The Neighborhood Fundraising Division III Tournament Preview
2015-03-04
Levi Arsenault and Berlin start another possible journey to SNHU
By Dave Haley Photo by Samantha Hutchinson McMann
Our readers continue to show their appreciation for the work we do and we thank those people for their much needed support. Even a $20 donation goes a very long ways towards keeping our team together for years to come.
Thank you to those readers who have shown their support for our entire team’s work & effort. Including recent donations from:
Rob Bradley of Derryfield School
Chuck & Kelly Bergeon of Campbell
Gary Ford of Concord
Dave Chase of Hopkinton
Jolene Chappell of
Mascenic Regional Basketball
Mike Smith of John Stark
Eric Frank of Pelham
Hoagy Higgins of Rochester
Steve McDonough of Laconia
And Dennis Ordway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJxo5vWEn2o
Thank you so much to each any every reader who has shown their support to our team!
Division III
(16) Laconia or Prospect Mountain at (1) Pelham
The Laconia game against Prospect Mountain was postponed until tonight, so we’re starting without them..
The Pythons finished the regular season 18-0 and now get to the one & done phase looking for their first state championship since 2006.
There was some chatter coming out of the Division III coaches meeting that people are still questioning (grumbling about..) Pelham’s presence in Division III. With some people apparently questioning why Pelham was moved down from Division II to Division III.
If you think enrollment has anything to do with their success you’ve missed the point entirely.
Pelham was competing with Portsmouth year after year in Division II and beat them with 500 fewer students last year.
How?
They beat them because Pelham’s advantage has nothing do with enrollment and everything to do with who they compete against in the off-season & the type of kids in the program. This is the fact some people are still apparently missing.
For example while the Lakes Region teams (Belmont/Gilford/Inter-Lake/Franklin/Newfound/Winnisquam/Laconia) are playing each other during the off-season Pelham is playing games three nights a week against teams like Methuen, Andover, Lawrence, Tyngsborough & St John’s Prep .
Playing games against Massachusetts teams with future scholarship players becomes a huge factor when you get to the regular season . Add to that the fact that teams like Gilford, Campbell and Newport feature stand out football players who don’t pick up a basketball from late August to November and you see where that gap begins.
Add to that the fact that Matt Regan will have either Gilford or Hopkinton’s out of bounds plays figured out by Saturday and you have yet another reason that explains Pelham’s dominance.
None of it has anything to do with enrollment.
Pinkerton has 3,300 students and Winnacunnet has 1,300 students, does Jay McKenna complain about that? Nate Stanton at Londonderry (17-0) picks from 1,600 students..less than Central, Memorial, Pinkerton and so forth.
Do you still think it’s about enrollment?
The #1 seed in last year’s Division III tournament was Hopkinton, the school with the fewest students in the division. They also had four players on their team who could dunk…enrollment doesn’t play a factor in Division III, the margin is too close to make a difference unlike Division IV where it is a bigger factor.
If you’re sitting here in March complaining about Pelham because they have 100 more students than you you’ve probably already lost this war. If your argument isn’t about enrollment, if it’s just because they are better than you, then what is that argument exactly?
If Pelham does win the tournament, and they could be knocked off in a one & done situation, they won that title in July. They won while teams were breezing through summer league games and they were going toe to toe with Massachusetts & prep teams.
They won playing better competition every day…not because they have 12 more kids in their math class than you do….
(9) Hopkinton at (8) Gilford
The Great Jon Kesty and I will be at the Alma Mater when Chip Veazey’s Golden Eagles take on Hopkinton head coach and noted bracketologist Dave Chase. We will have all the highlights and post-game interviews of what should be a very good match-up.
Gilford is a very tough team to game plan against because they don’t have a player they are going to run sets for. Gilford uses their man to man defensive pressure, brought on by guards Carter Mercer, The Human Hurricane Max Troiano and Nate Davis to get you out of your rhythm and create transition opportunities. Gilford’s guards can be aggressive with their on the ball pressure knowing that behind them one of the biggest frontcourts in the division is protecting the paint.
6’5 Michael Madore, 6’4 Oliver Roy and 6’3 Kaleb Orton have done an excellent job of limiting teams to one shot per possession and make no mistake, they’ll move you off your spot if you try to camp in the post. This isn’t your typical tall/skinny Division III frontline. Gilford has offensive lineman moonlighting as basketball players and that has become a strength for a team that has greatly improved over the second half of the season.
