The Manchester Bingo & Poker Room Division I Tournament Preview
2016-03-09
Cody Morissette and Liam Viviano will be huge factors as the tourney begins
By Dave Haley Photo by Matt Parker Photography
We have talked about how unpredictable the first round of the Division I tournament will be for the better part of the regular season and now we are here. The only shocker Wednesday night will be if the Top 8 seeds all move on to the quarterfinals.
Time is running out on our early bird registration rate of just $50 for uninterrupted coverage of every game video, column, statistic and podcast we bring you. After the deadline of Thursday the registration process will go through our web provider with a cost of around $150 annually.
Anyone not registered will not have access to any of the content on our website. This is a move to grow NHsportspage and we hope you love the coverage enough to come with us. Remember if you prefer to register by check simply email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com
Register for full access
Each registration will be getting an NHsportspage Black game jersey mailed to you after the season, so act today and you are set through next (2017) season.
It’s that quick…it’s that easy. We have had a ton of registrations come in the last few days so as a message to all of those people, we will send out your NHsportspage shirts right after the end of the season.
(16) Alvirne at (1) Nashua North
Regular season meeting: Nashua North 73-56
The Broncos finished on the wrong end of a four team tie-breaker. That sends them to Nashua to face a North team that comes into tournament as the hottest team (9 straight wins) and with the most improved player over the second half of the season in Alonzo Linton (16.7 ppg.).
Alvirne (Alvirne scoring leaders) is a team that shares the basketball and tries to get everything going to the basket. Brian Lynch’s team has a knockdown shooter in Max Bonney-Liles but their strength is in their guard play (Danny Brown is very underrated) and their ability to get good looks offensively.
The task Wednesday night is to slow down the three headed monster of Nathan Hale (19.4), point guard Ronnie Silva (14.4) and Linton. This is a Titans team that has been rejuvenated by the return of their head coach Steve Lane and got a taste of the big stage a year ago when they made a run to Durham as a 15 seed. They’re not going to overlook Alvirne in round one.
(9) Manchester Memorial at (8) Nashua South
Regular season meeting: Nashua South 68-60
Memorial comes into the post-season having lost four of their last five games including a loss to Nate Mazerolle’s team one week ago.
In that span Jack Quirk’s team has given up over 90 points twice, which isn’t easy to do in a 40 minute game let alone a 32 minute one. Brandon Scott (19.4), Nick Philibert (15.6) and Jake Carrier (14.7) lead the highest scoring offense in Division I (75.2 ppg) and 2nd ranked offense in the state (Portsmouth is #1). On Wednesday night they face arguably the best backcourt in the state in DJ Frechette (23.2) and Kevin Genao (13.6) and a team that will be happy to get out and run with them.
South will get in trouble if they start trying to match 22 footer for 22 footer. When you play a team that gives up a lot of points the recipe is usually to force them to defend for four to five passes. That’s usually when you get your wide open look. Mazerolle has some ‘glue guys’ in Zavier Williams and Ryan Penkala to defend and get the ball out in transition to their all-state backcourt. The key for Nate Mazerolle’s team Wednesday night will be controlling tempo and not getting reactionary whenever Memorial throws in a deep three.
Winner here likely faces top seeded Nashua North in the quarterfinals. Memorial beat North back on January 25th and if you don’t think South doesn’t believe it can beat North you’ve never been to a rivalry game.
What that means is the winner here has a legitimate shot at Durham.
(13) Spaulding at (4) Exeter
Regular season meeting: Exeter 69-58
This game will be determined by the pace and if Tim Cronin’s team can keep this game in the low 50’s. Cal Connelly (19.9) has been terrific (and is registered McIsaac so he will be wearing OUR colors when he gets his NHsportspage shirt) all season long but do the Fighting McIsaacs have enough scoring to stay with Exeter? Exeter scoring leaders
Mark Elmendorf of Bedford did a terrific job in holding Bryant Holmes (17.2) and Cody Morissette (16.7) to a season low 17 points in the season finale but that isn’t likely to happen again. Tim Larkin and Stephen Natola will each get a turn trying to slow Connelly down and for Spaulding Spaulding scoring leaders to stay in it they are going to need a bigger than expected night out of freshman Ari Breakfield or point guard Matt Roy.
(12) Bishop Guertin at (5) Merrimack
Regular season meeting: Bishop Guertin 66-49
There is always a healthy amount of animosity when these two schools get together. BG blew Merrimack out earlier in the season but the location has changed and now Jim Migneault’s team has to prove they can win on the road.
BG finished 2-7 on the road this season while Merrimack was 7-2. Sometimes statistics do paint a pretty clear picture.
