The Crosstown Motors Division IV mid-season snapshot

 
 As always we pick the two teams most likely to meet in the championship game (spoiler alert I have picked the two teams correctly two years running so if you like surprises stop reading now) and hand out mid-season all-state picks. We'll also name our mid-season player & coach of the year which has become such a jinx (ask Mark Collins & The Big Smooth Lewis Atkins) that coaches are openly campaigning for me to give it to someone besides themselves.
 
 We'll also name the most intriguing team in the division as well as the teams in the mix to be the last team standing in Plymouth.
 
 Let me first start by thanking the coaches who have become a part of our NHsportspage team by becoming Gold Level contributors to all the work we do and coverage we bring you. As a free website run by six people with families and full time jobs we absolutely cannot continue without the support of our readers.
 
 Thank you very much to the head coaches of Division IV who have supported our efforts. Each is receiving the full game videos of every single basketball game we cover from the beginning of the season all the way to the championship games.
 
 Mark Collins of Groveton
 Trevor Howard of Littleton
 Jay Darrah of Pittsfield
 Jamie Walker of Woodsville
 Scott Currier of Nute 
 Sam Natti of Lisbon
 Rob Bradley of Derryfield
The Big Smooth Lewis Atkins of PCA
 
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 If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:
 
 Epping vs. Littleton
 
  This was not an easy choice to make as any one of nine teams could make it all the way to the final (I haven’t given up on you yet Newmarket). Right now the two best teams in Division IV are Portsmouth Christian and, after what I watched Monday night, Littleton. Let’s start with why I have Epping making it to the final before I attempt to breakdown the key to Littleton’s title hopes.
 
 The Blue Devils, more than any other team in the division, have the coach and playmakers to flip the switch come March. I don’t believe My Man Colby Wilson, Dylan Derosier and Jackson Rivers are going out without a fight. No team is more likely to drop their last two regular season games and then win four in a row in the tournament nor is any team more experienced & equipped to erase a halftime deficit at Plymouth State.
 
 The Epping team we saw take on Portsmouth Christian two weeks ago looked half interested and two steps slow. Guys weren’t defending, closing out or getting back in transition. I remarked on the radio show that they showed up in their pajamas and watching it again on video two days later led me to that same conclusion. I also think when you have played under the same head coach for 100 plus games (Epping plays a ton of basketball in the summer) you sometimes need to fall on your face to be reminded that you’d better listen to what he’s telling you.
 
 What was Epping basketball before Sean Young arrived three years ago? The most disappointing outfit in Division IV. What are they now? The most successful and accomplished team in the division. So I’d listen to what he has to say..
 
 Coach Young is going to allow players to fail early on if it serves a purpose when the games are do or die. Even if that means watching Jackson Rivers launch two three pointers on their first five possessions of a big game, allowing Dylan Derosier to disappear for large stretches of the game and for My Man Colby Wilson to watch guys roll past him to the hoop in a game PCA had circled for a month. I don’t believe he is allowing any of that to happen in March or in the games leading into it.
 
 The pieces are there and so is the big game experience that comes with two consecutive trips to the championship game.
 
 All you needed to see, to convince you Littleton has what it takes to get over their semifinal hump, was a four minute stretch of their 67-45 win over Sunapee Monday night.

 Every time Mike Platt, Matt Tenney or Issaiah Chappell got to the rim 6’5 center Logan Briggs, playing his first game in a month after suffering an injury, was there to send it away.
 
 Briggs not only blocked shots but was able to direct them towards teammates who quickly turned a Sunapee drive into a transition opportunity. In the middle of that four minute stretch Briggs posted up four feet from the basket, caught the entry pass from Cooper Paradise, turned and shot a turnaround jumper from over his head that found nothing but net.
 
 That sequence is Littleton’s path to a long awaited championship.
 
 Every time Logan Briggs comes down and shoots a 20 footer opposing coaches are more than happy to take their chances with the results. Briggs in the past played during the summer with the Granite State Raiders program run by Frank & Matt Alosa where big men are taught to work on the perimeter and knock down shots.

 The Alosa’s have a wealth of basketball knowledge and Matt was one of the best coaches in New Hampshire in his time at his alma mater. He also coached a Pembroke team a year ago with four starters over 6’4 who couldn’t score in the paint. Only one player had any low post game, Dominic Timbas, and he happened to be in a position where he had to play point guard. So you can understand why Logan Briggs might be a little confused. He is only doing what he was taught.
 
 Here is what people in Division IV have realized for years and everyone outside of Littleton has hoped Briggs would never figure out; Logan Briggs is 6’5 and that four foot turnaround jumper from the post that he shoots over his head? No one in Division IV can defend it. No one.
 
