DERRY, N.H. — Pinkerton had no answers for Brennan Donnelly.
Alvirne's 6-5 senior center provided a winning skill set in Class L first round play against the Astros, commanding the low post and defensive paint using his football lineman physique while showing soft hands and a keen awareness of where his teammates were on the court. Owning both ends of the court with 16 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 blocked shots and 2 steals, Donnelly helped deliver a convincing 72-46 upset of Pinkerton at Hackler Gym.
The 12th seeded Broncos (9-10) will host No. 13 Londonderry, who shocked fourth-seed Manchester Central last night, 50-48, in the quarterfinals Saturday at 7 p.m. The Astros finish at 15-7, 13-6 in Class L play.
"The big man was unbelievable," Pinkerton head coach Peter Rosinski said. "We just could not control him. Last time (in a 15-point Astro victory, the teams' last, about two weeks ago), he got fatigued a lot quicker. This time, he came to play. He was pumped up for this game."
His defensive work down low caused Pinkerton to work its offense from sideline to sideline where it stagnated. Cold shooting (18 of 61, 29-percent) didn't help things as it helped to jump-start an opportunistic fast break attack for the Broncos.
"Alvirne didn't do anything different to us," Rowinski said. "We just didn't shoot well, didn't attack, didn't execute well."
One didn't have to look much further than the first quarter for the story of the game. After Pinkerton's Zach Mathieu (8 points and 6 boards) opened the game's scoring, Donnelly took over with a pair of layups and two nice assists as part of a run of 12 straight points over four minutes of action. The Astros suffered seven turnovers and shot 3 for 10, never getting any closer than the five-point deficit (12-7) at the buzzer.
Stretching the lead to eight at halftime, the Broncos turned loose Brennan's brother Caleb Donnelly. The sophomore scrambled for 21 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, getting big help from Ryan Sweeney (14 points) and Joseph O'Hearn (13 points) to lock down the victory.
Ball movement was huge for Alvirne with 19 assists on 26 of 51 shooting.
Only six Astros found the score sheet led by senior sixth man Brendan Peguero with 10 points followed closely by co-captains Colby Verge and Beau Cassidy with nine points apiece and Mathieu with eight.
"This is a life lesson," Rowinski concluded. "When you talk about opportunities in life, you just can't look past them. If you don't value and seize upon those moments, you miss out on some important things."
Alvirne 72, Pinkerton 46
Class L first round
Alvirne (9-10 Class L):12141927—72
Pinkerton (15-7, 13-6 Class L):7111018—46
Alvirne (72): Caleb Donnelly 8 6-7 23, Brennan Donnelly 7 2-6 16, Ryan Sweeney 5 4-4 14, Joseph O'Hearn 3 7-8 13, Cody Lambert 1 0-0 2, Chris Goldsack 1 0-0 2, Jim Reidy 1 0-0 2, Dan Porter 0 0-0 0, Harry Everett 0 0-0 0, Nick Goldsack 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 19-25 72
Pinkerton (46): Brendan Peguero 5 0-0 10, Colby Verge 3 2-2 9, Beau Cassidy 3 0-0 9, Zach Mathieu 3 2-2 8, Alex Rees 2 0-0 5, Ben Proulx 2 1-2 5, Jerry Zajac 0 0-0 0, Greg Poggi 0 0-0 0, Steven Curry 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-6 46
3-pointers: P — Cassidy 3, Verge, Rees; A — C. Donnelly
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