Tim Goodridge’s team shares the basketball and creates good looks for scorers like Zak Kerr (13.2) and Ian Cummings (11.8). Defensively Andrew Wojciak & Mike Dudash apply pressure out front while Ian Roberts anchors the back end. Dudash is the underrated guy in the group, he helps run the offense and does a lot of the little things that help you win basketball games.
BG needs a big night out of Chad Olivieri (15.4) and forward Mike Rinko (14.1). They also want to get Merrimack out of their rhythm with their pressure, something they were able to do in the first meeting.
(15) Trinity at (2) Pinkerton Academy
Regular season meeting: Pinkerton 66-52
Trinity had lost 8 of their last 9 games before a three point win over Concord to end the regular season.
Trinity hasn’t been able to get stops when they need it and despite an all-state season out of Connor Walsh (19.6) they’ve only had one win against a plus .500 team all season. Justin Trickett gives the Pioneers a second scoring option while Jordan Santos runs the offense and James Santos can spread you out with his ability to knock down shots. The issue is not having a defensive stopper or a true center. Too many times this season Trinity lost games late because they just couldn’t get a stop.
Pinkerton Pinkerton scoring leaders comes in having lost their last two games, meaning they are not going to overlook a Trinity team who knocked Nashua South off in the first round a year ago.
(10) Londonderry at (7) Winnacunnet
Regular season meeting: Londonderry 51-49
Everything you would hope for in a 7/10 match-up. The defending champs are playing very well to close the season and I’ve had coaches remark that the coaching job Nate Stanton has done this season might be just as impressive as what he did with his undefeated team of a year ago.
This game will come down to the defenses. Winacunnet cannot allow Jake Coleman (18.0) to have a huge night while Nate Gaw, Cam McDonald and Cole Briting will each get their turn trying to slow down Warriors all-state guard Liam Viviano (15.8). Both teams like to spread you out to open up driving lanes and jump shots for their shooters in rhythm. Coleman is as good a shooter as there is in the division and this is a kid who has already played big in front of over 3,000 people.
On the side Zach Waterhouse (11.3) has grown into his role as the second scoring option for Jay McKenna’s team. His emergence offensively allows Anthony Primavera to concentrate on slowing down Coleman and running the offense. Freddy Schaake, when healthy, is a good match-up against Londonderry’s second leading scorer Matt Corey (14.6).
These are two very similar teams and coaches with similar philosophies…go down the list…Primavera on Coleman, Briting out on Waterhouse..Cam Reddy and Patrick Witt banging on the low post and Viviano matching buckets with Coleman…this one promises to be one of the best games of the first round Wednesday night.
Jennifer Chick and I will be there to bring you all of the play by play, highlights and post-game interviews
(14) Keene at (3) Manchester Central
Regular season meeting: Central 55-53 on an Evan MacDonald buzzer beater
The only guarantee here is that Central will not be overlooking a tough Keene team that nearly beat them back in December. Not after what happened a year ago when 15 seed Nashua North went to Manchester and knocked off the defending champs playing without their starting point guard Omaru Kante.
Keene (Keene scoring leaders) has been getting great production from Logan Galanes all season long and big contributions of late from Brad Blake. Spencer Feng runs Dave Sontag’s offense and will be guarded closely by Central point guard Sethe Shea. Doc Wheeler’s team never wants to allow you to run your sets comfortably and Shea really sets the tone for that out top.
On the other side Central gets 79% of their scoring from the all-state trio of Jaylen LeRoy (21.9), President Evan MacDonald (15.9) and Jonathan Makori (15.8). David Baraka has made this a better team with his ability to both rebound & defend and Wheeler has been able to keep everyone in the lineup night to night. Something he did not have the luxury of a year ago.
(11) Salem at (6) Bedford
Regular season meeting: Bedford 67-54
One of the better coaching jobs this season has been done by Mark Elmendorf at Bedford. A year after leading Goffstown to the Final Four playing a zone defense, Elmendorf has transformed his team into a very good man to man defensive unit. Bedford ranked 5th in all of Division I (56.1 ppg.) and opened some eyes around the state with their season ending victory against Exeter that was led by that defense.
Ryan Hughes and Colby Gendron get most of the attention, and deservedly so, but Josh Bauer, Josh Koehler and Brayden Moreno have been huge for this team. On Wednesday night their job is to slow down Griffin Curtis, Tim Dodier and a Salem team that absolutely believes they can get to Durham next week.
Rob McLaughlin’s team will get down and defend, making this a game where pace will be very important to both teams. Jake Bosworth, Connor Greenfield and Matt McLaughlin are Salem’s answer to Bauer & Moreno (now that is a great law firm name…) making the match-ups in the backcourt a huge factor in who moves on Wednesday night.
