The 900 Degrees Pizzaria Division III mid-season snapshot

 
 As always I pick the two teams most likely to meet in the championship game (you’ll get no surprises there..), hand out mid-season all-state picks as well as our mid-season player & coach of the year which has become such a jinx (ask Rich Otis ) that coaches are openly campaigning for me to give it to someone besides themselves.
 
 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 to the head coaches of Division III 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.
 
 
 Eric Saucier of Conant
 Steve McDonough of Laconia
 Sudi Lett of Campbell
 Mike Rathgeber of Inter-Lakes
 Rob Fauci of Somersworth
 
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 If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:
 
 Conant vs. Pelham
 
 A friend of mine who happens to be a Division III coach said to me last week, “After watching Pelham & Conant you see why they are clearly above every other team in the division. The way they defend is just at another level other teams have not shown.”
 
 I quote him because I completely agree and couldn’t have said it better myself. Conant may have taken some of the air of dominance out of the defending champs when they beat them last week but it doesn’t change the fact that both are considerably better than the next six or seven teams competing for a spot at SNHU.
 
 That doesn’t mean we should take down the tents and cancel the rest of the show. Pelham and Conant each watched game winning shots bounce away on route to titles in 2014 & 2015. Anything can happen on a given night and we have seen enough proof of that in eight years to not have to be reminded of that fact.
 
 The issues with the top two teams, because we are here to nitpick, are a total contrast.
 
 Conant has four starters who could be first team All-state selections at the end of the year but do they have a go to guy in the final minutes? Someone who can create his own shot against a defense that absolutely knows he is taking the shot?
 
 Pelham has that guy. The one guy in the entire state that you would pick to create that shot. Does Keith Brown have enough around him to beat an elite team when he is seeing constant double teams and every junk defense in the trunk?
 
 Conant does have a go to guy in Josh Degrenier, who stepped up big in last years excellent championship game against the Pythons. Pelham also has the pieces around Brown to win with balanced scoring. Kyle Frank probably hasn’t been assertive enough in looking for his own shot, Cam Deloreto is capable of a game like Dylan Silvestri had in the final a year ago and the wild card is Ryan Nystrom. A shooter capable of knocking down three’s all night if he is in rhythm.
 
 The question is whether these concerns only apply when these two teams are playing each other?
 
 We only have to wait another week to see how undefeated Winnisquam stacks up when they travel to Pelham. A win or even a close loss would change the way we look at the Bears but right now their resume doesn’t contain enough big wins to put them on the level of the top 2 teams. They will get a chance to respond to that next Tuesday night in a game we will be covering.
 
 Kearsarge Regional will have to get through the next two weeks without all-state big man Tayler Mattos, who suffered an ankle injury. Nate Camp’s team has the pieces; Tom Johnson has really emerged as a scorer, the Mattos brothers give you the biggest frontline in the division and I’m a big Trent Noordsij fan. Right now their best win of the season was a 69-66 win at Stevens on opening night and a win at the high school good enough to hand me a diploma when they beat Gilford. That’s not a resume that is going to wow anybody just yet. We will learn more about Kearsarge when they face Hopkinton again on February 1^st.
 
 Hopkinton was able to compete with Conant, three days after they beat Pelham, in the mother of all trap games for the Orioles before dropping a 51-40 decision. Their best wins are Stevens (also by four points) and the miracle comeback win at Kearsarge. Games against Kearsarge and Pelham (on February 5^th) will tell us more about Dave Chase’s team.
 
 The rest of the division is made up of teams that can win on just about any night and lose to anyone as well; Gilford, Mascenic, Franklin, Inter-Lakes, Belmont, Laconia and Stevens. All seven will be fighting for a home playoff game and if you asked me today I’d guess those three will be Franklin, Inter-Lakes and Stevens.
 
 Gilford is starting to play well as Mason McGonagle has emerged as a scorer but this will become a really a dangerous team when they utilize their big frontcourt. Franklin has the big two in Dana Bean and Kenny Torres, both very good players, but this is a program that hasn’t won a tournament game in eight years and losses against Stevens and Littleton seem to indicate they’ll be fighting for a top 8 seed with a group of teams. Inter-Lakes has a very good forward in Zach Swanson (a junior not a sophomore as I mentioned a few weeks ago) and Ryan Kelly has been very steady for the Lakers. Matt Norton is a kid who gets his hands on a ton of shots coming off the rim and a home playoff game in Meredith would guarantee a huge crowd.
 
 Stevens has the best resume of the group and the schedule will have them favored in 5 of their next 6 games. Steve McDonough has done very well with a Laconia team that suffered the loss of four starters due to suspensions and not coming out for the team. Jake Ellis and Brendan Mooney have been very good for the Sachems and McDonough is doing one of the better coaching jobs in the division. Mascenic also has played above expectations…Daimon Gibson and Brett Stauffeneker have been terrific and Roman Ojala is underrated. Do the Vikings have enough depth to beat teams like Conant, Pelham, Hopkinton, Stevens and Wilton-Lyndeborough, who all are on the schedule for the second half of the year? Belmont is going to have to make it through a stretch without Trevor Hunt, who has been one of the best forwards in Division III. This is a group that believes their time has arrived and could be a tough out come March.
 
 We will know for sure a month from now but any game between seeds 5 and 12 will be a toss up game. The division is just that balanced after the top 4 teams.
 
 
 Player of the Year at the mid-point of the season: Keith Brown of Pelham
 
 If that is a surprise welcome to New Hampshire, try the maple syrup we’re really proud of it.
 
 Runner-up: Christian Serrano of Winnisquam and Alex Schwarz of Mascoma
 
 
 Coach of the Year at the mid-point of the season: Jim Barry of Mascoma
 
 Jim, annually one of my favorite coaches to sit and catch up with, was apologizing to me in the pre-season for taking up my time in discussing a very inexperienced team that was hurt when two key big men did not come out for the team. Barry has put point guard Alex Schwarz in a position to be effective against game plans designed to slow him down, he has his rotation players getting after it defensively and utilizing the smallest floor in the division. Somehow he has the Royals at 4-4 and a ton of the credit goes to the outstanding job he has done at Mascoma.
 
 Runner-up: Steve McDonough of Laconia & Dave Chase of Hopkinton
 
 
 First Team All-State (first half of the season)
 
Keith Brown of Pelham
Christian Serrano of Winnisquam
Alex Schwarz of Mascoma
Josh Degrenier of Conant
Brandon Ford of Conant
 
 
With apologies to: CJ Bilodeau & Simeon Hodgsdon of Conant, Kyle Frank & Cam Deloreto of Pelham, Dana Bean & Kenny Torres of Franklin, Cam Cyr of Hopkinton, Daimon Gibson & Brett Stauffeneker of Mascenic, Trevor Hunt of Belmont, Tayler Mattos, Tom Johnson & Trent Noordsij of Kearsarge, Zach Swanson of Inter-Lakes, Parker Smith & Zach O’Brien of Stevens, Tim Harmon of Winnisquam & Evan Arsenault of Berlin.