The Eagle Strike Gaming Division II mid-season snapshot
2016-02-02
KJ Matte and Lebanon are still undefeated and headed towards Durham
By Dave Haley Photo by The Valley News
This is an annual column where we stop to take a look around each of the four divisions at the midway point of the season. The purpose is to analyze the first half of the season to tell you where the teams stand today and are likely headed over the second half of the season.
As always I pick the two teams most likely to meet in the championship game, hand out mid-season all-state picks as well as our mid-season player & coach of the year.
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 the 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 II 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.
Cole Etten of Bishop Brady
Keith Matte of Lebanon
Jeff Baumann of Timberlane
Jim Mulvey of Portsmouth
Mike Soucy of Hollis-Brookline
Danny Bryson of Manchester West
Click here to become a supporter of NHsportspage and a member of our team today:
Become a part of NHsportspage today!
If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:
Portsmouth vs. Lebanon West
No Lebanon did not split up into an East & a West and yes I’m copping out on picking between two very good teams.
Until Lebanon gets deeper into their schedule (they have won one game over a team with a winning record) we cannot truly evaluate who the better team is at this point.
What we do know is how big the gap is between the top 3 teams and everyone else (Bishop Brady gets two more shots to make their argument when they play Portsmouth & Lebanon but their loss to West and Milford’s loss to Portsmouth were pretty emphatic). I can tell you that Portsmouth is clearly the best team today and that Manchester West matches up with them much better than Keith Matte’s Raiders.
The Clippers have, in Shon Parham, Romeo Ingram & Christian Peete, three players who match up very well with KJ Matte, Ryan Milliken and Austin Whaley. They also handle pressure very well and that is another area where Lebanon gets you. If Portsmouth was to win the first final four game in Durham (over say Milford or Brady) I would tell you that Jim & John Mulvey would probably be rooting for Lebanon to knock off West. I could be wrong of course but something tells me I’m not.
Let’s breakdown all three teams at the mid-way point.
Portsmouth is the best team I have seen all season, in any division. Certainly any number of Division I teams would beat them on a given night but the sum of its parts is better than any team in Division I. Cody Graham is not a great shooter, a great ball handler or elite in transition either. What he is, is one of the best pure scorers I’ve seen in some time. He has a knack for finding the angle, attacking you at the right time and the patience to watch you close out and then go right by you. He has the instincts to draw contact before he releases his shot and he does a terrific job reading what Parham, Ingram & Peete are doing out top. Some kids just have a natural ability to score…this kid has it.
The bad news for Division I coaches is that he is only a sophomore, and if he is able to continue his development on footwork and fundamentals with Noah LaRoche and Integrity Hoops he has a real chance to become a dominant player at the Division I level next season.
Defensively Mulvey likes to apply pressure. The best team he’s ever had in that regard was his 2012 championship team with Kamahl Walker and Billy Lane at the top of the press. That team just broke your will with their ability to turn you over and take you out of what you were trying to do.
This team is right behind that group and Ingram is a big reason why. The senior who did not play a year ago as he worked towards becoming an amateur boxer is becoming an elite defender. Ingram wears opposing ball handlers up & down the floor and when you add Parham (terrific on the ball) and Peete (a very physical defender who can bump you off of your spot) you’re talking about a lethal trio. Offensively everything runs through Graham on the perimeter and Joey Glynn, the best big man in the state, in the post. Glynn is comfortable with his back to the basket but also likes to step back and hit a 12 foot jumper from the baseline or elbow.
Add to the mix a head coach with championships on his resume and a team that thinks playing at
UNH in March is a an annual field trip. The Clippers are your favorite.
Manchester West is sharing the basketball and following the lead of two of the best defenders in the division Joe Simpson and Dominic Plourde. West can beat you down low with Akok Akok (a match-up nightmare and someone you need to dedicate a weak side defender in the lane for) and Keenan Caron (who is very effective in the paint but sometimes gets caught out on perimeter). Corey Descouteaux does a very good job getting to the basket off the dribble as does underrated point guard Jacobee Burpee. In other words all the pieces are there. This is not a great outside shooting team, although Simpson can heat up in a hurry, but they make up for it with balance offensively (four player’s average double figures a game) and their ability to beat you up on the glass.
I like the chemistry on the floor with this group and there looks to be a lot of trust between the players and their head coach Danny Bryson. These are kids who have come up under Bryson and they still have a chip on their shoulder about not being able to compete against their city rivals Central, Memorial & Trinity. If there is a team that can give Portsmouth real problems it’s this group. A team whose style of play would translate well to the bigger floor at UNH.
