DURHAM, N.H. — All those December defensive slides. All those shuffle drills. All that monotonous droning on about team defense.
If any player ever dares question Pelham's Todd Kress about his incessant emphasis on the "other" end of the court, the coach can just roll out this video.
Sure, Pelham salted away last night's Class I state semifinal thriller over Laconia, 56-54, with some dead-eye foul-shooting (12 of 14 down the stretch).
But it was the insurance that Pelham bought in the first half on the defensive end that won this one.
It was junior Sean Sweeney and senior E.J. Baker, right from the opening tap, pestering the Sachem guards over every inch of the Lundholm Gym floor.
"Brady O'Neil only scored 10," said Kress of the Sachems' top gun, who averages 19.5 points a game. "I think that's the story, the job our guards did on him."
Guys like Grant Hebert and Conor McColgan swarmed the post and muscled up every time 6-foot-4 bruiser Peter Evans touched the basketball. Evans finished 3 of 10 from the floor.
Make no mistake. Laconia's 3-for-22 shooting (14 percent) and the Pythons' 25-14 halftime lead were no accident.
Disaster insurance, paid in full.
"We just didn't get the break we needed," lamented Laconia coach Chad Davis.
Pelham was handed a break — well hopefully for the Pythons it's just a sprain — that no team ever wants to see.
A near-catastrophe struck Pelham when Justin Hojlo tumbled to the floor, fouled on a three-point try, ramming his shooting hand into the hardwood.
Their leader, the senior responsible for more than half his team's scoring (points and assists), was rendered a suddenly lefthanded coach in the floor for the last 12 minutes of the game.
Pelham had that first-half insurance, though, and with a bit of a cushion the confidence to forge onward.
"We needed guys to step up, we needed this to finally be a team effort," said Kress. "Right now there's a bunch of guys that feel really good about themselves."
As well they should.
All eyes on the thumb
"We'll wait for the X-ray," was the only comment Kress would make about Justin Hojlo's right thumb.
Up until the injury, Hojlo was Hojlo, the dominant player on the floor.
He had 20 points on 7 of 18 shooting, but scored just one point after the injury.
"At the timeout between the third and fourth quarter, I asked Justin what he could give us," said Kress. "He said lefthanded passing. Just his presence on the floor and senior leadership made me feel more comfortable."
Hojlo clearly favored the hand, pulling down rebounds with one hand and bringing the ball up the floor lefthanded.
It was a gritty effort.
"I wasn't surprised he stayed in. He's a leader, a gutsy player," said Laconia's Davis. "They've ridden him here."
Hojlo would have two off days to rest and ice the thumb, that looked like a mini-eggplant after the game.
"I'm not necessarily looking for Justin to be shooting 30-footers all night long," said Kress about Saturday's final. "He just needs to be on the floor as a threat for us and be able to penetrate and do the things he does to free up his teammates."
Tourney tidbits
You'd have to go back a long way to find the last time Hojlo shot 25 percent from the foul line in a game. One sage Python follower estimated third grade.
With the hand throbbing, Hojlo was just 1 of 6, 2 of 8 overall.
"It was just very sensitive when I was trying to shoot," said Hojlo. "Everybody else was making them (15 for 18!). They stepped up huge. Guys like (Sean) Sweeney, (Mike) Lombard, (Stephen) Spirou, they wanted the ball. They knew I couldn't have it. It's exactly what you need to win a championship. ...
The NHIAA program states Pelham High's enrollment at 715. At least 500 of those had to have made the trip last night, packing an extremely vocal student section. The crowds for both semifinals were near-capacity last night. In the matinee, Portsmouth, the No. 6 seed, knocked off No. 2 Pembroke, 58-48. ...
Classy Central Catholic senior Billy Marsden, a Pelham resident, made the trip to support his townie friends. Marsden and Hojlo played eighth-grade travel ball together as well as some summer ball, too.
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