Down on the low block few big men in the state have been playing better than Matt Vartanian (14.6) and his match-up with Gendron will highlight what is a terrific first round match-up.
Time is running out on our early bird registration rate of just $50 for uninterrupted coverage of every game video, column, statistic and podcast we bring you. After the deadline of Thursday the registration process will go through our web provider with a cost of around $150 annually.
Anyone not registered will not have access to any of the content on our website. This is a move to grow NHsportspage and we hope you love the coverage enough to come with us. Remember if you prefer to register by check simply email me at davehaley@nhsportspage.com
Register for full access
Each registration will be getting an NHsportspage Black game jersey mailed to you after the season, so act today and you are set through next (2017) season.
It’s that quick…it’s that easy. We have had a ton of registrations come in the last few days so as a message to all of those people, we will send out your NHsportspage shirts right after the end of the season.
(16) Alvirne at (1) Nashua North
Regular season meeting: Nashua North 73-56
The Broncos finished on the wrong end of a four team tie-breaker. That sends them to Nashua to face a North team that comes into tournament as the hottest team (9 straight wins) and with the most improved player over the second half of the season in Alonzo Linton (16.7 ppg.).
Alvirne (Alvirne scoring leaders) is a team that shares the basketball and tries to get everything going to the basket. Brian Lynch’s team has a knockdown shooter in Max Bonney-Liles but their strength is in their guard play (Danny Brown is very underrated) and their ability to get good looks offensively.
The task Wednesday night is to slow down the three headed monster of Nathan Hale (19.4), point guard Ronnie Silva (14.4) and Linton. This is a Titans team that has been rejuvenated by the return of their head coach Steve Lane and got a taste of the big stage a year ago when they made a run to Durham as a 15 seed. They’re not going to overlook Alvirne in round one.
(9) Manchester Memorial at (8) Nashua South
Regular season meeting: Nashua South 68-60
Memorial comes into the post-season having lost four of their last five games including a loss to Nate Mazerolle’s team one week ago.
In that span Jack Quirk’s team has given up over 90 points twice, which isn’t easy to do in a 40 minute game let alone a 32 minute one. Brandon Scott (19.4), Nick Philibert (15.6) and Jake Carrier (14.7) lead the highest scoring offense in Division I (75.2 ppg) and 2nd ranked offense in the state (Portsmouth is #1). On Wednesday night they face arguably the best backcourt in the state in DJ Frechette (23.2) and Kevin Genao (13.6) and a team that will be happy to get out and run with them.
South will get in trouble if they start trying to match 22 footer for 22 footer. When you play a team that gives up a lot of points the recipe is usually to force them to defend for four to five passes. That’s usually when you get your wide open look. Mazerolle has some ‘glue guys’ in Zavier Williams and Ryan Penkala to defend and get the ball out in transition to their all-state backcourt. The key for Nate Mazerolle’s team Wednesday night will be controlling tempo and not getting reactionary whenever Memorial throws in a deep three.
Winner here likely faces top seeded Nashua North in the quarterfinals. Memorial beat North back on January 25th and if you don’t think South doesn’t believe it can beat North you’ve never been to a rivalry game.
What that means is the winner here has a legitimate shot at Durham.
(13) Spaulding at (4) Exeter
Regular season meeting: Exeter 69-58
This game will be determined by the pace and if Tim Cronin’s team can keep this game in the low 50’s. Cal Connelly (19.9) has been terrific (and is registered McIsaac so he will be wearing OUR colors when he gets his NHsportspage shirt) all season long but do the Fighting McIsaacs have enough scoring to stay with Exeter? Exeter scoring leaders
Mark Elmendorf of Bedford did a terrific job in holding Bryant Holmes (17.2) and Cody Morissette (16.7) to a season low 17 points in the season finale but that isn’t likely to happen again. Tim Larkin and Stephen Natola will each get a turn trying to slow Connelly down and for Spaulding Spaulding scoring leaders to stay in it they are going to need a bigger than expected night out of freshman Ari Breakfield or point guard Matt Roy.
(12) Bishop Guertin at (5) Merrimack
Regular season meeting: Bishop Guertin 66-49
There is always a healthy amount of animosity when these two schools get together. BG blew Merrimack out earlier in the season but the location has changed and now Jim Migneault’s team has to prove they can win on the road.
BG finished 2-7 on the road this season while Merrimack was 7-2. Sometimes statistics do paint a pretty clear picture.
Tim Goodridge’s team shares the basketball and creates good looks for scorers like Zak Kerr (13.2) and Ian Cummings (11.8). Defensively Andrew Wojciak & Mike Dudash apply pressure out front while Ian Roberts anchors the back end. Dudash is the underrated guy in the group, he helps run the offense and does a lot of the little things that help you win basketball games.