Lebanon, as I joked in last Thursday’s column, is still the great unknown. Until we see them match-up against West on February 13th ( a game we will be covering) and against Bishop Brady on the 19th (we will cover that game as well) we really won’t know how they stack up against their closest competitors. A season finale against Milford gives Lebanon the opportunity to be sufficiently battle tested going into the tournament but this is a team that expects to be the last team standing. Until we see how they fare in February you have to give Portsmouth the inside track to the top seed and a much easier semifinal round game that the 2 and 3 seeds will have.
Some quick thoughts: Lebanon got all they could handle from an emerging Hollis-Brookline team on Saturday. Mike Soucy has his team improving by the week and getting Stephen Giaconia back from an injury gives this team two scorers at crunch time. The Cavaliers are still a young team but could be a very tough out in March…….Windham plays as tough a schedule as any team in the division with two games against Division III champion Pelham on the slate……………Coe-Brown has put themselves in position to earn a top 8 seed, the schedule eases up in the second half for Jen Chick’s alma mater……..Good to see Tyler Sullivan able to work his way back on the court for John Stark…
Player of the Year at the mid-point of the season: Joe Bell of Bishop Brady
You can make very strong arguments for Simpson, Graham, Glynn and Matte but Bell gets the nod because this is a team that lost their three leading scorers and has been able to produce enough offense to start the season 7-1.
Runner-up: KJ Matte
Coach of the Year at the mid-point of the season: Cole Etten of Bishop Brady
This goes for the work he did with these kids over the summer as much as the regular season. There has been a lot of improvement, Matt Quirk in particular, and Etten deserves a lot of credit for that.
Runner-up: Pete Pierce of Souhegan
First Team All-State (First half of the season)
Joe Bell of Bishop Brady
KJ Matte of Lebanon
Joey Glynn of Portsmouth
Cody Graham of Portsmouth
Joe Simpson of Manchester West
With apologies to: Shon Parham of Portsmouth, Austin Whaley & Ryan Milliken of Lebanon, Brody Ashley of Coe-Brown, Keenan Caron & Corey Descouteaux of Manchester West, Nick Fothergill of Hollis-Brookline, Ryan Banuskevich, Kirk Palladino & Reggie of Milford, Jarrell Webster of Souhegan, Colin Runk of Oyster River, Ian Wilson of St Thomas, Matt Quirk of Bishop Brady, Drew McQuarrie of John Stark, Connor Nolan of Plymouth, Cole Gill & Marco Allanach of Windham, Jason Hughes of Timberlane & Isaac Bacon of Con Val.
Coming Wednesday: Division I
As always I pick the two teams most likely to meet in the championship game, hand out mid-season all-state picks as well as our mid-season player & coach of the year.
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 the 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 II 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.
Cole Etten of Bishop Brady
Keith Matte of Lebanon
Jeff Baumann of Timberlane
Jim Mulvey of Portsmouth
Mike Soucy of Hollis-Brookline
Danny Bryson of Manchester West
Click here to become a supporter of NHsportspage and a member of our team today:
Become a part of NHsportspage today!
If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:
Portsmouth vs. Lebanon West
No Lebanon did not split up into an East & a West and yes I’m copping out on picking between two very good teams.
Until Lebanon gets deeper into their schedule (they have won one game over a team with a winning record) we cannot truly evaluate who the better team is at this point.
What we do know is how big the gap is between the top 3 teams and everyone else (Bishop Brady gets two more shots to make their argument when they play Portsmouth & Lebanon but their loss to West and Milford’s loss to Portsmouth were pretty emphatic). I can tell you that Portsmouth is clearly the best team today and that Manchester West matches up with them much better than Keith Matte’s Raiders.
The Clippers have, in Shon Parham, Romeo Ingram & Christian Peete, three players who match up very well with KJ Matte, Ryan Milliken and Austin Whaley. They also handle pressure very well and that is another area where Lebanon gets you. If Portsmouth was to win the first final four game in Durham (over say Milford or Brady) I would tell you that Jim & John Mulvey would probably be rooting for Lebanon to knock off West. I could be wrong of course but something tells me I’m not.
Let’s breakdown all three teams at the mid-way point.
Portsmouth is the best team I have seen all season, in any division. Certainly any number of Division I teams would beat them on a given night but the sum of its parts is better than any team in Division I. Cody Graham is not a great shooter, a great ball handler or elite in transition either. What he is, is one of the best pure scorers I’ve seen in some time. He has a knack for finding the angle, attacking you at the right time and the patience to watch you close out and then go right by you. He has the instincts to draw contact before he releases his shot and he does a terrific job reading what Parham, Ingram & Peete are doing out top. Some kids just have a natural ability to score…this kid has it.
