The Crosstown Motors Division IV Basketball Preview
2014-12-09
Jordan Litts and Wilton-Lyndeborough are the favorites
By Dave Haley
Ask any NBA fan west of Chicago which conference they would rather see their team reside in and you’ll get a quick response pointing East. While Western Conference teams will beat up on each other for the better part of six months the top teams in the East face a much easier road.
Whether teams like Cleveland and Chicago are fortunate or doomed for the easier path is yet to be seen but what we do know is one of them is arriving at the NBA Finals with a lot fewer battle scars.
Welcome to the conundrum Division IV finds itself in 2014-15.
It is the southern teams and not the long dominant northern teams that will have to scrape and claw for wins every night south of the Lakes Region while dominant teams up north can pencil in 10 to 12 automatic wins before the season even tips off.
Defending champion Epping, Derryfield, Sunapee, Moultonborough Academy, Wilton Lyndeborough and even newcomers to the title chase like Portsmouth Christian are going to head into March with records that don’t usually accompany a true contender. Don’t be fooled by those records, not this year. “I like our team, we’re probably a year or two away, but honestly we might struggle to make the tournament because of the schedule we’ll have to face,” said Pittsfield head coach Jay Darrah. “I used to look at the schedule and be able to pick off four or five wins but not this year. There are just too many good teams.”
They’ve taken notice of this shift in power up north as well, “ I think the ability of those teams to play more AAU, work with skills academy’s, play bigger schools in their area and enrollment numbers has finally tilted the balance a bit,” said Littleton head coach Trevor Howard. “I’m jealous of those teams down South. They’ll be battle tested come March and that always helps you in the tournament.”
Today we take a look at the Division IV basketball landscape in the first of our four high school basketball previews on NHsportspage.
Division IV Predicted order of finish
Lurking outside the Top 10: Profile, Newmarket, Pittsfield & Concord Christian
Jordan Litts of Wilton-Lyndeborough began last season as a rumor and ended it as a cold reality. The former native of Texas was supposed to immediately re-charge a Warriors program that had struggled the past five years. After a 41 point playoff performance in Colebrook in front of a packed house and a 15 foot tall Mohawk Indian Litts got back on a bus for a very satisfying four hour ride home. “ The success he had last year really gave him the bug to get out, get better and work at his game as often as he could,” said head coach Ken Garnham, a 30 year coaching veteran with stops in Long Island, NY along the journey. “I honestly believe he has a chance to be one of the best players not only in our division but the entire state of New Hampshire. He’s certainly worked for it.”
If Litts is taking Wilton back to their first Final Four since 2008 he won’t have to do all the heavy lifting himself. Starters Duncan Rae (a 6’3 forward) and guard Connor Melrose return and are joined by a pair of catholic school transfers in Ty & Trey Carrier. Ty will run the point for Garnham, allowing Litts to play off the ball and on the wing while Trey is a 6’3 forward that will do most of his work in the paint. “It’s never easy when you add new players to the mix but they are really smart kids and have picked up what we are trying to do very quickly,” said Garnham. Casey Lane, son of Nashua North head coach Steve Lane, is a freshman point guard who will contribute right away, giving Wilton three different players who can push the ball up the floor. “We’re going to look to pressure the ball, create turnovers and run. There isn’t a guy in our lineup that can’t get up & down the floor and we’ll take advantage of that ability.”
Tom Crowley and Matt Ducharme will come off the bench to contribute but even with all the added depth and talent it still starts with our pre-season player of the year. “Last year teams could load up on stopping Jordan, feeling like the other starters weren’t capable of making them pay for it, but that is no longer the case this year,” said Garnham. “All five starters can score and if teams double Jordan that is fine with us, it will just mean we have another capable scorer open. Jordan is a facilitator, he will get the ball to the open guy. We will suffer some early growing pains with a new team but I feel like we could be pretty formidable come February & March.”
If you watched Littleton (The coverage of Littleton is sponsored by Crosstown Motors) battle Epping in the Final Four at Plymouth State University last March you saw the future of their program. In two separate waves…
In the final minutes of the game, when Jimmy Stanley was too much for a young Crusaders team to overcome, Head coach Trevor Howard went to his young reserves and watched them rattle off a 10-2 run that forced Sean Young of Epping to put some of his starters back in the game. An undefeated JV team made their statement and assured about 2,000 people in attendance that Littleton was on a championship or bust mission over the next twelve months. “We were too young last year and we’re still a team of sophomores and juniors this year as well but we gained experience,” said Howard of his team that features only one senior. “We have good depth so I have twelve kids who have an opportunity to be difference makers on this team but it needs to happen out on the court. Last year we were happy to get to Plymouth, this season it is about winning it if we get there.”
Danny Brammer, a 6 foot shooting guard and power forward Kuba Kubkowski lead a very balanced unit that will include Ethan Ellingwood (“He’s a leader for us,” said Howard) and center Eric Shafer, who is off to a very strong start in the pre-season. The X-factor may be 6’4 sophomore forward Logan Briggs who had a very strong freshman campaign that ended with him being outplayed by the older Stanley in the Final Four. “(Logan) has to get more aggressive, “says Howard. “Everything with him is falling away and avoiding contact. It’s all potential with Logan but we haven’t seen it realized yet.”
Howard is very comfortable going to his bench and expects big contributions from Michael Rodriguez and Cooper Paradice. “Those two can flat out defend. I’ll tell you I wouldn’t want to be handling the ball with either of those two all over me,” said Howard. Cy Keverian gives the Crusaders shooting off the bench, a spot that on this team will merely be a starting point. “It doesn’t matter who starts, any one of ten or twelve guys could finish the game for us. That should tell each of them that there is an opportunity to be a real difference maker for us.”
