RallyNorth.net

Mathieu sparks Astros into Class L semis

Saturday, March, 13 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

DERRY, N.H. —  Pinkerton senior Zach Mathieu doubled his pleasure last night in the Class L quarterfinals.
Before the season, the 6-foot-7 center didn’t think either would happen, but he scored his 1,000th point while pacing the Astros past Manchester West, 63-58, and into Wednesday’s semifinals at UNH.
Pinkerton (16-4 in Class L), which will be making its first semifinal appearance since 1994, will face Dover at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Dover defeated Exeter, 63-60, last night.
“Early in the year, we didn’t think this was possible,” said Mathieu. “But we’ve become real close, everyone knows their role and the chemistry has been really good.
“The 1,000 points was a complete surprise. I didn’t even know I was close. I thought I had around 600.”
 Mathieu’s 1,000th point, which came deep in the fourth quarter, was certainly needed, and it came at the most opportune time.
After the Astros had taken a commanding 36-20 halftime lead, West roared back in the third quarter with a 20-1 run to take a brief lead and had the score tied, 52-52 ,with less than three minutes remaining to play in the game.
But Mathieu scored his 1,000th point on an offensive rebound put-back to make it 54-52 and, on the next time down the floor, put back another rebound off the glass to make it 57-52 with 1:41 remaining. From that point, the Astros used perfect foul shooting to seal the victory.
With junior guard Chad Park (11 points) leading the way with four free throws, the Astros were a perfect 10 for 10 from the line in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t know if we’ve been a good free throw shooting team during the year, but we are now,” quipped Pinkerton coach Peter Rosinski, whose club was 14 of 15 from the line overall. “We’ve worked hard at it.”
Prior to that point, it was largely the inside strength of the Astros, and in particular of Mathieu, that made the difference. He led all scorers with 23 points while hauling down 13 rebounds and blocking six shots, which gives him over 70 blocks for the season, according to Rosinski.
“Zach has just had a tremendous year and he keeps getting better the longer we play,” said Rosinski of the four-year mainstay. “We knew they’d come back, especially since we were in foul trouble.”
Indeed, 6-4 sophomore Alex Patrikis spent most of the second and third quarters on the bench and, when he came back in the fourth quarter to join Mathieu and 6-4 Ben Proulx (12 points, nine rebounds), Pinkerton was much more effective.
Patrikis scored five of his seven points in the final frame.
“We’re a different team with Alex out there,” said Rosinski.
And the Astros are now different from the previous 15 Pinkerton teams, including last year when it had a pair of fine guards in Colby Verge and Beau Cassidy.
“Our defensive intensity is better this year and we’re deeper,” said Rosinski, whose club was shocked in the first round last winter.
Also, as he is likely playing the last basketball of his career, Mathieu — who will be focusing on baseball at Franklin Pierce next year — is becoming a man among boys at just the right time.                                                                 

Pinkerton 53, Manchester West 58
Class L Quarterfinals
Manchester West (58): Martin 3-5-11. Abdalla 5-1-12, Valentin 6-3-17, Gonzalez 1-3-5, Asselin 3-4-11, Ilic 1-0-2. Totals 19-16-58
Pinkerton (63): Park 2-6-11, Colbert 2-2-6, Williams 2-0-4, Light 0-0-0, Curry 0-0-0, Patrikis 3-1-7, Proulx 6-0-12, Mathieu 9-5-23. Totals 24-14-63
3-pointers: MW — Abdalla, Valentin 2, Asselin; P — Park
Manchester West (13-7 Class L):    14  6 24 14 — 58
Pinkerton (16-4 Class L):    15 21  7 20 — 63