Milford boys basketball closes regular season with win over Hollis Brookline

MILFORD – The Milford High School boys basketball team had a defensive game plan going into Thursday’s finale against Hollis Brookline.

But after a quarter and a half, the plan wasn’t working, so the Spartans scrapped it. After trailing for most of the half, Milford went on a 15-2 run to take a 10-point lead into halftime.

When the Cavaliers got close in the fourth quarter, the Spartans hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers to hold off HB for a 55-41 win in the final Division II regular season game for both teams.

The win gives Milford (17-1) the No. 2 seed in the tournament, and a first-round bye, as the Spartans will host a quarterfinal game on March 11. HB (13-5) finishes as the fourth seed and will host a first-round game on Wednesday.

Shane Winnett led the way for Milford, scoring 18 points, 10 of which came during the game-changing run in the second quarter. Winnett scored six of those points in the final 36.2 seconds of the half, as the Spartans eight turnovers in a four-minute span.

“We were going to play behind them to take a little pressure off,” Milford coach Dan Murray said. “We were trying to deny (Nick)Fothergill. They’re missing (Stephen Giaconia) and he’s good. We changed our game plan. We started denying the post, trying to take the pressure off. That second quarter, we got steals and breakouts. That’s more our style.”

Ryan Banuskevich added 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and Jamie Pare was also in double figures with 10 points, as Milford hit seven 3s, including one each by Evan Ryan and Banuskevich late in the fourth that helped the Spartans double a six-point lead.

Scott VanCoughnett led the Cavs with 11 points, while Fothergill and Evan Simonds each had seven. But HB’s depth proved to be a factor, with Giaconia out with a strained foot, and big men Matt Simco and Matthew Dowling getting into foul trouble in the first half.

“Our two bigs were out of the game,” HB coach Mike Soucy said. “There’s already one starter out with an injury. There’s two more on the bench with foul trouble. I’m asking guys to do things they’re not really ready to do, and when we don’t have two bigs in the game, it changes our offense.”

Both teams came out a bit sluggish, as HB held a 2-0 lead for the first 90 seconds of the game. While the Cavs weren’t finding the looks they’d hoped for on offense, they were able to get out ot a 10-4 lead and force Milford to use a timeout with 3:44 left in the opening quarter.

The Spartans scored four straight points out of the timeout, but a layup by Simonds with 14.8 seconds left in the quarter made it a four-point game. But Pare hit a 3 with 2.8 seconds left on the clock and HB’s lead was just one, 12-11, going into the second.

After a basket by Simco put the Cavs up three, Pare made another 3 to tie the game at 14. VanCoughnett answered with a 3, and after the teams traded baskets, HB held a 19-16 lead with 4:25 left in the half.

But by then, Dowling – who picked up two fouls in 19 seconds in the first – and Simco were already on the bench with a pair of fouls each. A steal by Winnett led to a fastbreak basket, which started Milford on its big run, and the Spartans took a 31-21 lead into halftime.

“The game plan was to establish the post early, and we didn’t do that,” Soucy said. “We wanted to try to do that in the second half and we did a better job at the beginning of the second half. It just opens everything else up for us if we can do that. We didn’t do that consistently enough.”

Milford led by 14 late in the third, but after a foul on Pare with 13 seconds left in the quarter, Fothergill hit two free throws and he and VanCoughnett scored to open the fourth to cut the Spartans’ lead to 45-37.

After a Milford timeout, the Spartans missed a shot and Ryan was called for a foul on the rebound, setting up a basket by Simco to make it 45-39. Winnett answered with a layup of his own, but Patrick Close scored for HB to make it 47-41 with 4:38 left.

The Cavs seemed to have the momentum, but Ryan hit 3 to make it a nine-point game, and after a couple of empty possessions, a 3 by Banuskevich hit of the rim and then the backboard before going in to make it 53-41 with 2:17 to play.

“They made shots, we did not,” Soucy said. “We had good shot opportunities that we didn’t make and they had good opportunities that they did make.”

It was Winnett leading the way for Milford, and not just in the scoring department.

“He’s driven,” Murray said. “He doesn’t just score. On the boards, he’s an animal, and he guards the forward or the center. He has so much passion, he gets it going. He’s our engine and our fire. Ryan scores his and Shane sets the tone with his rebounding and steals.”