Feb. 9th games

There are some nice matchups for this Tuesday:

Exeter at Londonderry: If some one would've told me at the mid way point of the season Exeter would be in sole possession of 16th place and Londonderry would be tied for 13th it would come as a surprise. These teams are not only fighting for seeding, but now they are fighting just to make the 16 team playoff dance.

BG at South: 3 months ago this would've been a must see game. Now, with polar opposite 8-2 and 2-8 records you have to think a one sided victory for the Cardinals.

North at Pinkerton: A good back court matches up against a very good front court. Both teams are in the top 8 right now. This should be a nice battle.

Alvrine at Salem: Two 5-5 teams heading in opposite directions. Salem has won 5 out of their last 6 games while the enigmatic (there's my favorite word to describe the Broncos) have lost 4 of their last 5 games. Is Alvrine still figuring out rotation? Are they just building for a playoff run similar to last year? Questions abound for the enigmatic (there's that word again) Alvrine squad. This should be a very interesting game.

Central at Memorial: Both teams are within spitting distance both in geographics and the Class L standings. This is a pick em grinding game that will be played in the 40s or low 50s. The second half will be a rock fight for every possession, loose ball and rebound. The match ups at the 1, 2 and 3 positions are a pick em. The match ups at the 4 and 5 favor Central. Memorial's 3 headed center must neutralize the 1 headed Cental center to come away with the W.

I'll take Londonderry, BG, Salem, Pinkerton and Memorial

The ONLY one I hesitated on was Salem because Alvirne surprises me a lot...

Tully - Alvrine surprising a lot is so true. I'll just refer to them as Matrix. I don't really understand the Matrix movie series. To me it's one big convoluted series of images of people transforming themselves into something or someone they are or aren't. So, given Alvrine has morphed from themselves into something we think they are or aren't and they are something from within or from which something else originates, then Matrix, I guess is a plausible explanation for the Broncos 5 - 5 record so far this season.

I hope I haven't been too confusing about the enigmatically matrixed Alvrine team.

As many of you know I'm pretty close to the Alvirne team/coaches having spent 4 years as an assistant at the program. Several of the Seniors played V ball while I was there. I honestly think they are going through what a lot of teams go through, chemistry. By the end of the year they'll once again be the team nobody wants to play in the playoffs. It just seems to take a longer for them to gel down in Hudson, but come March, in recent memory anyway, they've been able to make a run.

They've got tons of talent in Donnelly, O'Hearn, Skinner and Sweeney playing the middle. They've got young talent in Jim Tomaswick and Tony Beaulieu. They've put it together a few times, at home vs. Central and Dover, and have had lapses such as their loss up at Spaulding. This team is thirsting for a quality road win, where that bus ride home can be one of laughter, fun and positive reinforcement.

It could all start with a what is a REALLY big game for both Salem and the Bronco's Tuesday night in Blue Devil country.

Couple other good ones I'll mention Tuesday as well:

Spaulding at Trinity - Trap game for the Pioneers coming off the loss at Dover? Or are they furious and looking to take it out on someone? Watch out for Cronin and Co. to get hot from outside. Trinity has one of the best home courts in Class L though.

North at Pinkerton - I really like North as a sleeper this year, Pratt, Williams and the guy who I think is their key, Trevor Rancourt. If he plays well from the elbows and gets rebounds, they're tough to beat. Pratt can fill it up as well as anyone and Williams gets in the lane very well for a young kid. Pinkertons big men should dominate, but by how much? I like North if you didn't notice...

Central at Memorial - Shockingly I haven't seen either of these teams. But to me its kinda like the tobacco road rivalries in the ACC, similar to Wednesdays Duke/UNC matchup. You can throw records out the window, and enjoy two teams battling each other to the last whistle. Should be entertaining...maybe I should get out and see these squads.

Merrimack at Keene - The dreaded rt. 101 road trip.......should mean nothing. Saw the Tomahawks on Friday night and they're very impressive. Unless Cameron Fisk and Pat Luptowski are walking through that door...nope, they're not. Class L has proved me wrong all season though...