The immediate effect of Epping winning their first basketball championship since 1992 was fairly evident when you saw The Blue Devils playing in their inaugural summer tournament with 15 kids sitting on the bench behind Head coach Sean Young. Everyone likes being part of a winner.. “ We lost a lot of big time players from last year’s team, starting of course with Jimmy (Stanley), “ said Young. “ but we had one of the best JV teams in the Division a year ago and those kids came all summer long and really worked. They want to get better and be the group that leads us back. That was my goal when I came here; building a program that would have sustained success and I think we are right on track.”
Epping returns two starters from a last season. My Man Colby Wilson has taken over the captain role and has shed 20 lbs. from a year ago when he was almost exclusively a perimeter threat, “ Colby now has the ability to take guards down on the low block. He can go around you off the dribble from the perimeter and of course he still has range three feet behind the three point line.” Brett Couture had a strong Final Four last season and now tries to assimilate himself with a new cast of teammates after missing out on the team’s summer league in the off-season. “ Brett is one of my favorite kids to coach, when he gets back into the form he had last year he creates mismatches with the other team but he has some catching up to do.” Jackson Rivers takes over the power forward spot vacated by you know who and is expected to be the teams’ biggest surprise. “ He is the heir apparent to Jimmy. Maybe not this year but in the near future. He is a tremendous rebounder and will start right away for us.”
Dylan Derosier, who had a breakout game in the tournament against Profile, is a year wiser and will take over much of the ball handling duties. “He’s taken his game to another level over the off-season,” lauds Young. Tommy Bullock is a 5’9 guard who Young calls the best on the ball defender he has ever coached. Bullock led that JV juggernaut a year ago and steps right in for the defending champs. Alex Hackett, coming off an all-state football season, steps in as the teams 6th man while both Glenn Hagan and shooting guard Cam Osgood will get immediate minutes. “ I don’t see a drop off one through twelve, “ said Young. The status of Nick Padgett, a valuable 6th man a year ago, was still in question for the pre-season but either way Young feels like he has a team capable of a repeat performance. “ We are deeper than we were a year ago. I trust the young nucleus that we have, we are good now but by February we could really be a team to be reckoned with.”
There aren’t many programs that would change their approach after making the Final Four six of the last seven years but Derryfield (whose coverage is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria) head coach Rob Bradley is tired of watching someone else walk away with the hardware. “We decided as a coaching staff that we needed to clearly define what our approach is going to be this season and that approach includes building this particular team around three players,” said Bradley. “ The kids have to understand their role may not call for them getting a lot of shots but still providing really important intangibles like defense and rebounding. So far I’m really happy with the results. The kids are working really hard and we have had some great practices early on.”
The core of that foundation starts with senior point guard Rob Rizos and sophomore power forward Sam Anderson. The younger brother of the coaches choice for player of the year Max Anderson (Jimmy Stanley was our POY) was a raw energy guy in the paint a year ago as a freshman but Bradley sees a big change over the last six months. “ He worked really hard over the summer. He is stronger and now has the ability to put the ball on the floor and take guys off the dribble,” said Bradley. “ He can shoot it from long range as well so although he is our best rebounder I don’t want to limit him to simply being a low-post player for us. We are going to let him play out on the perimeter as well.” Running the show will be the heady-point guard Rizos who played very well in his first year at the point as a junior last season. “ He’s stronger now, that comes from the work he has put in. He and Pat (McGinley) have really grabbed the leadership role with this team and that has been great to see.”
McGinley, one of the top golfers in the state, returns at shooting guard and gives Derryfield an outside threat that can stretch the defense the same way Tyler Zorn has in the past. Joe Holden is one of the team’s most improved players and will be joined in the starting lineup by bruising forward Griffin Lamp. The 6’2 center may not have the size of his older brother Barrett, a former all-state center, but he also doesn’t do anything without knocking a few people over, and that is exactly why Bradley is excited about his potential. “ He gives us a real toughness that we might not have had in the past. He can really rebound and along with Sam I think that will be a strength for us.” Andrew Dubriel will contribute right away as a freshman off the bench for a team with designs on another shot at the crown. “ I think success at this level starts with your guard play and with Rob running the team and Pat out on the wing I feel really good about what we will have every night.”
A Groveton team that made the quarterfinals a year ago with three freshman in their starting lineup translates into another step forward under should be Hall of Fame coach Mark Collins. “ We’ve definitely been able to pick up from where we left off,” said Collins. “A lot of them have matured & gotten bigger. The numbers (the amount of kids in the program) are good again and that gives us a little more depth and flexibility.”
Leading the way will be shooting guard Corey Gadwah who has put on some much needed weight and shaken off a wrist injury suffered during soccer season. “ He’s going to score for us, the question is who is going to give us points after Gadwah and (Christian) Guay?” Guay will start up front along with sophomore Dylan Rogers. Those two along with Keenan Monahan and Ben Atkinson give Collins some options in the frontcourt. “Monahan has been playing well for us in the pre-season and he’s going to have to give us rebounding all year.”
Sophomore Daegan Lurvey has a year under his belt running the point and has improved as much as any player on the team over the off-season. As the saying goes the best things about freshman is they eventually become sophomores. Speaking of which Austin Lesperace is a freshman that should see time in Collins’ rotation. “We have nine or ten kids with experience and that should make a big difference in how we will be able to attack teams defensively.”
You hear Portsmouth Christian coming up a lot in conversations with coaches in the pre-season. The Eagles seemed to have taken on the role of the sleeper team, which is just fine with Head coach Lewis ‘Big Smooth’ Atkins. “This group worked really hard over the summer and played a lot of basketball together so they expect good things,” said Atkins who prefers to go by The Big Smooth. “To be a contender we are going to have to make better decisions on the floor but depth wise we are able to do some things we haven’t in the past. We have a very strong eight man rotation and we haven’t had that in my time here.”
