Balanced scoring lifts Portsmouth girls basketball to its sixth straight win

PORTSMOUTH - As the Portsmouth High School girls basketball team entered Friday night's Division I game with Exeter, it had been a long time, December 22 to be exact, since the Clippers had lost a game.

Portsmouth extended its winning streak to six games and improved to 8-1 on the season with a 57-37 win over Exeter as the Clippers received double-digit scoring from four players.

"A little uneven, but I think that's a credit to Exeter," Portsmouth head coach Tim Hopley said. "They play hard, they never stop, they never quit and we knew that going in."

Avery Romps and Margaret Montplaisir led the Clippers with 12 points, and Maddie MacCannell and Bella Slover both scored 10 points. Portsmouth's lone blemish remains a 60-35 home loss to undefeated Bishop Guertin in the third game of the season.

Romps called Friday's 20-point win a "good one."

"We always have a close game with Exeter, kind of like a rival on the Seacoast," Romps said. "I think we came out super strong."

Exeter's Hailey Harrington scored nine points and Emma Smith added eight points for the Blue Hawks, who had won four of their last five games, and is now 7-3 on the season.

"Portsmouth's a great team, we knew we had to play a near-perfect game," Exeter co-had coach Sam Wuebbolt said. "They're a great team, so you have to really give it to them. They worked hard. I'm proud of our kids, I feel like we were able to frustrate (Portsmouth) a little bit and make them really have to play."

Exeter, after scoring just 14 points in the first half, scored 23 points in the final 16 minutes.

Clippers keep rolling

Hopley said the biggest difference in the team's approach this season from last year is pretty simple - the Clippers are a year older.

"A year wiser and a year more mature," Hopley said. "A year of basketball work under their belts."

"Most of the girls we have are all experienced," said Slover, Portsmouth's starting point guard. "We've been playing together for a while now."

Portsmouth has used that experience this season. This proved evident earlier in the week when the Clippers secured their biggest win of the year - Tuesday's come-from-behind 55-53 win at previously undefeated Bedford.

Slover said the Clippers were not "scared" going into the Bedford game.

"We knew exactly what we needed to do, we know what we need to do going into every game," Slover said. "(Bedford) is a top-three team and we knew that, but we know we can compete against any team in this division. It's a mental game going into (games). If you don't think you're going to win, you're not going to. That was a good win."

Slover hit two 3-pointers in the final 33 seconds to tie the game, and then got it done defensively with a steal and pass to Savannah Emery who made a layup for the game-winning basket.

"We didn't play our best but we were still able to inch past them," Slover said. "I think that was a big confidence boost."

MacCannell led the Clippers with 19 points in the win, a win that Hopley called resilient. Portsmouth trailed by eight halfway through the fourth quarter.

"We never gave up, we just kept going and going," Hopley said. "That's what we have to play like all of the time."

"We came in knowing we can beat (Bedford)," Romps said. "It was a close game the whole game, then we had some players pull through with some really big shots. We matched their intensity the whole game and stuck with them."

Defense and easy baskets

Including the Bedford game, only three teams have scored 50 points on Portsmouth; the other two being Bishop Guertin and Pinkerton.

On the flip side, Portsmouth has scored at least 50 points in all but one game, and has surpassed 60 points in four games - all wins.

Defense and easy baskets seems to be the path to success for the Clippers, and the defense is spearheaded by Slover's aggressiveness with her point of attack defense.

"Being the point guard I know that, especially having a lot of on-ball pressure on me, that it's hard to set up into something," Slover said. "So I think it's important to give on-ball pressure to the point guard and make sure they can't get easily into their plays."

What's the key to the defensive success?

"We just try to be disciplined and not let up easy baskets," Romps added. "This year, we're a lot more connected on defense, a lot more disciplined. When it comes to big games, we haven't let up, we've stuck with the team which has just been really good."

Portsmouth is allowing just 42 points per game, and is scoring just under 59 points per contest. Slover points to the team's speed as one of the biggest offensive strengths.

"We know that a skill that we have is speed," Slover said. "I don't think there's a single girl on the court that has a problem getting up and down. We're a very well-oiled team, and I think that we know a lot of teams aren't expecting it, they're expecting us to get set into plays. When (teams) aren't expecting it, that's when we can use it the most against them."

Hitting the road

Portsmouth's next four games are all on the road - against Concord (5-5) on Monday, Windham (6-3) on Tuesday, Spaulding (4-4) on Friday, and Goffstown (9-2) on Tuesday, February 7.

Portsmouth's next home game is Friday, February 10 against Manchester Memorial.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Clippers follow win at undefeated Bedford with home win against Exeter