Trio leads Pinkerton boys basketball to win over Bishop Guertin in D1 quarterfinal

DERRY – While the dynamic trio of Wilson Youssef, Joshua Phanor and Brady Sullivan all had stellar seasons going, Pinkerton Academy boys basketball coach Mike Dunham felt like they hadn't all played great in one game together until the Astros ended Portsmouth's undefeated season two weeks ago.

It appears that Pinkerton’s trifecta is taking their respective games to another level at the right time of the year.

The triad kept on rolling on Saturday afternoon by combining for 73 points during fourth-seeded Pinkerton’s 89-84 Division I quarterfinal victory over No. 5 Bishop Guertin inside Hackler Gymnasium.

“They’re all playing unselfishly and they’re taking great shots,” Mike Dunham said “Some of them are kind of contested, but I’ve got no problem with either one of them taking a contested jumper right now. The thing is they’re playing hard, the locker room is great, they all love each other and everything is good right now.”

Phanor, a sophomore, scored 12 of his points in the fourth quarter to finish with a game-high 27 points. He was complemented nicely by his senior teammates Youssef (24 points) and Sullivan (22 points).

“We all put in so much work with each other, we all know how each other plays,” Youssef said. “We’re unselfish and we don’t care who scores. We just want to win the game.”

Pinkerton (17-3) gets a chance to hand Portsmouth (18-1) its second loss of the season in Wednesday’s Division I semifinal matchup inside the Rochester Rec. Center. The Clippers advanced with Saturday’s 74-61 win over No. 8 Exeter (11-9).

Youssef, Sullivan and Phanor combined for 64 points in the aforementioned 83-75 win over Portsmouth on Feb. 21.

“Whenever we play as a team, everyone gets a look,” Sullivan said. “If we move the ball around, play as a team, we’re one of the best teams and we’re showing it now. I think we have a great chance.”

After Brady Spellman’s 3-pointer to end the second quarter gave Pinkerton a 38-32 halftime lead, Phanor and Youseff each hit 3-pointers early in the third to give Pinkerton a 44-34 lead.

Connor McGowan countered for Bishop Guertin (15-5), and the Cardinals closed to within six points following a Sam Precsott drive, but Phanor responded with a 3-pointer to give Pinkerton a 53-44 lead midway through third quarter.

“We played hard, aggressively made shots and executed,” Phanor said. “It was just executing our game plan at halftime. It was great coaching and great teammates. We don’t care who scores, we just want to win. Moving the ball helped us win this game.”

Pinkerton extended it lead to 64-50 entering the fourth quarter, but Bishop Guertin closed to within 69-64 following a 3-pointer from Sam Woodward midway through the quarter. A 3-pointer by Yousseff and a baseline jumper from Sullivan gave Pinkerton an 74-66 lead with 3:10 remaining.

Phanor tacked on a pair of drives shortly after to give Pinkerton an 80-70 cushion.

“The goal every game is just to play fast,” Dunham said. “To get up and go and play loose, and they’re doing that right now. I think we executed our stuff (Saturday), and we got the missmatches we wanted.”

Bishop Guertin’s season was highlighted by a nine-game winning streak that included a 78-75 win over Pinkerton in the regular season. McGowan led Bishop Guertin on Saturday with 26 points, while Eli Youssef added 20.

"Pinkerton is a really good team, really prepared and we had their number the first time we played them and we had them (Saturday),” Bishop Guertin coach Wil Horne said. “They're a tough team, they’re really talented and they have three incredible basketball players.”