The Merrimack Valley Sports Thursday Thoughts for 1/21/2016
2016-01-21
Daimon Gibson and Mascenic take on Campbell
By Dave Haley
Late January is when we start to separate the contenders from the ‘Hey I’ll be happy if we can go .500’ teams. Teams are starting to see each other for the second time and if the schedule was favorable in December it’s likely handing you a reality check right about now.
We want to welcome four new members of our team as Steve McDonough of Laconia, ‘The Big Smooth’ Lewis Atkins of Portsmouth Christian, Jamie Walker of Woodsville and the family of Trevor Hunt of Belmont became donators to our team.
We love what we do and we love talking to you all at the gyms we visit all over New Hampshire. We’re willing to do the work; we just need our readers to show their support for us to continue. Thank you so much to those who have so far!
Our coverage continues Friday night when Jennifer Chick, Justin McIsaac & I will be at Stone Gymnasium in Portsmouth to bring you a battle of unbeatens when Milford takes on the Clippers. Pete Tarrier & The Great Jon Kesty will be making the trek out to Sunapee as the Lakers take on defending champion Wilton-Lyndeborough.
Division I
Merrimack (5-1) at Londonderry (3-1)
Somehow Londonderry head coach Nate Stanton was lucky enough to avoid Pembroke and Concord on his schedule and gets to play Merrimack & Pinkerton twice. I can’t wait to hear Joe Lunardi rave about their RPI come tournament time.
This is a Merrimack team in the image of their head coach Tim Goodridge. Yes the Tomahawks have produced some big time players from Corey Hassan to Dimitri Floras to Eric Gendron but when you listen to coaches’ speak about the reputation of Goodridge’s teams it is built on defense, bumping you off of your spot and beating you on the boards. This is a team that isn’t going to wow you in lay-up lines but they have grinders like Andrew Wojack & Ian Roberts that assure it’s going to take some effort to get good looks. Ian Cummings (13.0) and Zak Kerr (13.6) are more than capable of getting you a basket when you need it in the final three minutes but this is a balanced outfit. Friday night they get their first look at the team that knocked them out in the quarterfinals a year ago.
You’re making a mistake if you go into a game against the Lancers feeling like if you slow all-state shooting guard Jake Coleman (18.8) down you’ve won the battle. Stanton’s offense promotes ball movement and getting shooters good looks in rhythm, whether it is in the half court or on the break. Cole Britting and Nate Gaw are playing well at both ends of the floor while Cam Reddy & Matt Corey have stepped up and produced in the paint. This is hardly a one man unit and remember this is a team that won at Durham a year ago while their best player (Cody Ball) struggled with his shooting.
Reddy is the player the box score is never going to truly appreciate. He is keeping possessions alive with his ability to get offensive rebounds (he killed Trinity on the glass) and he gives you a body to bang with the likes of Roberts on the block. These are two of the Top 8 teams in Division I, let the jockeying for position commence…
Nashua South (4-2) at Exeter (3-2)
Pete Tarrier’s alma mater enters a very tough stretch in their schedule against a team that more than any other team in Division I, resembles the lineup they put out on the floor twice a week.
We can argue all day about the best backcourt in New Hampshire but DJ Frechette(23.5)/Kevin Genao (12.3)& Bryant Holmes (19.8)/Cody Morissette (18.8) are included in every debate (fine since we are here…so are KJ Matte/Ryan Milliken, Shon Parham/Cody Graham, Keith Brown/Kyle Frank, Matt Tenney/Issaish Chappell & Ronnie Silva/Nathan Hale..if we are calling Hale a shooting guard..). Both teams are comfortable in a shootout and it was a year ago that these two put on a show in our game of the week. You like offense? Head over to 1 Blue Hawk Drive Friday night.
For South it begins a killer stretch of games; at Exeter, Londonderry, Merrimack, at Salem, at Nashua North (I believe that’s a rivalry game…) and at Winnacunnet. Now that is a stretch…it will ease up considerably after that but if you are Nate Mazerolle you’d be happy to get out of that 3-3..he’s not going to tell you that but I will. South is a team competing for a top 4 seed...how they fare over the next six games will tell you all you need to know about how realistic that goal is.
Division II
Milford (6-0) at Portsmouth (7-0)
We’ve established who the Big 3 in the division are and Friday night Milford gets their measuring stick game after an undefeated start.
