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# Portsmouth girls basketball pulls away from Goffstown late for 10th straight win (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/portsmouth-girls-basketball-pulls-away-from-goffstown-late-for-10th-straight-win-video/
- Published: 2023-02-09T18:30:24.000Z
- Updated: 2023-02-09T18:30:24.000Z
- Description: GOFFSTOWN - Tim Hopley knew what he was going to say to the Portsmouth High School girls basketball team at halftime of Wednesday night's game against Goffstown. But when the Clippers coach got into the locker room, the players were already talking about get more physical rebounding and slowing the
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, girls basketball, Goffstown, Portsmouth, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

GOFFSTOWN - Tim Hopley knew what he was going to say to the Portsmouth High School girls basketball team at halftime of Wednesday night's game against Goffstown.

But when the Clippers coach got into the locker room, the players were already talking about get more physical rebounding and slowing the tempo to their pace.

Portsmouth was able to do both of those things in the second half, staying a possession or two ahead of the Grizzlies before pulling away late from the free throw line to get a 62-49 win over Goffstown in a Division I contest.

The Clippers (12-1) were 12 of 18 from the line in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 of their final 13 points on free throws as they ended the game outscoring the Grizzlies 15-6 over the game's final four minutes.

"Two really, really good teams, it was exactly what we thought it was going to be," Hopley said. "I thought we got better as the game went on. We slowed things down. In the first half, we got caught up in that electricity that the crowd was bringing, and both benches for sure. When you do that, you expend a lot of energy and you start to make mental mistakes.

"I thought we did a better job as the game went on of rebounding the basketball. They talked about it when we got into the room, the things they needed to do a better job. It was No. 1 on our scouting report. We needed to rebound the ball and we got better as the game went along. We were a lot more physical and we did things we expect ourselves to do."

Portsmouth had three players finish in double figures, led by 16 points from Margaret Montplaisir, including 6 of 9 at three throw line. Avery Romps added 15 points and Savanah Emery had 14 markers while Maddie MacCannell finished with seven.

Ava Winterburn led Goffstown (10-3) with 27 points, going 9 for 9 at the free throw line along with two 3-pointers. The senior needed 14 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career and she made that on two free throws with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.

"It wasn’t as big of a deal to hit a thousand as it was to just keep us in the game," Ava Winterburn said. "My main focus was winning the game and propelling my team to a victory, but it didn’t turn out the way we wanted. I think this game shows we were in it until the very end. I don’t think the score reflects how long we were in the game. We had to foul at the end and they made their free throws."

Maggie Sasso added eight points and Meredith Winterburn had five points, as the rest of the Grizzlies struggled at times to hit shots.

"We always give effort, never going to question that with this group," Goffstown coach Steve Largy said. "You learn a lot from a loss like this, especially against a good team. How to finish games, how to close out games, how to not squander possessions. I think this is one of those games that the film is going to tell us a lot. I think this team will make the most of it. They’ll get in the lab and take everything to heart."

The first half was a back-and-forth throughout, with the lead changing five times to go with four ties. Goffstown had the biggest advantage, going up 15-10 with two minutes left in the first quarter, but Portsmouth got back-to-back baskets from Montplaisir and Romps to make it a one-point game going into the second.

The Clippers took a one-point lead into halftime after a jumper by Romps with under 10 seconds to play made it 24-23\. The Grizzlies opened the third quarter by taking the lead back, but it didn't last long, as Portsmouth came down and scored, starting a 7-1 run that gave the Clippers a 31-26.

Portsmouth's lead was seven after a basket by Montplaisir made it 35-28 with 3:53 left in the third quarter. After an empty possession by both teams, Ava Winterburn was fouled on a putback attempt and went to the line needing two points to reach the milestone.

She made both free throws and raised her arms in celebration - and some relief - after the second, as Largy called a timeout and the team rushed the floor to surround Winterburn.

"She’s tireless, she’s a hard worker, she’s improved in almost every aspect of her game," Largy said. "She still wants to get better."

Those points started an 8-4 run to end the quarter for Goffstown, as it cut Portsmouth's lead to 39-36 going into the fourth.

But that would be as close as the Grizzlies would get the rest of the way, as Emery and Romps opened the fourth with baskets to make it 43-36\. Winterburn answered with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to four, but the Clippers stayed in front by at least that much and eventually pulled away from the line.

"They’re certainly a top-five team, they’re well-coached, and they had a lot of answers for things that we like to do offensively," Hopley said. "As the game went along, we had some players who were able to slow things down a little bit.

"Bella (Slover) did a great job all night long in the face of heavy on-ball pressure. I thought Savanah Emery in the second half was fantastic. Those are two seniors who have been in big games, big situations for us before, really leading the way."