cody Ball of Londonderry has been one of the program leaders at St Anselm’s for four years and everyone I talk to who knows Head coach Keith Dickson says he raves about our former player of the year. Kids like Alex Tavares & Ty Vitko are Division II players…..let’s hope these programs don’t miss out again.

 This is as far East as Dave Chase’s Crimson Tide will go as they don’t play Winnacunnet, Exeter & Portsmouth this season. Concord still has a chance to finish the season strong with upcoming games against Windham, Goffstown, Keene & Trinity.

 

 Bishop Guertin (5-8) at Nashua South (6-7)

 Bishop Guertin Team Page

 Nashua South Team Page

 Don’t let the records fool you; this has been a very encouraging season for Nashua South (who graduated 12 seniors last season) and a very disappointing one for BG (who was supposed to make the leap this season…Year 3 under head coach Matt Regan).

 When I saw BG leaping off the bench to support one another at our Coaches for a Cause Jamboree a day before they were scheduled to go play laser tag together I would have been shocked to see where they are now. Regan is a very good coach but this team has found new & interesting ways to lose close games (they are 0-4 in games decided by 3 points or less).

 Nate Mazerolle seems to always do a really good job with young teams. He gets them to buy in and he knows how to teach them his system. Same case with this group, it’s been an excellent coaching job at Pete Tarrier’s Alma Mater.

 

Manchester Central (7-6) at Salem (12-2)

Salem Team Page

Manchester Central Team Page

 Is Manchester Central head coach Sudi Lett’s ‘We aren’t going to worry about what you do, we’ll worry about what we do’ approach going to work in the tournament?

 I think it could. Central has playmakers and they get after it, they aren’t going to game plan for you and they don’t make many in-game adjustments but they play as a team and they are excellent at reversing the ball & finding the mismatch.

 Salem is a very good team defensively and has the kind of team built for a run in the tournament.

 

 Nashua North (8-4) at Winnacunnet (10-3)

 Winnacunnet Team Page

 Nashua North Team Page

 My thoughts on what happened to Jay Mckenna last Friday night at halftime of a win over Alvirne (explained by Justin McIsaac in his Monday Top 10 if you’re unaware Monday's column )…

 What should be known is that the player, not the mother who behaved horribly, has been a terrific teammate & a very big part of their excellent team chemistry this season (Jay loves coaching this group).

 When you can’t help yourself from embarrassing your child with your behavior you don’t belong at his or her games. This parent is now banned and doesn’t have the option.

 Anyone else who feels like they can't control themselves should just walk out mid-game and spare everyone else the embarrassment of dealing with you. Especially your son or daughter.

 One more thing…..former Portsmouth head coach Jim Mulvey once told me that if he had a son going into high school right now he would want him to play for Jay Mckenna.

 In case you were still wondering how lopsided this story was……moving on,

 

 Exeter (12-0) at Keene (8-4)

 Exeter Team Page

 Keene Team Page

 Jeff Holmes returns to his old stomping grounds (Jeff Holmes’ jumper is described by people the same way people describe Freddy Couples’ golf swing) and the coaching job he is doing should not be overlooked.

 Yes, he has the most talent but he is running good sets while allowing his players to just create at key moments.

 Ryan Grijalva has a nasty step back move, Kevin Henry is a glue guy who actually can score 30 points in a big game and Josh Morissette is the team’s best playmaker. Ethan Imbimbo gives them rebounding and post defense while Cam Clark & Max Rose have been terrific at point guard.

 Kevin Ritter is also doing a terrific job at Keene and these are the measuring stick games that tell you how small or wide the gap is between you and the best team in the division. Because make no mistake, Exeter is the best team in New Hampshire right now.

 

 Alvirne (7-5) at Dover (6-7)

 Alvirne Team Page

 Dover Team Page

 This just feels like an 8/9 game kind of a match-up. You could tell me today that Alvirne would make it to the final four at UNH or lose by 15 in the first round and neither result would surprise me.

 I’ve written about Dover quite a bit this season. They will be a scary team in the tournament because Ty Vitko can go for 32 against you and they are well coached. Those kind of teams pull upsets in March as Dover proved a year ago.

 

 Merrimack (1-10) at Pinkerton Academy (1-11)

 Pinkerton Academy Team Page

 Merrimack Team Page

 Surprising to see both teams struggling the way they have.