Leading the way will be forward Eric Bontemps who could end up being a first team all-state selection when all said & done. Bontemps has the size to score down low and the quickness to take bigger players off the dribble. He along with Jake Holden & much improved point guard Shaun Bradley will be the focal point of the PCA offense. Wes Tobin is a big 6’3 center who will rebound and provide points in the paint while Holden and Bradley form a very good backcourt that saw major minutes a year ago for a tournament team. “ We have experience, what guys need to do now is take that next step because we’re no longer happy with a first round game,” said Atkins. Paul Stoudy and Devin Lund will provide depth off the bench while Atkins has high hopes for talented but injury prone guard Caleb Gendron. “Caleb has improved a lot and he could be a big factor for us this season if he can stay on the court.”
Hall of Famer Buddy Trask is a fixture at Plymouth State University every March, whether it is as an alumnus or at tournament games as a senior member of the coaches committee. It’s his Colebrook Academy team that has taken an unprecedented break from the cozy confines of Foley Gymnasium. “This senior class would be the first in decades to never advance to a Final Four so we put that on them from day one of practice.” If Colebrook is going to make a Final four run they are going to do it behind not only the guard play of Sedrick McKinnon and shooting guard Bryce Hicks but a supporting cast that needs to step up and produce. “ We know what we are going to get from Sedrick & Bryce, we need other guys to step up and that will determine how far we go in March.”
That crew includes senior Creed Cooney who hasn’t become an all-state player like many projected he would become after a promising freshman season. As a group Colebrook was largely absent during summer workouts, “They as a group needed to play a lot this summer and with the exception of Sedrick they didn’t do it,” said Trask. Richard Davis, Michael Hastings (“He’s very athletic and has played pretty well..we will try and work him in as the season goes along.”) and shooting specialist Garrett Purrington will all have an opportunity to step into key roles for a Colebrook team that is at its best when it can go nine players deep and apply constant pressure.
“Last season we forced thirty turnovers a game and we survived night to night off of that. This team will be a little better shooting group but we need to have rebounding and a toughness we didn’t have last year,” said Trask. “Who we get that from will tell you how well we play.”
Sunapee wore scorekeepers out around the state last winter to the tune of nearly 90 points a game under Head coach Ed Tenney. The Lakers should be able to score again in 2015, but who is going to rebound? “We have made the necessary adjustments in our sets and high screens to get Matt (Tenney) and Isaiah (Chappell) open looks but they are going to have trouble rebounding from the backcourt,” said Tenney. “That is where we have to get production.”
Matt Tenney is arguably the best point guard in the division. Known more as a distributor than a scorer last season Tenney is going to have score in the 20’s to give a Sunapee team that lost seven of its top ten players from a year ago a chance. His running mate Isaiah ‘Giggles’ Chappell is very likely your leading scorer in not only Division IV but the state of New Hampshire this season. There are three reasons behind that kind of proclamation; 1) he is capable 2) he nearly did it a year ago and 3) he has no choice if Sunapee is going to compete for a championship again. “Isaiah has gotten a lot stronger over the off-season, “ said Tenney. “ He played against players from the Division I schools and out of state programs and more than held his own. He will be tough to stop, especially with the new hand check rules.”
Sunapee’s all-state backcourt will miss the first four regular season games of the season for attending an off-season party. Neither player was drinking and in fact a Blood Alcohol Level test by the police confirmed that but school policy called for a four game suspension and a pretty tough lesson. That leaves Sunapee shorthanded in games against Newmarket, Nute, Newport and Derryfield. Thus facing what is likely to be an Oklahoma City Thunder like hole they’ll have to crawl out of.
Shooting guard Jesse Stiffler moved to Newport and will now play for the Tigers while two addition players from a year ago decided not to come out for the team. What is remaining is a loaded backcourt that could start for just about any Division I program in the state, but little depth or production down low. Mike Platt returns in the frontcourt and Tenney is hoping for production from Ryan Grzanna at the center spot. “ I’m not concerned about scoring, I’m concerned about defensive rebounding. Rebounding allows us to get out and run the floor. That is where we are at our best but you can’t really have one without the other. That will be the key for us.”
You wouldn’t blame Moultonborough Head coach Matt Swedberg for sticking to the same philosophies & style of play that has served him well in his distinguished coaching career. The Panthers after all have won two of the last six Division IV (Class S) championships so really…why change at all? The simple answer is…his kids kind of talked him into it. “I sat down with the team after last season and in that meeting the kids recognized they had just lost their center (Aaron Davis) and that we’d be a smaller team this year,” said Swedberg. “So they said ‘coach we want to run. We want to pressure full-court and speed up the game.” Swedberg wasn’t convinced it was the best course of action but he also wasn’t stubborn enough to think it had to be his way or the highway.
Moultonborough will follow the lead of all-state forward Riley Swedberg and emerging point guard Johnny McClay to try and return to Plymouth State for the first time since the 2012 title team.
McClay has been a revelation for Moultonborough, a player who didn’t at first seem to have an all-state pedigree when he came into the program but hard work and maturity have changed all that. “He’s come so far since his freshman year and it has been really great to see.” Providing the inside presence to McClay’s perimeter play will be Riley Swedberg, one of a dying breed of high school basketball players actually comfortable playing with his back to the basket. “Riley played point guard for us two years ago so it has been a transition closer to the basket,” said his father and head coach. “Riley likes mixing it up in the post and we feel like he should have a pretty good year.”
The Panthers will be without long range threat Tristan Price who decided to join the Nordic Ski team in his senior year. That takes away the ability to stretch the floor offensively but Moultonborough will combat that with defensive pressure and by living off turnovers. Andrew Porusta is an athletic guard that will be a main cog in that defense. Forward Matt Norton is much improved and the Panthers hope the sophomore will give the team some of the rebounding lost with the graduation of Davis.
With a lack of balance between north & south some team is going to take advantage of that and ride it to a better than expected season. The guess here is that team is Jamie Walker’s Woodsville Engineers who are coming off a quarterfinal appearance a year ago. “We lost two big guys last year that did a lot for us production wise,” said Walker. “That’s never easy to replace but we feel like we have good guard play and the potential for a couple of newcomers to step up.”
