Second-quarter surge lifts Milford boys basketball past Hollis Brookline

HOLLIS – At this point in the season, Dan Murray knows that at some juncture of each game, the Milford High School boys basketball team is going to come alive on offense.

Did the Spartans ever Friday night against Hollis Brookline.

After a back-and-forth first quarter, Milford jumped all over the Cavaliers in the second, turning a one-point game into a 20-point lead, and the Spartans never looked back in a 71-50 win in a Division II game.

Milford (10-0) outscored HB 24-5 in the second quarter, as the Spartans were able to execute their game plan both offensively and defensively.

“We played very well,” Milford coach Dan Murray said. “I think offensively, we tend to have those little explosions. Defensively, after the first quarter, our defense stuck to the game plan, really frustrated them.”

Ryan Banuskevich led Milford with 26 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Spartans made 10 field goals from beyond the arc. Evan Ryan added 18 points (two 3s) while Shane Winnett had 12 points and Nick Gutterson had nine, with three 3s in the second quarter.

“We just didn’t compete at the defensive end,” HB coach Mike Soucy said. “They’re a very skilled team and there’s things that you have to do to contain it, and we didn’t do it. It’s about making sure that we get a little bit better and we didn’t. This group right now, when things don’t go well, it’s tough for them to recover mentally.”

While Stephen Giaconia led the Cavs (8-2) with 17 points and Patrick Close came off the bench to added 10, HB struggled to get much going inside and from the perimeter, as Nick Fothergill, Matt Simco and Matthew Dowling combined for nine points, all from Simco.

“We knew we had to stop their big players, Fothergill and Giaconia,” Banuskevich said. “We knew had to get in their face and play behind their big men and stay straight up so we didn’t get in foul trouble. It was just stepping up on defense, getting in the lanes, and just pushing the break after that.”

Although HB was finding opportunities inside in the first half, the Cavs missed a number of layups and Milford limited their second-chance opportunities.

“Typically, we encourage teams to come out and pressure us more on the perimeter because it’s going to open everything up inside,” Soucy said. “It did and we didn’t take advantage of it.”

HB started fast, getting a pair of 3s from Giaconia to jump out to a 6-1 lead, as the Spartans missed shots early. But Milford’s offense woke up midway through the quarter, and by the end of the frame, the Spartans had a 14-13 lead.

“Once we get a feel, then they start moving better,” Murray said. “I don’t think our shots were that good to begin with and they need to warm up. We have those bursts and we get on fire. In between there, sometimes we go slow, but you know it’s going to be coming.”

Milford went on a 14-2 run to open the second quarter, going up 28-15 on a basket by Banuskevich with 2:28 remaining in the half. Giaconia got two of those points back on a jumper, but the Spartans went on a 10-1 run over the final 1:34 of the quarter.

The Cavs got the lead down to 16 points twice in the third quarter, thanks to a 11-6 run in the middle of the frame, but Milford ended the quarter with 3s from Banuskevich and Ryan to go back up by 20.

“This team is different,” Murray said. “They definitely have a confidence and a competitiveness to them. They just pull each other along and play real competitively. They’re a determined group.”