PROVIDENCE — The noise inside Amica Mutual Pavilion Friday night started as a roar, then swelled into something closer to disbelief.

Because the thing about history is that it rarely announces itself politely. Sometimes it kicks the door open, throws a basketball into the air, and lets the clock run out.

That’s what the Portsmouth High School boys’ basketball team did.

The seventh-seeded Patriots defeated La Salle Academy, 49-38, to win the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Division I Boys Basketball Championship, the first Division I state title in program history.

It was not a delicate victory. It was a defensive mugging.

From the opening tip, Portsmouth swarmed the Rams with the kind of pressure that makes offensive players reconsider their life choices. Passes looked risky. Shots looked rushed. The basket itself seemed to shrink.

La Salle scored just nine points in the first half.

Nine.

Portsmouth’s 21-9 halftime lead established the tone for the night: if the Rams wanted to score, they were going to require effort, creativity, and perhaps a small miracle. The Patriots made sure miracles were not on the menu.

Nearly an early runaway

It began immediately. Portsmouth won the opening tip, and moments later Jack Casey picked a pocket and finished a layup. Soon after, Adam Conheeny Jr. stole the ball and calmly swished a three-pointer for a 5-0 lead. When Casey buried another three to make it 8-2, the Patriots looked comfortable — maybe even a little dangerous.

They could have been ahead by more. Portsmouth missed a handful of easy looks in the first half that might have turned the game into a runaway. Instead, players settled for a steady, grinding control of the game.

In the second quarter, Liam Casey knocked down a three from the left side to make it 17-4, as Portsmouth’s defense continued to suffocate the Rams, clogging passing lanes and forcing difficult shots.

The Rams did improve after halftime — their coach had clearly delivered a spirited speech — but the damage was already done. In the third quarter, Liam Casey threaded a beautiful pass inside to Jack Casey for a layup, pushing the lead to 23-9.

La Salle briefly showed life, rattling off six straight points to pull within eight. That was as close as the Rams would come all night.

Gut punch to La Salle

Portsmouth responded immediately with four straight points, then delivered the game’s emotional gut punch late in the third quarter. Senior Nico Colantuono drilled a three, and moments later Conheeny launched a three that splashed through the net as the horn sounded.

Conheeny beat his chest and shouted toward the Portsmouth fans, who roared back. The scoreboard read 35-22, and the feeling in the arena suggested the Patriots were not leaving without a trophy. 

The fourth quarter removed any remaining suspense. A crisp cross-court pass from Jack Casey found Liam Casey in the left corner, where he calmly buried a three to push the lead to 14. Soon after, Jack Casey knocked down a three of his own for a 43-26 advantage, prompting a La Salle timeout and a joyful eruption from the Portsmouth crowd.

Then Jackson Hackley added another dagger: a three-pointer that made it 46-26 — the Patriots’ largest lead of the night — with four and a half minutes remaining.

From there Portsmouth slowed things down, carefully draining the clock while La Salle tried to claw back into the game. The Rams cut the deficit to eight with 96 seconds remaining, but the rally came too late.

Frustration crept in. Fouls followed. Portsmouth happily accepted the free throws.

When the final seconds ticked away, Conheeny tossed the ball into the air — the universal basketball signal for, “This one’s over.” The seventh seed was the champion.

Don’t call them Cinderellas

Some observers had called Portsmouth a Cinderella story entering the postseason. Hackley, the senior point guard, wasn’t buying it.

“We knew we were the best team in the state before we came into the playoffs, and we knew we were going to go on this run,” he said. “I don’t know — we just felt it. We were all amped up in the locker room. We knew we were going to win. No doubt in our minds.”

Defense, he said, made it possible.

“It’s been like that all year, and especially in the playoffs. I mean, we held Central to what — 44 points? They were scoring 90 points (a game). Everyone knew this was going to be a defense game.”

Junior Liam Casey echoed the sentiment and also brushed aside the Cinderella narrative, saying the playoffs “were open the whole time.”

Assistant coach Mike Brennan said the defensive focus was intentional.

“We hang our hat on the defensive end, and our kids showed up ready to play,” he said. “That was the most important thing: making sure that we’re helping each other, we’re talking on defense, and we knew if we held them to a low point total that we’d be in the game. That was our entire game plan.”

The Patriots executed it almost perfectly.

Conheeny leads scorers

Conheeny finished with a game-high 18 points. Jack Casey added 12 and Liam Casey scored eight as Portsmouth controlled the game from start to finish.

Brennan credited the team’s growth throughout the season.

“We’ve grown so much since the beginning of the season,” he said. “Every loss is an opportunity for growth for us, and that shows up for us.”

And now the Patriots will carry that growth into the upcoming open state tournament.

“We have as good a chance as anybody,” Brennan said.

If you watched Friday’s game, you’d think that was an understatement.