Shooting guard Jaret Bemis was option #3 a year ago but will now be counted on to score 15 to 20 points a game from the wing. Bemis has the range and after growing a few inches in the off-season he has the height to score at the basket. Dan Abrahamsen returns as one of the team leaders and can handle the ball or mix it up in the paint. What Walker needs from him this season is more consistency, “Dan is a guy who shoots well in practice and shows flashes in games but it didn’t translate consistently enough in games. We need him to step up this season.”
Derek Maccini is a quick guard who will handle the point and allow Bemis to play out on the wing. Walker is looking to Sam Pushee or Ryan Olsen to step into starting roles and hopes freshman Cooper Davidson and back-up point guard Garrett Olsen are able to work their way into the rotation. “I think we will rebound and defend, my concern is who steps up behind Bemis and scores for us? If we can find some consistency there we have a chance for a pretty good season,” said Walker.
If losing Bailey Johnson and Zach Knowlton to graduation off of last season’s quarterfinal team wasn’t enough for Profile (whose coverage is sponsored by Crosstown Motors) Head coach Paul Greenlaw there was the added blow of losing starting forward Eric Tholl is an ACL injury in the pre-season. “That hurt us because Eric is a player who really helped us last year and was one of our better players in the playoff loss to Epping,” said Greenlaw. A young nucleus will now be centered around all-state guard Ian Baker and guard Reed Weekes. Baker was a first team all-state pick at the mid-season here a year ago and now has to carry the load offensively instead of being option #2 or #3. “We need that production from him so we’ll look to play him more off the ball this season and have Reed handle some of the point guard duties.”
Greenlaw feels like he needs three players to handle the bulk of the scoring and will look to a group that includes Hunter Leighton, Chris Sirios (a starter a year ago) and newcomer Jordan Webb, “ Jordan came out for the team for the first time since his freshman year so there is obviously a learning curve there,” said Greenlaw. “We are bringing him up to speed and so far he has worked hard. He’s just a real coachable kid.”
It has probably been over a decade since Newmarket wasn’t among the best teams in their division but Head coach Jamie Hayes is dealing with youth, injuries and …well a lot of injuries. “Our center Ian Bentley hasn’t been cleared for a concussion he suffered over the summer and when we lost Alex Souvannaseng to a football injury that was a double hit we took,” said Hayes. “But we have a group I really like a lot. These guys are basketball players as opposed to kids just playing basketball for the activity or social aspects. I’m really happy with how hard they are working.”
Souvannaseng, who tore a hamstring during football season, should return soon but the status of Bentley is still up in the air. Cam Jordan will handle point guard duties along with Vinny Khounxay in the meantime. Matt Wilson (cousin of Colby) could emerge as a starter for the Mules while Craig Hounam and Anthony Senesombath should contribute right away for a very inexperienced team. Hayes knows he has to be patient and has no problem seeing the bigger picture. “For us to be successful it has got to be team basketball on both ends of the floor. We don’t have a kid that is going to go off for 25 points consistently or be a lock down defender but if we move the ball, space the floor and play good man to man and help defense we can win as a group.”
Pittsfield is going to fly up and down the floor and ride their young, but very explosive, backcourt this season. Head coach Jay Darrah knows he has the shooters to do it and frankly, little choice. “Our three biggest kids in the program are all in middle school,” Darrah admits. “We don’t have any height on the front line so we are going to pressure the ball, mix up our defenses and make the other team as uncomfortable as possible.”
Leading the way will be Jay’s son Cam who will run the point in his freshman year but second season as a starter. Xenthios Cyr was among the top 15 scorers in the divisions a year ago as a freshman and is joined in the starting lineup by Jesse Slater, Casey Ward and Gabe Anthony, a sophomore center. Anthony qualifies as a crafty veteran on a team this young. “This is a good group, they work really hard and I like the effort during the off-season as well,” said Darrah. “We hope to make the tournament against a very difficult schedule this season and set ourselves up to hopefully compete for a title in the next few seasons.”
The team that followed Lisbon’s (The coverage of Lisbon is sponsored by Crosstown Motors) 2012 championship squad looked at times like the entirely new cast of a straight to DVD sequel where none of the original stars come back. The result was a 2-16 season the featured the lowest scoring offense in the state. Head coach Sam Natti knows exactly what a title contender looks like and enters year two of the quest to get Lisbon back to that level. “We had so many guys with little or no experience a year ago that everything was a learning experience for these guys,” said Natti. “We definitely took our lumps.”
Natti has scrapped Lisbon’s traditional zone defense in favor of full court pressure brought on by two separate five man units (an idea that was recently stolen by Kentucky’s John Calipari). “When you struggle to score you need to create easy baskets off of turnovers. We scored 34 points a game last year….and that’s not going to get it done.” Kyle Lyndes returns to a starting lineup that could soon include freshman Josh Woods, the cousin of former player of the year Chad Knighton. Woods can score in bunches and joins a long list of very good underclassman in the North Country. “He has the potential to be a difference maker and when you join a team that won two games the year before, those opportunities come right away.”
Pre-Season Player of the Year: Jordan Litts of Wilton-Lyndeborough
Pre-Season First Team All-State
Jordon Litts of Wilton-Lyndeborough
Isaiah Chappell of Sunapee
Matt Tenney of Sunapee
Jermiah Boulter of Concord Christian
Colby Wilson of Epping
Second Team
Corey Gadwah of Groveton
Eric Bontemps of Portsmouth Christian
Riley Swedberg of Moultonborough Academy
Sam Anderson of Derryfield
Ian Baker of Profile
With apologies to: Danny Brammer & Logan Briggs of Littleton, Jaret Bemis of Woodsville, Rob Rizos of Derryfield, Dylan Derosier & Brett Couture of Epping, Sedrick McKinnon of Colebrook, Daegan Lurvey of Groveton, Wes Tobin & Jake Holden of Portsmouth Christian, Johnny McClay of Moultonborough, Xenthios Cyr and Cam Darrah of Pittsfield, Ty and Trey Carrier of Wilton-Lyndeborough
Thursday: Division III
Whether teams like Cleveland and Chicago are fortunate or doomed for the easier path is yet to be seen but what we do know is one of them is arriving at the NBA Finals with a lot fewer battle scars.