The player they will be keying on is Hawks forward Luke Luneau (13.9 ppg). Luneau is quick off the floor and does a lot of his damage on the baseline. Expect Kyle Gaudet to match up with him and Gilford to use Mercer & Davis to pressure point guard Riley McNicholas and get out on sharp shooter Cooper Cyr (7 ppg). Chase has gotten production from Jamison Crouch and Henry Yianakopolos and is going to show Gilford a couple of different looks defensively. They’ll apply pressure and in turn Gilford will try to attack that pressure to where they can dump the ball down to Orton in the paint for a one on one match-up he’s likely to win.
Expect this one to go to the final three minutes…winner here makes the trip to Pelham Saturday night.
(13) Raymond at (4) Newport
Funny that when you have a tournament rematch it’s the team that lost the first time around that roots for a repeat match-up.
Raymond beat what we thought and came to learn was a fragile Newport team in last years first round but this is a different Tigers outfit. Mike Hatt has done a very nice job in his first (lone?) season at the helm and Andrew Houde (23.9 ppg.) has shown real maturity in another terrific season on the floor.
This is a Newport team that seems to be living in the moment and with all-state players like Houde & Spencer Coronis (13.0) surrounded by tough competitors like Noah Wade & CJ Lawrence Newport has the look of a team capable of getting back to SNHU after a one year absence.
For Rich Winget’s team they have gotten a terrific senior season out of big man Colby Malo (19.9 ppg) who has turned all that potential into real production. Andrew Downey (10.5) does a really nice job running this offense and there are weapons offensively in Wesley Oates (7.2) and Connor Cole (7 ppg).
The questions that have always surrounded the Rams are can they defend? Can they stop anyone when they need to? Raymond gave up 62 points per game this season, a number that only Newfound (0-18) and Hillsborough-Deering (1-17) exceeded in a 27 team division. If you haven’t noticed the trophy case at Newport contains two 1,000 balls from a couple of kids suiting up Thursday night. So if it’s a shootout Raymond wants Newport will comply but with a more balanced and measured approach than they did a year ago. That, and a lot of senior experience, is the biggest difference in Newport from a year ago to today.
(12) Mascoma at (5) Campbell
This one feels like a tough match-up for the Royals, a team that struggles to score when forced to play in the half court.
Campbell is all about making you be patient against their zone defense and offensively they are able to create on their own with Harrison Vedrani (14.3) down low and Zach Bergeon (15.1) out on the perimeter. This is a group who has gotten it done in the post-season and gets underrated contributions from Andrew Smarse, Kyle Shaw and Justin DiBenedetto. Bergeon is actually able to get his points & looks without many plays ever being run for him. Campbell drives & kicks and lets their athletes take over. Mascoma has a good big man in Walt Hammond and an emerging one in Jeremy Batten.
The Royals will look to get out and run when they can behind point guard Alex Schwarz and Andrew Cashe. Both guards can finish in transition but neither is a knock down shooter. All of which means Jim Barry’s team needs to run when they have the opportunity to take the pressure off of their half-court offense. Which has struggled for the majority of the season.
(15) Stevens at (2) Berlin
Stevens played their way into the tournament with a win over Inter-Lakes. Stevens has gotten balanced scoring from Chase Hussey (13.3) and Parker Smith (12.4) and hope to be able to compete with Berlin on the glass well enough to hang around in this one Thursday night.
Are we overlooking Berlin?
It can be easy to do with the Mountaineers doing most of their work up north. Maybe it is the coaching change and teams are not as leery of the late season adjustments former head coach Don Picard is famous for?
Tommy Gallagher (14.4) has become a confident outside shooter, Levi Arsenault (12.4) is back to his aggressive style in the paint and Nick Fodor (12.1) is one of the best big men in Division III. Additionally Dustin Moore is headed for my post-season All-Glue guy team and Evan Arsenault is emerging as a future all-state guard just like his 14 older brothers (slight exaggeration..).
Coaches saw a Berlin team that looked like some of the reigns had been loosened a bit under their first year head coach & former longtime assistant Dave Morrisette but you’re foolish to think Morrisette won’t tighten things up in the post-season.
