Souhegan basketball gets first win against Milford since 2006

NASHUA - The Souhegan and Milford high school boys basketball teams have played each other a lot over the last several years, and the outcome has been the same.

Milford wins and coach Dan Murray is pleased with the way the Spartans played. Souhegan loses and coach Mike Heaney thinks the Sabers will play better.

Both coaches had the same things to say about their teams following Wednesday's game, but the outcome sure was different. Souhegan broke open a one-point game in the second quarter and cruised to a 72-46 win over Milford in the first contest of the day at the Chick-fil-A Holiday Tournament at Nashua South. It was the Sabers' first win over the Spartans since 2006.

"It’s a rivalry game and you’re glad to win it, but we’re not going to focus on that too much," Heaney said. "I wasn’t very happy with how we played. We made a lot of mental errors. We didn’t do a good job of executing on the offensive side. Much better effort (Wednesday) than (Tuesday) night, but we have a long way to go on both sides. Always good to get a win, but I don’t think anyone felt good about it."

Zack Simmonds led four players in double figures, scoring 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and Brandon Len added 14 points, with two 3s of his own. Ben Peterson chipped in with 12 points and Tyler Ford had 10 for the Sabers, who took control of the game with a 13-3 run in the second quarter.

The Sabers led by nine at halftime and opened the third quarter with a 16-5 run to take a 20-point lead. Still, Murray liked what he saw from the Spartans Wednesday.

"I think we made some positive strides," Murray said. "We were passionate for the first time. That was our first step. We played spirited and I think we got our noses rubbed into it a little bit by them. I think I have a very determined group."

The Spartans got 12 points from Evan Perron while Logan Barlow added eight for Milford.

The game was the first of what will be three for the teams this season, as Milford will travel to Souhegan on Tuesday as both return to division play. At times, Wednesday's game felt like one of those rivalry slug-fests, and at one point, it did. Souhegan's Sean McGrath was ejected in the second quarter for throwing a punch.

Souhegan will play against Thursday in the fifth-place game, taking on Hollis Brookline at 4:30 p.m., while Milford will take on Campbell in the seventh-place game at 3.