Wins put Milford boys basketball back in D2 playoff hunt

Dan Murray stood on the court at Souhegan High School on Feb. 12 and sounded like a man dreaming big.

His Milford boys basketball team had just lost to the Sabers by 23 points, the Spartans’ eighth loss this season by double figures, and their 10th loss overall. Milford was 3-10, and if the playoffs had started the next day, it wouldn’t be participating for the second year in a row.

But Murray wasn’t panicking. In fact, he had a plan.

“We’re looking to be 5-10 at the end of (last) week,” Murray said. “Six (wins) might get us in (the playoffs). Seven would get us in. We still have to play better than we’re playing.”

Sure enough, Milford won at Merrimack Valley on Thursday and then beat Kingswood at home on Friday to get to 5-10 and move in front of Goffstown and Kennett for the 15th spot in the Division II standings.

The Spartans were scheduled to play Tuesday at Hollis Brookline (10-3), a team they lost to by 16 points earlier this year, but Milford ends the season with games at St. Thomas (3-11) and at Pelham (8-7). Milford already has a win over the Pythons, 54-48 on Jan. 25, and Murray likes his team’s chances in rematch.

A win in one of those games will likely get the Spartans into the postseason, but Murray doesn’t want to just get in the tourney.

“What good is it to get in and get beat by 20?” he said. “The (players) know we still have a shot. They keep working hard and they’re developing skills. We keep saying that if we can hit that corner, we could play a decent 32 minutes …”

Milford has averaged just under 49 points per game this season, but the Spartans have as many games scoring 42 or less as they do scoring 50 or more. One problem that’s plagued Milford is a lack of a go-to player, or players. Murray has used a large rotation for most of the year, not because he’s needed to, but because no one has stood out.

“I’m trying to use more guys,” he said. “There’s not a big difference between them and we get to certain points where some guys can’t sustain it.”

During the modest win streak, the Spartans have gotten solid play from Ross Briggs, Evan Perron and Harrison Urda. If they’re going to make that playoff push, the Spartans are going to need that consistent play the rest of the way.