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# Portsmouth boys basketball controls tempo in second half to beat Nashua North (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/portsmouth-boys-basketball-controls-tempo-in-second-half-to-beat-nashua-north-video/
- Published: 2020-02-26T12:30:03.000Z
- Updated: 2020-02-26T12:30:03.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - After watching the Portsmouth High School boys basketball team get into a track meet with Nashua North in the first half Tuesday night, John Mulvey had seen enough. The Clippers coach implored his players to get the tempo back where they wanted it in the second half and they did just that.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, boys basketball, Nashua North, Portsmouth, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - After watching the Portsmouth High School boys basketball team get into a track meet with Nashua North in the first half Tuesday night, John Mulvey had seen enough.

The Clippers coach implored his players to get the tempo back where they wanted it in the second half and they did just that.

Portsmouth slowed the game down, held North scoreless for almost six minutes in the third quarter to build up a lead, and then made enough plays down the stretch to hold on for a 63-57 win over the Titans in a Division I contest.

Coleman Brewster led the way for the Clippers (13-2), as he had a game-high 26 points, including five 3-pointers, and Kevin Cummings added 14 points, hitting four 3s of his own. Zach Paradis was also in double figures with 11 points and Calvin Hewett had nine.

"A very gutsy win," Mulvey said. "The efforts we got from a lot of guys was off the charts, especially after they come out making absolutely everything. We made a lot of shots, too, but for us to stay in it, stay with the game plan, and get the pace on our side in the third quarter was the difference."

In the first half, the teams combined for 70 points, 11 lead changes and 11 3-pointers. Portsmouth was able to draw out possessions in the third quarter, and after North (11-4) initially had success when it applied more pressure, the Clippers continued working in the final few minutes to keep the Titans at a distance.

"We just tried to get them to use some clock, which is much easier said than done when they’re getting the ball out of the net quick," Mulvey said. "That’s not how we want to play. We tried to take more time on offense and try to make them take more time when they’re on offense, and we did it for a nice little stretch there in the third quarter."

Curtis Harris led North with 23 points, including four 3s, and Brenden Choate scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, but no one else had more than five for the Titans.

"The pace was where we wanted, but our shot selection was poor," North coach Steve Lane said of the first half. "Our defensive rebounding was poor, and that was the consensus for the whole game.

"I give our kids credit. They fought, they didn’t quit. Portsmouth outexecuted us. Most loose balls were theirs, 50-50 stuff was theirs, and they killed us when we didn’t defensive rebound, getting second and third shots."

The first quarter saw both teams getting up and down the floor, with only one foul called and few other whistles. A halfcourt buzzer-beater by Choate gave North a 24-23 lead after one, but Portsmouth opened the second with a 9-3 run to take a 32-27 lead.

The Titans answered with a 6-0 run to go up by one, but the Clippers ended the half by scoring five points in a row to lead 37-33 at halftime.

"That pace in the first half was crazy," Mulvey said. "The first quarter was nuts. We were making shots, which was helpful, but they were making shots. We want to play better defense than that and that’s not the type of game we want to be in against this team."

After Noth's Sam McElliott hit a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, Portsmouth went on a 12-0 run, taking a 49-36 lead with 2:04 remaining in the frame.

The Titans were able to hang around, closing the gap to five points on a basket by Joshua Lentz with 6:57 to play, but the Clippers got the lead back up to eight points. North got within four, 55-51, on a three-point play by Choate with 2:49 remaining, but that was as close as the Titans could get.