Milford struggles in loss to Windham

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Joe Marchilena photo Milford's Jarad Asselin drives to the basket during Tuesday's game against Windhamd. The Spartans lost 49-41.

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MILFORD – Tuesday night’s boys basketball game will go into the Milford High School record books at a 49-41 loss to Windham.

Perhaps the final score should be the only thing left behind. No one will want to know the rest of the details.

The Spartans largely struggled to put together their offense, turned the ball over 16 times and committed 28 fouls. In the first half, Milford was whistled for so many fouls, Windham was in the double bonus with 6:14 left in the second quarter.

But that might not be the worst part of the loss. Not only was it the Spartans’ fifth straight in Division II, it was the Jaguars’ first division win of the season – and only the fourth in the history of the program.

At the beginning of 2012, Milford was a team with a 42-game winning streak. Now the Spartans (2-5) are looking for a win, and some leadership to help them get there.

“We lost our heads,” Milford coach Dan Murray said. “We had something like 18 fouls in the first half. We’ve got to get over it.

“When the going gets tough, we start getting a little individual. We don’t run things the way we’re supposed to run it. We’re flying around crazy. We’ve got to play through that stuff, but some of our leaders set the tone and it spread through like a cancer.”

The tone was set when Milford’s Richie Moore picked up a technical just 2:10 into the game. The Spartans stayed with the Jaguars throughout the first half, but hurt themselves with five offensive fouls, including two late in the second quarter. Two 3-pointers by Windham’s Alex Whitehead gave the Jaguars (1-7) a 24-21 lead at halftime, and their coach knew they’d have to keep working to finally get that win.

“We were going to have to earn this one,” Windham coach Todd Steffanides said. “We couldn’t rely on the referees, or Milford giving us the game, we were going to have to earn it. We’ve been playing like this for a while. We’ve been playing hard and coming up empty in the win column. I’m proud of the effort.”

The Spartans were still down three early in the third quarter, but the Jaguars outscored them 7-3 over the final six minutes of the quarter. Joe Lorenz completed a three-point play with 2:27 to go until the fourth to put Windham up by seven.

Lorenz’s free throw wasn’t the norm, as the Jaguars shot just 13 of 25 from the line, and Milford wasn’t much better, shooting 9 for 17.

“They regrouped,” Murray said of what his team did at halftime. “When they came out, they were more under control, and then I think there were a few situation calls that we got out of control.

Even the Milford students in attendance were off their game. With the Jaguars up 35-28 near the end of the third quarter, they began chanting “0-7,” prompting someone question whether or not they knew the home team was losing.

The Spartans were able to cut the lead to five on several occasions in the fourth quarter, but they could get no closer.

Logan Barlow led Milford with 13 points and Moore added six in a losing effort.

The Spartans will go on the road Thursday to face Sanborn before hosting Hollis Brookline on Jan. 24. After that, Murray expects point guard Jovi Philbrick to be academically eligible to return to the team Jan. 27 at John Stark.

“Getting Jovi back will make a huge difference,” Murray said. “He’s so levelheaded. I think they’ll follow suit. They’re like a bunch of partridges right now. They scatter and then they regroup, scatter and regroup. With him, I think they’ll be more like geese. He speaks and they listen.”