The bad news for Division I coaches is that he is only a sophomore, and if he is able to continue his development on footwork and fundamentals with Noah LaRoche and Integrity Hoops he has a real chance to become a dominant player at the Division I level next season.
Defensively Mulvey likes to apply pressure. The best team he’s ever had in that regard was his 2012 championship team with Kamahl Walker and Billy Lane at the top of the press. That team just broke your will with their ability to turn you over and take you out of what you were trying to do.
This team is right behind that group and Ingram is a big reason why. The senior who did not play a year ago as he worked towards becoming an amateur boxer is becoming an elite defender. Ingram wears opposing ball handlers up & down the floor and when you add Parham (terrific on the ball) and Peete (a very physical defender who can bump you off of your spot) you’re talking about a lethal trio. Offensively everything runs through Graham on the perimeter and Joey Glynn, the best big man in the state, in the post. Glynn is comfortable with his back to the basket but also likes to step back and hit a 12 foot jumper from the baseline or elbow.
Add to the mix a head coach with championships on his resume and a team that thinks playing at
UNH in March is a an annual field trip. The Clippers are your favorite.
Manchester West is sharing the basketball and following the lead of two of the best defenders in the division Joe Simpson and Dominic Plourde. West can beat you down low with Akok Akok (a match-up nightmare and someone you need to dedicate a weak side defender in the lane for) and Keenan Caron (who is very effective in the paint but sometimes gets caught out on perimeter). Corey Descouteaux does a very good job getting to the basket off the dribble as does underrated point guard Jacobee Burpee. In other words all the pieces are there. This is not a great outside shooting team, although Simpson can heat up in a hurry, but they make up for it with balance offensively (four player’s average double figures a game) and their ability to beat you up on the glass.
I like the chemistry on the floor with this group and there looks to be a lot of trust between the players and their head coach Danny Bryson. These are kids who have come up under Bryson and they still have a chip on their shoulder about not being able to compete against their city rivals Central, Memorial & Trinity. If there is a team that can give Portsmouth real problems it’s this group. A team whose style of play would translate well to the bigger floor at UNH.
Lebanon, as I joked in last Thursday’s column, is still the great unknown. Until we see them match-up against West on February 13th ( a game we will be covering) and against Bishop Brady on the 19th (we will cover that game as well) we really won’t know how they stack up against their closest competitors. A season finale against Milford gives Lebanon the opportunity to be sufficiently battle tested going into the tournament but this is a team that expects to be the last team standing. Until we see how they fare in February you have to give Portsmouth the inside track to the top seed and a much easier semifinal round game that the 2 and 3 seeds will have.
Some quick thoughts: Lebanon got all they could handle from an emerging Hollis-Brookline team on Saturday. Mike Soucy has his team improving by the week and getting Stephen Giaconia back from an injury gives this team two scorers at crunch time. The Cavaliers are still a young team but could be a very tough out in March…….Windham plays as tough a schedule as any team in the division with two games against Division III champion Pelham on the slate……………Coe-Brown has put themselves in position to earn a top 8 seed, the schedule eases up in the second half for Jen Chick’s alma mater……..Good to see Tyler Sullivan able to work his way back on the court for John Stark…
Player of the Year at the mid-point of the season: Joe Bell of Bishop Brady
You can make very strong arguments for Simpson, Graham, Glynn and Matte but Bell gets the nod because this is a team that lost their three leading scorers and has been able to produce enough offense to start the season 7-1.
Runner-up: KJ Matte
Coach of the Year at the mid-point of the season: Cole Etten of Bishop Brady
This goes for the work he did with these kids over the summer as much as the regular season. There has been a lot of improvement, Matt Quirk in particular, and Etten deserves a lot of credit for that.
Runner-up: Pete Pierce of Souhegan
First Team All-State (First half of the season)
Joe Bell of Bishop Brady
KJ Matte of Lebanon
Joey Glynn of Portsmouth
Cody Graham of Portsmouth
Joe Simpson of Manchester West
With apologies to: Shon Parham of Portsmouth, Austin Whaley & Ryan Milliken of Lebanon, Brody Ashley of Coe-Brown, Keenan Caron & Corey Descouteaux of Manchester West, Nick Fothergill of Hollis-Brookline, Ryan Banuskevich, Kirk Palladino & Reggie of Milford, Jarrell Webster of Souhegan, Colin Runk of Oyster River, Ian Wilson of St Thomas, Matt Quirk of Bishop Brady, Drew McQuarrie of John Stark, Connor Nolan of Plymouth, Cole Gill & Marco Allanach of Windham, Jason Hughes of Timberlane & Isaac Bacon of Con Val.
Coming Wednesday: Division I