State of the Union Address: NEPSAC AAA+

Steven Adams: New Zealander finna shake things up in the Colony

AAA+ Independents Top 8 headin' into Christmas

1) Brewster Academy (10-0) - The #1 ranked team in the Five-Star Top 25 has passed all tests thus far this Winter.  They head into 2012 as King of the Mountain and by the way, mark your calendars, Brewster vs Tilton on ESPN on January 15th at the HoopHall at 4pm.

2) Northfield Mount Hermon (10-0) - Another AAA team that heads into Santa Land undefeated is John Carroll's ball-club at Northfield Mt Hermon, which is now 7-0.  The Hoggers should without question be in the Five-Star Top 25.  The reason they are one of the top teams in the country is the same reason that 12 seeds beat 5 seeds year in and year out in the 1st Round the Big Dance.

3) St Thomas More (9-0) - STM won two more games this week over MCI and the Robinson School to go into the weekend 9-0.  Led by combo guard AJ English, the Chancellors are definitely the surprise AAA team of the season thus far.

4) New Hampton (10-2) - New Hampton has now won five straight after they took the Chip at the Hill School Tournament this weekend.  As Pete Hutchins' young squad gels heading into the Mayan Jungle, they will be a dangerous tribe come trophy-time in March.

5) *(Ind) Notre Dame Prep (10-5) - Head Coach Ryan Hurd has a terrific three-headed back-court monster of Adonis Filer, Sam Cassell Jr, and Myles Davis.  Now, we wait for Mr. New Zealand and see where the chips fall.

6) South Kent (5-4) - After an impressive 5-0 start which vaulted them all the way up to #8 in the Five-Star Top 25, SK has now lost 4 in a row.  Can they regroup in 2012?

7) Bridgton Academy (6-2) - According to their schedule, the Bridg is currently wrapping up the 2011 portion of their season up at the Sun Youth Invitational in Quebec.  They've shown as one New England's most dangerous squads early on: however, with Amir Garrett heading to St Johns for 2nd semester, that certainly changes things a bit in terms of firepower.

8) *(Ind) Lee Academy (15-5) - Another squad up in Montreal at the Sun Youth...This club is hard-nosed and deep and they will keep comin' at teams all winter.  Kiefer Douse & Drew Crudup have impressed to date.