Tuesday, December 18th, the Portsmouth Boys basketball team absorbed a tough loss against the Winnacunnet Warriors in a clash of the two of the best teams in New Hampshire. After losing their top seniors after last year’s championship team, a new start with a young team proves tricky for PHS.

The game started out rough, with not only turnovers but also the Clippers being down 33-8 at halftime. Winnacunnet’s, Jack Shaake finished off the first half with a vicious dunk, leading the Warriors into the locker room with all of the momentum.

The Clippers over the last 2 years have ended the season as State Champions with undefeated records. With that legacy on the line, John Mulvey, the son of former coach Jim Mulvey took over as the head coach.

Portsmouth was down by 25 in the beginning of the 3rd just started to go downhill.

Starting Junior, Cal Hewett, went on to say “It felt like a normal regular season game. We knew that we had targets on our back since the beginning of last year, and that was something we were going to have to deal with all year long. There is still a long season ahead and we have a lot of work to do.”

After losing by almost 40 points, he stated, “We just need to play harder. A lot of us weren’t prepared mentally and we need to do a better job of that in the future. All five of us need to do our jobs and as the season plays out, we will get better. It all starts in practice.”

This Portsmouth team is new to each other and has just started to play together for the first time. There is some building to do, but given the legacy behind this team, and the legends of its coaches, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that this season will still be a success.

Good Luck to the Clippers this season!