Portsmouth and Milford

Portsmouth visits Milford on Tuesday and I am sure that the gym scene from Souhegan will be matched and maybe even exceeded. While Souhegan has always and will always be a rival of Milford the Clippers are as much of a rival because they have actually beaten Milford and took them to the edge last year. If you were not in the gym for the semifinal between these two teams you missed a true classic. So much of a classic I was asked on Tuesday to burn a copy for someone almost 10 months later. This could be one of the preview games of a final four matchup as well and I am sure Coach Mulvey will bring his team in ready to go. Coach Mulvey and his staff were at the Souhegan game so they will come in with a game plan ready to execute. Portsmouth has a new point guard but will still be without Junior Stud Kyle DiCesare and Milford of course without Scott McCallum. Portsmouth did add a new point guard from Worcester Mass named Kamahl Walker that seems to be a very talented player. He put up 26 points against Merrimack Valley last week and will be a new look that Milford has not seen.
Milford is in the most difficult part of their schedule now with tough games over Souhegan and Pelham behind them and Portsmouth and a trip way up to Hanover on the docket for Friday night.
Portsmouth has fought back strong after the opening night loss to Pembroke with big wins over Windham,Coe Brown and Merrimack Valley.

No doubt you will get your moneys worth in Milford Tuesday and I suggest you get their early for a seat.

Feb. 4 @Souhegan is where you will get your money's worth...

I think the Souhegan and Portsmouth game will be a good one to catch also. Two teams that are very familiar in strengths and even positional match ups. Gilligan and Kyle D. Branden Len and the new kid from Worcester. McCarthy and Redmond. Some very intriguing match ups there as well. You really cannot go wrong with a match of the top 5 in D2 this year. It is going to lead to a great playoff in March.

chicagokid43 wrote:I think the Souhegan and Portsmouth game will be a good one to catch also. Two teams that are very familiar in strengths and even positional match ups. Gilligan and Kyle D. Branden Len and the new kid from Worcester. McCarthy and Redmond. Some very intriguing match ups there as well. You really cannot go wrong with a match of the top 5 in D2 this year. It is going to lead to a great playoff in March.

Souhegan will lose that one by ten. I think Portsmouth is more talented and better coached then Souhegan so i give Portsmouth the edge.

One thing is for sure, Milford is at the end of a very tough 3 game stretch. When you looked at the schedule at the beginning of the season you said, if they're gonna lose 1, either Souhegan, Pelham and Portsmouth in back to back to back games will be the game it will happen.

Walker has been shooting the lights out lately for Portsmouth, when Dicesare comes back this team is going to be downright scary. I think they have a decent chance to steal a W in Milford, but they'll need their best game of the young season.

Sounds like Walker is having a good season so far. Who will Milford put on him any guesses?

Video of Walker was watched and the Milford team will be ready for the new look Portsmouth team. I see this being a great game and who ever plays their style could win it. I am planning on being there by 5 so I can carve out a seat for this one. We know Coach Mulvey knows Milford and will have his team ready. Very curious about how this will turn out. Milford still has a tough game going up into the mountains to face Hanover as well as a trip to Souhegan and visits later by Bedford,Pelham,Stark and Goffstown. This season is soo far from over but this would be a nice run for the defending champs. Definitely the hardest stretch of the season.

chicagokid43 wrote:Video of Walker was watched and the Milford team will be ready for the new look Portsmouth team. I see this being a great game and who ever plays their style could win it. I am planning on being there by 5 so I can carve out a seat for this one. We know Coach Mulvey knows Milford and will have his team ready. Very curious about how this will turn out. Milford still has a tough game going up into the mountains to face Hanover as well as a trip to Souhegan and visits later by Bedford,Pelham,Stark and Goffstown. This season is soo far from over but this would be a nice run for the defending champs. Definitely the hardest stretch of the season.

Wow Ckikid i thought i just asked a politician a question talk about dodge ha ha. I think they put Holder on him tonight if i was guessing. He has the ability to shut down great players with his length and speed. Should be a fun game to watch. Does anyone know where you can get the most up to date information on the games while they are going on?

I am sure they can throw either Mitchell or Holder at him and be ok. I worry more about who will guard Jamie than who Jamie will guard. It is time for Jamie to go off offensively and paste someone. This could be the game. Portsmouth did add some athleticism to their roster but I see them having trouble staying in front of him tonight. As far as defensively I would start with Mitchell on Walker to allow Jamie to get going first offensively. Walker seems to get most of his points on the perimeter and he is not that big. Make sure others are ready to help and have Mitchell stay in his shirt. Then tell Jamie attack offensively. That would be my plan. Of course if Walker proves tough you upgrade to Jamie defensively to slow him.

How about them Auburn Tigers....

We've got the PHS vs Milford Girls game tonight, if anyone wants to tweet me updates of this one, I'm @JustinWHEB on twitter. Many thanks!