Morrisette has guided this team right to where they wanted to be , a top 4 seed with a pair of home games. He has done a very nice job and he’s also wise enough to ask the advice of the girls coach sharing a basketball office with him. Don Picard is as smart as any coach in New Hampshire basketball and he has a very good sense of this Berlin team. A team he coached up until this fall.
All of which makes Berlin a very tough out in the next two weeks, once again.
(10) Farmington at (7) Winnisquam
Much like Newport the Winnisquam Bears get the opportunity to avenge a first round playoff loss suffered a year ago. Farmington is a dangerous lower seed with their size and ability to score. Spencer Deland is a talented 6’4 big man capable of stepping out on the perimeter. Tanner Gibbs is another good shooter for the Tigers who can provide spacing on the floor.
The question for Farmington is in their ability to defend a team like Winnisquam who can create off the dribble. The Tigers will primarily play man to man defense and will need to stop dribble/drives to stay around long enough to pull off the upset again.
The Bears have gone to the beat of their all-state guard Christian Serrano (18.9 ppg) and feature one of the best offenses in the division (66.4 ppg). Tucker Normand (11.1 ppg), Torrey Martinez (12.5) and Tim Harmon (12.5) can all hurt you if you leave them and that kind of shooting opens up a lot of driving lanes for Serrano. Winnisquam likes to bring half or three quarter court pressure defensively to ignite their running game. Offensively they allow Serrano space at the top of the key to create and kick out to his army of perimeter shooters.
Farmington has to take care of the basketball, that’s first & foremost. The Tigers want to attack Winnisquam in the paint where they are vulnerable. The Bears are a year older & wiser, that experience and their ability to beat you in a couple of different ways may be the difference a year after their upset loss.
(11) Franklin at (6) Mascenic Regional
The Vikings landed at #6 in the Division III tournament after contacting the NHIAA when they originally were assigned the #5 seed. The change was made after wins attributed against Fall Mountain (who lost out on a tournament berth after coming out on the short end of a three way tie-breaker with Kearsarge and Sanborn) were counted as tournament wins in Mascenic’s favor.
The NHIAA tie-breaker can be interrupted as wins versus tournament teams including ties, which Fall Mountain did when they were involved in the tiebreaker. Mascenic’s athletic offices called the NHIAA to re-consider them as the 6 seed and not the 5 by taking away the Fall Mountain wins as tournament wins. The NHIAA agreed and the change was made.
This was an unprecedented move, as teams do not usually argue to be bumped down in the seedings, but not altogether confusing when you look at the their road to the championship from the 6 seed as opposed to the 5 seed. Mascenic is now out of Pelham’s side of the bracket and would likely face area rival Conant, a team, they split two close games with, instead of a Newport team that beat them earlier in the season.
That leaves Mascenic with a solid Franklin team that boasts one of the best big men in the division in Dana Bean (17.2 ppg). Rich Otis’ team sputtered at the end of the season, losing three of their last four games but features a point guard in Kenny Torres (16.6) that can create off the dribble and find Bean on the low block. Bruce Carey (10.2) has been very solid as well for a team that owns wins over Winnisquam and Mascoma.
Mascenic has a very good playmaker of their own in Daimon Gibson (10 ppg) and enough weapons offensively to win a shootout Thursday night. How Franklin defends all-state shooting guard Jared Stauffeneker (18.6) bears watching as a senior laden Vikings team looks to make a run the Final Four.
Pete Tarrier & Jennifer Chick will be at Mascenic Thursday night in our second Division III tournament games being covered.
(19) Kearsarge Regional at (3) Conant
The Orioles were without two starters in a surprising season ending loss to Sanborn and will go into the tournament dinged up at several key positions.
Eric Saucier’s two time defending champions have won games with offense, defense and even a little luck. They’ll take it, as a team thought to be a year away climbed all the way to the #3 seed behind shooting guard Josh Degrenier (15.1 ppg) and big man Brandon Ford (10.4) who stepped up this season when his development was critical to Conant’s success.
Nate Camp’s team pulled off the mini-upset Tuesday night when they beat Bow to get into the 16 team field. Point guard Trent Noordsij has grown into a leader for a team that features big man Zach Mattos along with Tom Johnson & James Bromwell. Kearsarge lost at Conant 58-40 way back in December and will be playing with house money when they head to Jaffrey Thursday night. 19 seeds have not had a history of walking out of there with wins….
