The Concord Orthopaedics Division III & IV Championship Preview
2016-03-14
Keith Brown looks to end his career with a second straight title
By Dave Haley
The response we received from our readers was incredible yesterday. We are happy to have an audience that will be getting uninterrupted coverage through next (2017) season and it is coverage we plan to expand going forward.
I’m going to personally return every email I was sent and reach out to every person that registered but let me just say how proud we are of the relationship we have with our readers; the kids, the parents and the fans of high school basketball.
We will have full coverage of both championship games starting with the Division IV title game tonight. Justin McIsaac, Sam Natti, Jennifer Chick & I will bring you all the play by play, highlights and post-game celebration.
On Saturday afternoon we will be at SNHU for the Division III title game between Kearsarge & defending champion Pelham. Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty will bring you full coverage and that evening we follow up with two more games; Bedford at Manchester Central and Spaulding at Merrimack in the Division I quarterfinals.
Division IV
(2) Portsmouth Christian vs. (1) Littleton
What does PCA have to do tonight to beat Littleton?: Take care of the basketball. The northern teams like Littleton and Groveton take advantage of the smaller gyms they play in on the road by applying full or three quarter court pressure 18 games a year. The southern teams do not. That means PCA is not as battle tested with full court pressure like Groveton or Woodsville was.
Tonight it will be about Shaun Bradley, Caleb Gendron and Kylani Lafleur limiting turnovers and if you are going to throw it away, throw it into the 4th row. At least some kid or parent will throw it back, when you throw it away in bounds Kuba Kubkowski and the Littleton defense is headed the other way in a hurry.
PCA has some shooters who can spread you out and tonight they will face a team that will play zone the entire game. This makes Devon Smart’s contributions off the bench crucial with his ability to knockdown three pointers.
Offensively The Big Smooth Lewis Atkins wants to find a way to get Lafleur into the paint, where he does most of his damage. PCA was smart enough to post up Lafleur at times against the smaller Derek Maccini and his ability, along with Drew McCormick’s, to finish in the paint against Logan Briggs and the Littleton interior defense will be a key.
Defensively PCA just wants to man up on Littleton in the half-court and not allow shooters like Danny Brammer and Cy Kezarian to get comfortable. Briggs and Kubkowski are going to be a tough match-up, in fact they haven’t faced a big man who can finish at the rim like Briggs all season.
Paul Staude and his ability to be physical under the basket should give Littleton problems. The goal for PCA is to handle pressure, make the Littleton half court zone chase with good ball movement and keep this game close enough to steal it in the end. That formula worked Monday night in the semifinals.
What does Littleton have to do tonight to beat Portsmouth Christian?: Getting out of the gates early would help. When you apply three quarter court pressure you want to force the other team to rush and nothing makes you rush more than falling behind.
Trevor Howard wants to go to his bench early, to get guys like Ethan Ellingwood, Michael Rodriguez and Gabe Anan in the flow of the game. That also starts to get your starters prepared to be pressuring late in games without having to worry about fatigue becoming a factor. Both teams can go eight deep but Littleton has more weapons off the bench (I’m not including Staude as a bench player because he plays starter minutes).
The Crusaders want to set the tone early by having Briggs block shots at the rim. Kids have egos just like the rest of us and when you throw a shot back at them in front of 1,500 people it has a residual effect. Against Sunapee earlier this season Briggs blocked so many shots in the paint that the Lakers started settling for jumpers. That’s what shot blockers bring to the table and there is only one legitimate one in Division IV; Logan Briggs.
You want to get Kuba Kubkowski touches early. Kuba is a terrific player along the baseline and no one finishes better in transition. He will be playing his fourth game on the big floor at Plymouth State tonight and his comfort level is obvious. You want guys that are confident getting touches early, get the ball to Kuba.
Trevor Howard also wants to dial up some looks for Brammer & Kezarian. Both played very well Monday night and their ability to stretch the PCA defense opens up space in the paint & driving lanes for Briggs and Kubkowski.
Defensively it is about applying pressure and making PCA, who can tend to turn it over, play at a frantic pace. When PCA gets down they tend to rely on Staude and Lafleur to barrel their way to the basket to make plays. That has worked to the tune of 19 wins in 21 games but it is a more difficult task against a good zone defense.
PCA was down one at the half Monday night when they knew they should be down 10. A game like this comes down to cashing in on your opportunities. Littleton is a team capable of burying you with a quick early lead with their pressure defense, if PCA plays smart and takes care of the ball they will hang in this one and maybe even set the pace themselves.
Division III
(3) Kearsarge Regional vs (1) Pelham
A funny thing happened on the way to Conant/Pelham III
What does Kearsarge have to do to beat Pelham Saturday afternoon?: Turn Pelham into a jump shooting team. Use your zone looks to crowd the middle, with your 6’8 twin towers (they’re not really twins..) Zach & Tayler Mattos and force Pelham to beat you from the outside. It’s an entirely different backdrop, not to mention atmosphere in these college gyms and the shots do not fall as easily.