1 2 3 4 Final

MHS- 7 19 14 16 56

PHS- 14 8 7 12 41



The above score by quarters may be a little off, I'm a little under the weather and I didn't write it down so it's off memory I apologize if its wrong.

The final doesn't really indicate how the game was. Portsmouth came out in the 1st quarter with great defense really up in Milford shooters faces not letting any shots go uncontested but also weren't letting them get to the hole and if a Milford player did get there there were numerous people contesting the layups/short jumpers . They were in man for all of the first quarter I believe. I feel PHS needed to capitalize on Milfords inability to score but they couldn't as Milfords D was quite good as well. Everything was through Walker in this quarter (and the game obivously being the pg) As you can see Milford really struggled offensively so there was no scoring/offensive leaders at all in this quarter.

In the second PHS d was still very solid they mixed in a little zone this quarter. I know you see 19 and are thinking how was the D solid but PHS still was not letting anything easy and a lot of Milfords points this quarter were garbage points they were still unable to get into a flow. With that said they managed to get 19 and there half court d really picked up and held PHS to 8 pts partially I think because Walker got in some foul trouble. At this point as far as individuals Mike O was really struggling he probably finished with 15 but it was on something like 4-15+ from the field, Jamie picked it up in the second but still hadn't done much. Mitchell was consistent throughout the game, got some people in easy spots to score (they didn't finish them to often but he got them there) but they had no real scoring out of any of these 3 at this point.

The third with walker having 4 (atleast I think it was this early) it really hampered anything PHS could do, not to mention Milford's half court D carried over and now there full court d really began to bother PHS as Milford finished this quarter very strong I may be wrong but I think there was about 6-0 run in about the last minute or so. Holder finally got going to help stretch the lead to 40-29 in the game he was big in the 3rd and 4th. Mike O struggles continued he tried everything he could to get going but he couldn't even get to the hole and when he did he struggled finishing.


The fourth Walker played and finished the whole quarter I believe but Portsmouth really had no flow to there offense at this point. PHS did get some solid play from #10 who got a layup and back to back 3's in about a minute span, which cut the Milford lead to about 7 or 8 but I just had the feeling after Milford got the lead to above 10 in the 3rd quarter and Portsmouth's offense not showing much it just looked like they never had a chance to get back into it. This was Mike O's best quarter as he got to the line a few times also hit a 3. Jamie's solid play continued, and I thought Mitchell ended well too playing some solid D also getting a few assists.

Overall, very sloppy despite Portsmouths D playing extremely well Milfords offense was at times just non-existent. I'd love to see these to match-up at UNH with Dicearse back think it'd be a great game. I know Milfords offense will get going but the one thing I'm concerned about is there Rebounding, the have no real rebounding presence, If I had to bet Holder was Milford's leading rebounder which also is probably a reason Milfords O struggled as he needs to be out running and getting the break started. But I thought Jared Lakin played well spotted up hit a few 3's with some solid D throughout the night, Milfords bench seemed thin tonight I think Jovi was hurt and with Scotty out and no real consistent play out of the others also contributed to the struggle for Milford, but I leave my rambling at that.

Thanks for the recap i was told that Holder had a pretty solid game and kept them in it in the first half by scoring 14 or his game high 20 or so and you also mentioned he rebounded well. Do you know what happened to Mike O? Sounds like he just had a tough game all around? I guess that's what makes Milford such a tough team to beat. At any given time those three can spark the team and get a win for Milford. I guess the bulls eye is still there.

Yeah Holder definately kept them in the game rather slow first quarter offensively, but he did defend walker in the first and did a good job there. The second he started to get going a little which helped because had it not been for the little jolt of offense he did give I don't know what would've happened but his 2nd half especially the 3rd quarter he really played well offensively, he really was the only one on Milford I thought that could get his own shot. And Mike's struggles I would attribute a lot to some great defense, which he normally would overcome by getting to the hole, but Portsmouth really made a point to shut him down (at least it looked that way) and after a real rough first quarter he was never able to get into a flow because he did start to get some open looks but his rhythm was off.

That's a bold prediction there basketballtime....Souhegan has to make the trip to Portsmouth and Milford got them at home. Having said that, Souhegan is one of the 5 or 6 teams in division 2 that has the talent to beat anyone at anytime. Souhegan over Hollis 63-51 Devin Gilligan 24 points and 15 rebounds (who SHS didnt have at Milford)

Feb. 4 @Souhegan

The recap is much appreciated, BigMan!

No problem, curious did Portsmouth girls just come out and dominate Milford's from the start or did they hang around and PHS pull away?

