Last Week was the longest Thursday column of the year and today's will be the shortest.

 We will look at the games with seeding implications and some of the players & teams that deserve some extra pub. before we dive into our ’21 games in 20 days’ coverage of the playoffs next week.

 Sam Natti of America’s Team the Lisbon Panthers will join Pete Tarrier & I on the NH High School Hoops radio show Saturday morning to reveal the Division IV tournament bracket, while Inter-Lakes Lakers head coach Mike Rathgeber will come on to reveal the Division III bracket...so we'll give you the teams that are in...and all the match-ups....before the NHIAA announces the "official" brackets sometime on Monday.   

 You can listen to the show between 9:06 and 10 am on Saturday on WFEA 99.9 FM and 1370 AM in the Manchester area or by simply clicking the Listen LIVE button on our homepage.

 We’ll be covering tournament games all next week followed by the Division I & II bracketology show on Saturday, March 2nd.

 All roads lead to the four championship games at Plymouth State (Division IV), Southern New Hampshire University (Division III) and UNH (Division I & II) and if you’re new to our coverage and what we are all about I highly recommend you take 3-minutes to watch ‘The Franchise’ Jennifer Chick-Ruth’s 2018 Championship Saturday video.

 Championship Saturday at UNH

 We will preview every single tournament game over the next three weeks, beginning with the Division IV tournament preview on Monday morning followed by the Division III preview on Tuesday.

 We also want to welcome Zach Belisle of the Sunapee Lakers and his family as Gold Level Members.

 Premium membership families & Coaches have access to every full game video we cover for burning into DVDs & Scouting.

They also support the coverage of the kids & schools by our 7-person team.

 Gold Level Families & Coaches

 We are covering two more games tomorrow night:

 Justin McIsaac & Jennifer Chick-Ruth will bring you coverage of Con-Val at Coe-Brown in the David Smith Dome (will Jen again have to interview the opposing team in her old locker room again……………??)

 Austin Grass & I will be at Londonderry for a huge Division I showdown when the Lancers host the Salem Blue Devils.

 

 Division I

 Salem (14-2) at Londonderry (12-3)

 Salem Team Page

 Londonderry Team Page

 Rob McLaughlin’s team will clinch the #2 seed in the Division I tourney with a win here.

 Expect a low scoring defensive battle as the Lancers match-up well with Salem and want to control a slower pace. The Blue Devils are very aggressive defensively out front (with Jared Burns, Trevor DeMinico & Zack Caraballo) and try to force you to the paint where they will draw charges with Ben Laycock & Kyle Poulin.

 Nate Stanton’s team is young but very physical. They gave Exeter all they could handle on Tuesday night, trailing by 2 points with 1:51 left on the road before a tying lay-up by Ethan May was waved off and called a charge. That was followed by another call against Londonderry and a technical foul which essentially ended any hopes for a win.

 It won’t apply in this game but I can tell you, as someone who talks to every Division I coach, that the ‘ Seacoast officials/Manchester officials’ feeling among coaches is a real concern if not an issue.

 Coaches’ feel like they are not going to get calls and it goes both ways.

 Do I think it’s some sort of conspiracy? Of course not, these are good men doing the best they can, but the games are called differently and officials have a familiarity with the teams in their area and that can lend itself to favorable calls.

 This goes all the way back to former Central star Troy Pelletier groaning “Seacoast officials…” in a post-game interview with Pete 8 years ago and McIsaac once losing his mind on the stage at Trinity against Spaulding to the point where I thought he was going to rip his shirt off in protest. Thank God he didn’t…                                                                 

 The point is, coaches have been dealing with it for years and I hear the same comments from Manchester coaches about going east as I do from seacoast coaches going west.

 

 Keene (10-5) at Concord (8-7)

 Keene Team Page

 Concord Team Page

  Two teams that are about to break long tournament droughts, and also have a lot to play for.

  Keene has been one of the best stories of the season, and if they can go 2-1 in their last 3 games they will host a home playoff game for the first time in over a decade (I’ve been doing this 11 years and I can tell you I haven’t seen it).

 They close with Concord, who they beat in their first meeting, Alvirne (also trying to secure a Top 8 seed) and Windham.

 Concord is also very much in the mix for a Top 8 seed. They close with Keene, Trinity & Goffstown. Scott Lampron has been terrific for Dave Chase’s team and tomorrow night he squares off with Noah Timmer, who dropped 37 points in a Tuesday night win at Manchester Central.

 I can tell you right now…if Keene hosts a first-round game….I’m going to cover it.

 

 Division II

 John Stark (6-9) at Kingswood (2-14)

 John Stark Team Page

 I just wanted to highlight the run Christian Barr of John Stark is on.

 Since a loss at Con Val on January 22nd the Generals forward is averaging 26.6 points per game as Mike Smith’s (his father has a Dome in Northwood named after him) team has won 4 of 6.

 Christian Barr of John Stark Player Profile Page

 Right now John Stark is sitting in the 15th and final playoff spot in the division. Making a win here critical (don’t sleep on Kingswood, they have some young players coming up who can shoot it).

 A year ago John Stark knocked off 2nd seed Lebanon in the first round, and with Barr’s recent play, let’s just say there are other teams you’d rather see coming in for Round 1.

 

Kennett (10-6) at Bow (3-12)

Bow Team Page

 During Bow’s overtime loss to Coe-Brown on Tuesday night a Coe-Brown parent/fan tweeted at me ‘ How has this team only won 3 games?’

 The answer certainly includes an inability to close but it also has a lot to do with bad luck, because it is downright difficult to lose as many close games as the Falcons have. Losses can come down to a missed lay-up, free throws, a front end of a one & one or even a bad foul you commit in a final possession.

 There are a ton of variables……and apparently, those variables do not want to give the Bow Falcons a break.

 Frank Moreno’s team is far better than their record indicates but has enough underclassman where the painful lessons learned should pay off in the near future. The current roster has 9 underclassman on it (including all 5 starters), not to mention the JV team is 13-2.

  The future is bright.

  But Bow has lost a whopping nine games (as principal Edward Rooney would say ‘9 TIMES’) by 7 points or less and has lost six games by three points or less.

 Ben Harris gives Bow size on the block, Steve Guerrette is your resident glue-guy that every team needs and Matt Lamy (11.4) and Shaun Lover (10.4) have both been very consistent for a team that just has not been able to get over the hump.

 

 Division III & IV will get full tournament previews on Monday & Tuesday.

 

 Listen in on Saturday morning!