Portsmouth outlasts Souhegan in semifinals

DURHAM – Kamahl Walker was the only player to score in double figures in Wednesday’s Division II boys basketball semifinal between Portsmouth and Souhegan High Schools.

It shouldn’t have been much of a surprise then that Walker, a junior guard for the Clippers, hit the game-winning shot to send No. 3 Portsmouth to a 35-31 victory over No. 10 Souhegan at the University of New Hampshire.

Walker had 19 points, 10 more than other player, as both teams struggled to score against each other’s rugged defense. Both teams turned the ball over 14 times and neither shot better than 27 percent from the field.

“I knew it wouldn’t be a high-scoring game,” Souhegan coach Mike Heaney said. “When we came out to Portsmouth (in the regular season), we struggled. (Wednesday) we moved the ball beautifully and we got the ball in the hands we wanted.”

The only problem was the Sabers (14-7) couldn’t get the shots to go down. Souhegan was 12-of-45 from the field, including 1-of-13 from behind the 3-point line, and Portsmouth wasn’t any better, shooting 25 percent from the field.

The Clippers did double the Sabers up at the free throw line, as Souhegan was just 6-of-14.

The biggest misses were the three in the final two minutes.

After trailing the whole game, Souhegan tied it at 30 on two free throws by Seth Cordts (team-high nine points) with 2:23 left in the game. Crodts went back to the line 18 seconds later, but only made one of two.

Still, the free throw gave the Sabers a 31-30 lead with 2:05 to play and after missed free throw by Portsmouth, Cordts was back at the line for a one-and-one.

The Souhegan senior missed again, and with 49.4 seconds to play, Shaun McKenna couldn’t make the front end of a one-and-one.

“You’d never know we’d shoot a hundred free throws a day,” Heaney said.

Portsmouth grabbed the rebound and ran 20 seconds off the clock before Walker went to his left, got separation and hit a 3 to put the Clippers up 33-31 with 21.5 seconds left.

The Sabers brought the ball down the floor and used their last timeout with 8.4 seconds left. Brandon Len got the ball out of the break and got a good look from 3, but the shot was too strong and the rebound went out of bounds to Portsmouth with 3.9 seconds left.

“Brandon Len’s shot at the end looked good,” Heaney said. “(The plan) was to get a good look. The kids did a good job not forcing it. Brandon is a great shooter. If you tell me at the end of the game, one of your kids has to take a 3, I’m saying Seth Cordts or Brandon Len. We got one of them. If that goes in, it makes me look like a genius. He spotted up, he was square and it looked like a good shot.”

Walker added two free throws to make it 35-31 to put the game away.

Although Souhegan came up a game short of its first final appearance since 2004, Heaney was pleased with what the Sabers accomplished this season.

“My first two years coaching varsity, that locker room after a playoff game always felt so unfulfilled,” he said. “It always felt like we wanted more. That’s not the case this year. We took a team that smacked us a month ago to the buzzer.”

Portsmouth will now face No. 1 Milford, which defeated No. 4 Pelham in the other semifinal, in the championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at UNH.