Thomas wrote:That's a bold prediction there basketballtime....Souhegan has to make the trip to Portsmouth and Milford got them at home. Having said that, Souhegan is one of the 5 or 6 teams in division 2 that has the talent to beat anyone at anytime. Souhegan over Hollis 63-51 Devin Gilligan 24 points and 15 rebounds (who SHS didnt have at Milford)

Feb. 4 @Souhegan

Good point Thomas i guess we will see how you do against Portsmouth at home and you better hope that Dicearse isn't available i think he's hungry. By the way you just mentioned you beat Hollis in your home gym by 12 with Gilliagan who you didn't have against Milford but what you forgot to mention is this is the same Hollis team milford beat 85-55 with no starters playing the fourth period whoops.

Milford came out and played Portsmouths game in the first Qtr and was close to the bonus when they decided to pressure and trap some. It helped get the offense going and Jamie no doubt offensively carried the team with points and rebounds. With the press and trapping Milford got out and ran a little and that seemed to force Portsmouth into a faster pace and played right into Milfords hands. Milford is really depending on their one on one play especially in the first half but in the second half they set a few screens and got some motion which led to some back door cuts and more attempts at the hoop. The defensive pressure was really the difference I thought. I would like to see Milford do a little more trapping early on teams to force a pace and get everyone thinking run. Tonight when they did it, it was very effective. A nice win and I am sure when Dicesare comes back it will help Portsmouth but Milford is also down a player that will help as well. These teams will most likely meet in March and I am sure it will be a classic.

I have to mention that I was very pleased with my sons game tonight. He really understood that Jamie had a matchup he could take advantage of and turned down many shots and really led his team tonight. I thought his unselfishness and passing ability was a huge part of Milfords success tonight. Would not be surprised if he had 10 assist tonight.

Jared Lakin and Ritchie Moore added to the defensive intensity and were much more in control tonight. They have had a tendency to pick up cheap fouls trying to make too much happen but tonight they played solid and really helped force a faster pace. Jared added a few threes which is part of what MIlford obviously misses with Scott McCallum injured.

Walker is very talented and for a junior is very mechanically solid. He had a tough assignment tonight with Jamie guarding him and he never quite got going. No doubt he is a player though.

Milford now heads to Hanover on Friday but getting through this stretch was a grind. Three very talented teams that will all be home court advantage teams come March.

I agree especially with the comments about lakin and moore, Moore plays very agressive defense which is great but does sometimes pick up some cheap fouls but tonight I thought he played aggresive but wasn't overly aggresive. I really think Lakin could provide a lot for Milford off the bench he really has improved. He provides the 3pt ball off the bench, and stretches the floor as Chi-kid said like Scotty did. He doesn't have the same length as scotty but his defense has really improved.

I posted earlier that i thought they should use Holder on Walker good move on their part. I have seen Walker play a few times this year and knew he would be in big trouble with Holder covering him. By the way that means Holder had a bigger game then i thought he scored, rebounded and locked up Walker nice night on his part. Again it has to be so tough to go up against a team that can throw these three players at you geesh......... Chikid who covered Mikey? You mentioned Holder had a mismatch but did Mikey not have one as he seemed to not look for his shot? And who covered Mike O?

bigman44 wrote:No problem, curious did Portsmouth girls just come out and dominate Milford's from the start or did they hang around and PHS pull away?

It wasn't close from the start. PHS played their bench big minutes. Pitsas had 15 points, just a soph, looks like she'll be a good player as an upperclassman.

Mike was guarded by Walker some as well as a taller kid and then the dreaded zone. Sorry I hate Zone! I honestly was waiting for Mike to start shooting in the first quarter but he was very patient. He did have two very nice assist to Jamie and did the usual set up of the motion. There was to many quick shots in the first half I thought. The Memphis dribble drive sets the Milford runs does not allow the ball to get back to him very often unless there is more patience. The few times he tried to get into the lane he was successful but Portsmouth collapsed and cause him into a turnover. The more patient this team is in the half court the better percentage they will shoot. Most teams defend the first overlap of motion nicely but on the third and fourth seem to get sucked into the lane. If you are more patient it will breakdown and allow even easier looks.As for Mike I don't think he took more than 4 or 5 shots all night but his ball distribution and lack of turnovers was very solid. He is fine with not scoring and honestly I am surprised that Walker did not guard Holder but after he picked up a few quick fouls that idea was out the window. Milford seems to be able to find a matchup with their guards almost any night and the boys are unselfish about knowing when the other guy is on and letting him be the man of the moment. I do wish they were flowing more all together but I think it is still early and you can hardly argue with 9-0. They are are still without a game inside of ten points. Not bad for a group that lost two players to injuries.

Yeah Pitsas is very solid, does it all hits the boards gets to the rim developed a shot last year. Milford girls will probably squeak into the playoffs again this year as a 16 maybe a little better. But the next few years they should be good, now they are starting to actually get basketball players. Before it was a bunch of soccer, volleyball, track etc girls just playing basketball just so they were staying active in the winter, now they have a solid core of girls that are basketball players. They're still very young this year, only 3 seniors only 5 or 6 true varsity players the others being used as swingers. There's also a solid 8th grade class that'll be up next year so they should be solid the next few years.