Thank you to those readers who have shown their support for our entire team’s work & effort. Including recent donations from:
Rob Bradley of Derryfield School
Chuck & Kelly Bergeon of Campbell
Gary Ford of Concord
Dave Chase of Hopkinton
Jolene Chappell of
Mascenic Regional Basketball
Mike Smith of John Stark
Eric Frank of Pelham
Hoagy Higgins of Rochester
Steve McDonough of Laconia
And Dennis Ordway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJxo5vWEn2o
Thank you so much to each any every reader who has shown their support to our team!
Division III
(16) Laconia or Prospect Mountain at (1) Pelham
The Laconia game against Prospect Mountain was postponed until tonight, so we’re starting without them..
The Pythons finished the regular season 18-0 and now get to the one & done phase looking for their first state championship since 2006.
There was some chatter coming out of the Division III coaches meeting that people are still questioning (grumbling about..) Pelham’s presence in Division III. With some people apparently questioning why Pelham was moved down from Division II to Division III.
If you think enrollment has anything to do with their success you’ve missed the point entirely.
Pelham was competing with Portsmouth year after year in Division II and beat them with 500 fewer students last year.
How?
They beat them because Pelham’s advantage has nothing do with enrollment and everything to do with who they compete against in the off-season & the type of kids in the program. This is the fact some people are still apparently missing.
For example while the Lakes Region teams (Belmont/Gilford/Inter-Lake/Franklin/Newfound/Winnisquam/Laconia) are playing each other during the off-season Pelham is playing games three nights a week against teams like Methuen, Andover, Lawrence, Tyngsborough & St John’s Prep .
Playing games against Massachusetts teams with future scholarship players becomes a huge factor when you get to the regular season . Add to that the fact that teams like Gilford, Campbell and Newport feature stand out football players who don’t pick up a basketball from late August to November and you see where that gap begins.
Add to that the fact that Matt Regan will have either Gilford or Hopkinton’s out of bounds plays figured out by Saturday and you have yet another reason that explains Pelham’s dominance.
None of it has anything to do with enrollment.
Pinkerton has 3,300 students and Winnacunnet has 1,300 students, does Jay McKenna complain about that? Nate Stanton at Londonderry (17-0) picks from 1,600 students..less than Central, Memorial, Pinkerton and so forth.
Do you still think it’s about enrollment?
The #1 seed in last year’s Division III tournament was Hopkinton, the school with the fewest students in the division. They also had four players on their team who could dunk…enrollment doesn’t play a factor in Division III, the margin is too close to make a difference unlike Division IV where it is a bigger factor.
If you’re sitting here in March complaining about Pelham because they have 100 more students than you you’ve probably already lost this war. If your argument isn’t about enrollment, if it’s just because they are better than you, then what is that argument exactly?
If Pelham does win the tournament, and they could be knocked off in a one & done situation, they won that title in July. They won while teams were breezing through summer league games and they were going toe to toe with Massachusetts & prep teams.
They won playing better competition every day…not because they have 12 more kids in their math class than you do….
(9) Hopkinton at (8) Gilford
The Great Jon Kesty and I will be at the Alma Mater when Chip Veazey’s Golden Eagles take on Hopkinton head coach and noted bracketologist Dave Chase. We will have all the highlights and post-game interviews of what should be a very good match-up.
Gilford is a very tough team to game plan against because they don’t have a player they are going to run sets for. Gilford uses their man to man defensive pressure, brought on by guards Carter Mercer, The Human Hurricane Max Troiano and Nate Davis to get you out of your rhythm and create transition opportunities. Gilford’s guards can be aggressive with their on the ball pressure knowing that behind them one of the biggest frontcourts in the division is protecting the paint.
6’5 Michael Madore, 6’4 Oliver Roy and 6’3 Kaleb Orton have done an excellent job of limiting teams to one shot per possession and make no mistake, they’ll move you off your spot if you try to camp in the post. This isn’t your typical tall/skinny Division III frontline. Gilford has offensive lineman moonlighting as basketball players and that has become a strength for a team that has greatly improved over the second half of the season.