Milford has four or five players on the floor that can shoot it from deep and have gotten tremendous guard play out of Ryan Banuskevich (16.3). The Spartans are likely just as curious as you are about where they stack up against a Portsmouth team that might be the best basketball team in New Hampshire, regardless of division. Kirk Palladino is a knock down shooter while Dan Murray brings defense in the paint. Murray will have to be a factor defensively as his ability to slow down all-state center Joey Glynn (14.9 ppg) will be a huge part of Dan Murray’s game plan.
The Clippers have been a machine early on as Shon Parham has cut down on the turnovers considerably in his junior season and sophomore shooting guard Cody Graham (18.9) ranks 3rd in Division II in scoring while being the focus of the opposing defense on a nightly basis. Christian Peete returned to the lineup after an injury and Parham has been able to play off the ball at times with the improvement of guard Romeo Ingram. This is a team that is playing at a level usually reserved for mid-March. That’s the bad news for the rest of Division II.
The good news is they may be moving along at the end of the season. The Clippers have petitioned to the NHIAA to join Division I starting next season (Pembroke will be coming back to Division II so it would be a painless swap). With all five current starters being underclassman they would immediately contend for the state championship. All you need to do is look at the scores against St. Thomas and Kennett to tell you the Clippers would be better served playing at the next level and it’s a move that has been in the works for years.
St. Thomas (1-6) at Manchester West (5-1)
The two best acting performances you will see all year are Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘The Revenant’ (Four stars..go see it in a theatre with surround sound) and my buddy Danny Bryson pretending in his post-game interview with Pete last week that this game hasn’t been circled on the calendar for 10 months….
15th seeded St. Thomas knocked West out of the tournament on their home floor in one of those great Twitter moments when 100 people re-tweeted ‘Holy ____ West is losing to St. Thomas!!!’.
Manchester West has not forgotten..….Godspeed.
Division III
Mascenic Regional (6-1) at Campbell (2-5)
It has been a very rough go for Campbell in year one under Sudi Lett. The Cougars were at times down right methodical on offense under head coach John Langlois, who led them to three consecutive Final Four appearances, but they were also one of the best defensive teams in the state.
A year ago Campbell allowed (48.5 ppg) on their way to the semifinals where they lost a heartbreaker to unbeaten Pelham. In 2016 Campbell has opened up the offense more, allowing players like Michael Gray and Kyle Shaw more freedom. It has come at the expense of that vaunted defense though as Campbell is allowing 63.5 ppg through seven games. A fifteen point jump from last season.
Christian Serrano went up, down & around them Tuesday night to the tune of 31 points and 8 assists. Friday night one of the best backcourts in Division III rolls in when Daimon Gibson (17 ppg) and Brett Stauffeneker (18.9) take the floor. Mascenic came into the season with a lot of players having to step up into bigger roles and now has to look at the Division III landscape after seven games and say ‘Wait a second…am I crazy or are we playing for a Top 4 seed??’.
If Gibson and Stauffeneker get out in the open floor Friday night expect Campbell’s problems to continue for at least another night.
Belmont (5-3) at Winnisquam (8-0)
A lot of the luster was taken off this one when Belmont power forward Trevor Hunt (16.3 ppg) went down with an injury early in a loss to Prospect Mountain. Hunt isn’t expected to be back Friday night for a Belmont team that, along with Inter-Lakes, has moved to the front of the Lakes Region pack of teams.
The team holding that top spot for the past 12 months is a Winnisquam team that probably feels like it is being overshadowed by Pelham and Conant.
That’s a fair claim. The Bears can score with anyone, Christian Serrano (26.9) has been the second best player in the division while Tim Harmon, Mike Buxton and Mike Lowery have all produced for Kevin Dame’s team. The gap between Winnisquam and the two best teams in the division will be revealed come March and even before that a February 2nd trip to Pelham (and we will be there..) serves as their measuring stick game.
The Bears are the best team in the Lakes Region but with Berlin & Campbell both significantly down from a year ago they’ll only face a top 4 level team on the 2nd. That’s when we see if we are truly overlooking the current top seed in Division III.
Division IV
Wilton-Lyndeborough (7-2) at Sunapee (5-1)
With ‘Giggles’ Chappell back in the fold the Lakers feel like they are back in the final four conversation. Friday night, in a game we will have coverage of, they square off with a Wilton team coming off their best win of the year Tuesday night against Newmarket. The match-up to watch is Ty Carrier and Casey Lane defending against the best point guard in the division Matt Tenney (25.2) and Sunapee’s ability to compete on the glass against arguably the best frontcourt in the division; Trey Carrier (16.7) and Sean McClure (10.3)
After a game at Pittsfield next week the champs will play six consecutive home games. Contests that will include important match-ups against Division III Mascenic, Epping, Derryfield, Sunapee and Newmarket. That six game home stand (we have those in high school sports?) will determine where Ken Garnham’s team will slide into the final rankings.
