| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milford | 17 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 61 |
| Pelham | 19 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 51 |
Friday, January, 07 By Hector Longo
PELHAM — As far as Division 2 measuring sticks go, there is none truer than defending champion Milford.
Pelham High, now completely understanding the task at hand, has two months to make up the difference.
Last night before a packed house of about 500, the Pythons, with only three regulars back from last year's 11-11 squad, pushed unbeaten Milford for three-plus quarters, before ultimately falling, 61-51.
"They are as good as it gets," said first-year Pelham coach Matt Regan, who noted that the Spartans brought back all but one player from last year's title team. "We now know that's where we want to be."
Nearly everyone on the home side has to walk away believing the Pythons, now 4-3 overall and 3-1 in Division 2 play, can get there.
"These guys work so hard every day, I know they can," said Regan. "We're building right now. I couldn't be any happier."
Up a pair after one quarter and down a pair at the half, Pelham saw the deficit grow to 10 after three.
But the hosts gave their backers a thrill over the final eight minutes.
A worn-down Stephen Spirou — who had a pair of defenders draped on him most of the night — played facilitator.
The senior drove and kicked to his little brother, Anthony, who drilled a three to push Pelham within four at 2:42, but that was as tight as things would get.
"Our goal was obviously to win, but we stayed right with them to the end," said Stephen Spirou, who led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting with 11 rebounds and three blocks. "We did a good job matching up against them. Against this team, we're going to have to tweak things a bit. We need to find a way to not let them get into the flow of their offense. The first half we stayed right with them, but the key is definitely defense with them."
Derek DeFranzo, who had 10 points, was the lone other double-figure scorer for the Pythons, who struggled mightily from the perimeter.
Mike O'Loughlin, like Spirou a returning first-team all-stater, paced the 5-0 winners with 17 points.
Milford (61): Dan Desmarais 2 5-7 9, Kyle Nelson 1 0-2 2, Jamie Holder 7 1-4 16, Logan Barlow 0 2-2 2, Mike Mitchell 4 4-5 13, Mike O'Loughlin 8 0-1 17, Richie Moore 1 0-0 2, Totals 23 12-21 61
Pelham (51): Anthony Spirou 1 0-0 3, Erik Nystrom 2 3-4 7, Derek DeFranzo 3 3-4 10, Stephen Spirou 7 3-5 19, Dean Joyce 2 0-0 6, Totals 18 9-13 51
3-pointers: P — A. Spirou, DeFranzo, Spirou 2, Joyce 2; M — O'Loughlin, Holder, Mitchell
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