Defense leads Portsmouth boys basketball to victory over Londonderry

LONDONDERRY - No matter how many points his team is putting up, Jim Mulvey consider the Portsmouth High School boys basketball team to be one that grinds out wins.

Against Londonderry on Saturday, with shots not going down, the Clippers had to do a lot of that on defense and the offensive glass.

Portsmouth took care of both in the second half, holding the Lancers to six points in the third quarter and going to work on the boards, to get a 59-39 win over Londonderry in Division I action.

Alex Tavares led the way for the Clippers (13-0) with 19 points, eight of which came on second-chance opportunities, and Cody Graham was also in double figures with 12 points. Joey Glynn added nine points after getting into foul trouble in the first half.

Portsmouth led by as many as 10 in the first quarter, but Londonderry closed to within three points going into the second, and kept it close for the rest of the first half.

"I thought in the first half, it was a couple of things," Mulvey said. "Their defense was really good and any open shots we got, we just didn't make. Our defense got a lot better in the third quarter and our offense was better after that.

"Our offense feeds off the defense and I think they had six points in the third period. When you're holding them to six, that means there's a lot of misses and we can get out and run and open up the court a little bit."

Ethan Garofalo led Londonderry (5-5) with 14 points, 10 of which came in the first half, but the sophomore picked up his third foul moments before halftime and spent most of the third quarter on the bench. Jake Coleman added 12 points for the Lancers, but struggled to find space with Portsmouth's Christian Peete guarding him for most of the game.

"They did a good job taking away Jake and making some other guys beat us," Londonderry coach Nate Stanton said. "I thought we made some poor decisions, some lazy passes. They did a good job. They jumped Jake every single time he touched it and that's what he needs to work on, to be prepared for that. Our other guys need to be prepared for that, too."

Londonderry took 6-5 lead in the first two minutes on a pair of transition baskets, but Portsmouth countered with an 11-0 run that gave the Clippers a 16-6 lead with 1:38 left in the first quarter. Three-pointers by Coleman and Garofalo helped cut the lead down to three going into the second.

Every time Portsmouth looked like it was going to separate in the quarter, Londonderry had an answer, although the Lancers struggled at times to make shots. The Clippers led 27-21 at the break.

"Every possession, especially in a game like this or when you get to the playoffs, every one counts and when we miss bunnies, we can't get that back," Stanton said. "We work too hard, I think, on the defensive end to just give that up. It's something we keep working on."

Portsmouth got the ball to start the third quarter, and on its first possession, got four offensive rebounds. Although the Clippers weren't able to score, the tone was set for the second half.

Londonderry was within five points, 30-25, with 5:32 to go in the third, but Portsmouth closed the quarter with a 10-2 run and stretched the lead to 18 points midway through the fourth.

"Joey and Alex killed them on the offensive boards, and we made a few shots," Mulvey said. "We're a good shooting team, but we didn’t show it (Saturday). That happens, but the defense is always there."

After a three-point play by Graham put the Clippers up 47-29, Londonderry got two quick baskets from Brandon Radford and Coleman, but the Lancers couldn't slow Portsmouth down at the other end.

"They're a great team and we had to take advantage of every possession," Stanton said. "Finish around the rim, limit turnover and obviously the rebounding, not boxing out, you're giving them three opportunities on one possession, you're not going to beat them."