Feb. 7th Games

Very good slate of games for tonight.

West at Salem: Great matchup with West's high flying team going against the hard nosed play it tough Blue Devils. This is a great contrast in team styles. It should be interesting to see which style of basketball gets the W in this one.


Merrimack at Spaulding: Fascinating game where you have #1, but not entirely sold on them being #1 Merry, visiting a team that is very comfortable playing on their home court.


Central at South: South has had some close tough losses as of late. South can match the speed and intensity of Central. Can they score enough points to beat them?


Winny at Memorial: This might not have been a good matchup a month ago, but these 2 teams have stabalized a bit and are playing some good ball now. Should be a good one.


Alvirne at Londonderry: 6 of Londonderry's last 7 losses have been by 21 points. One would expect a tight one in this game, wouldn't they?


North at Pinkerton: This game might start clearing up the log jam of the 6 teams with 3 losses. These 2 teams had easier schedules to start the season and are now starting to play the iron of their schedules.

Girls:

Memorial at Winny: The Crusaders came close to upsetting Winny in the semi finals at SNHU last season. This is Memorial's best chance to get a W against Winny in a long time.

Pinkerton at North: Big game to start sorting out the teams to secure a top 4 seed in girl's D1. Loser of this game might have to just be happy with a home prelim game.

We've got Merrimack @ Spaulding tonight, the 2 minute drive to the Community Center is one of my favorites ;-)

If you're in the Merrimack area (or anywhere, for that matter) you can listen at wtsnam1270.com . I'm interested to see the Gendron brothers in action, it looks like they've been tearing it up in the absence of Floras.

Justin, I think you'll enjoy seeing the Gendron brothers in action. If Paradis plays Tyler Gendron that will be a good matchup to watch. Tyler is a better shooter and has a better overall game, but Paradis can cause Tyler some fits down on the blocks. Eric Gendron is solid all the way around. He runs the floor well and is that "glue guy" that makes his mates better by putting in a solid performance every night.

With your 2 minute drive to the Rochester CC I take it you will not go by the Rivieria Motel or the Elks Club tonight. Too bad. I could've received an update from you on how those 2 establishments are panning out in Rochester. I like to keep tabs on the pulse of the cultural scene of different towns, including the lovely town of Rochester.

Tuesday and Friday wrote:Justin, I think you'll enjoy seeing the Gendron brothers in action. If Paradis plays Tyler Gendron that will be a good matchup to watch. Tyler is a better shooter and has a better overall game, but Paradis can cause Tyler some fits down on the blocks. Eric Gendron is solid all the way around. He runs the floor well and is that "glue guy" that makes his mates better by putting in a solid performance every night.

With your 2 minute drive to the Rochester CC I take it you will not go by the Rivieria Motel or the Elks Club tonight. Too bad. I could've received an update from you on how those 2 establishments are panning out in Rochester. I like to keep tabs on the pulse of the cultural scene of different towns, including the lovely town of Rochester.

There's been no dead bodies pulled out of The Riviera lately, so that's a plus. I haven't set foot in the Elks lodge in a non-voting capacity since my Sophomore Semi-Formal, but the decor is the same. If you guys ever get down here for a SHS game, I'll take you to Gary's Sports bar, which, other than the clientele, is pretty fun.

Nice to hear The Riviera is on the upswing.

I've always thought one of the advantages Spaulding has with their home games are the following 2 things:

1) Their home court is so different than most of the other courts in D1. The ambience is different with the one sided stands, curtain divider to the other court and the announcer that makes the game fun.

2) When the opposing teams come in on their bus rides they pass by The Riviera and the Elks Lodge. These high schoolers are wide eyed and bushy tailed in looking at these 2 Rochester establishments and have thoughts of what has happened there, could be happening there presently and what could happen in the near future. While these thoughts are still swirling in the heads of the opposing players, Spaulding plays their game and usually has their opponent down 16 to 5 at the end of the first. The opposing teams then swim against the basketball tide for the next 24 minutes.


I'll definitely try to take you up on the Gary Sports Bar offer in the future.

Hey guys. I'm new to the forum, but I think this is a great thing for us outsiders to just voice our opinions. I'll be at the Manchester West vs. Salem game tonight. I expect to see a close game to the finish.

