Milford boys basketball beats Windham for 10th win (video)

MILFORD – After spending two days of practice working on defense, Dan Murray was hoping to see his Milford High School boys basketball team do a better job Friday night of slowing down its opponent.

It didn’t happen the way Murray envisioned against Windham, but fortunately for the Spartans, their offense was on target.

Milford hit nine 3-pointers and moved the ball well in transition on the way to a 69-55 win over the Jaguars in Division II action. The win helps the Spartans keep pace with the other top teams in the division, as they improved to 10-1.

Five players scored in double figures for Milford, as Bojan Jovanovic led the way with 15 points. Ryan Banuskevich added 14 points, including two 3-pointers, and Weston Pare had 13 points, nine of which came on 3s, including two in the second half when Windham (6-7) was getting close.

Jack Briggs chipped in with 12 points for Milford and Kirk Palladino also had 11.

“Offensively we were fine,” Murray said. “We moved the ball pretty well and we ran a lot. I liked the up-tempo that we played at. Defensively, we have to work to do. A lot of stuff they got was inside on us and we just spent a few days at practice working on defense and closing down the middle.”

Windham made 26 field goals, 22 of which came from inside the 3-point line, with center Cole Gill leading the way with 19 points. Kyle Adamson and Kyle Rembis each had 11 for the Jaguars, who were just 5 of 13 from the free throw line.

“We played pretty tough,” Windham coach Todd Steffanides said. “I thought offensively, we made a lot of good decisions, we just had some moments where it didn’t go in for us. Defensively, I think we’re capable of play better than we did (Friday).

“It’s tough because you know (what Milford is going to do) and you try to prepare for it. The players know it and they try to do their best to stop it, and you’ve got to give the other team credit when they’re still executing. They did a good job.”

It was a two-point game early in the second quarter when Milford went on an 18-5 run, taking a 37-22 lead on the second of back-to-back 3-pointers by Banuskevich. The Spartans went into halftime up 14 points, but Windham cut the lead down to six, 42-36, with a 10-2 run to open the third.

The Jaguars switched to a zone to open the second half, trying to cut down on the amount of space they had to cover the Spartans, and at first, it worked.

“We went to the zone in the third quarter and tried to limit space for our guys to have to cover,” Steffanides said. “We wanted to take away the penetration lanes and be there for the shooters. I think that helped us creep back in.

“You’ve got to play for 32 minutes. We’re having a hard time putting that together, especially on the defensive end. We had some breakdowns and Milford took advantage of it.”

Pare ended the run with a 3-pointer to put Milford back up nine points, and then hit another early in the fourth to give the Spartans a 49-38 lead. Palladino, who had 11 points, scored the next six for Milford to make it 55-38 with 5:13 to play.

“We were getting wide-open looks and the guys were being very unselfish,” Murray said. “When we ran our sets, we did a good job, we got some looks.”

Windham was able to get back within 10 points, 62-52, with 1:12 to play and fouled Palladino to send him to the line for a one-and-one. The Milford senior missed the free throw, but the Spartans were able to control the rebound and Jonanovic made two free throws after being fouled on his way to the basket.

The Jaguars turned the ball over trying to get down the floor, and after being forced to foul again, Palladino made one of two from the line.

A missed field goal and a turnover by Windham led to two more baskets by the Spartans, giving them a comfortable lead before Rembis hit a 3 at the buzzer to finish out the scoring.