Sports Insider by Frank Coppola: Portsmouth boys knock off St. Thomas on senior night

February 19, 2008

Portsmouth boys knock off St. Thomas on senior night

By Mike O’Neil
PORTSMOUTH — Last season Sam Law watched Portsmouth High School’s senior night festivities from the bench as a knee injury midway through the season had ended his junior campaign.

But Tuesday night, Law couldn’t have asked for a better senior night of his own.

Helping to fill the gap left by the injured George Tsougranis, Law netted 12 points, including a rafter-rattling, two-hand dunk late in the fourth quarter as Portsmouth outlasted a game St. Thomas team, 58-47, at Stone Gymnasium.
Before the game, Law and fellow senior Paul Harvey were honored. Recovering from an ankle injury, Harvey started and collected a pair of rebounds.

“It was a good night for the seniors,” said Portsmouth coach Jim Mulvey. “Sam rebounded the ball well tonight, then to have him cap it off with a hometown dunk.”

With their sixth straight win, the Clippers improved to 15-2 on the season. With a home game in next Thursday’s Class I tournament opener already secured, Portsmouth will go into Friday night’s regular-season finale against Kennett tied with John Stark for the second seed in the tournament. Stark will host Oyster River (17-0) on Friday.

“Second or third, we’ll end up in the same bracket anyway,” said Mulvey. “We don’t like to look that far ahead. We’re focused on the first one.”

Tsougranis missed his third straight game for the Clippers after injuring his hand last Thursday night in Plymouth.
“He could have played tonight,” said Mulvey. “But if he splits it open again, it’s 10 more days, and it’s not worth the risk. We’ll see how he is for Friday.”

With Tsougranis out and Harvey working himself back, Zach Abrams and guard Mike Fransoso both turned in strong nights.

With the game tied midway through the first quarter, Fransoso and John Mulvey (game-high 21 points) traded baskets in an 11-4 run as Portsmouth took a 17-8 lead.

“First we had to match up with their big kids, then Fransoso really hurt us,” said St. Thomas coach Dan Parr. “Mulvey got loose a couple times, but (Fransoso) hit a couple big shots from the top of the key.”

Fransoso finished the night with 13 points, while Abrams had seven to go with eight boards.

“Mike and Zach really stepped it up tonight,” said Mulvey. “(Abrams) does everything. He sets screens, gets the ball inbounds, and we keep asking him to do more.”

The Clippers led 43-29 late in the third quarter, but the Saints refused to pack it in. Matt McLaughlin led a 12-4 run that helped the Saints (4-12) make it a 46-39 game with 3:01 left.

But St. Thomas missed too many opportunities at the line, going 12-for-22 from the stripe, to get any closer. Three free throws by Mike Montville and Law’s big dunk put the game away.

“We stuck around,” said Parr. “It was a great effort. But we fouled (Montville) and gave him three shots after being down by seven or eight, and it ends up being another frustrating end.”

Posted by Frank Coppola at February 19, 2008 11:58 PM

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