Sunapee’s win last Friday night over Newmarket was their first of the season over a team with a plus.500 record. Will the transition of Chappell back into the lineup go smoothly? Someone is no longer a starter, the 8th man is suddenly pushed out of the rotation and there will certainly be fewer shots to go around…those mean something to teams & their players. You’re crazy if you don’t think it has an effect.
We get our first look at the new Sunapee Lakers Friday night.
Newmarket (5-4) at Derryfield (5-3)
Jamie Hayes’ team lost two point games on the road to Portsmouth Christian (57-55) and Epping (56-54) that proved what we believed from the very beginning of the season; that Newmarket was a legitimate final four contender again in 2016. Those losses and a two game skid against Sunapee & Wilton-Lyndeborough though have made their quest for a top 4 seed a longshot and puts their hopes for a home playoff game in jeopardy.
They’ll need to turn the tide Friday night back in the gym where their season ended in the quarterfinal round a year ago. Ian Bentley (16.7) will square off with fellow all-state big man Sam Anderson (14.0) in what should be the match-up of the night. Rob Bradley’s team has been given a big lift by the recent play of shooting guard Burton Owen, who is averaging 16 points per game and eight games in we still are not sure where they fit in the Division IV hierarchy.
Derryfield also can point to three or four plays that, had they had gone another way, would have them near the top of the Division IV standings. Instead both teams come into this needing a win to kick start the second half of the season.
The New Hampshire High School Hoop Show is on every Saturday morning from 9 to 11 am. Pete Tarrier & I give you the scores of every game in the state Friday night and breakdown all four divisions. Our guests Saturday will be Pelham head coach Matt Regan & Londonderry head coach Nate Stanton as well as our weekly call with Justin McIsaac that usually straddles the line between thought provoking & absurdity.
Listen In simply by clicking on the LISTEN LIVE link on our website Listen to ESPN NH LIVE
Or by listening on your free Tune in Radio app or radio to ESPN NH (900 & 1250 AM)
Read more at http://nhsportspage.com/news.php?news_id=1266508#CxxzIl2d8mwaYBxU.99
We want to welcome four new members of our team as Steve McDonough of Laconia, ‘The Big Smooth’ Lewis Atkins of Portsmouth Christian, Jamie Walker of Woodsville and the family of Trevor Hunt of Belmont became donators to our team.
We love what we do and we love talking to you all at the gyms we visit all over New Hampshire. We’re willing to do the work; we just need our readers to show their support for us to continue. Thank you so much to those who have so far!
Our coverage continues Friday night when Jennifer Chick, Justin McIsaac & I will be at Stone Gymnasium in Portsmouth to bring you a battle of unbeatens when Milford takes on the Clippers. Pete Tarrier & The Great Jon Kesty will be making the trek out to Sunapee as the Lakers take on defending champion Wilton-Lyndeborough.
Division I
Merrimack (5-1) at Londonderry (3-1)
Somehow Londonderry head coach Nate Stanton was lucky enough to avoid Pembroke and Concord on his schedule and gets to play Merrimack & Pinkerton twice. I can’t wait to hear Joe Lunardi rave about their RPI come tournament time.
This is a Merrimack team in the image of their head coach Tim Goodridge. Yes the Tomahawks have produced some big time players from Corey Hassan to Dimitri Floras to Eric Gendron but when you listen to coaches’ speak about the reputation of Goodridge’s teams it is built on defense, bumping you off of your spot and beating you on the boards. This is a team that isn’t going to wow you in lay-up lines but they have grinders like Andrew Wojack & Ian Roberts that assure it’s going to take some effort to get good looks. Ian Cummings (13.0) and Zak Kerr (13.6) are more than capable of getting you a basket when you need it in the final three minutes but this is a balanced outfit. Friday night they get their first look at the team that knocked them out in the quarterfinals a year ago.
You’re making a mistake if you go into a game against the Lancers feeling like if you slow all-state shooting guard Jake Coleman (18.8) down you’ve won the battle. Stanton’s offense promotes ball movement and getting shooters good looks in rhythm, whether it is in the half court or on the break. Cole Britting and Nate Gaw are playing well at both ends of the floor while Cam Reddy & Matt Corey have stepped up and produced in the paint. This is hardly a one man unit and remember this is a team that won at Durham a year ago while their best player (Cody Ball) struggled with his shooting.
