Hollis Brookline boys basketball holds off Goffstown

HOLLIS – A coach usually calls a timeout after his high school basketball team has blown a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter.

But Thursday night, Hollis Brookline coach Mike Soucy said everything he needed to say to the Cavaliers from the sideline.

“You’ve got to play, you’re down,” Soucy shouted moments after HB fell behind Goffstown for the first, and only time.

Seconds later, PJ Flaum converted a back-door layup to get the lead back for the Cavs and HB closed the game on a 12-2 run to beat the Grizzlies 75-66.

Flaum and Nick Noval both finished 14 points for the Cavs (10-3 in Division II), while Tim Rencken had 13 points and Shea Whalen added 12.

HB led the entire game, including advantages of 10 at halftime and late in the third quarter, but Goffstown (4-11) opened the fourth on a 10-0 run to go up 64-63 with 4:26 to play. But Flaum put the Cavs back on top, and the Grizzlies wouldn’t score again after Timothy Riehl scored to make it a two-point HB lead with 3:27 left.

“Tremendous energy, the best energy we’ve had in a couple of weeks,” Goffstown coach Justin Gorham said. “It’s hard to come back and we had to come back a couple of times. We got up one, but then there were a couple of turnovers, a couple of easy baskets with their big guys, and all of a sudden, its 10 (points) again.”

Jacob Mount led Goffstown with 18 points while Robert White had 12 markers and Riehl and Nathan Hoffman each added 11.

Thursday was the first time the Grizzlies have been at full strength and Gorham was encouraged by what he saw from the start. The teams went back and forth the first 5:27 of the game before HB closed the opening quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 25-18.

“That’s exactly how every quarter should be and we haven’t been able to do that most of the year because of the injuries,” said Gorham, whose team had been without Mount for a few games and minus big man Tyler Barss for most of the season.

But even with Barss on the floor, Goffstown struggled to keep up with HB’s big man, and it showed down the stretch. Rencken, Whalen, Logan Blake and Cole Gallant were able to control the glass and get second chance opportunities.

“When they’re focused and determined, that’s how they can play, and they were terrific (Thursday),” Soucy said. “We executed really, really well, especially in the first half offensively. We moved the ball well, we got the looks that we wanted, we got the ball inside, we got layups and some 3s. We made them try to guard us and they had a hard time doing that in the first half. On the flip side, our defense wasn’t that terrific.”

Neither was the Cavs’ free throw shooting; HB was just 5 of 17 from the line, but made up for it by making 31 field goals, including eight 3s. Flaum had four of those, and Noval added three, including one with 3:34 left in the game that gave HB a little bit of breathing room.

“I’m pretty confident with this group of kids,” Soucy said. “We’ve been through a lot together at this stage.

“I’m proud of where we’re at, but we still have a long way to go. It gets tough at this stage of the season. It can start to become a grind and you can’t let it. You’ve got to stay mentally and physically focused. You’re too close to your goals and you’ve got to see it through. I think I’ve got the right group of kids to do it.”