NORTHWOOD, N.H. — Like seniors with a pair of state titles on the resume are won’t to do, Joe Pantaleo and Ryan Frank weren’t about to let Pelham High’s hoop season end without a ferocious effort.
“As hard as we fought, we needed that one more play that we just couldn’t make,” said first-year coach Mike Larson, whose third-seeded Pythons ultimately fell at No. 3 Coe-Brown Northwood Academy 66-55 in Saturday’s N.H. Division 2 quarterfinal. “We couldn’t make that next play to get over the hump.”
Slashing the Coe-Brown lead to six (52-46) with just under four minutes to play, Pelham arrived at the hump Larson spoke of. And just like the rest of the night, the climb attempt was thwarted.
Partially by the fate of an unfriendly carom, but mainly by a talented Coe-Brown squad.
“That was the best team we’ve played all year,” said Larson. “We’ve played a lot of the top teams in Division 2. In my opinion that’s the best team we’ve seen all year.”
Coe-Brown missed a free throw, but the rebound eluded Pelham, and the Bears’ Shawn Spenard made good with another opportunity, swishing two to push the margin back to 8.
The foul line would loom huge. Pelham missed three in a row from there, finishing just 4 for 11 from the stripe on the night.
And the hosts kept stroking them, going 16 of 20 for the game, 13 of 16 in the fourth, to lock down their spot in the state semis.
Coe-Brown was a tough barn to play in.
“It was loud in here, with their band and all the kids. It was a tough environment,” said Larson. “But for Kyle and Joe especially, we’ve played at (SNHU) in championship games the last two years. It wasn’t anything we didn’t expect or weren’t used to.”
Pantaleo ended his career in style, leading the Pythons with 19 points and 16 rebounds.
“That’s how he’s been playing all year,” said Larson.
Sophomore Blake Woekel impressed with 16 points, while Frank chipped in 10.
The fab frosh, Drew Brown, struggled with only six points on 2 for 12 shooting from the field.
“It was Drew’s first experience on this kind of stage,” said Larson. “He did a couple of nice things, but he just had a tough night shooting.”
Coe-Brown 66, Pelham 55
Division 2 Quarterfinals
Pelham (55): Joe Pantaleo 9 1-2 19, Blake Woekel 7 0-1 16, Kyle Frank 4 1-2 10, Drew Brown 2 2-4 6, Dylan Andrews 2 0-0 4, Tyler Mercier 0 0-2 0. Totals: 24 4-11 55
Coe-Brown (66): Sam Lupinacci 8 3-3 21, Scott Spenard 4 4-5 13, Shawn Spenard 2 3-4 7, Brody Ashley 5 3-4 13, Dylan Andrews 3 0-0 9, Jacob Snow 0 3-4 3, Totals 22 16-20 66
3-pointers: P — Woekel 2, Frank; CB — Lupinacci 2, Sc. Spenard, Andrews 3
Pelham (12-11): 19 11 11 14 — 55
Coe-Brown (17-3): 19 15 13 19 — 66
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Boys Basketball, 03/11/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
