Souhegan upsets Portsmouth in D2 boys basketball quarterfinal

PORTSMOUTH – Since making the Division II semifinals two years ago, the seniors on the Souhegan High School boys basketball team have had one goal – making it back.

The seventh-seeded Sabers did that Saturday night, upsetting No. 2 Portsmouth 69-65 in the division quarterfinals to earn a spot in the final four for the second time in three years.

Brandon Len scored 33 points, including 12 of 12 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, while Tyler Ford added 14 points for Souhegan, which will take on No. 3 Lebanon in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the University of New Hampshire.

“I’m so happy for these kids,” Souhegan coach Mike Heaney said. “I told them in the locker room, all week they were there for other people. If they keep living their life that way, they keep putting other people before themselves, karma has a way of coming back for people who do the right thing.

“We go to a wake and burry a teammate, and then we come out and play like that. People came up and congratulated me for coaching, but that was purely the players.”

Souhegan took the court a week after finding out former teammate Tony Barksdale, who graduated in 2012, had died in the early morning hours of March 2.

With the players wearing warmup shirts that read ‘Tony’ with the No. 42 – Barksdale’s number last season – and with students wearing white shirts, Souhegan defeated Hanover at home in the first round before Saturday’s victory over the Clippers.

“(Saturday) was so emotional for us,” Len said. “We went to his memorial (Saturday) and his wake (Friday). Everything we’re doing right now, we’re just playing for Tony.

“We’re not out here trying to win basketball games. We’re playing for something so much greater than that. We’re playing for a fallen brother. Portsmouth is a great team, but they’re just out here playing basketball. We’re not just playing basketball, we’re trying to honor someone.”

Before Wednesday’s game, Len and Heaney went to Souhegan athletic director Dick Miller to ask for the chance to petition the NHIAA to let Len change his number from the 11 he’s been wearing to 42. The NHIAA signed off on it.

“I wanted to do something for him and I approached coach with the idea of wearing his number,” Len said. “It’s not just me wearing the number. We’re all wearing the number. We’re playing the way Tony would want us to play.”

Souhegan (13-7) opened the game with an 8-0 run and led 15-4 after the first quarter, but the Clippers (16-4) came back in the second, outscoring the Sabers 24-15 to trail by just two at halftime. That included four straight points from Ben Landry (18 points) with two seconds left in the half.

“They got off to a good start, but we came back,” Portsmouth coach Jim Mulvey said. “We were a little confused on our rotations on defense. It’s a credit to them. We had the best effort we could have, we just didn’t play defense like we usually play defense.

“Every single game all year, we didn’t have the mistakes we made (Saturday). Credit them, they made us make the mistakes. They moved the ball really well.”

Portsmouth took its first lead of the game with 4:19 left in the third, when Travis MacDonald was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws. But the Sabers answered with a 7-0 run to go back up 41-35 with 2:52 to go in the quarter.

The Clippers had an answer. Portsmouth closed out the quarter on a 13-4 run to lead 48-45 going into the fourth.

With 3:58 left, Souhegan’s Tanner Kent hit a 3 that gave the Sabers the lead for good, 56-54, but a few minutes later, it was just a one-point lead when Len went to the line with the chance to give his team a big cushion.

Len was fouled by Donovan Phanor and Landry was given a technical foul for protesting the call.

“I ran up to the ref with a big smile and said ‘I’m shooting all four,’” Len said. “I was so excited, at that point I could put my team up by five. I live for that situation.”

The senior made all four shots to put the Sabers up 63-58 with 1:07 left, but the Clippers were still just down two with seconds remaining. Len again went 4 for 4 from the line down the stretch to get Souhegan the win.

“Our kids played through it, even after all those free throws,” Mulvey said. “Our kids had a shot. That’s a lot. I congratulate (Souhegan). They were outstanding and they deserved to win.”