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# Souhegan boys basketball holds off Milford (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/souhegan-boys-basketball-holds-off-milford-video/
- Published: 2023-02-01T17:00:49.000Z
- Updated: 2023-02-01T17:00:49.000Z
- Description: AMHERST - Not every win comes from a game-altering run and the Souhegan High School boys basketball team showed that Tuesday night against Milford. A little bit here, a little bit there, and by the time the game came down to the stretch, the Sabers were in position to put it away. Souhegan created s
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, boys basketball, Milford, slider, Souhegan, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

AMHERST - Not every win comes from a game-altering run and the Souhegan High School boys basketball team showed that Tuesday night against Milford.

A little bit here, a little bit there, and by the time the game came down to the stretch, the Sabers were in position to put it away.

Souhegan created separation at the end of the first and third quarters, and went 12 of 15 at the free throw line in the fourth, to put away a 64-54 win over the Spartans in a Division II game in Amherst.

Matt Canavan led Souhegan (11-1) with 23 points, including 8 for 8 at the line, while Nick Nowak scored nine of his 13 points in the first half to help keep the Sabers afloat. Madux McGrath added eight points and Joe Bernasconi hit two 3-pointers for six points.

"Matt does what Matt does," Souhegan coach Peter Pierce said of Canavan. "It was Nick’s best minutes of the year. I was really impressed with him, he came ready to play.

"(Nowak) had a tough game against John Stark and we had a chat that might have lit a fire under him. Some nights you’re wondering who it’s going to be, but he saved us in the first half. He’s a big strong kid and he can play."

Nowak, McGrath and Carter Hayes took advantage of their size on the offensive boards throughout the game, as each had at least one putback field goal on the night.

Milford (5-6) got 16 points from Will O'Connell and 12 points, including three 3s, from Brady Hansen, while Kai Lau Quan added nine and Chuck Urda recorded eight. But both O'Connell and Urda fouled out in the fourth quarter and Sean Daykin was also in foul trouble.

"Just working on trying to develop depth," Milford coach Don Gutterson said. "We’ve got to stay out of foul trouble, too. We lost two key guys at the end, that doesn’t help. Effort has been there, we just need to keep working to do better."

The game was back-and-forth early, with five ties and two lead changes in the first quarter. A 3 by Hansen tied the game at 14 with 1:25 lef in the opening frame, but Souhegan answered quickly, closing out the first with a 6-0 run to lead 20-14.

The run stretched to 11-2 early in the second quarter, as the Sabers went up 25-16, but Milford was able to hang around. The teams traded scoring spurts until six straight points by the Spartans cut the lead to 29-27 with about a minute to go in the first half.

Souhegan scored before halftime and back-to-back baskets by Canavan and two free throws by Nowak to open the third made it 37-27\. But Milford wasn't done, as a basket by O'Connell and a 3 by Lau Quan cut the lead in half and started a 12-4 run by the Spartans that again got them within two points.

Up 41-39 with under three minutes to play in the third, Pierce took a timeout, and with time winding down on another quarter, the Sabers responded.

A putback by Hayes put Souhegan up four and a 3 from Bernasconi made it 46-39\. Milford took a timeout and Hansen scored out of the break, but Hayes added another basket just before time expired to make it 48-41 after three.

"They’re huge," Pierce said of the end-of-quarter runs. "There’s an old cliché, and I’m going to get it wrong, but if you go on two 8-0 runs in a game, your likelihood of winning is high. Even if you take that down, and you get two at the right time, it gives you a little breathing room to make some mistakes."

The Sabers kept it going to start the fourth, getting four straight free throws from McGrath to take a 52-41 lead with 7:44 left to play. The lead swelled to as many as 13 points before Milford was able to cut it to seven with 2:39 remaining, but that was as close as the Spartans would get.

"The snow, no practice, playing a bunch of games, we had some people out, I thought it would be ragged and it was," Pierce said. "They’re scrappy. They’re like Milford teams of old. It’s always a good game, it doesn’t matter what the records are. I know that’s a cliché, but it’s the truth."