Big third quarter helps Pelham boys basketball beat Milford

MILFORD – Matt Regan’s halftime message to his Pelham High School boys basketball team was simple.

Stop trying to do too much.

The Pythons did, opening the third quarter with a 10-4 run and outscoring Milford 29-12 in the eight-minute frame on the way to a 75-47 victory in Division II action on Wednesday.

Jake Vaiknoras led the way for Pelham (2-0), scoring a game-high 26 points, 14 of which came in the third quarter, while Keith Brown added 15 points and Zach Conway added 10.

“We turned the ball over quite a bit and I thought they were unnecessary turnovers, just trying to do too much,” Regan said. “We’ve got to be better at doing what we’re good at and not trying to do too much. We had a really good third quarter. At halftime, we were just talking about not turning the ball over and taking advantage of what we’re able to get. When you get the opportunities, just finish.”

Milford (0-1) had problems of its own hanging on to the ball, committing 14 turnovers in the first half. Eleven of those turnovers came in the first quarter, including each of the Spartans’ first five possessions.

“We were playing too nervous,” Milford coach Dan Murray said. “We had a couple of sets that we were going to try to run right off the bat, get them a few good looks. Offensively, we were going to spread it out and try to slow them down, take some time off. We never got into anything. We just came down wild and didn’t get many passes off or many shots off.”

Pelham jumped out to a 10-2 lead, but once Milford regrouped, the Spartans were able to get back in the game. Despite a 14-point lead for the Pythons at halftime, Regan felt Milford was still in the game.

But then came Pelham’s third-quarter run.

Milford opened the second half with a basket by Mitch Banuskevich, but Pelham scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 45-25 lead just 1:43 into the quarter.

A layup by Milford’s Jack Briggs (team-high 10 points) made it 47-28 with 5:37 left in the quarter, but the Pythons closed on a 17-7 run to take a 29-point lead into the fourth. Vaiknoras had 12 points during that stretch.

“I thought he just kind of took the game over physically at that point,” Regan said. “He does that every night. He plays so hard.

“First play of the game, he was three rows into the stands. I thought ‘great, he just broke his back,’ but that’s just who he is. He makes an impact on the game whether he scores eight points or 26.”

Both teams return to action on Friday, as Pelham hosts Pembroke and Milford entertains Con-Val.