 If Logan Briggs decides to post up, is strong enough to hold his position on the low block and decides ‘I’m going to get 12 to 15 touches in the paint, block every shot that comes my way in the paint and stay off the perimeter’…folks…..Littleton might be the best team in Division IV. I’m not here to blame the Alosa’s, Logan, Dirk Nowitzki or even Kristaps Porzingis….I’m here to echo what Trevor Howard has been saying to his talented big man for two years running….stay on the low block and watch your production explode and everything open up for shooters like Cy Kezarian and Danny Brammer.
 
 We know what we are getting out of Kuba Kubkowski, Ethan Ellingwood, Michael Rodriguez etc..and we know Howard is one of the best coaches in the state. If Briggs decides to stay in the post Littleton is making it to the title game in March.
 
 Quick thoughts on the other contenders: Wilton-Lyndeborough misses Jordan Litts as much on the defensive end as they have on offense. This is still a very good basketball team with a very smart coach but Litts simply took the other teams best player out of the game on most nights and that is difficult to replace…..I’m willing to look past what happened to Sunapee Monday night in Littleton because they were so geared up. I watched the game, there were quick whistles going both ways (Kubkowski picked up three fouls without hitting anyone and Eric Schafer picked up four fouls in about two & a half minutes) so let’s knock off the conspiracy theories. Sunapee got outplayed and Briggs was the difference. Tenney & Chappell legitimately have help now with an improved Mike Platt and a tough Cade Robinson. The Lakers are better than we thought, how Chappell fits into the mix will be interesting to see but this is a good basketball team……..Groveton feels like if they have a pair of home games they are going to be very tough to beat. I agree. Corey Gadwah is playing at a first team all-state level, Daegan Lurvey has been very good at the point and Austin Lesperance is knocking down three’s. Their biggest games come against Littleton, Woodsville (in a game we will be covering Friday night) and taking care of business at Colebrook in two weeks……Newmarket isn’t getting enough offense to beat good teams. Ian Bentley is holding up his end but The Mules need more scoring from their guards and more consistency……Woodsville has one of the best starting fives in the division and if Sam Pushee can finish more often on the block he could be a 22 ppg. scorer…Derek Maccini is the key to this team, he takes such good care of the basketball that by the end of the game Jamie Walker’s team has taken 15 more shots than you have. The only point guard I have seen give him trouble all year was Jose Alvarado the second time Colebrook played the Engineers……Rob Bradley is doing another very good job at Derryfield and the emergence of Burton Owen has been huge for this team. What I’m interested to see is how Derryfield does the second time they see teams like Wilton-Lyndeborough and Epping…….
 
 
 The most intriguing team in the division: Portsmouth Christian
 
 Is it fair that we all wonder if this team is going to self combust come tournament time?
 
 Are we holding Vacation Gate against an almost entirely new team?
 
 As someone who talks regularly to most of the veteran coaches in the division I can tell you people wonder those same thoughts. PCA leads the division in incredulous stares at the officials after calls & shoulder shrugs. This is a team that lets you know when they’re taking it to you. We saw a similar Epping team win it all two years ago so those are not necessarily fatal flaws but The Big Smooth Lewis Atkins has had to work in several new players and the chemistry has not always looked good to those watching.
 
 What you cannot deny is how good this team can be when they are dialed in. Sometimes those outside opinions bring a team together. Kylani Lafleur has been very good, Paul Staude gets his nose into everything and is the kind of player you love to have and other teams hate to play against. Shaun Bradley and Drew McCormick have been very solid while Devon Smart is capable of going on scoring bursts with his ability to knock down jumpers. If this team is able to not let any outside influences affect them and playing together as a team they can win the title in March. A 7-0 start makes that very evident.
 
 
Player of the Year at the mid-point of the season: Matt Tenney of Sunapee
 
 Tenney deserves a lot of the credit for what this team did pre-Chappell on the floor and the attitude they took off of it. He has been the best point guard in Division IV and he makes the players around him better.
 
 Runner-up: Kylani Lafleur of Portsmouth Christian

 Coach of the Year at the mid-point of the season:  BLANK
 
 I’m sparing them all the jinx….look around at the standings against the pre-season picks…what team is markedly different than what we thought they would be? Division IV has as many good basketball coaches as any division in the state. We need to see how things shake out in the second half to determine who did the best job of the group.
 
 
 First Team All-State (First half of the season)
 
Matt Tenney of Sunapee
Kylani Lafleur of Portsmouth Christian
Trey Carrier of Wilton-Lyndeborough
Cam Darrah of Pittsfield
My Man Colby Wilson of Epping
 
 
With apologies to: Ian Bentley of Newmarket, Jaret Bemis, Sam Pushee & Derek Maccini of Woodsville, Kuba Kubkowski & Cy Kezerian of Littleton, Sedrick McKinnon of Colebrook, Corey Gadwah & Daegan Lurvey of Groveton, Mike Platt of Sunapee, Sam Anderson & Burton Owen of Derryfield, Ty Carrier of Wilton-Lyndeborough, Brandon Harrington of Lin-Wood, Bryson Raymond of Gorham, Dylan Derosier of Epping and Paul Staude of Portsmouth Christian.