Spartans get some relief with second-straight title

DURHAM – Not even a half hour after Saturday’s Division II high school boys basketball championship game, and Milford coach Dan Murray was already looking forward to next year.

Then the Spartans can go back to being the underdog.

Top-seeded Milford capped off a perfect season by beating No. 4 Portsmouth 48-42 at the University of New Hampshire to win its second-straight championship and the fourth title in school history. With the win, the Spartans (22-0) have now won 40 games in a row, dating back to last year, and completed the unbeaten season that many thought they would have.

“It was like a great relief,” Murray said. “(The players) are happy, but I’m just relieved. Last year was jubilant. It was very satisfying. We would have had the same record as last year if we lost this game, but it would have been nowhere near the accomplishment. We would have been 21-1, but it would have been a failure. I’m gonna enjoy next year when we’re underdogs.”

Mike O’Loughlin led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds, but what was just as important were his nine steals. Jamie Holder added 14 points and five boards while fellow seniors Mike Mitchell (six points, four assists) and Kyle Nelson (eight points, four boards) at times gave Milford the spark it needed.

Kamahl Walker led Portsmouth with 11 points, but was just 2-for-11 from the field, and Gregg Tsougranis added 10 points for the Clippers, who were the last team to beat Milford in 2010.

Through one half of basketball, it looked as if Portsmouth had no chance at ruining the Spartans perfect season again. The Clippers turned the ball over on four of their first five possessions and committed 12 in the first half of the game, but because Milford missed 15 shots, the lead was only 10 at halftime.

“To hold them to 14 points in the first half was huge,” Murray said. “They were frustrated. They weren’t getting good looks. It wasn’t like they were missing easy shots. We surrounded them well. Our back guys, I don’t know if they were lazy or they were frozen. We had them trapped and they were supposed to step up, but didn’t. If they did, we would have had five or six more steals in that first half.”

Holder entered the game needing just eight points to get to 1,000 for his career and he got it on a free throw late in half.

Milford kept the lead at no less than seven through the first part of the third quarter and went up 30-19 on a 3-pointer by Nelson with 4:09 to go. But Portsmouth closed the quarter on an 11-4 run to get within four points before the end of the frame.

“You know they’re going to come out,” Murray said. “We were telling our guys to play with fire in the third quarter, especially defensively.”

That was something the Spartans had done successfully throughout the playoffs, whether it was getting fastbreak layups against Laconia and Bedford, or O’Loughlin shutting down Pelham’s Stephen Spirou in the semifinals. Against Portsmouth, it was no different.

“Defense wins games,” O’Loughlin said. “Our offense is good, it’s probably one of the best, if not the best, in the state. We want to emphasis our defense. Once you get into the playoffs, the scoring goes down. We run a man (defense), but it’s a trapping man. We have another guard come in and try to trap and that’s where we get a lot of our steals.”

O’Loughlin got another one to open the fourth, turning it into a three-point play after he was fouled by Walker on a layup. That made it a seven-point game, but Portsmouth wasn’t done.

After Milford held the ball, taking 1:22 off the clock, the Clippers cut the lead to four on three occasions. With about two minutes left in the game, Mitchell missed two free throws, allowing Portsmouth made it a two-point game on a layup by Charlie Duprey.

Another layup by O’Loughlin made it a four-point game, but he and Holder both missed a free throw and Portsmouth pulled with three, 44-41, on two foul shots by Kyle DiCesare.

“Who is going to make one?” Murray said. “We had a lot of missed free throws down the stretch, which kept the game close.”

Mitchell and Holder both got a chance at redemption, making two free throws each in the final 20 seconds to put the win away.

“I was definitely frustrated after the first pair, but after I made the two last ones, I don’t know what I was thinking,” Mitchell said. “I just had to hit them.”

He did and they allowed Milford to celebrate another title.

“This was exciting,” Mitchell said. “I’m with my family and I love these guys. I’ve been playing with these guys for years. That’s my family.”