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Pelham bows out in state semis

DURHAM, N.H. — Frustrate, fluster and find a way to generate enough offense.

Pelham High, seeded fourth, got two-thirds of the job done against unbeaten No. 1 Milford High in the New Hampshire Division 2 semifinals here at Lundholm Gym.

The Pythons simply couldn't score when they had to and saw a gallant upset bid fall short, 50-46, last night before about a 1,000 fans.

“Defensively, that’s the best we’ve played … ever,” said Pelham coach Matt Regan. “Defensively  we were phenomenal. They average about 75 points a game. They probably haven’t been held to 50 in the last two years. But offensively we were tight early. I thought we outplayed them in the second half.”

Pelham shot just 12 of 36 from the field, with twice as many turnovers (11) as it had offensive rebounds (5), closing out coach Matt Regan's first season at 17-6 overall.

“I told my kids, I’ll coach for 32 minutes, you play for 32 minutes, and that’s pretty much what we did. We were right there in the game,” said Regan. “But we had a couple turnovers at the end when we had a chance, that’s what happens when you play a team that’s that good.”

As the teams walked off the floor at halftime, Pelham sat in a pretty solid spot, down 19-15.

But the Pythons lost touch with Trinity-bound Mike O'Loughlin for just a short stretch in the third quarter. The 6-3 senior's 10-point flurry (on his way to a game-high 20) helped stretch the margin to eight as the fourth quarter began.

“I thought we did an awesome job on Jamie(Holder) and on (point guard Mike) Mitchell, but O’Loughlin kind of bit us in the rear end,” said Regan.

It was a hole that proved just a tad too deep. The Pythons sliced it two within three twice and had it down to a pair at 44-42 with 50 seconds left.

But the offensive lapses again reared their ugly head, and Mike Mitchell iced things for the Spartans with four straight free throws.

Brett Bailey and Dean Joyce, each of whom kept Pelham in the hunt with clutch second-half shooting, led the way with nine points apiece. Derek Defranzo chipped in eight.

Top gun Stephen Spirou had defenders running at him all night from all different directions and finished with just eight points on 3 of 8 shooting.

"They were just packing it in around me, and when I got the ball they kind of revolved around me," said Spirou. "I just had to kick it out. I did what I could."

Undefeated Milford will now make a run at back-to-back state titles on Saturday when the Spartans face off against No. 2 Portsmouth, here at 1 p.m.