Souhegan boys basketball holds off Pelham to win battle of unbeatens (video)

AMHERST - When the Souhegan High School boys basketball team was playing at its best Friday night, the Sabers knew that Pelham was going to hang in the game.

And when things went south for Souhegan, there were the Pythons, ready to take advantage.

Pelham did, turning a 20-point deficit into just four on multiple occasions, but the Pythons were never able to get closer and Souhegan did enough down the stretch to hang on for a 61-57 win in a matchup of the last two undefeated teams in Division II.

After a first half in which it did most of what it wanted, Souhegan led 41-21 just 90 seconds into the third quarter, but Pelham battled back, going on a 17-2 run over the rest of the quarter to close to within five points.

"We knew in the locker room at halftime that they’re coming," Souhegan coach Peter Pierce said. "They’re going to ramp it up defensively and we’re going to have to make adjustments, and we didn’t do a great job with it. It got tight. There was some perseverance.

"That last full timeout we took, I sat them down and said ‘you’ve just got to fight through this stuff.’ You guys are going to do everything you did for three quarters and just keep doing it, just do it a little better."

Matt Canavan led the Sabers (6-0) with 16 points, including two 3-pointers, and Nate Stiles was also in double figures with 13, going 5 of 5 at the free throw line. Sean McCool chipped in nine points and Joe Bernasconi added eight.

Pelham (6-1) got a big game from Jake Cawthron, who scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, keeping the Pythons in it at halftime. Zach James hit three 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, all but one coming in the second half.

Souhegan opened up a close game in the final four minutes of the first quarter, going on a 15-5 run to end the frame and take a 26-13 lead into the second. The Sabers were able to get out in transition a lot, capitalizing on defensive rebounds and eight Pelham turnovers to get up and down the floor.

"We knew that they like to press high in the half court," Bernasconi said. "If our guards to break it down and get into the middle, they’d collapse and we would find our bigs under the hoop. We’re just as quick as they are, so when they don’t want to move their feet and get in front of us, we can get easy buckets all day."

Pierce credited his team's execution on offense as leading to some of those uncontested baskets.

"All of our stuff that we run, we ran and we executed," he said. "That means you’re setting great screens, you’re making great cuts, you’re getting space. The spacing is correct, you’re not overdribbling, which got us in trouble (in the second half)."

The Sabers scored twice to open the third quarter and take a 20-point lead, but the Pythons answered right away, getting a layup from Dom Herrling to get the lead back to 18. That started Pelham on its game-changing run, as the Pythons held Souhegan just two points over the final 6:29 of the third.

"When you’re up that big at the half against a team like that, you know they’re going to make a run," Canavan said. "It was a bigger run than we expected."

A 3 by James in the final seconds of the third quarter made Souhegan's lead to 43-38, and the junior hit another one under a minute into the fourth to make it a four-point game, 45-41.

The Sabers responded with five straight points to go back in front by nine points, their largest lead in the fourth quarter, but the Pythons hung around. Twice, they cut the lead back down to five, only to see Souhegan push it back up to eight moments later.

Cawthron made a pair of free throws with 23.7 seconds remaining to get Pelham within four and the Pythons were able to get the ball back, but a handful of shots were off the mark. Souhegan was able to get possession back and ran out the clock.

"We definitely needed that," Canavan said. "Everything was going wrong for us in the third. We were on the bench before the fourth saying eight more minutes, we’re still winning, we’re still in a good spot.

"It was fun. Those games are stressful and there’s a lot going on, but they’re fun. Games like this where we’re getting battle tested, and it’s no cake walk, it makes our team better. It’s a good thing."