The player they will be keying on is Hawks forward Luke Luneau (13.9 ppg). Luneau is quick off the floor and does a lot of his damage on the baseline. Expect Kyle Gaudet to match up with him and Gilford to use Mercer & Davis to pressure point guard Riley McNicholas and get out on sharp shooter Cooper Cyr (7 ppg). Chase has gotten production from Jamison Crouch and Henry Yianakopolos and is going to show Gilford a couple of different looks defensively. They’ll apply pressure and in turn Gilford will try to attack that pressure to where they can dump the ball down to Orton in the paint for a one on one match-up he’s likely to win.
Expect this one to go to the final three minutes…winner here makes the trip to Pelham Saturday night.
(13) Raymond at (4) Newport
Funny that when you have a tournament rematch it’s the team that lost the first time around that roots for a repeat match-up.
Raymond beat what we thought and came to learn was a fragile Newport team in last years first round but this is a different Tigers outfit. Mike Hatt has done a very nice job in his first (lone?) season at the helm and Andrew Houde (23.9 ppg.) has shown real maturity in another terrific season on the floor.
This is a Newport team that seems to be living in the moment and with all-state players like Houde & Spencer Coronis (13.0) surrounded by tough competitors like Noah Wade & CJ Lawrence Newport has the look of a team capable of getting back to SNHU after a one year absence.
For Rich Winget’s team they have gotten a terrific senior season out of big man Colby Malo (19.9 ppg) who has turned all that potential into real production. Andrew Downey (10.5) does a really nice job running this offense and there are weapons offensively in Wesley Oates (7.2) and Connor Cole (7 ppg).
The questions that have always surrounded the Rams are can they defend? Can they stop anyone when they need to? Raymond gave up 62 points per game this season, a number that only Newfound (0-18) and Hillsborough-Deering (1-17) exceeded in a 27 team division. If you haven’t noticed the trophy case at Newport contains two 1,000 balls from a couple of kids suiting up Thursday night. So if it’s a shootout Raymond wants Newport will comply but with a more balanced and measured approach than they did a year ago. That, and a lot of senior experience, is the biggest difference in Newport from a year ago to today.
(12) Mascoma at (5) Campbell
This one feels like a tough match-up for the Royals, a team that struggles to score when forced to play in the half court.
Campbell is all about making you be patient against their zone defense and offensively they are able to create on their own with Harrison Vedrani (14.3) down low and Zach Bergeon (15.1) out on the perimeter. This is a group who has gotten it done in the post-season and gets underrated contributions from Andrew Smarse, Kyle Shaw and Justin DiBenedetto. Bergeon is actually able to get his points & looks without many plays ever being run for him. Campbell drives & kicks and lets their athletes take over. Mascoma has a good big man in Walt Hammond and an emerging one in Jeremy Batten.
The Royals will look to get out and run when they can behind point guard Alex Schwarz and Andrew Cashe. Both guards can finish in transition but neither is a knock down shooter. All of which means Jim Barry’s team needs to run when they have the opportunity to take the pressure off of their half-court offense. Which has struggled for the majority of the season.
(15) Stevens at (2) Berlin
Stevens played their way into the tournament with a win over Inter-Lakes. Stevens has gotten balanced scoring from Chase Hussey (13.3) and Parker Smith (12.4) and hope to be able to compete with Berlin on the glass well enough to hang around in this one Thursday night.
Are we overlooking Berlin?
It can be easy to do with the Mountaineers doing most of their work up north. Maybe it is the coaching change and teams are not as leery of the late season adjustments former head coach Don Picard is famous for?
Tommy Gallagher (14.4) has become a confident outside shooter, Levi Arsenault (12.4) is back to his aggressive style in the paint and Nick Fodor (12.1) is one of the best big men in Division III. Additionally Dustin Moore is headed for my post-season All-Glue guy team and Evan Arsenault is emerging as a future all-state guard just like his 14 older brothers (slight exaggeration..).
Coaches saw a Berlin team that looked like some of the reigns had been loosened a bit under their first year head coach & former longtime assistant Dave Morrisette but you’re foolish to think Morrisette won’t tighten things up in the post-season.
