Today we preview the Division IV quarterfinals with the four winners advancing to the Final Four at Plymouth State University on Monday night.

 Jennifer Chick-Ruth & I will be in Epping when the top-seeded Blue Devils square off with 9 seed Portsmouth Christian.

 Lance Legere & Nichole Marrero will be at Newmarket for a rematch of the 2018 championship game when the Mules host Pittsfield.

 On Monday we will have our annual semifinal scouting report where we use blind quotes from opposing coaches to breakdown the semifinal match-ups.

 Jennifer Chick-Ruth, Sam Natti of Lisbon & I will call both semifinal games on Monday night and the championship game on Friday 8th.

 Our coverage is brought to you by our friends and partners at White Mountains Community College, with locations in Berlin, Littleton, and North Conway.

 Take a look at the White Mountains Community College video with Division IV highlights produced by Jennifer Chick-Ruth with voice over from Justin McIsaac.

 

 (9) Portsmouth Christian at (1) Epping

 Epping Team Page

 PCA Team Page

 These two teams played two weeks ago tonight with Nick Fiset’s team wrapping up the top seed with a 76-71 win on the road.

 Player of the Year Hunter Bullock (if that’s a surprise to you welcome to the website) scored 29 points and that’s a problem that isn’t going to go away for PCA. Head coach Derek Summers has to find a way to keep Bullock out of the paint and pick a Blue Devil and decide ‘If that’s the player who beats us we’re going to have to shake his hand and move on’.

 I would advise that player not to be Shawn Hill, who has evolved into one of the best shooters in Division IV.

 PCA is a scary lower seed because they played a difficult schedule (they faced Epping, Pittsfield, Newmarket & Derryfield twice each), they have a big in Bryson Lund (14.4) who can cause problems and shooters like AJ Chase (17.1) who can stroke it. Chase drilled 8 3-pointers the last time these two teams met, making Bullock’s 29 point performance an absolute necessity.

 Derek Summers’ team goes into this one with a lot of confidence after going up to Groveton and knocking off the Eagles on Monday night. They also come in with nothing to lose, as the pressure will fall on to the top seed if this game goes to the wire.

 Peyton Rivers, last seen holding Jen Chick-Ruth’s baby for dear life in a full court interview for Monday’s Locker room videos, will be a key player again for Epping. Rivers has to battle Lund on the low block and attack him offensively.

 If Rivers contains Lund that allows Adam LePage, Bullock & Noah Bilodeau to defend the perimeter against Chase and the PCA shooters.

 

 (5) Sunapee at (4) Woodsville

 Woodsville Team Page

 Sunapee Team Page

 Match-up of two similar teams.

 Sunapee doesn’t have a lot of size but they have good athletes. Jordan Chappell (13.6) will attack you on offense, looking to score on the inside while Brady Grzanna (11.1) is a very solid point guard who is very good when he gets into the paint. 

 Grzanna handles pressure well and will find shooting guard Zach Belisle (10.6 ppg. and their best outside shooter) when you overplay him.

 Sunapee will mix up their defenses between man to man and zone (often 2-3) and uses Sean Shisko, maybe their best defender, to jump you at mid-court. Sunapee is more physical than Woodsville but not as deadly from the perimeter.

 Brendan Walker (10.2) has played better by the week at shooting guard (if we are being honest The Engineers could all be listed as shooting guards) while Billy Green (13.6) can attack the basket from the elbow. Woodsville can run their offense through Patrick Estes and Green at the high post and find shooters like Walker, Connor Maccini (9.9) and Corey Bemis on the perimeter.

 What Woodsville does is spread you out and when they are sharing the basketball they are difficult to defend. This is a team that can put up 70 points but they are vulnerable when you have someone like Chappell who can get to the rim.

 

 (7) Colebrook at (2) Littleton

 Littleton Team Page

 Colebrook Team Page

 Can Colebrook knock off Littleton?

 First, let’s talk about what would need to happen for that to occur.

 Buddy Trask’s team is going to have to turn Littleton over with their pressure defense or by jumping passing lanes in the half court. Jon Scherer scored 27 points in the first round win against Lisbon and that game swung in the 3rd quarter when Lisbon stopped passing through Colebrook’s defensive pressure and decided to dribble through it. That resulted in turnover after turnover and Colebrook never looked back.

 Colebrook sped Lisbon’s guards up and they couldn’t handle it. Littleton’s guards (Parker Paradice, Parker Briggs, Todd Krol-Corliss) are far better equipped to navigate through pressure and they won’t make the mistake of trying to dribble through it.

 Colebrook is going to need to keep Danny Kubkowski off the boards; does that fall to Malik McKinnon or Daegen Riff?

 I’d expect Scherer to match-up with Briggs on the perimeter which leaves Jason Brammer free to roam the baseline. That also would pull Colebrook’s best on the ball defender away from the Littleton ball handlers. Briggs is the best outside shooter in the division, meaning Scherer is going to have to stay home on him and not leave him to help on Brammer, Kubkowski etc.

 Colebrook needs to get out and run to score 60 plus points and that’s the total that wins this game. In order to get there, they’re going to need to turn Littleton over 25 plus times. Groveton did that two weeks and walked away with a stunning upset but Colebrook is not playing at home as Mark Collins’ team did that night, they are going to have to go into a packed house on the road and play their best game of the year.

 As Neil McCauley would say, ‘There’s a flip side to that coin’.

 Turning Littleton over 25 times isn’t going to net you very much if Colebrook turns it over 30 times themselves. With Kubkowski & Brammer out in front of the press, Littleton is very good on their home floor of making opposing teams feel boxed in. Colebrook has to take care of the ball and win the battle of the boards.

 Littleton is a very big favorite in this one, meaning an awful lot has to go Colebrook’s way for them to pull off a major upset.

 

(6) Pittsfield at (3) Newmarket

 Newmarket Team Page

 Pittsfield Team Page

 The defending champion Panthers proved to themselves that they can play with rival Newmarket in their second meeting, a 65-59 loss that we covered on video.

 Now they need to figure out what will get them over the hump and back to Plymouth State?

 Pittsfield had a lot of success in that game getting Devin Bedell into the paint. The Panthers work to get the best shot from close range and rarely settle for the quick 3-pointer. The loss of Tyler Prentice to a season-ending injury puts even more pressure on Dylan Bocash (14.1) and Bedell (14.6) as no third scorer has emerged in his absence.

 Newmarket still was without Will Chase & Owen Tower against Wilton-Lyndeborough in Round 1. Chase gives head coach Jamie Hayes a reliable starter while Tower gives you post-scoring off the bench. Expect Jared Woodman to pick up the scoring load from their absence and point guard Simon Cote to look for his own offense more in his final home game.

 Amar & Allen Phoubaykham will cause havoc out front defensively for the purpose of getting Pittsfield out of what they’re trying to run. The question is if Pittsfield gets a big enough performance from Bocash or Bedell to pull off the shocker for Jay Darrah’s team.