Reddy is the player the box score is never going to truly appreciate. He is keeping possessions alive with his ability to get offensive rebounds (he killed Trinity on the glass) and he gives you a body to bang with the likes of Roberts on the block. These are two of the Top 8 teams in Division I, let the jockeying for position commence…
Nashua South (4-2) at Exeter (3-2)
Pete Tarrier’s alma mater enters a very tough stretch in their schedule against a team that more than any other team in Division I, resembles the lineup they put out on the floor twice a week.
We can argue all day about the best backcourt in New Hampshire but DJ Frechette(23.5)/Kevin Genao (12.3)& Bryant Holmes (19.8)/Cody Morissette (18.8) are included in every debate (fine since we are here…so are KJ Matte/Ryan Milliken, Shon Parham/Cody Graham, Keith Brown/Kyle Frank, Matt Tenney/Issaish Chappell & Ronnie Silva/Nathan Hale..if we are calling Hale a shooting guard..). Both teams are comfortable in a shootout and it was a year ago that these two put on a show in our game of the week. You like offense? Head over to 1 Blue Hawk Drive Friday night.
For South it begins a killer stretch of games; at Exeter, Londonderry, Merrimack, at Salem, at Nashua North (I believe that’s a rivalry game…) and at Winnacunnet. Now that is a stretch…it will ease up considerably after that but if you are Nate Mazerolle you’d be happy to get out of that 3-3..he’s not going to tell you that but I will. South is a team competing for a top 4 seed...how they fare over the next six games will tell you all you need to know about how realistic that goal is.
Division II
Milford (6-0) at Portsmouth (7-0)
We’ve established who the Big 3 in the division are and Friday night Milford gets their measuring stick game after an undefeated start.
Milford has four or five players on the floor that can shoot it from deep and have gotten tremendous guard play out of Ryan Banuskevich (16.3). The Spartans are likely just as curious as you are about where they stack up against a Portsmouth team that might be the best basketball team in New Hampshire, regardless of division. Kirk Palladino is a knock down shooter while Dan Murray brings defense in the paint. Murray will have to be a factor defensively as his ability to slow down all-state center Joey Glynn (14.9 ppg) will be a huge part of Dan Murray’s game plan.
The Clippers have been a machine early on as Shon Parham has cut down on the turnovers considerably in his junior season and sophomore shooting guard Cody Graham (18.9) ranks 3rd in Division II in scoring while being the focus of the opposing defense on a nightly basis. Christian Peete returned to the lineup after an injury and Parham has been able to play off the ball at times with the improvement of guard Romeo Ingram. This is a team that is playing at a level usually reserved for mid-March. That’s the bad news for the rest of Division II.
The good news is they may be moving along at the end of the season. The Clippers have petitioned to the NHIAA to join Division I starting next season (Pembroke will be coming back to Division II so it would be a painless swap). With all five current starters being underclassman they would immediately contend for the state championship. All you need to do is look at the scores against St. Thomas and Kennett to tell you the Clippers would be better served playing at the next level and it’s a move that has been in the works for years.
St. Thomas (1-6) at Manchester West (5-1)
The two best acting performances you will see all year are Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘The Revenant’ (Four stars..go see it in a theatre with surround sound) and my buddy Danny Bryson pretending in his post-game interview with Pete last week that this game hasn’t been circled on the calendar for 10 months….
15th seeded St. Thomas knocked West out of the tournament on their home floor in one of those great Twitter moments when 100 people re-tweeted ‘Holy ____ West is losing to St. Thomas!!!’.
Manchester West has not forgotten..….Godspeed.
Division III
Mascenic Regional (6-1) at Campbell (2-5)
It has been a very rough go for Campbell in year one under Sudi Lett. The Cougars were at times down right methodical on offense under head coach John Langlois, who led them to three consecutive Final Four appearances, but they were also one of the best defensive teams in the state.
A year ago Campbell allowed (48.5 ppg) on their way to the semifinals where they lost a heartbreaker to unbeaten Pelham. In 2016 Campbell has opened up the offense more, allowing players like Michael Gray and Kyle Shaw more freedom. It has come at the expense of that vaunted defense though as Campbell is allowing 63.5 ppg through seven games. A fifteen point jump from last season.
