Thoughts and observations from the first week of MIAA basketball:

And that’s the undercard?
The battle between New Mission and Charlestown on Friday will go down on paper as an easy 87-60 Mission win, but it was really a rockfight. There were tons of turnovers, elbows flying around under the boards, physical battles in the paint, and things even boiled over at one point, with the two teams nearly coming to blows after a technical foul was issued.

While neither ream really has its feet under them yet offensively, they were playing a visibly physical battle you might expect in late February, not mid-December. And this was just the first Boston City League game of the young season.

City A, City North, whatever the heck you want to call it, if that’s what we are getting every time two teams from the City’s newly-formed top tier are squaring off, then please give me seconds, thirds, maybe even fourths. Feed me more.

Mission coach Cory McCarthy had some interesting words (and when doesn’t he?) about the new alignment following the win, saying “Every game’s going to be like that”, and mentioning about his crowd, which was already chanting for Brighton (who they’ll face on Thursday).

“Every game’s going to be a dogfight like this, and it’s going to make us better coaches –- I don’t know why anyone’s complaining,” McCarthy said. “I spend time preparing for Charlestown -– that’s a compliment to them, they do a good job. I spend time! Some days you could take off when you were in the [former two-tier alignment].

“Too often in the city, we’re satisfied just being ordinary. We’ve got to push each other to be better. You think I’m going to beat Charlestown by that much next time? Hell no. They’re going to be ready. They’re going to see some things, and we’ve just to keep working.”

For the record, the Boston City League voted 12-3 in favor of the new three-tier alignment for boys basketball last July, and to this date, Madison Park coach Dennis Wilson has been one of the few to vocally express his opposition, citing wear and tear on his players.

Me personally, I’m in favor of this alignment. You now have what is arguably the best league in the state in New Mission, Brighton, East Boston, Madison Park and Charlestown; and as McCarthy mentioned, it’s going to make everyone better –- though not just for the coaching, but for the conditioning as well. If they’re playing postseason-like ball right now, just imagine how the City Championships will go in February.

Cooper’s development key
As 6-foot-6 senior pivot Alex Cooper continued to clean up on the glass Thursday night in a win over Doherty, veteran folks around me kept whispering about how this is the best they’ve ever seen him play. Our own Chris Bradley, a veteran of the Central Mass. hoop scene, tweeted that Cooper has improved “200 percent”.

Besides growing into his body, the other key you can attribute is the increased intensity of his offseason training regimen. Two to three times a week this past summer, Cooper worked out with Wachusett alum and former Bentley University star Mike Sikonski, considered one of the best post players to come out of Central Mass. in the last decade, and characterized those sessions with him as “grueling”.

Cooper worked a ton on the fundamentals -– drop steps, hook shots, up-and-under’s, -- combined with free throws, and even went one-on-one with Sikonski, who tips the scales these days at about 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds.

“That definitely got me tougher,” Cooper said following Thursday’s win. “Definitely grueling. I definitely owe a lot of what I am today to him, he’s a great guy.”

Cooper has also lost 15 pounds, down to 220, since the end of last season, and looks more mobile. He’s even added a spin move to his arsenal, which unnerves his coaches sometimes

“My coaches don’t like when I do it, but it’s my go-to,” Cooper laughed. “Normally, I used to travel when I did that move. But I worked on that one a lot, so I could use it more.”

The Mountaineers are one of the few teams in Central Mass. that can match up with St. John’s size. We know what their backcourt is capable of, between hot-handed seniors Zack Berman and Jesse Maresca. But if they’re to end the Pioneers’ streak of five D1 Central titles, a newly-replenished Cooper might be the biggest key.

Power shift in DCL?
After years of Westford, Acton-Boxborough and even Lincoln-Sudbury or Boston Latin grabbing headlines in the Dual County League, I’m wondering if the strength is in the Small division this year as opposed to the Large.

Many will point to Waltham’s dramatic Saturday afternoon win over Westford, in which the Hawks trailed by 15 in the third quarter but rallied to win 68-67. Concord-Carlisle should be improved behind senior center Alex Sugarman and guards Zach Dowd and Jamir Henderson, and should surprised some people in D2 North.

The other team to watch out for here might be Bedford, which has uncharacteristically missed out on the D3 North tournament the last two seasons. For years, it seemed like Watertown and Bedford were always destined to meet in the D3 North finals, but the Buccaneers fell on some hard times the 2010-11 and 11-12.

Could they be back? The Bucs looked solid in their 77-66 season-opening win over Dedham, and their press defense -– always a staple during their glory years -– looks sharp again, alternating between 2-2-1 and diamond-and-one looks. Junior guards Kaylon Kinlicheenie and Allister Williams could be nice surprises this winter for Bedford.

Run-and-gun Tornadoes
The biggest things I came away impressed by with Malden during the preseason was how well they pressed, and how well they shoot. After seeing the result of the Golden Tornadoes’ 98-58 season-opening win over Winthrop, safe to say Don Nally’s bunch could be the wild card of D1 North.

Six-foot-4 sophomore Anthony Gilardi scored 44 points in the win, and overall Malden connected for 19 three-pointers. The Tornadoes’ 2-2-1 press was very efficient, leading to a good number of open looks in transition. Senior Rodney Morton is considered Malden’s most talented player, and senior Terrence Maisonneuve can provide some muscle underneath. Between the three of them, they have the potential do some damage this winter.

Townies will be back
After surrendering 25-point losses on back-to-back nights to the Nos. 3 and 4 teams in our statewide poll, Charlestown appears to be a work in progress. But stop if you’ve heard this before with the Townies.

If you can recall, the Townies started hot in 2011-12, ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, then tailed off in January, at one point falling all the way out of the poll, and failed to qualify for City Championships. Then they turned it on again, all the way to the TD Garden floor, where they made their first Eastern Mass. Final appearance since the end of the Jack O’Brien era.

There is just one holdover, junior guard Taris Wilson, from last year’s squad. With 6-foot-6 transfers Allijah Robinson and Freddy Oliveira joining the Townies, this is an undeniably talented team, but one that is also as green as they come.

In a nutshell, this is a team that has been playing together for less than three weeks – not three years, like BC High’s backcourt tandem of Jameilen Jones and Charles Collins. Right now, the Townies have to find their identity and get a feel for each other. They have the length to disrupt on defense, and they have the athletic exploits to play above the rim like few other teams in Massachusetts.

Something tells me when the Townies figure this thing out -– and inevitably, they will -– they could make some waves later this winter.