DURHAM, N.H. — As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the celebration was already on.
Wilson Youssef, Brady Sullivan and Brady Spellman made their way toward the wild Pinkerton fan section. Josh Phanor tried to calmly dribble out the clock, and the emotions began to pour out of him.
“I just wanted the clock to tick down to zeroes!” said Phanor with a laugh. “I just wanted it to end. I love my guys, and I was ready to celebrate a state title!”
The championship was theirs, in decisive fashion.
No. 4-seeded Pinkerton delivered a clinic, dominating the final three quarters on the way to rolling past No. 3 Trinity 63-50 in the Division I state championship game on Sunday in front of a capacity crowd of 2,500 at the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gymnasium.
“I’m speechless,” said Brady Sullivan, wiping away tears. “It’s amazing. It’s surreal. I can’t believe it. We just came out and took care of business. Trinity is a good team, but we matched their energy and didn’t back down. It was unreal. I don’t have words. I was on the title team two years ago, but this one is different. To do it with these guys, after all we went through, is amazing.”
This marked the second state title in three seasons for the Astros (19-3), and the 10th state championship overall for the program in 15 title games appearances. It also completed a brilliant turnaround after Pinkerton finished 5-13 and missed the playoffs last winter.
“This is unreal,” said guard Brady Spellman, who led the defensive effort, limiting Trinity star Jordan Torres to 13 points after he scored 28 points in their last meeting. “The crowd, the energy in the gym was wild. We had five wins last year! People didn’t think we were going to be here. But we put in the work, and here we are. We have the trophy now. We went through adversity, and now we’re here.”
Sunday was night-and-day from their regular season meeting, when Trinity (18-4) beat Pinkerton 86-70 on Feb. 5. The Astros then won their final eight games, including Sunday’s title tilt.
“No one believed in us, but we believed in us,” said senior Wilson Youssef. “From the first day of practice, and when this roster was picked, we knew we would be here. We have an amazing locker room, and we knew we could do it. It was going to come down to defense and rebounding, and we know we can outscore any team in the state. I dreamed of being here, I always wanted to win a title on this court. And now I have.”
Super sophomore Josh Phanor was a force, scoring a game-high 25 points, while Sullivan was right behind with 23 points. Each also grabbed nine rebounds, while Eagle-Tribune football All-Star Spellman grabbed a game-high 10 boards and dished out a game-best seven assists.
“Coming in knowing everyone was doubting us from the beginning of the year, we were ready to prove everyone wrong,” said Phanor. “From out of the playoffs to state champ is amazing. No one on this team is selfish. We just want to win. Defense, rebounding, ball movement, that’s what took us to where we are now. And we were hitting our shots today, and that’s big.”
The Astros started a little slow, trailing 14-9 after a quarter, despite seven points for Sullivan.
The rest of the way, it was all Pinkerton.
Phanor opened the second quarter with a jumper, Sullivan sunk a breakaway layup, then Phanor got a defender in the air with a head fake, and drained a 3-pointer to give his team a lead it would never surrender.
Pinkerton continued to pour it on from there, with big man Elliot Ingraham bullying his way in for a layup, foul and free throw, Youssef knocked down a long 3-pointer and layup, and Phanor made a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup as time expired to make it 32-20 Astros at halftime.
It was more of the same after halftime. Spellman opened the second half by diving out of bounds to save a loose ball, tipping it to Sullivan for a layup. Trinity cut the lead to five points, but Malik Salomon hit a tough layup and Spellman and Sullivan each knocked down a 3-pointer. Phanor closed out another quarter in style with a slick layup off a sweet pass from Youssef.
Trinity started to make it a game in the fourth, at one point cutting the deficit to nine points with 1:46 left. But the Astros never relented, with Sullivan and Phanor icing the game with free throws.
“This team is an incredibly tight-knit group, and that’s what carried us all year,” said coach Mike Dunham. “The locker room has been amazing. They play together, shared the basketball and got great shots. I’m just super, super excited and super proud of them.”
Pinkerton 63, Trinity 50
Division I State Championship Game
Trinity: Jamar Gregory-Alleyne 4-3-11, Derek Erilla 0-0-0, Connor Bishop 2-1-5, Connor Cote 2-1-6, Jordan Torres 4-5-13, Collin Charbonneau 3-0-8, Jaydan Auguste 0-1-1, Kevin Doherty 1-0-2, Xander Mcbournie 1-1-4, Julian Parrott 0-0-0, Milton Pimentel 0-0-0. Totals 17-12-50
Pinkerton: Wilson Youssef 2-0-5, Josh Phanor 9-3-25, Brady Sullivan 10-1-23, Adam Ajouz 0-0-0, Brady Spellman 2-0-5, Elliot Ingraham 1-1-3, Malik Salomon 1-0-2, Samar Gurung 0-0-0. Totals 25-5-63
Threes: P — Youssef, Phanor 4, Sullivan 2, Spellman; T — Torres Cote, Charbonneau 2, Mcbournie
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