Baker leads Pinkerton's second-half comeback to beat Nashua North in D1 semifinals

DURHAM - Geo Baker was having a hard time not getting frustrated at halftime of Pinkerton Academy's 63-58 win over Nashua High School North in Tuesday's Division I boys basketball semifinal.

After watching the Titans close the first half on a 21-3 run that put them up by 11 points, the Astros sophomore and his teammates needed the break to regroup.

"It ward hard, to be honest, my head was down," Baker said. "I think everybody else had their head down. We had to relax and get going and our shots would fall."

Baker's certainly did, as he scored 22 of his game-high 33 points in the second half to lead No. 3 Pinkerton (18-3) back and into Saturday's Division I final against No. 1 Londonderry.

"The magnitude of the game, the pressure of the situation, making shots like that, not just from 3, but two or three steps behind the line, the kid stepped up and made plays," North coach Steve Lane said of Baker. "The bottom line is, the teams that advance, usually have a player who makes plays. Looking at the stat sheet, 33 (points), that's pretty good."

The numbers were hard to believe, as Baker made 8 of 14 3-pointers - 5 of 7 in the second half - and scored more than half of the Astros' points. His performance overshadowed a valiant effort by the 15th-seeded Titans (8-13), who upset No. 2 Manchester Central and No. 10 Trinity to become the lowest seeded team in recent memory to reach the final four.

North got 16 points from Nathan Hale and Ronnie Silva was 5 of 5 on 3-pointers in the first half for all of his 15 points. Brennan Kastens added 14 points and six rebounds for the Titans, who had lost to Pinkerton by 49 points during the regular season.

"You have to give Nashua North a lot of credit," Pinkerton coach Peter Rosinski said. "They came in fighting and they're a good team. Their record doesn't show who they are. We knew they had the fire power to have runs, and it came right at the end of the half. I believe in my guys and I know they can fight back."

Pinkerton got out to a 17-7 lead late in the first quarter and was up 23-16 on a 3-pointer by Brennan Morris (12 points) with 4:37 left in the second, but the Titans closed the half on an 18-0 run.

Hale was fouled on a 3-pointer on the Titans' next possession by David Faulks, who went to the bench with two fouls, and Hale made all three free throws. Then, Silva made a bullet, no-look pass to Kastens, who was alone under the basket, and the senior easily laid it in to make it a two-point game.

Back-to-back 3s by Silva gave North its first lead, 27-23, and Hale and Kastens both got the basket for looks to make it 31-23. Silva’s 3 to end the half had the North players on the floor celebrating as they went into the locker room.

"The ball moved on our part," Lane said of how North went on the run. "It went around the horn, there were skip passes to guys who were open, for good looks. We tried to make them move and go side-to-side and in directions they weren't comfortable with, and I thought we did."

Rosinski thought about taking a time out during North’s run, but with halftime so close, he felt his players would work it out on their own.

"I believe in my guys and I know they can fight back," he said. "Our guys have a lot of heart."

None bigger than Baker's, who ended North's season, not with a 3, but a second-chance basket with 16 seconds to go. With Pinkerton up four, Baker missed the front end of a one-and-one, and North's Samuel McCarthy grabbed the rebound.

But while McCarthy looked for an open teammate, Pinkerton’s Thomas Romick stole the ball and found Baker streaking to the basket. The sophomore laid it in to give the Astros a 62-56 lead.

"With no timeouts left, that was it," Lane said. "Give my kids credit for battling and sticking to the scheme and breaking their defensive pressure very consistently. We had a few turnovers in the third quarter in a row that started their run, but that's not the difference in the game. They made plays down the stretch when they needed them."