Asst - while we're on the subject of "not walking through that door", I think a key for Alvrine's up and down season is the loss of the BIG Donnelly from last year. I have noticed that Sweeney hasn't been providing points in abundance this season. He benefitted from the good ship Donnelly from last season. You talk about finding the right chemistry. They better find it fast. In their last 8 games they play Salem, Trinity, Pinkerton, Winny and Londonderry. It's very conceivable they could finish 9 - 9 or 10 - 8. Could they go on the road and win their first playoff game as a #9 seed or lower? Possibly. Remember last year after they upset Pinkerton in the prelim they had the good fortune of hosting a quarterfinal game with the Lancers after Londonderry upset Central at the Simon gym in the prelims. Alvrine will be playing with fire again if they finish 9th, 10th, 11th, etc, this season.

No doubt they miss big Donnelly but they also really do not have an actual point guard. They seem to lean on O'Hearn and Donnelly for setting up the offense but no real playmaker as far as assist go. They are good at several positions but they miss a on the floor leader that gets the offense moving and creates for others. IMHO, In my Humble Opinion.

Next up check out my breakdown in the Prep category. Went to see New Hampton at Proctor tonight.

You're right...they've got Cody Lambert who can handle the ball, but they've really reeled in his ability to make plays. Beaulieu, the Sophomore waiting in the wings is ready. He's going to make some mistakes, but he is the best ballhandler, and probably their most explosive player getting to the rim. I'm no coach (anymore) but I might of had him logging some serious minutes early in the season to get him ready for March. The early season mistakes would be gone, and I think people would be talking about him right now as one of the best young players in Class L. The 4 or 5 minutes of PT he logged against Merrimack aren't going to cut it if the Bronco's want to see him improve.

It looks like the blogging heat has cooled on coaching in the town of Milford, but has been shot over like a hot pizza to Bronco High.

Unless you go to Jeremy's blog... there's it is ALL about BG!

I have seen Alvirne play twice this season and I just feel that if they had a guard with play making ability they would get better looks both in the post and on the perimeter. They also do not run enough in my eyes. O'Hearn seems to have to handle the ball on the break when he really should be the guy on the wing running. I also know that they are a good rebounding team that could run more than they do. Maybe it is not the best way to play the entire game because you could not ask Sweeney or Moyen to run for big minutes but they seem to not even look to run and that to me takes points off the board both with O'Hearn and secondary break points with Donnelly getting kick outs with the pressure of the push compressing the defense into the lane. I do think they can play with the top teams but would love to see them be more aggressive at times on offense.

Potential bad news for Central. It seems Stisser won't play tonight against Memorial after re-injuring his knee at the end of the Central 1 point loss to Pinkerton last week. If he can't come back the rest of the season that would just add to the bad news of the 09/10 Little Green season. If bad things come in Three's then:

1) Transfers
2) Leaky roof
3) Stisser's knee

winny beats Timberlane 74-46. Gould had 33 for winny and 8 three pointers!
winny up by only 6 at half.

Memorial beat Central 64-62 in 2OT

Trinity beat Spaulding 47-35

bg 71- 56 over south.St Lawrence had 18, cuipa hit 5 three's for 15 in about 1 quarter of playing time. Haskell got 2 technicals.Does that mean he sits against merrimack?

saw merrimack only won by 3 that long ride must have done something

The Memorial 64 to 62 victory over Central in double OT was the best game I've seen all season. It had more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel. Both teams left their hearts and souls on the court. I have a lot of respect with the way the players and coaches dug in to the emotional trenches of this game. I'll post more later, but it was a special night at 1 Crusader Way tonight.

It was a special night....

The refs... not sure special is the word I want.

UNBELIEVABLE game that was a true city game!

It was unbelievable in the Memorial - Central game tonight. Mike Flanagan and Ron Beauravage were scoring. The Kennedy brothers were doing damage for the Little Green. Pete Poirier was wearing out the coaches box along with Ed Wade and as the game went into the 2nd OT....... oh, you'll have to pardon me. In 1971 Memorial defeated Central for the Class L State Title 64 - 58 in 2 OTs, so with Memorial beating Central in 2010 64 - 62 in 2 OTs it was a nice reminder of one of the most classic basketball games between 2 Queen City teams that was played in 1971.