BG needs a big night out of Chad Olivieri (15.4) and forward Mike Rinko (14.1). They also want to get Merrimack out of their rhythm with their pressure, something they were able to do in the first meeting.
(15) Trinity at (2) Pinkerton Academy
Regular season meeting: Pinkerton 66-52
Trinity had lost 8 of their last 9 games before a three point win over Concord to end the regular season.
Trinity hasn’t been able to get stops when they need it and despite an all-state season out of Connor Walsh (19.6) they’ve only had one win against a plus .500 team all season. Justin Trickett gives the Pioneers a second scoring option while Jordan Santos runs the offense and James Santos can spread you out with his ability to knock down shots. The issue is not having a defensive stopper or a true center. Too many times this season Trinity lost games late because they just couldn’t get a stop.
Pinkerton Pinkerton scoring leaders comes in having lost their last two games, meaning they are not going to overlook a Trinity team who knocked Nashua South off in the first round a year ago.
(10) Londonderry at (7) Winnacunnet
Regular season meeting: Londonderry 51-49
Everything you would hope for in a 7/10 match-up. The defending champs are playing very well to close the season and I’ve had coaches remark that the coaching job Nate Stanton has done this season might be just as impressive as what he did with his undefeated team of a year ago.
This game will come down to the defenses. Winacunnet cannot allow Jake Coleman (18.0) to have a huge night while Nate Gaw, Cam McDonald and Cole Briting will each get their turn trying to slow down Warriors all-state guard Liam Viviano (15.8). Both teams like to spread you out to open up driving lanes and jump shots for their shooters in rhythm. Coleman is as good a shooter as there is in the division and this is a kid who has already played big in front of over 3,000 people.
On the side Zach Waterhouse (11.3) has grown into his role as the second scoring option for Jay McKenna’s team. His emergence offensively allows Anthony Primavera to concentrate on slowing down Coleman and running the offense. Freddy Schaake, when healthy, is a good match-up against Londonderry’s second leading scorer Matt Corey (14.6).
These are two very similar teams and coaches with similar philosophies…go down the list…Primavera on Coleman, Briting out on Waterhouse..Cam Reddy and Patrick Witt banging on the low post and Viviano matching buckets with Coleman…this one promises to be one of the best games of the first round Wednesday night.
Jennifer Chick and I will be there to bring you all of the play by play, highlights and post-game interviews
(14) Keene at (3) Manchester Central
Regular season meeting: Central 55-53 on an Evan MacDonald buzzer beater
The only guarantee here is that Central will not be overlooking a tough Keene team that nearly beat them back in December. Not after what happened a year ago when 15 seed Nashua North went to Manchester and knocked off the defending champs playing without their starting point guard Omaru Kante.
Keene (Keene scoring leaders) has been getting great production from Logan Galanes all season long and big contributions of late from Brad Blake. Spencer Feng runs Dave Sontag’s offense and will be guarded closely by Central point guard Sethe Shea. Doc Wheeler’s team never wants to allow you to run your sets comfortably and Shea really sets the tone for that out top.
On the other side Central gets 79% of their scoring from the all-state trio of Jaylen LeRoy (21.9), President Evan MacDonald (15.9) and Jonathan Makori (15.8). David Baraka has made this a better team with his ability to both rebound & defend and Wheeler has been able to keep everyone in the lineup night to night. Something he did not have the luxury of a year ago.
(11) Salem at (6) Bedford
Regular season meeting: Bedford 67-54
One of the better coaching jobs this season has been done by Mark Elmendorf at Bedford. A year after leading Goffstown to the Final Four playing a zone defense, Elmendorf has transformed his team into a very good man to man defensive unit. Bedford ranked 5th in all of Division I (56.1 ppg.) and opened some eyes around the state with their season ending victory against Exeter that was led by that defense.
Ryan Hughes and Colby Gendron get most of the attention, and deservedly so, but Josh Bauer, Josh Koehler and Brayden Moreno have been huge for this team. On Wednesday night their job is to slow down Griffin Curtis, Tim Dodier and a Salem team that absolutely believes they can get to Durham next week.
Rob McLaughlin’s team will get down and defend, making this a game where pace will be very important to both teams. Jake Bosworth, Connor Greenfield and Matt McLaughlin are Salem’s answer to Bauer & Moreno (now that is a great law firm name…) making the match-ups in the backcourt a huge factor in who moves on Wednesday night.
Down on the low block few big men in the state have been playing better than Matt Vartanian (14.6) and his match-up with Gendron will highlight what is a terrific first round match-up.