Welcome to the conundrum Division IV finds itself in 2014-15.
It is the southern teams and not the long dominant northern teams that will have to scrape and claw for wins every night south of the Lakes Region while dominant teams up north can pencil in 10 to 12 automatic wins before the season even tips off.
Defending champion Epping, Derryfield, Sunapee, Moultonborough Academy, Wilton Lyndeborough and even newcomers to the title chase like Portsmouth Christian are going to head into March with records that don’t usually accompany a true contender. Don’t be fooled by those records, not this year. “I like our team, we’re probably a year or two away, but honestly we might struggle to make the tournament because of the schedule we’ll have to face,” said Pittsfield head coach Jay Darrah. “I used to look at the schedule and be able to pick off four or five wins but not this year. There are just too many good teams.”
They’ve taken notice of this shift in power up north as well, “ I think the ability of those teams to play more AAU, work with skills academy’s, play bigger schools in their area and enrollment numbers has finally tilted the balance a bit,” said Littleton head coach Trevor Howard. “I’m jealous of those teams down South. They’ll be battle tested come March and that always helps you in the tournament.”
Today we take a look at the Division IV basketball landscape in the first of our four high school basketball previews on NHsportspage.
Division IV Predicted order of finish
- Wilton Lyndeborough
- Littleton
- Epping
- Derryfield
- Groveton
- Portsmouth Christian
- Colebrook Academy
- Sunapee
- Moultonborough Academy
- Woodsville
Lurking outside the Top 10: Profile, Newmarket, Pittsfield & Concord Christian
Jordan Litts of Wilton-Lyndeborough began last season as a rumor and ended it as a cold reality. The former native of Texas was supposed to immediately re-charge a Warriors program that had struggled the past five years. After a 41 point playoff performance in Colebrook in front of a packed house and a 15 foot tall Mohawk Indian Litts got back on a bus for a very satisfying four hour ride home. “ The success he had last year really gave him the bug to get out, get better and work at his game as often as he could,” said head coach Ken Garnham, a 30 year coaching veteran with stops in Long Island, NY along the journey. “I honestly believe he has a chance to be one of the best players not only in our division but the entire state of New Hampshire. He’s certainly worked for it.”
If Litts is taking Wilton back to their first Final Four since 2008 he won’t have to do all the heavy lifting himself. Starters Duncan Rae (a 6’3 forward) and guard Connor Melrose return and are joined by a pair of catholic school transfers in Ty & Trey Carrier. Ty will run the point for Garnham, allowing Litts to play off the ball and on the wing while Trey is a 6’3 forward that will do most of his work in the paint. “It’s never easy when you add new players to the mix but they are really smart kids and have picked up what we are trying to do very quickly,” said Garnham. Casey Lane, son of Nashua North head coach Steve Lane, is a freshman point guard who will contribute right away, giving Wilton three different players who can push the ball up the floor. “We’re going to look to pressure the ball, create turnovers and run. There isn’t a guy in our lineup that can’t get up & down the floor and we’ll take advantage of that ability.”
Tom Crowley and Matt Ducharme will come off the bench to contribute but even with all the added depth and talent it still starts with our pre-season player of the year. “Last year teams could load up on stopping Jordan, feeling like the other starters weren’t capable of making them pay for it, but that is no longer the case this year,” said Garnham. “All five starters can score and if teams double Jordan that is fine with us, it will just mean we have another capable scorer open. Jordan is a facilitator, he will get the ball to the open guy. We will suffer some early growing pains with a new team but I feel like we could be pretty formidable come February & March.”
If you watched Littleton (The coverage of Littleton is sponsored by Crosstown Motors) battle Epping in the Final Four at Plymouth State University last March you saw the future of their program. In two separate waves…
In the final minutes of the game, when Jimmy Stanley was too much for a young Crusaders team to overcome, Head coach Trevor Howard went to his young reserves and watched them rattle off a 10-2 run that forced Sean Young of Epping to put some of his starters back in the game. An undefeated JV team made their statement and assured about 2,000 people in attendance that Littleton was on a championship or bust mission over the next twelve months. “We were too young last year and we’re still a team of sophomores and juniors this year as well but we gained experience,” said Howard of his team that features only one senior. “We have good depth so I have twelve kids who have an opportunity to be difference makers on this team but it needs to happen out on the court. Last year we were happy to get to Plymouth, this season it is about winning it if we get there.”
Danny Brammer, a 6 foot shooting guard and power forward Kuba Kubkowski lead a very balanced unit that will include Ethan Ellingwood (“He’s a leader for us,” said Howard) and center Eric Shafer, who is off to a very strong start in the pre-season. The X-factor may be 6’4 sophomore forward Logan Briggs who had a very strong freshman campaign that ended with him being outplayed by the older Stanley in the Final Four. “(Logan) has to get more aggressive, “says Howard. “Everything with him is falling away and avoiding contact. It’s all potential with Logan but we haven’t seen it realized yet.”
Howard is very comfortable going to his bench and expects big contributions from Michael Rodriguez and Cooper Paradice. “Those two can flat out defend. I’ll tell you I wouldn’t want to be handling the ball with either of those two all over me,” said Howard. Cy Keverian gives the Crusaders shooting off the bench, a spot that on this team will merely be a starting point. “It doesn’t matter who starts, any one of ten or twelve guys could finish the game for us. That should tell each of them that there is an opportunity to be a real difference maker for us.”
The immediate effect of Epping winning their first basketball championship since 1992 was fairly evident when you saw The Blue Devils playing in their inaugural summer tournament with 15 kids sitting on the bench behind Head coach Sean Young. Everyone likes being part of a winner.. “ We lost a lot of big time players from last year’s team, starting of course with Jimmy (Stanley), “ said Young. “ but we had one of the best JV teams in the Division a year ago and those kids came all summer long and really worked. They want to get better and be the group that leads us back. That was my goal when I came here; building a program that would have sustained success and I think we are right on track.”