Kyle Frank will defend Trent Noordsij up top, set high ball screens to force Pelham to switch and see if you can’t have Noordsij flash the low post from the weak side to get a clean look under the basket. Noordsij is a 6’3 point guard and you want to use his size advantage against Frank for quick looks on the block.
Anytime you can get Tayler Mattos going at the rim you need 1) your best post defender on him and 2) you are leaving room for Zach to come in and clean up the rebound if he misses. That’s very tough to stop. Get everything rolling to the basket, starting with the high pick & roll for Noordsij and have your two big men attack the glass.
You also want to try and get Mattos touches in the post and maybe screen away to get Tommy Johnson open looks from behind the arc if they double. Pelham is very confident in their ability to keep you away from the basket and the one thing they will try to take away is the over the top lob passes. You can get good looks by simply making the defense collapse around the post and finding Johnson or Joe Storozuk for open shots.
What does Pelham have to do to beat Kearsarge Saturday afternoon?: They want to beat Kearsarge up & down the floor. Make the Kearsarge bigs get back in transition or even better beat them to the rim for easy looks. Noordsij is as good a shot blocker as you will find at the guard position but he got into early foul trouble Tuesday night and could again if it falls on him to be the last line of defense.
If Ryan Nystrom or Trevor Gagnon are knocking down shots this becomes a very tough offense to stop. When they are not it becomes a very ordinary one with one superstar. Too often this season Pelham has relied on Keith Brown to score 30 points to win, and it happened again in the semifinal win over a very tough Hopkinton team. If you are asking him to do that against one of the best defensive teams in Division III you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
Let Brown win it for you with his scoring and passing in the fourth quarter but don’t ask him to carry the load for 32 minutes. Matt Regan wants to get Cam Deloreto involved and make sure he is a factor.
Pelham wants to apply heavy ball pressure to the Kearsarge guards and not allow them to make easy entrance passes into the post. They want to take away the high/low lobs from Zach to Tayler Mattos and force the guards to put the ball on the floor.
When and if Pelham gets up early they need to go for the kill. If you let Kearsarge hang around long enough the pressure shifts to the defending champs. One coach is in his huddle saying ‘Hey we are down one possession with 1:30 to go…we are right in this thing!’ While the other coach is saying ‘We should be up 10 right now, we need to close this out.’ That’s when the pressure shifts.
Kearsarge just needs to get there.
I’m going to personally return every email I was sent and reach out to every person that registered but let me just say how proud we are of the relationship we have with our readers; the kids, the parents and the fans of high school basketball.
We will have full coverage of both championship games starting with the Division IV title game tonight. Justin McIsaac, Sam Natti, Jennifer Chick & I will bring you all the play by play, highlights and post-game celebration.
On Saturday afternoon we will be at SNHU for the Division III title game between Kearsarge & defending champion Pelham. Pete Tarrier & Jon Kesty will bring you full coverage and that evening we follow up with two more games; Bedford at Manchester Central and Spaulding at Merrimack in the Division I quarterfinals.
Division IV
(2) Portsmouth Christian vs. (1) Littleton
What does PCA have to do tonight to beat Littleton?: Take care of the basketball. The northern teams like Littleton and Groveton take advantage of the smaller gyms they play in on the road by applying full or three quarter court pressure 18 games a year. The southern teams do not. That means PCA is not as battle tested with full court pressure like Groveton or Woodsville was.
Tonight it will be about Shaun Bradley, Caleb Gendron and Kylani Lafleur limiting turnovers and if you are going to throw it away, throw it into the 4th row. At least some kid or parent will throw it back, when you throw it away in bounds Kuba Kubkowski and the Littleton defense is headed the other way in a hurry.
PCA has some shooters who can spread you out and tonight they will face a team that will play zone the entire game. This makes Devon Smart’s contributions off the bench crucial with his ability to knockdown three pointers.
Offensively The Big Smooth Lewis Atkins wants to find a way to get Lafleur into the paint, where he does most of his damage. PCA was smart enough to post up Lafleur at times against the smaller Derek Maccini and his ability, along with Drew McCormick’s, to finish in the paint against Logan Briggs and the Littleton interior defense will be a key.
Defensively PCA just wants to man up on Littleton in the half-court and not allow shooters like Danny Brammer and Cy Kezarian to get comfortable. Briggs and Kubkowski are going to be a tough match-up, in fact they haven’t faced a big man who can finish at the rim like Briggs all season.
Paul Staude and his ability to be physical under the basket should give Littleton problems. The goal for PCA is to handle pressure, make the Littleton half court zone chase with good ball movement and keep this game close enough to steal it in the end. That formula worked Monday night in the semifinals.
