Milford girls basketball gets first ever win over Souhegan

MILFORD – If the Milford High School girls basketball team was going to make history Friday night, it was going to have to forget about the fact it would be making history.

Spartans’ head coach Steve Signor reminded his team before, and during, its game against Souhegan that it was only a game.

It turned out to be a game Milford won 45-26, the first time in the 20 years since the split that the Spartans have beaten their neighbors in girls basketball.

“For everybody, it’s not just a game, but to us, it’s just a game,” Signor said of what he told his players. “It’s five-on-five and you just play it like it’s a game. We’ve been doing pretty well, but as many times as I try to tell them it’s just a game, they know it’s not just a game. All the fans want this, the boys team wants this, the parents want this, but this has to come from you. No body else can do it and I think they did a pretty good job.”

Dina Pitsas scored a game-high 22 points, but had none in the first quarter when the teams were trading baskets. Brittney White and Brianna Hoffman both added five points for the Spartans (4-1 in Division II).

Souhegan (2-4) got nine points from Mickenzie Larivee and six from Emily Gaukstern, as the Sabers struggled, including turning the ball over 22 times.

“Turnovers and then we don’t get back down on defense,” Souhegan coach Jeremy Faulkner said. “That’s something we’ve been talking about for a couple of weeks. That’s undisciplined right now. That’s a little thing that can be changed and when we start doing that, we can compete.”

The Sabers’ inability to get back on defense helped the Spartans take control of the game. Souhegan took its final lead, 10-8, on a layup by Hannah Kenney early in the second quarter, but a 3 by Pitsas put Milford back on top.

That basket started the Spartans on a 16-4 run to finish out the first half, as Pitsas scored nine points in the quarter.

“In the second quarter, the jitters came out and we were able to convert (turnovers) into points,” she said. “I think that was an important momentum swing.”

The first half was what Signor thought might be possible.

“I knew the girls to be nervous and I expected the first quarter to be exactly what it was,” he said. “We needed to survive the first quarter, either up by a couple or down by a couple, it didn’t matter. We needed to get through that quarter and settle in and do what we’re capable of doing down the stretch.”

Souhegan scored the first four points of the second half to cut the lead to 24-18, but then the Sabers went more than nine minutes without scoring a point. Milford went on an 11-0 run to put the game away, and at one point, led by as many as 24 points.

“We have had more problems with Milford than with any other team in the last two years,” Faulkner said. “Dina is unstoppable. We had no answer for her. We did well in the first half, but second half, (Pitsas) took over. They’re a very scrappy team with good role players and they leave everything on the floor.

“If anybody underestimates them, they might be getting knocked out of the tournament. This is definitely a team you do not want to play.”

Milford faces a tough test next week, when it travels to Goffstown (6-0) on Tuesday and Hollis Brookline (5-1) on Friday. Souhegan is off until Friday, when it will head to Con-Val.