Portsmouth ousts Pilgrim from D-II playoffs

By Ryan D. Murray
Posted 2/28/17

The sixth-seeded Pilgrim Patriots fell to No. 11 Portsmouth, 62-55, on Friday night in a hard-fought battle during the opening round of the Division II playoffs at Pilgrim. Senior Jake Gonsalves led Pilgrim with 20

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Portsmouth ousts Pilgrim from D-II playoffs

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The sixth-seeded Pilgrim Patriots fell to No. 11 Portsmouth, 62-55, on Friday night in a hard-fought battle during the opening round of the Division II playoffs at Pilgrim. Senior Jake Gonsalves led Pilgrim with 20 points, while Matt Woods had 16 and David Cabeceirasadded 13. For Portsmouth, Matt Clark had a game-high 21 points, Sean Coyne added 14 and John Skrzypiec contributed 11.

“As I told the kids at the end of the game, defensively it was not our best game, but I think also you’ve got to give Portsmouth credit, they did a good job,” Pilgrim head coach Chris LeBlanc said. “Offensively, they shut down our offense. We average mid 60s for points, and I thought they did a good job scouting us. It wasn’t really a team effort like I would like it to be.”

Matt Woods got Pilgrim on the board first when he hit a 3-pointer. Shortly after, Coyne earned a steal and a layup to pull Portsmouth within one. Woods hit another 3 ball to put Pilgrim up 6-2. A jumper from Skrzypiec pulled Portsmouth within two. Portsmouth went up one on a 3 ball from Clark. Down the other end, Nate Ferri found Cabeceiras for a trey, putting Pilgrim on top, 9-7. With 11:45 left in the first half, Portsmouth tied it when Skrzypiec dished to Clark for a layup.

Portsmouth went up, 13-11, when Clark scored a basket and one. Moments later, Gonsalves hit a jumper to tie the game at 14. With 6:01 left in the frame, Pilgrim went up, 17-16, when Gonsalves passed to Woods, who nailed a 3 ball from the top of the arc. Back-to-back layups from Shaun Abbate put Portsmouth up, 20-17. Abbate received a technical foul for taunting during Pilgrim’s next possession and Gonsalves made the two free throws, pulling Pilgrim within one.

Pilgrim also received the ball after the penalty and it took advantage. Gonsalves drove right to the hoop for a layup to put Pilgrim up one. The next time down, Jarod Sickinger nailed a corner 3 to give Pilgrim a 26-20 lead heading into the break.

Portsmouth got right to work in the second half, going on a 6-0 tear and tying the game at 26.

Sickinger, Pilgrim’s senior center, stopped the bleeding when he grabbed an offensive rebound and passed out to Gonsalves, who buried an open 3-pointer to put Pilgrim up 3. But, Clark made a basket down the other end, pulling Portsmouth within one.

With about 10 minutes to play, Portsmouth junior James Reilly hit a shot from downtown to put Portsmouth up 33-31. Woods was called for charging on Pilgrim’s next possession. Coyne scored a spinning layup next for Portsmouth while increasing its lead to 35-31 with 8:48 to play.

Pilgrim tied the game at 35 when Cabeceiras made a bucket, and Woods followed it with a steal from Reilly and took it for a fast break layup to tie the game at 35.

Pilgrim went up, 39-37, when Ferri tossed to Cabeceiras for an alley-oop layup. However, with 6:25 left, Clark went to the hoop, scoring a layup for Portsmouth to tie it at 39.

Next, Cabeceiras buried a shot from long range to put Pilgrim up 42-39. Nevertheless, Reilly made a one-handed layup to pull Portsmouth within one. Seconds later, Skrzypiec passed to Sha’liek Randall for a 3 ball to tie the game at 46 with 4:15 left.

Cabeceiras missed a corner 3, but Gonsalves was there for the putback to put Pilgrim up two. Abbate answered with a layup to tie it at 48. Then, Woods made a layup for Pilgrim to go up two with 3:32 left. Portsmouth’s Clark tied it at the free throw line.

With 2:46 left, Gonsalves earned a steal and he was fouled hard on his way to the rim. The senior guard made both free throws to put Pilgrim up 52-50. Down the other end, Clark made a layup to tie it for Portsmouth. Portsmouth went up two when Skrzypiec made a layup.

Seconds later, Portsmouth’s Coyne went by Ferri and made a layup to put Portsmouth up three. Coyne earned a steal next and passed to Skrzypiec, who made a layup to increase the Portsmouth lead to five with 40 seconds left. Portsmouth made four free throws down the stretch on its way to a 62-55 win.

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