Salem has one of the top "hard nosed" teams in division one. These guys hustle for every loose ball, go hard to the rim, play solid defense and do whatever they can to keep the opposing team from getting easy open looks.

West on the other hand plays a totally different game. They don't play the solid defense that you see of championship teams, but they compensate for that by creating timely turnovers and finishing on the fast break. These guys are, as many of you have mentioned, the most athletic team in division one. With Martin and Bureau as a one two punch, they look nearly unstoppable some nights.

Keys to the game tonight for Salem: DONT TURN THE BALL OVER. Simple as that. They do this, I think they win in a close one at home.

Keys to the game for West: Give Nolan Flynn the ball. This kid is a sophomore who has a dagger from behind the arc. He finished with 22 points against Concord on Friday off the bench, having 6 three balls in his 8 attempts. When this kid gets hot, nobody can stop him. There was one point in the Concord game, Kaleb Marquis was defending Flynn and he pulled up from at least 5 or 6 feet behind the arc and hit the shot with a hand in his face.

Predicition: IF, and a big if, West can distribute the ball between Aaron Martin, Jocarl Bureau, Carl Jaques, and Nolan Flynn and open up space, they will be able to pound the block with Ivan Ilic and Caleb Dolman. Salem will need to hold the ball, and use the clock to their advantage. A slow game will benefit Salem immensely. I just don't see it being a slow game.

Salem 58 - West 64


Also tonights predicitions:
Dover 43 - Bishop Guertin 62 - Big win for BG at home.
Merrimack 52 - Spaulding 49
Nashua South 61 - Manchester Central 66 - I was thinking upset on home court, but swayed against it.
Winnicunnet 54 - Manchester Memorial 61
Alvirne 59 - Londonderry 44 - Big game for Alvirne to bounce back after big loss to Salem at home.
Exeter 53 - Concord 42
Nashua North 65 - Pinkerton Academy 61
Trinity 71 - Keene 43

Welcome NHSports11 to the Forum.

Very good analysis of the West - Salem game. I agree with what you say. A game in the 50s favors Salem. A game in the 60s favors West. This is why this is such a good matchup of contrasting styles. The turnover battle is definitely key. If Salem can force West into turnovers the Blue Devils will use these extra possessions to take another 20 to 40 seconds off the clock and condense the time of the game, which in the end will favor them. I don't believe Salem can get into a shoot out with West. The Blue Knights will try to get up and go while Salem will play more disciplined ball. Just a fascinating matchup of contrasting styles.

I agree with all of your other predictions, except while I think the Broncos will ride high with a W over the Lancers, I think the margin may be under 10 points.

NHSports11, feel free to post any analysis or updates from the West - Salem game, if capable or after the game when you can.

And in the lower divisions …
D-2:
Souhegan at Oyster River: battle of the “bleachers on only one side of the gym” teams (see reference to Spaulding above). Tough week for OR, with Souhegan tonight and Hanover on Friday. Perhaps they can pull off an upset, with both games at home.
Milford at Bedford: Bedford looks to rebound from their loss to Portsmouth on Friday, snapping their 7-game winning streak. Strange to see Milford sitting in a tie for 17th place in the standings.
MV at Brady: Battle of two 7-5 teams; winner gets a leg up on hosting a playoff game.
H/B (4-7) at John Stark (7-4): Based on strength of schedule, these two are much closer than their records indicate.

D-3:
Prospect Mountain (12-2) at Somersworth (10-3): After a slow start, Somersworth has won eight straight, and is looking to climb into the top four in the D-3 standings.
Stevens (10-5) at Mascoma (9-4): Another battle for a home playoff spot.

Hanover (D-2, 12-0) and Moultonborough (D-4, 14-0) are the only remaining undefeated boys’ teams, and BG (D-1, 13-0), H/B (12-0, D-2), and Campbell (14-0, D-3) are the girls’ unbeatens.

JustinMcIsaac wrote:We've got Merrimack @ Spaulding tonight, the 2 minute drive to the Community Center is one of my favorites ;-)

If you're in the Merrimack area (or anywhere, for that matter) you can listen at wtsnam1270.com . I'm interested to see the Gendron brothers in action, it looks like they've been tearing it up in the absence of Floras.

