By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
Can Salem win a third consecutive Class L championship? That’s one of the top storylines entering the 2008-09 boys basketball season, which is scheduled to begin this week.
Salem returns two starters – senior guard Josh Jones and senior forward Mike Kimball – from a team that went 24-1 and beat Trinity in the Class L championship game last season. Jones averaged 16 points per game as a junior. Kimball averaged 15 points per contest, and made 30 3-pointers last season.
Jones needs 49 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career. The Blue Devils have won 32 straight games against Class L competition.
“The constant throughout this great run has been Jones, but he will need help,” Salem coach E.J. Perry told the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune.
Class I: Expect Class I to be crowded at the top. Monadnock returns three starters from last year’s championship team, but Pelham, Portsmouth and Pembroke Academy all have enough talent to make a strong run at this season’s title.
“We hope to build off our championship rather than being content with winning it,” Monadnock coach Ken Ervin said.
Class M: Former assistant Eric Saucier is the new head coach at Conant, which owns a 64-game winning streak. The Orioles, who have won five titles in the last eight years, returned four starters and appear to be the team to beat again this season.
Class S: There’s no clear-cut favorite here. Colebrook graduated the top seven players from a team that won last season’s title.
Newmarket is a team to keep an eye on. The Mules welcome back point guard Curtis Wilkinson from a team that lost to Conant in the Class M championship game, and then dropped to Class S in the offseason.
Boys Hockey: Viola takes over at Souhegan
Souhegan will attempt to win its fourth consecutive Division III championship this season, and will do so with a new head coach.
Former Souhegan coach John Coughlin left the program to coach at his alma mater, Lexington (Mass.) High School, and Ed Viola stepped in to take his place. Viola is no stranger to the Souhegan players, having coached many of them in youth hockey.
"I told him there's no pressure, he's just going for four in a row," Souhegan athletic director Chris Lavoie told the Nashua Telegraph. "But it was good that kids know who he was and were familiar with him.”
Souhegan will build around forward Paul Caso, who collected 33 goals and 36 assists during the 2007-08 regular season. Caso also scored the overtime goal in Souhegan’s 3-2 triumph over Kennett in last season’s Division III championship game.
"I knew John and I knew he had set up a good program, including a middle school team – that's critical,” Viola said. “That attracted me to (the job) and it fit into my work schedule. These kids, they come ready to go. It's been fun so far. A fourth championship is not out of the question."
Girls Hockey: Hanover seeking repeat performance
Hanover was a dominant team during the 2007-08 season, the first year the NHIAA sponsored girls hockey. The Marauders went 18-0 and outscored their opponents, 148-13.
Hanover lost leading scorer Josie Fisher (63 goals, 45 assists) to graduation, but may have enough talent and experience to make a run at another title. The returning cast includes forwards Regan Dewhirst and Megan Cronkite - last year's second- and third-leading scorers. Both are seniors this season.
The Marauders also return the goaltending tandem of Aviva Gottesman and Emily Eickhoff.
"Josie was pretty special," Hanover coach John Dodds said. "We've got a challenge there. She was a big part of this team. Not only offensively, but defensively.
"We have our work cut out to get everybody on the same page as far as hockey, and what I expect. They're going to have to step up, and I think they will."
Roger Brown has been a sportswriter in New Hampshire since 1992, and publishes the New Hampshire Football Report. He can be reached at rbrown@nhfootballreport.com.