Epping returns two starters from a last season. My Man Colby Wilson has taken over the captain role and has shed 20 lbs. from a year ago when he was almost exclusively a perimeter threat, “ Colby now has the ability to take guards down on the low block. He can go around you off the dribble from the perimeter and of course he still has range three feet behind the three point line.” Brett Couture had a strong Final Four last season and now tries to assimilate himself with a new cast of teammates after missing out on the team’s summer league in the off-season. “ Brett is one of my favorite kids to coach, when he gets back into the form he had last year he creates mismatches with the other team but he has some catching up to do.” Jackson Rivers takes over the power forward spot vacated by you know who and is expected to be the teams’ biggest surprise. “ He is the heir apparent to Jimmy. Maybe not this year but in the near future. He is a tremendous rebounder and will start right away for us.”
Dylan Derosier, who had a breakout game in the tournament against Profile, is a year wiser and will take over much of the ball handling duties. “He’s taken his game to another level over the off-season,” lauds Young. Tommy Bullock is a 5’9 guard who Young calls the best on the ball defender he has ever coached. Bullock led that JV juggernaut a year ago and steps right in for the defending champs. Alex Hackett, coming off an all-state football season, steps in as the teams 6th man while both Glenn Hagan and shooting guard Cam Osgood will get immediate minutes. “ I don’t see a drop off one through twelve, “ said Young. The status of Nick Padgett, a valuable 6th man a year ago, was still in question for the pre-season but either way Young feels like he has a team capable of a repeat performance. “ We are deeper than we were a year ago. I trust the young nucleus that we have, we are good now but by February we could really be a team to be reckoned with.”
There aren’t many programs that would change their approach after making the Final Four six of the last seven years but Derryfield (whose coverage is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria) head coach Rob Bradley is tired of watching someone else walk away with the hardware. “We decided as a coaching staff that we needed to clearly define what our approach is going to be this season and that approach includes building this particular team around three players,” said Bradley. “ The kids have to understand their role may not call for them getting a lot of shots but still providing really important intangibles like defense and rebounding. So far I’m really happy with the results. The kids are working really hard and we have had some great practices early on.”
The core of that foundation starts with senior point guard Rob Rizos and sophomore power forward Sam Anderson. The younger brother of the coaches choice for player of the year Max Anderson (Jimmy Stanley was our POY) was a raw energy guy in the paint a year ago as a freshman but Bradley sees a big change over the last six months. “ He worked really hard over the summer. He is stronger and now has the ability to put the ball on the floor and take guys off the dribble,” said Bradley. “ He can shoot it from long range as well so although he is our best rebounder I don’t want to limit him to simply being a low-post player for us. We are going to let him play out on the perimeter as well.” Running the show will be the heady-point guard Rizos who played very well in his first year at the point as a junior last season. “ He’s stronger now, that comes from the work he has put in. He and Pat (McGinley) have really grabbed the leadership role with this team and that has been great to see.”
McGinley, one of the top golfers in the state, returns at shooting guard and gives Derryfield an outside threat that can stretch the defense the same way Tyler Zorn has in the past. Joe Holden is one of the team’s most improved players and will be joined in the starting lineup by bruising forward Griffin Lamp. The 6’2 center may not have the size of his older brother Barrett, a former all-state center, but he also doesn’t do anything without knocking a few people over, and that is exactly why Bradley is excited about his potential. “ He gives us a real toughness that we might not have had in the past. He can really rebound and along with Sam I think that will be a strength for us.” Andrew Dubriel will contribute right away as a freshman off the bench for a team with designs on another shot at the crown. “ I think success at this level starts with your guard play and with Rob running the team and Pat out on the wing I feel really good about what we will have every night.”
A Groveton team that made the quarterfinals a year ago with three freshman in their starting lineup translates into another step forward under should be Hall of Fame coach Mark Collins. “ We’ve definitely been able to pick up from where we left off,” said Collins. “A lot of them have matured & gotten bigger. The numbers (the amount of kids in the program) are good again and that gives us a little more depth and flexibility.”
Leading the way will be shooting guard Corey Gadwah who has put on some much needed weight and shaken off a wrist injury suffered during soccer season. “ He’s going to score for us, the question is who is going to give us points after Gadwah and (Christian) Guay?” Guay will start up front along with sophomore Dylan Rogers. Those two along with Keenan Monahan and Ben Atkinson give Collins some options in the frontcourt. “Monahan has been playing well for us in the pre-season and he’s going to have to give us rebounding all year.”
Sophomore Daegan Lurvey has a year under his belt running the point and has improved as much as any player on the team over the off-season. As the saying goes the best things about freshman is they eventually become sophomores. Speaking of which Austin Lesperace is a freshman that should see time in Collins’ rotation. “We have nine or ten kids with experience and that should make a big difference in how we will be able to attack teams defensively.”
You hear Portsmouth Christian coming up a lot in conversations with coaches in the pre-season. The Eagles seemed to have taken on the role of the sleeper team, which is just fine with Head coach Lewis ‘Big Smooth’ Atkins. “This group worked really hard over the summer and played a lot of basketball together so they expect good things,” said Atkins who prefers to go by The Big Smooth. “To be a contender we are going to have to make better decisions on the floor but depth wise we are able to do some things we haven’t in the past. We have a very strong eight man rotation and we haven’t had that in my time here.”
Leading the way will be forward Eric Bontemps who could end up being a first team all-state selection when all said & done. Bontemps has the size to score down low and the quickness to take bigger players off the dribble. He along with Jake Holden & much improved point guard Shaun Bradley will be the focal point of the PCA offense. Wes Tobin is a big 6’3 center who will rebound and provide points in the paint while Holden and Bradley form a very good backcourt that saw major minutes a year ago for a tournament team. “ We have experience, what guys need to do now is take that next step because we’re no longer happy with a first round game,” said Atkins. Paul Stoudy and Devin Lund will provide depth off the bench while Atkins has high hopes for talented but injury prone guard Caleb Gendron. “Caleb has improved a lot and he could be a big factor for us this season if he can stay on the court.”