I highly recommend catching Justin on 1270am, or on the internet if you're outside of radio range. He does a nice job, often times working alone. No, he doesn't know me, so he's not paying me to write this!

My favorite "Justin-ism" (so far): When a player (especially for the home team) scores a basket and gets fouled, you might hear a very emphatic "THE HOOP AND THE HARM!!" Justin - is that an original?

"Souhegan at Oyster River: battle of the “bleachers on only one side of the gym” teams (see reference to Spaulding above)."
SeacoastDad


The thing that I find funny about the “bleachers on only one side of the gym” facilities is that there was a case last year where a facility was a 2 sided bleacher gym. By the mid way of the season the coaching staff of the 2 sided bleacher gym had enough with comments and coaching from the part of the bleachers in back of the home bench. The next home game the court only had 1 side of the bleachers opened up and it was the side opposite of the team's benches. I think they did 1 sided bleachers for a couple of games and then went back to the 2 sided bleachers for the stretch run and home playoff games.

It was one of the most interesting 1 sided bleacher situations/gyms I've ever seen.

"THE HOOP AND THE HARM!!" Justin - is that an original? SeacoastDad


Now, if Justin wanted to take it a step further for on court rule adjudication he would say:

"THE HOOP AND THE AND 1 HARM!!"

SeacoastDad wrote:

JustinMcIsaac wrote:We've got Merrimack @ Spaulding tonight, the 2 minute drive to the Community Center is one of my favorites ;-)

If you're in the Merrimack area (or anywhere, for that matter) you can listen at wtsnam1270.com . I'm interested to see the Gendron brothers in action, it looks like they've been tearing it up in the absence of Floras.

I highly recommend catching Justin on 1270am, or on the internet if you're outside of radio range. He does a nice job, often times working alone. No, he doesn't know me, so he's not paying me to write this!

My favorite "Justin-ism" (so far): When a player (especially for the home team) scores a basket and gets fouled, you might hear a very emphatic "THE HOOP AND THE HARM!!" Justin - is that an original?

Thanks for the compliments SD :-) I definatley stole "hoop and the harm" from someone, though I can't remember who (Marv Albert and Howard David are definite possibilities). My favorite play to call is the lay up that hits the bottom of the rim, which I call the "Greg Kite layup", since I swear I saw Kite do that more than once.

Ahh yes. Greg Kite. One of the most unpolished players to wear the Celtic green. In earlier Celtic days it was Hank Finkel.

Tuesday and Friday wrote:Ahh yes. Greg Kite. One of the most unpolished players to wear the Celtic green. In earlier Celtic days it was Hank Finkel.

I loved #29 Hank Finkel! Johnny Most's nickname for him was "High Henry".

Johnny Most HIGH above court side talking about HIGH Henry. Love the symmetry.

Funny thing is where Most sat to broadcast his games at the old Boston Garden wouldn't even be considered "high above court side" these days. Where Most sat in the old Garden probably would be where luxury suites are in today's beautiful 15 to 20 thousand seat arenas.

I wonder what Most's call would've been when Pierce left the court in a wheel chair, but "miraculously" came back to finish the game..... And how would Most handle the Heat and LeBron? That would be worth the price of listening admission!!!!

Salem 20 - West 13 end 1..... Salem 29 - West 28 half.

End of 1st: Lond 7 Alvirne 6. Sean Dunn didnt start because of injured foot. He's giving it a go in 2nd period, but he doesnt look 100%. I wouldnt be surprised to see Lond pull off the upset.

Abismal defense and turnovers puts West in a 47-39 hole after three quarters of play. 56-56. 8 seconds to play.

Almost half BG leads 35-26 on the scoreboard and 14-4 on the foul board. It was 21-10 and 7-2 after the first according to the Mrs. who is at the game.

Halftime: Lond 20 Alvirne 18. Ben Flanders hit a big 3 at buzzer to give the Lancers a halftime lead. Bealieu was in foul trouble and didnt play in the 2nd quarter for the Broncos. Tyler Livingston played well in the first half for Alvirne.

Halftime: Spaulding 19 Merry 17

West and Salem headed to overtime

end of 3rd: Lond 32 Alvirne 28. I can see why the Lancers have some close lossez. They have a good backcort, are disciplined and play hard.

Merry up 5 over Spaulding at end of 3rd period.