Portsmouth girls basketball outlasts Pinkerton in overtime to reach D1 title game (video)

MANCHESTER - Brittany Graham felt she was ready to deliver Thursday night for the Portsmouth High School girls basketball, if the Clippers needed her to.

It turned out that they did, and Graham made the moment count.

The senior hit the game-tying 3-pointer with four seconds left in regulation and No. 6 Portsmouth had just enough to get past No. 2 Pinkerton in overtime, winning 43-41 in the Division I semifinals at Southern New Hampshire University.

The Clippers, who moved up to D1 before the start of the season, will play in the championship game Saturday at 4 p.m. at SNHU against top-seeded Bishop Guertin, which beat No. 4 Manchester Memorial 66-36 in the other semifinal.

"We just kept going," Portsmouth coach Tim Hopley said. "We got the lead back, gave it back with questionable shot selection. When we hit the shot to go to overtime, it was a reminder that this isn’t what we came here for. We didn’t play just to get to overtime.

"We had work to do and we had to make sure we were focused on what was coming next. The moment was great, but the moment was over. They did a great job just going possession by possession and we were able to get just enough done."

After Portsmouth (16-5) held the lead for most of the second half, including a five-point advantage with 2:50 to play, the Clippers watched as Pinkerton erased that lead, thanks in part to free throw shooting. The Astros were able to take a 39-36 lead, but were 4 of 8 at the line in the final two minutes of the game.

Hopley called a timeout with nine seconds to go and set up a final play that wasn't designed to go to Graham, but she ended up with the ball regardless.

"The play was originally designed for Reilly (Velez)," Graham said. "When she got it, someone was on her, I didn’t need to say anything, she knew I was open. I just shot it and watched. Everything was in slow motion at that point and it went in. I was so shocked."

It was quite the swing for Graham, who didn't have as much success the last time the Clippers played at SNHU two years ago.

"A couple of years ago, she’s here as a sophomore and went 0 for 8 in a semifinal game," Hopley said. "It absolutely devastated her for a long time. For her to hit the shot to send it to overtime, the emotion just came out of her."

Abbe Laurence led the Clippers with 13 points and seven rebounds while Arianna Hebert had nine points, four boards and three steals and Velez came off the bench to add eight points, six of which came in the first half to help give Portsmouth a 17-11 lead.

Brooke Kane led all scorers with 17 points and had 13 rebounds and four assists, but the senior had just five points in the fourth quarter and overtime, as Portsmouth's zone pushed the Astors back beyond the 3-point line for stretches of the game.

"We talked about that in the first half and tried to remedy that in the second half," Pinkerton coach Lani Buskey said. "We did a little bit of ab better job, but we felt the pressure there. You have a high-intensity situation."

Madison Mahoney added nine points for Pinkerton (18-2) and Jesse Ames had seven points and seven rebounds. The Astros shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and overtime, but took just 16 shots, and were 4 of 19 from 3 on the night.

Portsmouth shot 43.6 percent from the field for the game, but was 5 of 16 at the free throw line, including missing the last six free throws, three of which came in overtime.

"Luckily we got enough of the other stuff that it didn’t end up costing us in the end," Hopley said. "We took a couple of 3s in the overtime that we didn’t need to take. We had to work some clock a little bit. It’s a team that hasn’t been in this situation and been able to hold on and finish in the last three or four years."

The Astros had a chance to tie it, as they took a timeout with 28 seconds left to set up a play. But after moving the ball around, Ames got trapped in the corner, and Pinkerton used another timeout, this time with nine seconds remaining.

Pinkerton looked to get the ball to Kane, but couldn't, and a shot by Avah Ingalls was off the mark. Portsmouth got the rebound and the buzzer sounded.

"We knew with that zone it was going to be high pressure," Buskey said. "That last play, we were trying to get to the short corner to feed Brooke on the dump down. But we also had the next option, the reversal, there. They took everything away and gave the reversal. Avah took the right shot. She’s a freshman, so for her, I think she grows from that. We just ran out of time."