Christian Serrano went up, down & around them Tuesday night to the tune of 31 points and 8 assists. Friday night one of the best backcourts in Division III rolls in when Daimon Gibson (17 ppg) and Brett Stauffeneker (18.9) take the floor. Mascenic came into the season with a lot of players having to step up into bigger roles and now has to look at the Division III landscape after seven games and say ‘Wait a second…am I crazy or are we playing for a Top 4 seed??’.
If Gibson and Stauffeneker get out in the open floor Friday night expect Campbell’s problems to continue for at least another night.
Belmont (5-3) at Winnisquam (8-0)
A lot of the luster was taken off this one when Belmont power forward Trevor Hunt (16.3 ppg) went down with an injury early in a loss to Prospect Mountain. Hunt isn’t expected to be back Friday night for a Belmont team that, along with Inter-Lakes, has moved to the front of the Lakes Region pack of teams.
The team holding that top spot for the past 12 months is a Winnisquam team that probably feels like it is being overshadowed by Pelham and Conant.
That’s a fair claim. The Bears can score with anyone, Christian Serrano (26.9) has been the second best player in the division while Tim Harmon, Mike Buxton and Mike Lowery have all produced for Kevin Dame’s team. The gap between Winnisquam and the two best teams in the division will be revealed come March and even before that a February 2nd trip to Pelham (and we will be there..) serves as their measuring stick game.
The Bears are the best team in the Lakes Region but with Berlin & Campbell both significantly down from a year ago they’ll only face a top 4 level team on the 2nd. That’s when we see if we are truly overlooking the current top seed in Division III.
Division IV
Wilton-Lyndeborough (7-2) at Sunapee (5-1)
With ‘Giggles’ Chappell back in the fold the Lakers feel like they are back in the final four conversation. Friday night, in a game we will have coverage of, they square off with a Wilton team coming off their best win of the year Tuesday night against Newmarket. The match-up to watch is Ty Carrier and Casey Lane defending against the best point guard in the division Matt Tenney (25.2) and Sunapee’s ability to compete on the glass against arguably the best frontcourt in the division; Trey Carrier (16.7) and Sean McClure (10.3)
After a game at Pittsfield next week the champs will play six consecutive home games. Contests that will include important match-ups against Division III Mascenic, Epping, Derryfield, Sunapee and Newmarket. That six game home stand (we have those in high school sports?) will determine where Ken Garnham’s team will slide into the final rankings.
Sunapee’s win last Friday night over Newmarket was their first of the season over a team with a plus.500 record. Will the transition of Chappell back into the lineup go smoothly? Someone is no longer a starter, the 8th man is suddenly pushed out of the rotation and there will certainly be fewer shots to go around…those mean something to teams & their players. You’re crazy if you don’t think it has an effect.
We get our first look at the new Sunapee Lakers Friday night.
Newmarket (5-4) at Derryfield (5-3)
Jamie Hayes’ team lost two point games on the road to Portsmouth Christian (57-55) and Epping (56-54) that proved what we believed from the very beginning of the season; that Newmarket was a legitimate final four contender again in 2016. Those losses and a two game skid against Sunapee & Wilton-Lyndeborough though have made their quest for a top 4 seed a longshot and puts their hopes for a home playoff game in jeopardy.
They’ll need to turn the tide Friday night back in the gym where their season ended in the quarterfinal round a year ago. Ian Bentley (16.7) will square off with fellow all-state big man Sam Anderson (14.0) in what should be the match-up of the night. Rob Bradley’s team has been given a big lift by the recent play of shooting guard Burton Owen, who is averaging 16 points per game and eight games in we still are not sure where they fit in the Division IV hierarchy.
Derryfield also can point to three or four plays that, had they had gone another way, would have them near the top of the Division IV standings. Instead both teams come into this needing a win to kick start the second half of the season.
The New Hampshire High School Hoop Show is on every Saturday morning from 9 to 11 am. Pete Tarrier & I give you the scores of every game in the state Friday night and breakdown all four divisions. Our guests Saturday will be Pelham head coach Matt Regan & Londonderry head coach Nate Stanton as well as our weekly call with Justin McIsaac that usually straddles the line between thought provoking & absurdity.
Listen In simply by clicking on the LISTEN LIVE link on our website Listen to ESPN NH LIVE
Or by listening on your free Tune in Radio app or radio to ESPN NH (900 & 1250 AM)
Read more at http://nhsportspage.com/news.php?news_id=1266508#CxxzIl2d8mwaYBxU.99