 Merrimack has been competitive on most nights while Pinkerton was blown out by Exeter on opening night and hasn’t righted the ship since.

 I wonder if Tim Goodridge decides to walk away at the end of the season. I know he thought about it last season but decided to return.

 The decision will be his after a Hall of Fame career. On the list of high school coaches, I’d want to lead my team in a must-win game Goodridge is on the short list with Buddy Trask (Colebrook), Mark Collins (Groveton) & President Tim Cronin (Spaulding). He’s also one of my favorite coaches to talk hoops with.

 It’s just hard to fathom Pinkerton with 3,300 students and a roster littered with 6’4 players missing the tournament for a 3rd straight season but that is the reality.

 

 Bedford (4-8) at Portsmouth (8-4)

 Portsmouth Team Page

 Bedford Team Page

 The only teams I’ve covered in two championship games against each other, in two different divisions (Division I in 2017 and Division II in 2012).

 Playing the where are they now game with the Clippers team that won 3-straight titles: Joey Glynn is playing Division I basketball at UMass-Lowell, Christian Peete is playing football at UNH, Shon Parham is joining the Marines, Cody Graham has gained 20 lbs of muscle in the hope of playing at Ball State as a quarterback and Alex Tavares should be playing Division II basketball next season, and he would start right away.

 On our video looking back at our first 10 years of NHsportspage the part that absolutely kills me is when Jen has Max Chartier on video telling everyone that Bedford was going to switch from man to zone against Portsmouth in the title game.

 The look Liam Greene & Troy Meservey gives him is priceless.

 It’s at the 46-minute mark (Bedford before the title game)

 By the way, add Liam Greene to the future senator's list McIsaac are compiling which currently consists of Donovan Phanor, Joe Simpson, Carmen Giampetruzzi & Cal Connelly.

 

 Londonderry (10-2) at Manchester Memorial (2-10)

 Londonderry Team Page

 Manchester Memorial Team Page

 I’m looking forward to finally covering the Lancers next Friday night when they host Salem, as Nate Stanton’s team has seemingly arrived a year ahead of schedule.

 This is the time of year where the teams that have struggled may find some kids daydreaming about Fortnite or flicking a lacrosse ball but Danny Bryson’s Crusaders, a very young team, has kept playing hard and are getting better because of it.

 Bryson was the perfect hire for Memorial over a year ago and he will have them back in the mix very soon.

 

 We’re at an 8,000-word pace…..time to pick it up a bit…

 

 Division II

 

 Hollis-Brookline (7-5) at Kearsarge (6-6)

 Hollis-Brookline Team Page

 Kearsarge Regional Team Page

 This feels like the Division II version of Dover/Alvirne, a pair of teams who feel like they are in 8/9 seed game.

 Both teams boast an all-state leading scorer in Noah Tremblay of Kearsarge & Grant Snyder of Hollis-Brookline and a pair of championship-winning coaches in Nate Camp & Cole Etten.

 I’m not sure the defending champs can win a game in the ’60s in the tournament if the pace allows it to get there. Cole Etten can manage a game with the best of them so look for him to try and turn games like this into a half-court grind.

 Noah Tremblay has developed into one of the best closers in the division and leads all of Division II in scoring at 20.7 ppg.

 

 Merrimack Valley (10-4) at Plymouth (3-7)

 Merrimack Valley Team Page

 Plymouth Team Page

 If a football game breaks out MV is in big trouble, but as long as it’s played with a bouncing ball the Pride should improve to 11-4.

 I think Tim Mucher’s zone defense can be a double-edged sword when they get to March. If they’re leading the zone forces you to be patient and every player knows that’s tough to do when you’re behind and the clock is running.

 At the same time if MV is down teams are going to pull the ball out and eat clock at half court until they come out and guard them. Against Pembroke, the Pride wouldn’t come out of their zone and Noah Cummings bled the clock until the deficit and the time remaining was squarely against Mucher’s team.

 I’d like to see Plymouth just once have three basketball players where hoop was their primary sport. What he has are great kids who are terrific athletes, who happen to play basketball only four months a year.                 

 When you talk to coaches they’ll tell you how this season’s group has been, and Sullivan really likes the team he coaches every week.

 

 Hanover (8-5) at Kennett (6-6)

 Hanover Team Page

  I was happy to finally experience both Hanover/Lebanon rivalry games in person.

