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# Spartans glad Sabers were up to challenge
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/spartans-glad-sabers-were-up-to-challenge/
- Published: 2011-01-06T08:08:58.000Z
- Updated: 2011-01-06T08:08:58.000Z
- Description: The Milford High School boys basketball team was in danger of losing to Souhegan Tuesday night. That might seem hard to believe looking at the score - the Spartans won 62-52 - and especially taking into consideration that the game was at Milford, that the Sabers were playing without one of their top
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division III-IV, Winter Sports, boys basketball, Division II, Milford, Souhegan, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/shsmhsbball0104-1-mhs32-1.jpg "SHSMHSbball0104-1 MHS32-1")

The Milford High School boys basketball team was in danger of losing to Souhegan Tuesday night.

That might seem hard to believe looking at the score - the Spartans won 62-52 - and especially taking into consideration that the game was at Milford, that the Sabers were playing without one of their top two scorers and that Souhegan hasn't beaten Milford since February of 2006.

But sure enough, the Sabers - who lost to Milford by 11 points the week before in a holiday tournament - were within four points with a little more than two minutes to play. The Spartans pulled out the win, and afterward, both coaches wore smiles.

"They’re a good team and it’s a good rival, so why not play them," Milford coach Dan Murray said of playing Souhegan twice in less than a week. "You have a good environment and good competitive game. It just prepares you for further down the road, and not just the tournament, but the regular season. They took us out of some things that we need to do better."

While Souhegan coach Mike Heaney wasn't thrilled with the loss, he was able to find perspective quickly.

"We didn’t play as well as we could have played, but we couldn’t have played any harder," he said. "It’s been a long time since we beat them and it’s been a long time since we gave them a good game. There was some jawing and some pushing and shoving, and not that that’s a great part of the game, but I think it means maybe they took us a little more seriously than they had in the last two years. You don’t have to jaw with people who you dominate. Maybe that’s a little shift."

Shift or not, the Milford players and coaches have taken notice the effort Souhegan has put into turning the program around.

"I’m proud of those guys (Souhegan), because they worked hard during the summer," Murray said. "That’s what you’re supposed to do. They really worked hard to get here. They knew they could play with us. They were almost cocky. You could see it in the first few hoops they had. As they were running down the floor, you could see them building confidence with each possession. They’re not far off."

Milford's Mike O'Loughlin agreed with his coach and knew the Sabers were still going to be tough despite playing without Devin Gilligan, who Heaney believes could return for Souhegan's game Friday against St. Thomas.

"I think they’ve been working hard the past few years," O'Loughlin said. "They were young last year, but they were talented. We knew once they got older they’d be better. When we play Souhegan normally, Devin is one of the best players, obviously, but he’s not their entire team. We know them, as a team, are good, so we knew it was still going to be a good game."

For Souhegan, a big part of it was not being intimidated by the defending division champions.

"All the other years I’ve been on the team, we’ve been scared," Souhegan's Ryan Redmond said. "Now we’ll man them up and we’re not afraid of them. It’s the biggest part. You watch the other games, they’ve rolled over us. Confidence is the biggest thing when you play."

The Sabers should have plenty of that when the teams meet again on Feb. 4 at Souhegan.

### O'Loughlin's milestone

Before the game, O'Loughlin was honored for scoring his 1,000th career point, a feat which took place during the Spartans' holiday tournament win over Smithfield (R.I.) on Dec. 28.

"That was a goal since I was a freshman," he said. "The first one was to win a championship, and we did. The second was to get 1,000 points, it’s great to finally do it."

The 1,000th point came on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that ended the first quarter of the win.