What a warm up for the boy's game as the Memorial girls upset Central 37 - 36 on a Taylor Leonard buzzer beater lay up. Ehlozovic dribbled full court with under 10 seconds to go and put up a shot which Leonard rebounded and put back in as the Crusaderettes stormed the court to touch off a celebration of the highest degree. It's been a long time coming for the Lady Crusaders to get a big victory like this. To do it at home in front of a big crowd was special..... and to think the boys game hadn't even tapped off yet.

I missed the first quarter of the boy's game, but Memorial had a 17 - 14 lead after 1 with Dan McLean leading the way for the Crusaders with 8 points. Memorial took a 6 point lead into halftime with a 31 - 25 lead. Memorial's bigs did a good job on muscleling Wickey in the paint and not letting him be a force. Memorial controlled the 3rd period and took a 42 - 34 lead heading into the 4th. You had a sense that Wickey would make himself a factor in the 4th period and he along with Lacount played tremendous ball to get Central back in the game and eventually taking the lead. Memorial fought back to tie the game up with a minute to go and then the real drama started. The end of regulation came with both teams tied at 51 to 51. 3's by Wickey and Ferge for Central and Fitz and Marchawicz for Memorial made the score 57 - 57. With 13 seconds left Memorial had the ball and Fitz missed a 3 at the buzzer as the game went into the 2nd OT. Cental was anemic from the FT line in the 1st OT and this carried through to the 2nd OT as they squandered too many charity stripe tosses. Zenni had a couple of key steals which changed momentum. Fitz had a nifty look to an Edhem finish that was sweet. Memorial had a 64 - 62 lead with 13 seconds to go in the 2nd OT. Central calls TO at half court. They tried to get the ball to Wickey, but Memorial's defense was too good. Ferge wound up taking a potential winning 3 at the buzzer that missed and again there was a winning Memorial swarming of players and fans on the court. Two swarmings in one night of basketball. Unbelievable.

- Dan McLean played an excellent game tonight. He played real nice against Wickey. McLean had around 11 to 13 points and was a monster on the boards and with overall hustle. Memo to Jeremy L.: You have Mr. McLean meandering at 68th on your 2010 ranking list. It's time to move this 6'2 bundle of hustle and determination up. He's been one of the most consistent Crusader performers over the last 6 weeks and tonight he did it against the #6 player on your 2011 list in Wickey. Please Jeremy bump up Dan McLean into the 40s. This kid deserves it.

- Shomari Morgan showed the burst he had in December. He hit double figures and could be seen skying on many occaisions. His dribble drive to the rack is almost where it was in December.

- Fitz looked great with his release. He hit for 18 points and even some of his misses looked dead on. He looked good taking the ball closer and pulling up for medium range jumpers.

- Vinnie Zennie had cat like quickness with steals and defensive disruption.

- Lacount looked very good tonight with his shot and penetration. He gets better every time I see him.

- Ferge was real key with 11 points including a put back amongst 3-4 bigs near the hoop.

- You have to respect Doc and the Central players for giving the great effort tonight. They were coming off the 1 point loss to Pinkerton last Friday and the news of the loss of Stisser. They started a young line up and dug down deep and didn't fold the green tents when faced with any deficit tonight. Doc is coaching the heck out of this team. Central has lost to Dover, Alvrine, Merrimack, Pinky and Memorial by a combined 19 points.

- The Memorial student body was large and in charge. The atmosphere was great with the Varsity girls players and parents in attendance. It makes you wonder what it would be like if the girls didn't play on the same nights so more people could attend these games like tonight. This was dripping with playoff atmosphere.

- And by the way, Memorial defeated Central for the State Title in 1971 in an exhausting 2 OT win 64 - 58 on a Friday night. 2 days later some Memorial and Cental players from those 2 state finalists got together to shoot hoops at Memorial on Sunday morning. They talked about their state championship experience from the previous Friday as the beautiful sound of bouncing basketballs filled the Memorial gym.