 Great crowd, a ton of students and my favorite player was Hanover sophomore guard Madison McCorkle who unofficially had 24 steals in the second half against Lebanon. I can’t back up that number up but it seems about right.

 Hanover needs Charlie Adams to score to beat good teams but if he’s on, and you give Nolan Gantrish room, they can beat you from the perimeter.

 Hank Pikkus makes plays that win games for you and head coach Tim Winslow has won two Division II titles. He knows a thing or two about winning in March.

 

 Stevens (1-13) at John Stark (4-9)

 John Stark Team Page

 Stevens Team Page

 Stevens is one of the best gyms to see a game in, anywhere in the state. The Franchise & I covered a Stevens/Belmont quarterfinal game that started with me wanting to beat up some grumpy old man (true story he yelled at Jen for setting up her camera 10 feet away from him…..you do not yell at The Franchise..) and ended with a really good quarterfinal game in front of a packed house.

 The atmosphere for a football game is terrific as well, Head Coach Paul Silva is one of the best people in high school sports and a great friend of ours. The crowd lines up on the hill and the view gives you a view of the town around a field that feels like it’s tucked into a neighborhood.

 The basketball team is in the wrong division but they would have struggled in Division III as well after making a finals appearance two years ago.

 Don’t sleep on Mike Smith’s John Stark Generals, they have a big-time player in Christian Barr (17.1 ppg) and the athletes/coaching to be a problem in the first round.

 It will all depend on the match-up for the Generals…a year ago they got a Lebanon team that struggled to score and they beat them in a low scoring/low number of possessions game.

 Same applies this season, a team like Pembroke or Oyster River is simply going to outscore them,,, Con Val as well…but a team like Merrimack Valley or Hanover could be vulnerable against John Stark.

 

 Sanborn (2-10) at Oyster River (12-1)

 Oyster River Team Page

 To quote Charles Barkley, “ I don’t know anything about Sanborn…but Sanborn is in trouble.”

 Dream Team vs. Angola

 

 Manchester West (2-11) at Con Val (11-1)

 Con Val Team Page

 The Cougars are going to go through the season without playing any of the Top 4 teams in the division but I don’t see them as a paper tiger that won’t be ready for March.

 They have the depth, the multiple scorers and the ability to speed teams up. That tends to work when you get to the win or go home portion of the season.

 What they lack is experience (the players have never played in a tournament game and their Head Coach Leo Gershgorin was in one…way up in Colebrook two years ago) but I’ve seen teams with limited experience make runs before….Stevens two years ago being a good example.

 I think they are going to be a very tough out and especially on their home floor. The job Gershgorin has done has been an unbelievable rebuild and they are set up for a very bright future, the participation numbers are there for sustained success.

 Manchester West has struggled the last two seasons as they have in most sports. West is still one of our favorite gyms to call a game in and it wasn’t very long ago that we were there two or three times a year.

 

 Coe-Brown Academy (7-6) where Jen Chick-Ruth went to school if you didn’t know vs. Milford (6-6)

 Coe-Brown Academy Team Page

 This feels like a Coe-Brown team that is getting as much as they can out of this group. They play very hard, are always very well coached by Hall of Famer David Smith and they are very tough to beat on their home floor.

 They’ve had a good run the past few seasons, including a title game appearance in 2017 that included Justin McIsaac interviewing Benny the Bear on camera.

 It just doesn’t feel like a team capable of two straight road upsets in the tournament, and that’s what it’s going to take for them to get back to Durham.

 Speaking of which……………after 11 years of doing this I feel qualified to make this list.

 The best crowds year to year at UNH (in no particular order): Coe-Brown (feels like the entire school goes and the band is always awesome)….Portsmouth (they don’t go to a game in January but I’ll give them credit,. They show up in March…they might be a little spoiled)……..Manchester Central (they bring the best chants……those poor BG kids that one year they faced them…..)……..Spaulding (a sea of red and Rochester has always been terrific at supporting their teams) and Oyster River (last season every house in Durham was empty for those two games).

 

 Division III

 Prospect Mountain (1-12) at Berlin (7-6)

 Berlin Team Page

 If you had told me after the Division III Final Four last March that Dave Morissette would step down as head coach and that Michael Moore (an all glue-guy team member) would be limited to 5 games because of a head injury I would have told you this was a 7 win team, but they’re there already and about to get to 8.