Hall of Famer Buddy Trask is a fixture at Plymouth State University every March, whether it is as an alumnus or at tournament games as a senior member of the coaches committee. It’s his Colebrook Academy team that has taken an unprecedented break from the cozy confines of Foley Gymnasium. “This senior class would be the first in decades to never advance to a Final Four so we put that on them from day one of practice.” If Colebrook is going to make a Final four run they are going to do it behind not only the guard play of Sedrick McKinnon and shooting guard Bryce Hicks but a supporting cast that needs to step up and produce. “ We know what we are going to get from Sedrick & Bryce, we need other guys to step up and that will determine how far we go in March.”
That crew includes senior Creed Cooney who hasn’t become an all-state player like many projected he would become after a promising freshman season. As a group Colebrook was largely absent during summer workouts, “They as a group needed to play a lot this summer and with the exception of Sedrick they didn’t do it,” said Trask. Richard Davis, Michael Hastings (“He’s very athletic and has played pretty well..we will try and work him in as the season goes along.”) and shooting specialist Garrett Purrington will all have an opportunity to step into key roles for a Colebrook team that is at its best when it can go nine players deep and apply constant pressure.
“Last season we forced thirty turnovers a game and we survived night to night off of that. This team will be a little better shooting group but we need to have rebounding and a toughness we didn’t have last year,” said Trask. “Who we get that from will tell you how well we play.”
Sunapee wore scorekeepers out around the state last winter to the tune of nearly 90 points a game under Head coach Ed Tenney. The Lakers should be able to score again in 2015, but who is going to rebound? “We have made the necessary adjustments in our sets and high screens to get Matt (Tenney) and Isaiah (Chappell) open looks but they are going to have trouble rebounding from the backcourt,” said Tenney. “That is where we have to get production.”
Matt Tenney is arguably the best point guard in the division. Known more as a distributor than a scorer last season Tenney is going to have score in the 20’s to give a Sunapee team that lost seven of its top ten players from a year ago a chance. His running mate Isaiah ‘Giggles’ Chappell is very likely your leading scorer in not only Division IV but the state of New Hampshire this season. There are three reasons behind that kind of proclamation; 1) he is capable 2) he nearly did it a year ago and 3) he has no choice if Sunapee is going to compete for a championship again. “Isaiah has gotten a lot stronger over the off-season, “ said Tenney. “ He played against players from the Division I schools and out of state programs and more than held his own. He will be tough to stop, especially with the new hand check rules.”
Sunapee’s all-state backcourt will miss the first four regular season games of the season for attending an off-season party. Neither player was drinking and in fact a Blood Alcohol Level test by the police confirmed that but school policy called for a four game suspension and a pretty tough lesson. That leaves Sunapee shorthanded in games against Newmarket, Nute, Newport and Derryfield. Thus facing what is likely to be an Oklahoma City Thunder like hole they’ll have to crawl out of.
Shooting guard Jesse Stiffler moved to Newport and will now play for the Tigers while two addition players from a year ago decided not to come out for the team. What is remaining is a loaded backcourt that could start for just about any Division I program in the state, but little depth or production down low. Mike Platt returns in the frontcourt and Tenney is hoping for production from Ryan Grzanna at the center spot. “ I’m not concerned about scoring, I’m concerned about defensive rebounding. Rebounding allows us to get out and run the floor. That is where we are at our best but you can’t really have one without the other. That will be the key for us.”
You wouldn’t blame Moultonborough Head coach Matt Swedberg for sticking to the same philosophies & style of play that has served him well in his distinguished coaching career. The Panthers after all have won two of the last six Division IV (Class S) championships so really…why change at all? The simple answer is…his kids kind of talked him into it. “I sat down with the team after last season and in that meeting the kids recognized they had just lost their center (Aaron Davis) and that we’d be a smaller team this year,” said Swedberg. “So they said ‘coach we want to run. We want to pressure full-court and speed up the game.” Swedberg wasn’t convinced it was the best course of action but he also wasn’t stubborn enough to think it had to be his way or the highway.
Moultonborough will follow the lead of all-state forward Riley Swedberg and emerging point guard Johnny McClay to try and return to Plymouth State for the first time since the 2012 title team.
McClay has been a revelation for Moultonborough, a player who didn’t at first seem to have an all-state pedigree when he came into the program but hard work and maturity have changed all that. “He’s come so far since his freshman year and it has been really great to see.” Providing the inside presence to McClay’s perimeter play will be Riley Swedberg, one of a dying breed of high school basketball players actually comfortable playing with his back to the basket. “Riley played point guard for us two years ago so it has been a transition closer to the basket,” said his father and head coach. “Riley likes mixing it up in the post and we feel like he should have a pretty good year.”
The Panthers will be without long range threat Tristan Price who decided to join the Nordic Ski team in his senior year. That takes away the ability to stretch the floor offensively but Moultonborough will combat that with defensive pressure and by living off turnovers. Andrew Porusta is an athletic guard that will be a main cog in that defense. Forward Matt Norton is much improved and the Panthers hope the sophomore will give the team some of the rebounding lost with the graduation of Davis.
With a lack of balance between north & south some team is going to take advantage of that and ride it to a better than expected season. The guess here is that team is Jamie Walker’s Woodsville Engineers who are coming off a quarterfinal appearance a year ago. “We lost two big guys last year that did a lot for us production wise,” said Walker. “That’s never easy to replace but we feel like we have good guard play and the potential for a couple of newcomers to step up.”