Think about my last point. It doesn't get any cooler than that.

Tully - interesting you say "special" isn't the word you would use to describe the refs. I'm curious as to your take on the refereeing, since you are a Central fan and Cental lost by 2 and was at the FT line much more than Memorial in the 2nd half and the OTs. At one point I believe Central missed 6 or 7 FTs in a row in the 2 OTs. I heard numerous Central fans during and after the game saying, "if we could or could've shot our FTs better."

Surely, you're not blaming the poor FT shooting of Central on the refs, correct?

Wow, I guess the "chemistry lab" at Alvrine isn't functioning properly yet as the Broncos lose to Salem 75 - 72.

Pinky-North:

Nashua North 17 16 21 16 70
Pinkerton 14 22 13 28 77

Zach Mathieu's command of the backboards and dunk at the end of the game punctuated a night where Pinkerton's height advantage prevailed over Nashua North's quickness, 77-70.

Game Statistics:
Nashua North (70): Williams 6-5-18, Nadeau 1-0-2, Mellin 1-0-3, Pratt 1-4-7, Gauthier 11-2-29, Rancourt 3-5-11. Totals 23-16-70

Pinkerton (77): Park 3-3-9, Colbert 5-3-14, Williams 0-3-3, Light 4-0-8, Sullivan 1-0-2, Curry 1-0-2, Patrikis 3-0-6, Proulx 3-3-11, Mathieu 9-4-22. Totals 29-16-77

3-pointers: NN — Williams, Mellin, Pratt, Gauthier 5; P — Colbert, Proulx 2


Lond-Exeter:

Exeter 16 14 13 16 59
Londonderry 18 18 11 13 60

After swapping the lead twice over the last 1 1/2 minutes of play, senior C.J. Flanders banked in a contested layup off a pick-and-roll with three seconds remaining to give Londonderry a 60-59 victory over Exeter. Flanders also drained six 3-pointers on a 24-point night, aided by Ian McMullen's 15 points and a double-double (10 points and 13 rebounds) from Jake Finnegan.

Game Statistics:
Exeter (59): Holler 3-1-9, Vigars 3-0-7, Conner 1-0-3, Moler 2-0-6, Driscoll 2-0-4, Fecteau 1-0-2, LaRoche 3-0-8, Monro 6-6-18, Tiernan 1-0-2. Totals 22-7-59

Londonderry (60): Mansfield 0-0-0, Champa 3-0-9, McMullen 6-2-15, Finnegan 4-2-10, Flanders 9-0-24, Bintz 1-0-2, Ball 0-0-0, Doucette 0-0-0. Totals 23-4-60

3-pointers: E — Hollar 2, Vigars, Conner, Moler 2, LaRoche 2; L — Champa 3, McMullen, Flanders 6

Jeremy - The dreaded word DISAPPOINTING can now be used to describe Exeter's season so far. Alvrine is on the cusp of the dreaded word. As a matter of fact, I will use the dreaded word to describe Alvrine's season so far. How much longer can the "chemistry lab" at Alvrine stay open for the rest of the 2010 part of the season?

Alvrine and exeter may be down at the moment, but i know either team could pull off an upset in the 1st round of the tourney!

Jeremy - I'll agree with you on both teams. With Spirou and Lombard as a 1-2 punch there is no way Pelham should be at .500 at the 2/3 point of the season in Class I. South can use the excuse of "Injured Nelson Hangover" for some of their losses, but not all of them. I saw south in fall league and was impressed with the way they got after it on the defensive end. I figured even without Nelson they would be able to duct tape together a few wins 38 to 35 or 44 to 42 with their team defense and have a .500 record or just below until Nelson came back.

With the talk of Alvrine, Pelham and South as DISAPPOINTMENT teams could Jeremy's posting of the Top 10 Disappointment teams be coming up in the near future?

I'm not blaming the refs for the loss at all...

I actually didn't pick Central for that game.

I just thought some of the calls were a little strange... but balanced strangely for/against each team.

In the beginning though... I was REALLY missing Moe due to all the fouls they were calling