 Jared Lauze has done a nice job in his first season as head coach and Seth Balderrama has done everything short of running the Duck Toss at halftime.

 Sinciere Davis has really stepped up and having a closer like Balderrama gives them a chance against anyone in the tournament.

 

Raymond (1-12) at Belmont (9-5)

Belmont Team Page

 Belmont power forward Aidan Rupp wants to have a political podcast every week with Justin McIsaac that would be four levels beyond highly entertaining but likely alienate 32% of our audience (based on the last poll I saw) so I’m just going to assume they are planning to launch it on their own.

 Raymond is a team that every year gives up about 70 ppg. Simply put…it’s a place where career highs are born.

 

 Somersworth (12-2) at Newfound (1-12)

 Somersworth Team Page

 Newfound has had as many coaches in the last 20 years as Maddie McCorkle had steals against Lebanon (and if you don’t get that reference then you’re skipping around this column and shame on you).

 Spoiler Alert: Rob Fauci’s team is about to get to 13-2.

 

 Mascoma (6-7) at Inter-Lakes (8-6)

 Mascoma Team Page

 Inter-Lakes Team Page

 I keep talking about Mascoma as a scary lower seed, and they have the players and the coach (Jim Barry) to prove me right, but they have to get healthy first.

 Connor Thompson has been out for almost a month with an ankle injury (or as Al Michaels would say ‘an ankle’) and freshman Ben Seiler (the Longhorns AAU program is having a very positive effect on the Upper Valley) has had to step in as their go-to guy.

 The Lakers play on a smaller floor, which suits Barry’s full-court pressure. The goal will be for the Royals to wear Eli Swanson down over four quarters.

 Swanson has been as good as any player in the division and his head coach Mike Rathgeber knows exactly how to utilize him.

 

 Franklin (5-10) at Monadnock (8-6)

 Monadnock Team Page

 Franklin Team Page

 We hopefully will be in Swanzey on Tuesday night when they face Mascenic Regional.

 The Huskies earned an ‘Oh wow look at that.. .’ win over Campbell last week (Groveton earned one of those over Littleton last night..but we’ll get to them) to remind the rest of the division that they were in the final four last March.

 Franklin has been a team that can only beat you by outscoring you and they’ve hit a tough stretch where suspensions & injuries have taken their toll. Leaving a fun basketball team not quite whole.

 Jim Hill’s Huskies are a young team led by senior Tim Santaw but featuring sophomores Jake Kidney & Quinn Grover. This is a group that made a run last year and has to feel like they’re capable of another after the win over first place Campbell.

 

 Fall Mountain (7-6) at Newport (1-11)

 …………………….

 

 I got nothing

 …………………………….

 

 White Mountains (11-4) at Winnisquam (7-6)

 White Mountains Team Page

 Winnisquam Team Page

 If the Spartans look past Winnisquam they’re in trouble, and after losing to Inter-Lakes last Friday night they can’t afford another loss if they want a Top 5 seed.

 Winnisquam is going to have to slow down Spartans center 6’5 Zeke Pribbenow (that will fall to Angelo Glover) but they can score in bunches and the way to beat White Mountains (a team I’m still very high on) is to outscore them.

 Two of my favorite post-game interviews of the school year have been Winnisquam football (after their win over Franklin in a Nor’Easter) and White Mountains after they beat Littleton.

 

 Campbell (10-3) at Conant (12-3)

 Conant Team Page

 Campbell Team Page

 This game and the game we’ll be covering (Mascenic Regional at St Thomas) will decide the Top 4 seeds in Division III and who earns a pair of home games in the tournament.

 This is a division where the team playing its best on the big stage will end up being the last team standing. There isn’t a dominant team in the division and there really never was (Campbell has earned most of their big wins at home and Hopkinton has faded) it’s about who plays the best at SNHU.

 Right now the best four teams are Campbell, Conant, Somersworth & Mascenic but I doubt all four will be there when we get to the semifinals. Just too much parity for all four top seeds to win a pair of tournament games.

 

 Mascenic Regional (11-3) at St Thomas (11-3)

 St Thomas Team Page

 Mascenic Regional Team Page

 This will be a fun one to cover, as both teams have a pair of scorers (Sammy Stauffeneker & Trey Shaw for the Vikings) and (Andrew Cavanaugh & Shawn Dekorne for the Saints) that can take over late.

