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| By Dave Haley, Posted 03-19-2010 | ||
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Class L Championship
(2) Pinkerton Academy vs. (1) Winnacunnet
The coverage of Pinkerton Academy is sponsored by T-Bones and Cactus Jacks at www.t-bones.com
Box score of first meeting: http://www.nhsportspage.com/basketball/game_stats.php?Ateam_id=29&Hteam_id=125&game_id=7132&team_type=hs_bb
This game will be all about tempo. Winnacunnet beat a bigger Bishop Guerin team by running them off the floor in the games first 16 minutes and then holding on for dear life as Jim Migneault threw every player he had, the kitchen sink and possibly some alumni out of the stands in an effort to wear down Winnacunnet. It almost worked as BG came thisclose to one of the all-time comebacks in tourney history. Winnacunnet is here because they hit their foul shots (Ryan Dunn in particular was clutch) and they built such a substantial lead that the Cardinals ran out of time.
Pinkerton beat Dover by following a very disciplined game plan. Sounds simple right? Well we watched a Class I team Tuesday night win the opening tip and then basically chuck the game plan out and try to win a way they felt would be the most fun way to do it. Well they got killed. Pinkerton had a plan, exploit their size advantage and they went into the low post to Zach Mathieu (32 points), Alex Patrikis and Ben Proulx on nearly every possession. You have to play smart to win at this stage, the teams you are playing are too good and the difference in talent level is too close to freelance. As the (very) old saying goes ‘You need to dance with who brought you.' Mathieu and Proulx got them this far, ride them until it's over.
Winnacunnet doesn't have the size to match up with Mathieu but then again most teams don't, they'll adjust and Jay McKenna will do a variation of what Mike Romps of Dover tried (and nearly pulled off); pressure their guards to the point where they don't get good angles for entry passes. The Astros point guards looked shaky the first half, turning it over 4 times, so Winnacunnet will try to overwhelm Chad Park and Kevin Colbert with pressure.
Pinkerton broke Drover's pressure in the semifinals by often using Mathieu in the backcourt. With the 6'7 Mathieu serving as the middle man Pinkerton could lob the ball up to him with the knowledge no one was tall enough to contest the pass. Look for Pinkerton coach Peter Rosinski (who did an excellent job Wednesday night) to use the same tactic again.
Winnacunnet beats you because they are a solid seven deep and they share the ball. No one cares about stats and it all comes down to winning and losing. That doesn't work unless you have great chemistry.
Dunn did a nice job at the point guard spot against Bishop Guertin and was really the difference in the game. The Warriors like to work the ball inside to Lounge member Steve Cronan to kick it back out and with Nick McGrail, Harry Knowles and leading scorer Jesse Gould they have the weapons to score in the 70's. Look at the box score from the first meeting with Pinkerton; four players scored between 11 and 12 points. Few teams have that kind of balance.
Saturday afternoon will pit two coaches against each other who had a very rough 2009 season. They got past it, moved on and they've done two of the better coaching jobs in the state. Each are deserving of winning the title Saturday afternoon and it should be a very good one in the second game of the doubleheader.
Class I Championship
(2) Pembroke Academy vs. (1) Milford
I could wax philosophical about this game for 600 words or sum it up in 12. Lets go for 12.
Both teams will want to run, run, run, run and run some more.
To get to this point in the tourney you are likely to have seen your entire season flash before your eyes. Even through Trinity's dominant run through Class L last year Alvirne was beating them for three quarters of the game, it happens to everyone. You get here by enduring that strain and battling through it; Pembroke and Milford are both examples of that. Pembroke watched Connor Hill launch a three at the end of the game that ends their season if it goes and Milford was beaten all over the floor by Portsmouth for 29 out of 32 minutes Tuesday night.
I love the way Pembroke attacked Tuesday night and how head coach Matt Alosa kept pulling the strings throughout. They made a 15-3 Oyster River team look like they didn't belong on the same floor with them and that is the brutal truth. Dalton Cheney returns after a suspension kept him out of the semifinals but Coleton Neely was the story Tuesday night. Neely was unstoppable and got it done at both ends. Rene Mahar did a nice job against pressure but always had Neely there to help. Sheldon Benson is the Spartans senior leader and has five games of tournament experience on the Lundholm floor.
Chemistry plays a big part in what Milford does because when Players lounge member Mike O'Loughlin and point guard Mike Mitchell were struggling for baskets Jamie Holder took over. Boy did he take over. Holder had two steals in the backcourt and buried a corner three that gave Milford the lead for the first time all night late in the game. If O'Loughlin and Mitchell only care about the number of looks they are getting then Holder is not getting the spotlight in the second half. It's where chemistry comes into play and these guys, maybe more than any other trio in the state, have played so many games together that they instinctively know when one guy is heating up and half the battle in basketball is getting the ball in the hands of the hot guy when he is feeling it. Milford did that Tuesday night.
Neither team has a post presence (Kyle Nelson does a nice job defensively for Milford) and Milford will run their dribble drive offense against Pembroke's man to man and zone looks. Pembroke gets their offense out of transition and they are a faster team than Milford. They'll be able to run out on them.
Tempo is the key in the Class L final. Tempo is a foregone conclusion here. I turned to Gary Fitz from the Nashua Telegraph Tuesday night after the two Class I semifinals and offered him 150 points as the over/under on total points scored Saturday in this one.
I'll take the over.