PELHAM — The "first playoff win is always tough," cliche author took a savage beating here last night in the Snake Pit.
Top-seeded Pelham rolled out to a 22-4 first quarter lead and never looked back, pummeling Prospect Mountain, the No. 16 seed, in round 2 of the Division 3 State tournament, 64-35.
No. 1 Pelham, now 19-0 in New Hampshire and 21-1 overall, looks to ratchet up the competition level on Saturday night when it hosts No. 8 Gilford in the state quarterfinals.
While they haven't faced Gilford this year, the Pythons biggest foe could be complacency. Their last true battle was a month ago against Windham.
Of course, that's an issue coach Matt Regan really has had to worry about at any point in the current 16-game win streak. So far, it's been all business.
"It's a different group," said Regan. "They can be goofy and still practice hard all the time. This is natural for them. They're basketball players. I'd love to see if they feel pressure at all, but they're just basketball kids. They don't get too high or too low, they just go out and play."
Last night, the Pelham regulars went out and played, per usual, just not for very long.
Up 42-9 at the break, both Keith Brown and Ryan Cloutier were done for the night. Brown finished with 20 points in his 16 minutes of work, while Cloutier added 11.
The rest of the starters enjoyed a quick third-quarter cameo, before Regan emptied the bench midway through the third.
It's now full steam ahead, and certainly the Pit will be a bit louder on Saturday night to welcome Gilford. The Golden Eagles knocked off Hopkinton, 40-29, to move to 15-4.
"We're rested and ready to go," said Regan.
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James Consentino, Ty Austin and Kyle Storm each had 10 rebounds as Sanborn beat Prospect Mountain 61-48.
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