Shooting guard Jaret Bemis was option #3 a year ago but will now be counted on to score 15 to 20 points a game from the wing. Bemis has the range and after growing a few inches in the off-season he has the height to score at the basket. Dan Abrahamsen returns as one of the team leaders and can handle the ball or mix it up in the paint. What Walker needs from him this season is more consistency, “Dan is a guy who shoots well in practice and shows flashes in games but it didn’t translate consistently enough in games. We need him to step up this season.”
Derek Maccini is a quick guard who will handle the point and allow Bemis to play out on the wing. Walker is looking to Sam Pushee or Ryan Olsen to step into starting roles and hopes freshman Cooper Davidson and back-up point guard Garrett Olsen are able to work their way into the rotation. “I think we will rebound and defend, my concern is who steps up behind Bemis and scores for us? If we can find some consistency there we have a chance for a pretty good season,” said Walker.
If losing Bailey Johnson and Zach Knowlton to graduation off of last season’s quarterfinal team wasn’t enough for Profile (whose coverage is sponsored by Crosstown Motors) Head coach Paul Greenlaw there was the added blow of losing starting forward Eric Tholl is an ACL injury in the pre-season. “That hurt us because Eric is a player who really helped us last year and was one of our better players in the playoff loss to Epping,” said Greenlaw. A young nucleus will now be centered around all-state guard Ian Baker and guard Reed Weekes. Baker was a first team all-state pick at the mid-season here a year ago and now has to carry the load offensively instead of being option #2 or #3. “We need that production from him so we’ll look to play him more off the ball this season and have Reed handle some of the point guard duties.”
Greenlaw feels like he needs three players to handle the bulk of the scoring and will look to a group that includes Hunter Leighton, Chris Sirios (a starter a year ago) and newcomer Jordan Webb, “ Jordan came out for the team for the first time since his freshman year so there is obviously a learning curve there,” said Greenlaw. “We are bringing him up to speed and so far he has worked hard. He’s just a real coachable kid.”
It has probably been over a decade since Newmarket wasn’t among the best teams in their division but Head coach Jamie Hayes is dealing with youth, injuries and …well a lot of injuries. “Our center Ian Bentley hasn’t been cleared for a concussion he suffered over the summer and when we lost Alex Souvannaseng to a football injury that was a double hit we took,” said Hayes. “But we have a group I really like a lot. These guys are basketball players as opposed to kids just playing basketball for the activity or social aspects. I’m really happy with how hard they are working.”
Souvannaseng, who tore a hamstring during football season, should return soon but the status of Bentley is still up in the air. Cam Jordan will handle point guard duties along with Vinny Khounxay in the meantime. Matt Wilson (cousin of Colby) could emerge as a starter for the Mules while Craig Hounam and Anthony Senesombath should contribute right away for a very inexperienced team. Hayes knows he has to be patient and has no problem seeing the bigger picture. “For us to be successful it has got to be team basketball on both ends of the floor. We don’t have a kid that is going to go off for 25 points consistently or be a lock down defender but if we move the ball, space the floor and play good man to man and help defense we can win as a group.”
Pittsfield is going to fly up and down the floor and ride their young, but very explosive, backcourt this season. Head coach Jay Darrah knows he has the shooters to do it and frankly, little choice. “Our three biggest kids in the program are all in middle school,” Darrah admits. “We don’t have any height on the front line so we are going to pressure the ball, mix up our defenses and make the other team as uncomfortable as possible.”
Leading the way will be Jay’s son Cam who will run the point in his freshman year but second season as a starter. Xenthios Cyr was among the top 15 scorers in the divisions a year ago as a freshman and is joined in the starting lineup by Jesse Slater, Casey Ward and Gabe Anthony, a sophomore center. Anthony qualifies as a crafty veteran on a team this young. “This is a good group, they work really hard and I like the effort during the off-season as well,” said Darrah. “We hope to make the tournament against a very difficult schedule this season and set ourselves up to hopefully compete for a title in the next few seasons.”
The team that followed Lisbon’s (The coverage of Lisbon is sponsored by Crosstown Motors) 2012 championship squad looked at times like the entirely new cast of a straight to DVD sequel where none of the original stars come back. The result was a 2-16 season the featured the lowest scoring offense in the state. Head coach Sam Natti knows exactly what a title contender looks like and enters year two of the quest to get Lisbon back to that level. “We had so many guys with little or no experience a year ago that everything was a learning experience for these guys,” said Natti. “We definitely took our lumps.”
Natti has scrapped Lisbon’s traditional zone defense in favor of full court pressure brought on by two separate five man units (an idea that was recently stolen by Kentucky’s John Calipari). “When you struggle to score you need to create easy baskets off of turnovers. We scored 34 points a game last year….and that’s not going to get it done.” Kyle Lyndes returns to a starting lineup that could soon include freshman Josh Woods, the cousin of former player of the year Chad Knighton. Woods can score in bunches and joins a long list of very good underclassman in the North Country. “He has the potential to be a difference maker and when you join a team that won two games the year before, those opportunities come right away.”
Pre-Season Player of the Year: Jordan Litts of Wilton-Lyndeborough
Pre-Season First Team All-State
Jordon Litts of Wilton-Lyndeborough
Isaiah Chappell of Sunapee
Matt Tenney of Sunapee
Jermiah Boulter of Concord Christian
Colby Wilson of Epping
Second Team
Corey Gadwah of Groveton
Eric Bontemps of Portsmouth Christian
Riley Swedberg of Moultonborough Academy
Sam Anderson of Derryfield
Ian Baker of Profile
With apologies to: Danny Brammer & Logan Briggs of Littleton, Jaret Bemis of Woodsville, Rob Rizos of Derryfield, Dylan Derosier & Brett Couture of Epping, Sedrick McKinnon of Colebrook, Daegan Lurvey of Groveton, Wes Tobin & Jake Holden of Portsmouth Christian, Johnny McClay of Moultonborough, Xenthios Cyr and Cam Darrah of Pittsfield, Ty and Trey Carrier of Wilton-Lyndeborough
Thursday: Division III