Morrisette has guided this team right to where they wanted to be , a top 4 seed with a pair of home games. He has done a very nice job and he’s also wise enough to ask the advice of the girls coach sharing a basketball office with him. Don Picard is as smart as any coach in New Hampshire basketball and he has a very good sense of this Berlin team. A team he coached up until this fall.
All of which makes Berlin a very tough out in the next two weeks, once again.
(10) Farmington at (7) Winnisquam
Much like Newport the Winnisquam Bears get the opportunity to avenge a first round playoff loss suffered a year ago. Farmington is a dangerous lower seed with their size and ability to score. Spencer Deland is a talented 6’4 big man capable of stepping out on the perimeter. Tanner Gibbs is another good shooter for the Tigers who can provide spacing on the floor.
The question for Farmington is in their ability to defend a team like Winnisquam who can create off the dribble. The Tigers will primarily play man to man defense and will need to stop dribble/drives to stay around long enough to pull off the upset again.
The Bears have gone to the beat of their all-state guard Christian Serrano (18.9 ppg) and feature one of the best offenses in the division (66.4 ppg). Tucker Normand (11.1 ppg), Torrey Martinez (12.5) and Tim Harmon (12.5) can all hurt you if you leave them and that kind of shooting opens up a lot of driving lanes for Serrano. Winnisquam likes to bring half or three quarter court pressure defensively to ignite their running game. Offensively they allow Serrano space at the top of the key to create and kick out to his army of perimeter shooters.
Farmington has to take care of the basketball, that’s first & foremost. The Tigers want to attack Winnisquam in the paint where they are vulnerable. The Bears are a year older & wiser, that experience and their ability to beat you in a couple of different ways may be the difference a year after their upset loss.
(11) Franklin at (6) Mascenic Regional
The Vikings landed at #6 in the Division III tournament after contacting the NHIAA when they originally were assigned the #5 seed. The change was made after wins attributed against Fall Mountain (who lost out on a tournament berth after coming out on the short end of a three way tie-breaker with Kearsarge and Sanborn) were counted as tournament wins in Mascenic’s favor.
The NHIAA tie-breaker can be interrupted as wins versus tournament teams including ties, which Fall Mountain did when they were involved in the tiebreaker. Mascenic’s athletic offices called the NHIAA to re-consider them as the 6 seed and not the 5 by taking away the Fall Mountain wins as tournament wins. The NHIAA agreed and the change was made.
This was an unprecedented move, as teams do not usually argue to be bumped down in the seedings, but not altogether confusing when you look at the their road to the championship from the 6 seed as opposed to the 5 seed. Mascenic is now out of Pelham’s side of the bracket and would likely face area rival Conant, a team, they split two close games with, instead of a Newport team that beat them earlier in the season.
That leaves Mascenic with a solid Franklin team that boasts one of the best big men in the division in Dana Bean (17.2 ppg). Rich Otis’ team sputtered at the end of the season, losing three of their last four games but features a point guard in Kenny Torres (16.6) that can create off the dribble and find Bean on the low block. Bruce Carey (10.2) has been very solid as well for a team that owns wins over Winnisquam and Mascoma.
Mascenic has a very good playmaker of their own in Daimon Gibson (10 ppg) and enough weapons offensively to win a shootout Thursday night. How Franklin defends all-state shooting guard Jared Stauffeneker (18.6) bears watching as a senior laden Vikings team looks to make a run the Final Four.
Pete Tarrier & Jennifer Chick will be at Mascenic Thursday night in our second Division III tournament games being covered.
(19) Kearsarge Regional at (3) Conant
The Orioles were without two starters in a surprising season ending loss to Sanborn and will go into the tournament dinged up at several key positions.
Eric Saucier’s two time defending champions have won games with offense, defense and even a little luck. They’ll take it, as a team thought to be a year away climbed all the way to the #3 seed behind shooting guard Josh Degrenier (15.1 ppg) and big man Brandon Ford (10.4) who stepped up this season when his development was critical to Conant’s success.
Nate Camp’s team pulled off the mini-upset Tuesday night when they beat Bow to get into the 16 team field. Point guard Trent Noordsij has grown into a leader for a team that features big man Zach Mattos along with Tom Johnson & James Bromwell. Kearsarge lost at Conant 58-40 way back in December and will be playing with house money when they head to Jaffrey Thursday night. 19 seeds have not had a history of walking out of there with wins….