Portsmouth downs Barrington, Tiverton in boys’ hoops

Skrzypiec leads Patriots to thrilling win Tuesday

Nick Friend
Posted 1/4/17

Led by 19 points from Jack Skrzypiec, the Portsmouth High boys’ basketball team defeated Barrington in a thriller Tuesday evening at home by a score of 61-58.

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Portsmouth downs Barrington, Tiverton in boys’ hoops

Skrzypiec leads Patriots to thrilling win Tuesday

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Led by 19 points from Jack Skrzypiec, the Portsmouth High boys’ basketball team defeated Barrington in a thriller Tuesday evening at home by a score of 61-58.

In the first half, it was all Skrzypiec who finished with 13 points as the Patriots took a 28-21 lead into the half. Portsmouth came out slow to start the second half, allowing the Eagles back into the game. Down the stretch, turnovers by Portsmouth and offensive rebounds by Barrington closed the gap again, but the Eagles could never take the lead.

“We had moments when we were the better team and moments were we just relaxed and let it come to us,” Portsmouth head coach Joe Occhi said. “You shouldn't take anything for granted and it almost bit us.”

To begin the game, Skrzypiec started out hot, scoring the locals’ first 10 points, including two 3-pointers that put Portsmouth up 10-6 early on.

“This is kind of exactly what I expected to come from Jack. He is only a sophomore and needed some time to adjust to the varsity level when he got here,” Mr. Occhi said. “He is a great kid and will be fun to have.”

As the game progressed and Skrzypiec cooled off, Sean Coyne provided a much-needed spark as the senior earned a offensive rebound, a steal, and four points in a span of just seconds to help put the Patriots up 20-13.

Portsmouth’s leading overall scorer, Matthew Clark, proceeded to provided a lift to the offensive attack just minutes later as he scored on two mid-range jumpers that put the Patriots up 28-21 and forced Barrington to call a timeout.

After the break in action, junior James Reilly continued the team effort as two buckets, including a 3-pointer, put Portsmouth up 37-29 at the half.

Eagles come back

In the second half, the Patriots got out to a slow start offensively, which allowed the Eagles to climb back to 46-42 after a Barrington 3-ponter. With just seven minutes to play in the game, Coyne and Skrzypiec combined to reignite the Portsmouth offensive with aggressive defense and drives to the basket, extending the Patriots’ lead to 52-44.

Barrington get driving to to the basket and earning trips to the free throw line, shrinking Portsmouth’s lead to 57-51 with under three minutes to play.

The Eagles then opted to go with the full-court defense, forcing a couple of Patriots turnovers. Barrington also shagged a good amount of offensive rebounds, cutting the Patriots’ lead to 59-55.

“That (rebounding) is something that hasn’t been a problem for us till now. It is not the way we should play,” Mr. Occhi said.

A couple possessions later, Reilly drove to the basket and banked in a layup that put Portsmouth up 61-58 with just 9.3 second left on the clock.

This left Barrington with just one more chance, but after inbounding the ball a corner 3-pointer fell well short.

“You have to give credit to Barrington,” Mr. Occhi said. “They played well and crashed the boards. They had lost four in a row and they played like a team that didn’t want to lose its fifth.”

With the win, Portsmouth improves to 3-1 in league play while Barrington falls to 1-2. 

Patriots defeat Tigers

Last Thursday, the Patriots were victorious over Tiverton High in a physical, non-leage game, 56-49.

The matchup was held during the second day of the Tiverton Christmas Tournament on the Tigers’ home court.

The Patriots built a 28-22 first-half lead after which the scoring was nearly even — Portsmouth edged the Tigers in the second half by a point, 28-27.

Portsmouth’s Matt Clark led all scorers with 18 points.

Other Portsmouth scorers were James Reilly with 12 (including two 3-pointers); Zach Rahilly, 8 (two 3-pointers); Sean Coyne 7; Shaun Abbate, 5; Jack Skrzpiac, 3; Jack Paige, 2; and Will Swart, 1.

Upcoming games for the Patriots:

• Friday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m.: at Westerly High School

• Saturday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m.: at Tappan Zee High School

• Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m.: Tolman High School at home

Portsmouth High School, PHS sports, PHS basketball

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.