Sports Insider by Frank Coppola: Short-handed Clippers earn benchmark win

February 15, 2008

Short-handed Clippers earn benchmark win

By Mike O’Neil
PORTSMOUTH — Much like when Tom Brady hobbled around New York City in a medical boot, the fans of Portsmouth High School held their collective breath when they saw George Tsougranis sitting on the bench in street clothes with his right hand wrapped in a bandage.

Portsmouth boys basketball coach Jim Mulvey said the junior forward cut his hand on the backboard while going up for a rebound Thursday at Plymouth.

So with their second-leading scorer on the bench, the Clippers rallied and put together one of their best nights of the season, capping a three-game week with a 72-52 win over Souhegan on Friday at Stone Gymnasium.

Portsmouth won its fourth straight game and improved to 13-2 as John Mulvey scored 23 points and Zach Abrams and Sam Law each scored 13.

“Before we came out, I put one word on the board: ‘Team,’” Coach Mulvey said. “That’s what we needed tonight, a good team effort. It was a fun one tonight.”

Mulvey thinks Tsougranis, despite a couple of stitches, should be available Monday when the Clippers begin another three-game week. Portsmouth hosts Kennett on Monday and St. Thomas on Tuesday before ending the regular season Friday at Kennett.

“We’re going to have our hands full,” Coach Mulvey said. “Kennett probably isn’t going to make the tournament, but I’ve seen them, they’re a really good team. They’ve been in every one of their games. We have St. Thomas coming in here Tuesday, so we’ll have a hard time for sure.”

Coach Mulvey said last week how his bench had started to mold into a big part of the team and with Tsougranis out, it proved worthy of its coach’s praise.

Law and Sherrill (12 points) had big nights off the bench after Portsmouth lost Paul Harvey in the first with an ankle injury.

“We’re getting more guys involved,” Coach Mulvey said. “Tonight it was great to see a guy like Chris MacDonald getting in there and hitting some shots. Chris is a guy that works hard every day, so to see him get in there and make some plays, it was fun. The guys on the bench were just has happy for him as he was, and that’s what chemistry on a team is about.”

The Clippers struggled early, but still led 15-12 after one. Souhegan (2-13) pulled to within one on a Sam Laforet jumper, but consecutive 3-pointers from John Mulvey gave Portsmouth a 28-14 lead.

“Early on they were hitting everything,” Coach Mulvey said. “We switched to a zone and I think that took them out of their game.”

Law scored six of his 13 points in the second quarter as his runner with 1:17 left in the half capped the 23-2 run and gave Portsmouth a 38-16 lead.

“I like the way we’re playing right now,” Coach Mulvey said. “We have to get some guys healthy, but I like where we are. Our defense is getting better; we’re ready for the tournament.”

Posted by Frank Coppola at February 15, 2008 11:59 PM

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