 Both teams have played tough schedules and both teams have glue guys (Mascenic’s Gabe Turner is a going to be on the all-glue guy team) that can make a play to help them win late.

 John Langlois coached teams have a habit of playing their best ball later in the season and until proven otherwise I’d say that is where Mascenic is heading into mid-February.

 

 Division IV

 Moultonborough (5-10) at Littleton (15-2)

 Littleton Team Page

 Littleton will win this game to finish 16-2 but the loss to Groveton last night illustrates the more concerning issue. The Crusaders have been to the Division IV semifinals 9 of the last 10 years but have won only one title (beating PCA in the 2016 title game).

 Their issue has never been the regular season but winning at Plymouth in March. When you go 17-1 every year, its championship or bust, and Littleton, the numbers tell you, has struggled to finish.

 They have the coach in Trevor Howard and the players to win not only this year but next year, but the loss at Groveton, a team they destroyed three weeks ago, again reminds you that nothing is assured in Division IV.

 

 Mount Royal (8-9) at Pittsfield (10-5)

 Mount Royal Team Page

 Pittsfield Team Page

 Mount Royal has done very well considering Andrew Normandin went down with a season-ending injury two weeks ago. Louis Larosiliere has stepped up as a scorer and a game like this is their measuring stick game.

 Jay Darrah’s Panthers just weren’t ready for the start of that showdown with Epping last Friday night, but I still see them being a tough out in the tournament if they have the right match-up.

 No one rolls out the red carpet for us like Pittsfield. We are treated first class by everyone we see and it’s a great atmosphere to cover a game in.

 The program that upset my 1990 Gilford team in the semifinals becoming one of my favorite teams to cover is the equivalent of the Corleone family inviting the 12 guys that shot Sonny at the toll booth over for Thanksgiving dinner every year.

 

 Newmarket (13-2) at Derryfield (7-8)

 Newmarket Team Page

 Derryfield Team Page

 At some point you ask yourself, ‘ Is Derryfield a scary lower seed because of what they have shown us during the season, or is it just because they are Derryfield, a team that has been to the final four 10 straight seasons?’

 I ask because right now it feels like a ‘the name on the front of the shirt doesn’t mean anything’ situation. Rob Bradley is a terrific coach, and I’m positive he is getting everything out of this team, but can they pull a shocker in the tournament?

 Newmarket will be in Plymouth. Like Littleton, they need to ignore the past, and opportunities lost, and win their first Division IV title under Jamie Hayes.

 

 Sunapee (11-4) at Hinsdale (4-11)

 Sunapee Team Page

 Hinsdale Team Page

 The Lakers don’t have a win over a plus .500 win and have been aided by two wins over Division III Newport, who currently resides in last place in their division (there is a longer conversation to have about getting extra points for beating a team from the division above but I’ll save it for the year-end columns).

 Going into last night ( or before Groveton moved up to the 5th seed by beating Littleton 68-66) these were the standings according to the Heal System.

 

 Division IV Standings

 The Heal Point System

 

 Heal System

 1. Newmarket      161.19

 2. Littleton           151.97

 3. Epping              126.96

 4. Woodsville       107.41

 5. Pittsfield           91.42

 6. Groveton          85.88

 7. Colebrook        83.39

 8. Derryfield        79.11

 9. PCA                    74.53

10. Sunapee           62.03

11. Lisbon              57.42

12. Farmington     40.83

13. Profile              29.11

14. Moulton.         28.88

15. Wilton             26.21

 

 With the uneven schedules, Division IV should move to the system Maine uses. Sunapee would drop from the 5 seed to the 10 based on their strength of schedule.

 Epping would drop from 1st to 3rd…Newmarket would jump to #1.

 Hinsdale is a different team now that Danny Roberts is back from an injury, but will it be enough to get them back in the tournament?

 

 Lin Wood (1-17) vs. Baseball Season

 Did you know that there was a team in New Hampshire that already wrapped up its season?

 Yes, Scott Currier’s Lumberjacks are on to baseball season. With 8th graders Cam Clemont & Jake Avery coming up next year after Currier led a team with only one senior on the roster…..be ready for the Lin-Wood Revolution.

 

  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. Our guest will be Portsmouth head coach John Mulvey.

 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 on Saturday morning.

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