Portsmouth boys basketball remains unbeaten with win over Winnacunnet in D1 semis

DURHAM - Playing the Portsmouth High School boys basketball team requires picking your poison.

In Monday's Division I semifinal, Winnacunnet elected to try to shut down Portsmouth's Joey Glynn and Cody Graham.

That left plenty of room for Alex Tavares to step up.

Tavares scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half, including two late free throws to put the No. 1 Clippers up by five, and Portsmouth held off No. 4 Winnacunnet 52-45 at the University of New Hampshire's Lundholm Gym.

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Portsmouth, which has won 42 games in a row, will try to complete its second perfect season in a row Saturday, when it takes on No. 3 Bedford in the final at 3 p.m., also at UNH. The Clippers will play in a title game for the fourth year in a row, and sixth time in seven years, although it's their first trip to the D1/Class L final since 1994.

"It'd be the best thing for Portsmouth basketball in a long time," Clippers coach Jim Mulvey said of a potential D1 title. "We couldn't play in D1 and now we're competing for a championship. That's a tribute to the kids. It's a special group."

Graham added 16 points for Portsmouth (20-0), all but one of which came in the first half, as the Warriors made a better effort in the second of slowing the junior guard down. Glynn finished with nine points and seven rebounds after battling foul trouble in the first half.

"I think it starts with Joey and Cody," Winnacunnet coach Jay McKenna said. "You've got to limit those guys, and I thought we did a pretty good job, especially Joey. He really hurt us the first time around. Cody had a hot first half and we made an adjustment there.

"I think the mark in basketball, a good team, if you make a mistake, they capitalize on it, and that's what they do. You turn it over, it's points for them. You miss a block out, they get the rebound. You miss an execution on an offensive set, they'll take you apart."

Freddy Schaake led the Warriors (16-5) with 17 points and Zachary Waterhouse added 12 points, as the two combined to shoot 14 of 21 from the field. As a team, Winnacunnet made 51.3 percent of its field goal attempts, but was just 1 of 6 from 3 and 4 of 11 at the free throw line.

The Warriors also held Portsmouth to 37.5 percent from the field in the second half, but after cutting the Clippers' lead to two points with 2:04 to play, they couldn't find a way to score.

"In the second half, they did a really good job on defense," Mulvey said. "I think that's the best I've seen Winnacunnet play defense. Credit to them and their coaches. They didn't let us get any easy stuff."

Portsmouth started fast, getting out to a 7-1 lead and forcing McKenna to take a timeout just 1:25 into the game and the lead ballooned to nine points, 14-5, on a 3 by Graham.

But by the end of the first, Winnacunnet had made it a five-point game as Glynn, Christian Peete and Shon Parham each had picked up two fouls in the opening quarter.

"In the first half, I think we were really rolling there, and then we had three guys with two (fouls)," Mulvey said. "It kind of made us not run our stuff."

Portsmouth was able to get the lead back up to nine, 31-22, at halftime, and the Clippers didn't let that advantage fall below seven through most of the third quarter.

A jumper by Tavares with 1:32 left in the third made it a 42-33 lead for Portsmouth, but two layups by Waterhouse - sandwiched around two missed free throws by Graham - cut the lead to five going into the fourth.

Two free throws by Glynn put the Clippers up 47-39 with 4:20 to play, but Portsmouth would go more than three minutes without a point. Baskets by Jack and Freddy Schaake, respectively, got Winnacunnet with in four, and the Warriors had a chance to make it a one-point game, but a Waterhouse 3 from the corner was off the mark.

Glynn grabbed the rebound and the Clippers took a timeout, but out of the break, Mike Sanborn missed a jumper, and after an offensive board, Graham missed a 3. Liam Viviano scored at the other end for the Warriors to make it 47-45 with 2:04 to play.

But Winnacunnet's offense stalled from there, as Viviano missed a layup that would have tied and Graham made one of two free throws to make it a three-point game.

The Warriors took a timeout with a minute left, still down three, to set up a play.

"We were looking for a play, looking for Waterhouse in the corner for a 3," McKenna said. "We've run that throughout the season and had success, getting it open there. It fell apart a little bit. We had Freddy (Schaake) in a spot he's not normally in, so it kind of got jumbled. It just didn't happen the way we wanted it to happen."

Benjamin Allen attempted a 3 that was off the mark and Viviano got the rebound, but his attempt was also off and Tavares grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

With 39 seconds to go, the sophomore made both to make it a five-point game and send Portsmouth to another title game.