Bishop Brady's superior point guard Jourdain Bell got into early foul trouble and Pelham pounced with a swarming press. That and Keith Brown (25 points, 16 rebounds) were the difference as No. 4 Pelham beat No. 5 Brady 79-66 in the quarterfinals.
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Boys Basketball, 03/08/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
PELHAM — Ryan Frank has buried a plethora of 3-pointers in his Pelham High career. None has ever been so emancipating.
"He hit that and it was like it took this giant weight of our shoulders," said Python coach Matt Regan of the third-quarter triple. "I think the rest of our guys saw that one go and immediately relaxed."
No. 13 Merrimack Valley's upset chances were officially doused, and No. 4 Pelham, which trailed 21-20 at the half, would ride that momentum to a 20-7 barrage and ultimately a 57-41 Division 2 playoff-opening victory.
The Pythons will now host No. 5 Bishop Brady here at the Snake Pit, Saturday night at 7 p.m.
"I think we all relaxed after that," said junior big man Ryan Cloutier. "We started running and that's when we got going."
To that point, middle of the third quarter, Pelham had clearly been pressing, relying on Keith Brown and Jake Vaiknoras to shoulder the load. To that point, Pelham had one non-Vaiknoras/Brown hoop, a laying by Mike Pelletier that came off a sweet Vaiknoras' dish.
But Valley had slowly adjusted in an attempt to choke out the two big guns. Somebody had to crack the ice, and when Frank did — pushing Pelham's advantage to 32-23, it was Cloutier who rocked the rim and closed the deal.
At 6-foot-4, Cloutier flaunted how nasty he can be, taking off and pounding home a right-handed slam. On the next Pelham trip, the big fella spotted up outside the arc and exhibited his range, splashing a trey for an 11-point lead.
He finished with eight in the second half, proving to be the perfect complement to Brown up front.
"I think all night long we knew if we kept running they would tire," said Cloutier.
When the Pride did, Brown made them pay. Continuing a monster sophomore campaign, the 6-foot-1 forward looked straight up at his foes and chopped them down to size in a 29-point, 11-rebound effort. He was a mighty efficient 12 of 20 from the field.
Vaiknoras, his nose seemingly on the basketball all night long, finished with 10 points, five assists and three steals.
"We told them at halftime, we played poorly and were down by one," said Regan. "I thought we were in pretty good shape, and once we started to play defense, that was it."
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Boys Basketball, 03/05/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Pelham beat St. Thomas 72-50. Jake Vaiknoras 20 pts, Ryan Cloutier 19 and Keith Brown 12.
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Boys Basketball, 02/10/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Ryan Cloutier had a 20-foot, 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Pelham a 70-69 win over Hollis-Brookline. Pelham trailed by nine after three and battled back, scoring 26 points in the fourth. Jake Vaiknoras (20 points) hit two free throws with 15.4 seconds left then Hollis-Brookline misses a front end of a 1-on-1 to set up Cloutier's heroics.
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Boys Basketball, 02/08/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Jake Vaiknoras scored 25 points, Keith Brown 23 and Ryan Cloutier 12 as Pelham beat Hollis-Brookline 69-53.
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Boys Basketball, 02/03/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Keith Brown 24, Jake Vaiknoras 18 Ryan Cloutier 12
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Boys Basketball, 01/24/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Keith Brown, with Jake Vaiknoras still nursing an injury, was unstoppable in Pelham's 71-66 win over Goffstown. Brown hit 4 of 5 threes and 9 of 10 free throws on his way to a career-high 35 points. He also pulled in 15 rebounds.
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Boys Basketball, 01/17/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Before a packed house, Pelham High ran past arch-rival Windham, 68-52, in boys hoop last night.
The Pythons owned the paint with Ryan Cloutier leading the way in a 22-point night. The big fella added six blocks. Keith Brown added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the winners.
Andrew Lowman had 20 in a losing effort for the Jags, who dropped their first game in Granite State play.
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Boys Basketball, 01/10/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
PELHAM — Pelham's boys didn't need long to bounce back.
After a frustrating 20-point loss to Lebanon Tuesday night, the Pelham came back 24 hours later to trash ConVal, 76-47, last night.
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Boys Basketball, 01/08/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Senior Zach Conway, who hadn't played the last two seasons, scored a career-high 21 points including four first-half 3-pointers to power Pelham to a 61-40 win over Acton-Boxboro. Jake Vaiknoras and Ryan Cloutier added 11 each.
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Boys Basketball, 12/30/13 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