What does Littleton have to do tonight to beat Portsmouth Christian?: Getting out of the gates early would help. When you apply three quarter court pressure you want to force the other team to rush and nothing makes you rush more than falling behind.
Trevor Howard wants to go to his bench early, to get guys like Ethan Ellingwood, Michael Rodriguez and Gabe Anan in the flow of the game. That also starts to get your starters prepared to be pressuring late in games without having to worry about fatigue becoming a factor. Both teams can go eight deep but Littleton has more weapons off the bench (I’m not including Staude as a bench player because he plays starter minutes).
The Crusaders want to set the tone early by having Briggs block shots at the rim. Kids have egos just like the rest of us and when you throw a shot back at them in front of 1,500 people it has a residual effect. Against Sunapee earlier this season Briggs blocked so many shots in the paint that the Lakers started settling for jumpers. That’s what shot blockers bring to the table and there is only one legitimate one in Division IV; Logan Briggs.
You want to get Kuba Kubkowski touches early. Kuba is a terrific player along the baseline and no one finishes better in transition. He will be playing his fourth game on the big floor at Plymouth State tonight and his comfort level is obvious. You want guys that are confident getting touches early, get the ball to Kuba.
Trevor Howard also wants to dial up some looks for Brammer & Kezarian. Both played very well Monday night and their ability to stretch the PCA defense opens up space in the paint & driving lanes for Briggs and Kubkowski.
Defensively it is about applying pressure and making PCA, who can tend to turn it over, play at a frantic pace. When PCA gets down they tend to rely on Staude and Lafleur to barrel their way to the basket to make plays. That has worked to the tune of 19 wins in 21 games but it is a more difficult task against a good zone defense.
PCA was down one at the half Monday night when they knew they should be down 10. A game like this comes down to cashing in on your opportunities. Littleton is a team capable of burying you with a quick early lead with their pressure defense, if PCA plays smart and takes care of the ball they will hang in this one and maybe even set the pace themselves.
Division III
(3) Kearsarge Regional vs (1) Pelham
A funny thing happened on the way to Conant/Pelham III
What does Kearsarge have to do to beat Pelham Saturday afternoon?: Turn Pelham into a jump shooting team. Use your zone looks to crowd the middle, with your 6’8 twin towers (they’re not really twins..) Zach & Tayler Mattos and force Pelham to beat you from the outside. It’s an entirely different backdrop, not to mention atmosphere in these college gyms and the shots do not fall as easily.
Kyle Frank will defend Trent Noordsij up top, set high ball screens to force Pelham to switch and see if you can’t have Noordsij flash the low post from the weak side to get a clean look under the basket. Noordsij is a 6’3 point guard and you want to use his size advantage against Frank for quick looks on the block.
Anytime you can get Tayler Mattos going at the rim you need 1) your best post defender on him and 2) you are leaving room for Zach to come in and clean up the rebound if he misses. That’s very tough to stop. Get everything rolling to the basket, starting with the high pick & roll for Noordsij and have your two big men attack the glass.
You also want to try and get Mattos touches in the post and maybe screen away to get Tommy Johnson open looks from behind the arc if they double. Pelham is very confident in their ability to keep you away from the basket and the one thing they will try to take away is the over the top lob passes. You can get good looks by simply making the defense collapse around the post and finding Johnson or Joe Storozuk for open shots.
What does Pelham have to do to beat Kearsarge Saturday afternoon?: They want to beat Kearsarge up & down the floor. Make the Kearsarge bigs get back in transition or even better beat them to the rim for easy looks. Noordsij is as good a shot blocker as you will find at the guard position but he got into early foul trouble Tuesday night and could again if it falls on him to be the last line of defense.
If Ryan Nystrom or Trevor Gagnon are knocking down shots this becomes a very tough offense to stop. When they are not it becomes a very ordinary one with one superstar. Too often this season Pelham has relied on Keith Brown to score 30 points to win, and it happened again in the semifinal win over a very tough Hopkinton team. If you are asking him to do that against one of the best defensive teams in Division III you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
Let Brown win it for you with his scoring and passing in the fourth quarter but don’t ask him to carry the load for 32 minutes. Matt Regan wants to get Cam Deloreto involved and make sure he is a factor.
Pelham wants to apply heavy ball pressure to the Kearsarge guards and not allow them to make easy entrance passes into the post. They want to take away the high/low lobs from Zach to Tayler Mattos and force the guards to put the ball on the floor.
When and if Pelham gets up early they need to go for the kill. If you let Kearsarge hang around long enough the pressure shifts to the defending champs. One coach is in his huddle saying ‘Hey we are down one possession with 1:30 to go…we are right in this thing!’ While the other coach is saying ‘We should be up 10 right now, we need to close this out.’ That’s when the pressure shifts.
Kearsarge just needs to get there.